Sri Lanka and North India during the Gupta Period: Facts and fancy

Abstract

The Gupta Empire is often thought of as the symbol of the Golden Age in Ancient India. From the fourth to the beginning of the sixth centuries ce, Gupta emperors ruled over the greater part of North India. It is noteworthy that the true founder of the Gupta Empire, Samudragupta (c. 350–75), claimed sovereignty over Sri Lanka. Besides, North India played a major role in the Singhalese chronicles written by Buddhist monks from the island. This situation leads us to study the special relationship between North India and Sri Lanka during the Gupta period. The first part of the article deals with the expansion of the Gupta Empire to control, even if indirectly, the coastal regions. The second part focuses on Buddhism, which is the ferment of cultural unity among several regions within South Asia. The third part addresses the building of the imaginary representation of Sri Lanka through the study of some extracts mainly from the Rāmāyaṇa and, to a lesser extent, from the Raghuvaṃśa, both texts known or thought to be known during the Gupta period.