Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/53

 INTRODUCTION. 23 introduced by Nagarjuna a change similar to that made by Gregory the Great when he established the Church, as opposed to the primitive forms of Christianity, at about the same dis- tance of time from the death of the founder of the religion. This convocation was probably held about B.C. 40. Certain at least it is, that it was about, or very soon after, that time that Buddhism was first practically introduced into China, Tibet, and Burma, and apparently by missionaries sent out from this as they were from the A^oka convocation. KSHATRAPAS OF KATHIAWAR, A.D. I2O TO 388. GUPTAS, 320 TO ABOUT 535. VALABHIS, ABOUT 600 TO 770. The Andhras disappear from history early in the 3rd century ; the Kshatrapas of Gujarat held sway in the west for a century and a half longer, when they were superseded by the Gupta dynasty who, at the end of the 4th century of our era, seem to have attained to the position of lords paramount in northern India. They date their inscriptions, which are numerous and interesting, from an era established by the Gupta king, Chandragupta I., dating 242 years after the Saka era of A.D. 78, or in 320 ; but it was not apparently till under the third king, Samudragupta, about 380, that they really obtained the empire of northern India, which they retained till the death of Skandagupta, about the year 465, or it may be a little later. 1 It was during the reign of the Guptas that Fah Hian visited India (A.D. 400). As his objects in doing so were entirely of a religious nature, he does not allude to worldly politics, nor give us a king's name we can identify ; but the picture we gather from his narrative is one of peace and prosperity in so far as the country is concerned, and of supremacy generally for his religion. Heretics are, it is true, mentioned occasionally, but they are few and far between. Buddhism was then the religion of the north, especially in the north-west of India ; but even then there were symptoms of a change in the central provinces and outlying parts of the country. It is during their rule that we first perceive in high places the germs of that change which was gradually creeping over the religious system of India. That the Guptas were not inimical to Buddhism may be inferred from the gifts that Amarakardava, an officer of Chandragupta II., made to the 1 The Guptas and their inscriptions have been dealt with by Dr. J. F. Fleet, in his work, ' Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings,' Corp. Inscr. Ind., vol. iii.