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Gupta Empire
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==Origin== {{Main|Origin of the Gupta dynasty}} {{Gupta Empire}} The homeland of the Guptas is uncertain.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=79}} According to one theory, they originated in the present-day lower-Doab region of [[Uttar Pradesh]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chakrabarti |first1=K. |editor1-last=Guand-da |editor1-first=Zhang |editor2-last=Litvinsky |editor2-first=B. |editor3-last=Shabani Samghabadi |editor3-first=R. |chapter=The Gupta Kingdom |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000104612?posInSet=1&queryId=a6dad7c3-cad4-47e1-a5ef-49a1cd6d31f9 |year=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |volume=III |page=188 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |quote=On the basis of ... historians have now come to accept the lower doab region as the original homeland of the Guptas |access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref><ref group=lower-alpha name="GuptaOrigin"/> where most of the inscriptions and coin hoards of the early Gupta emperors have been discovered.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|p=14}}{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=39}} This theory is also supported by the [[Purana]], as argued by the proponents, that mention the territory of the early Gupta emperors as [[Prayaga]], [[Saketa]], and [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] areas in the [[Ganges]] basin.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|p=2}}{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=2}} The recently found silver coin of [[Gupta (king)|Sri Gupta]] in Uttar Pradesh further attest the origin of Guptas around [[Varanasi|Kāśī]]–[[Kannauj]] region and his rule was only limited to Kāśī (present day [[Varanasi]]).<ref group=lower-alpha name="GuptaOrigin"/> Another theory locates the Gupta homeland in the present-day [[Bengal]] region in Ganges basin, based on the account of the 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]]. According to Yijing, king Che-li-ki-to (identified with the dynasty's founder ''Shri'' [[Gupta (king)|Gupta]]) built a temple for Chinese pilgrims near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no (apparently a transcription of [[Mṛgaśikhāvana|Mriga-shikha-vana]]). Yijing states that this temple was located more than 40 ''[[yojana]]s'' east of [[Nalanda]], which would mean it was situated somewhere in the modern Bengal region.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|pp=7–11}} Another proposal is that the early Gupta kingdom extended from Prayaga in the west to northern Bengal in the east.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|p=12}} The Gupta records do not mention the dynasty's [[varna in Hinduism|varna]] (social class).{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=44}} Some historians, such as [[A.S. Altekar]], have theorised that they were of [[Vaishya]] origin, as certain ancient Indian texts prescribe the name "Gupta" for the members of the Vaishya varna.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=82}}{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=42}} According to historian [[Ram Sharan Sharma|R. S. Sharma]], the Vaishyas – who were traditionally associated with trade – may have become rulers after resisting oppressive taxation by the previous rulers.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i_sIE1sO5kwC&pg=PA69 |title=Early Medieval Indian Society: A Study in Feudalisation |last=R. S. Sharma |publisher=Orient Longman |year=2003 |isbn=9788125025238 |access-date=26 June 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326214745/https://books.google.com/books?id=i_sIE1sO5kwC&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}</ref> Critics of the Vaishya-origin theory point out that the suffix Gupta features in the names of several non-Vaishyas before as well as during the Gupta period,{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=4}} and the dynastic name "Gupta" may have simply derived from the name of the dynasty's first king [[Gupta (king)|Gupta]].{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=40}} Some scholars, such as [[S. R. Goyal]], theorise that the Guptas were [[Brahmins]], because they had matrimonial relations with Brahmins, but others reject this evidence as inconclusive.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=43–44}} Based on the [[Pune]] and Riddhapur inscriptions of the Gupta princess [[Prabhavatigupta]], some scholars believe that the name of her paternal [[gotra]] (clan) was "Dharana", but an alternative reading of these inscriptions suggests that Dharana was the ''gotra'' of her mother Kuberanaga.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=83}}
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