NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 7 The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
A new power fills the gap left by the Kuṣhāṇas. By the 3rd century CE the Kuṣhāṇa Empire weakened and new kingdoms appeared. The Guptas , believed to have begun as regional rulers near present-day Uttar Pradesh , rose to become the strongest of them, with their capital at Pāṭaliputra (present-day Patna). Their empire flourished from the 3rd to the 6th century CE. Three rulers to remember. Chandragupta I — coins showing him with his queen Kumāradevī , and strategic alliances. Samudragupta — the warrior king of the prayāga praśhasti , whose ambition Harisena calls dharaṇi-bandha , ‘to unify the Earth’; his coins show him playing the veena . Chandragupta II ‘Vikramāditya’ — a devotee of Viṣhṇu, in whose reign the rust-free Iron Pillar at Mehrauli was set up. Rule through others, not only from
- Chapter opening
- Why Chandragupta II carries a ‘II’ after his name
- Fig. 7.5, an inscription by Harisena
- Fig. 7.8
- A Traveller’s Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age
- The codification of Āyurveda in the Gupta period
- End-of-chapter exercise
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Worth remembering |
|---|---|---|---|
| prayāga praśhasti | A pillar inscription at Prayagraj praising Samudragupta’s achievements, composed by his court poet Harisena | ‘The warrior king’, page 149 | It also names the Pallavas and Kāmarūpa — proof that both were touched by Samudragupta’s campaigns |
| dharaṇi-bandha | ‘To unify the Earth’ — the ambition Harisena attributes to Samudragupta | Page 149 | The reason behind his many wars and his long list of defeated kings |
| aśhvamedha yajña | A Vedic horse sacrifice performed by ambitious kings to build mighty empires and leave a legacy | LET’S REMEMBER, page 150 | Commemorated on a special coin (Fig. 7.7): the sacrificial horse on one side, the queen holding a chauri on the reverse |
| mahārājadhirāja, samrāṭ, chakravartin | Grand titles adopted by Gupta rulers, claiming supreme authority | ‘New kings … new titles’, page 154 | They deliberately replaced the simpler earlier titles rājan and mahārāja |
| Regent ruler | One who governs a kingdom temporarily for a monarch unable to do so | Margin note, page 155 | Prabhāvatī Gupta ruled the Vākāṭakas this way; an inscription calls her a ‘mother of two kings’ |
| Outcastes | People rejected by a social or cultural group — here, those considered too low to be part of the varṇa system | Margin note, page 154 | Faxian’s chanḍālas, made to live outside the city limits — the side of society his cheerful excerpt leaves out |
| Copper-plate land grants | Land given to local rulers, priests and chieftains, with the grant inscribed on copper plates | ‘Governance and administration’, page 156 | Shows the Guptas ruled through local leaders instead of controlling everything from the centre |
| Iron Pillar of Delhi | A 6-tonne iron pillar at Mehrauli, over 1,600 years old, set up in the reign of Chandragupta II | Pages 147–148 | A thin protective layer, formed by the special iron and oxygen from the air, keeps it from rusting |
| Āryabhaṭīya | Āryabhaṭa’s short treatise on mathematics and astronomy, written around 500 CE | Page 158 | Says the Earth spins on its axis; gives the year as 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes, 30 seconds |
| Bṛihat Samhitā | Varāhamihira’s encyclopedic work, written at Ujjayinī | Page 158 | Astronomy, astrology, weather forecasting, architecture, town planning — even farming |
| Meghadūtam | Kālidāsa’s poem, ‘The Cloud Messenger’ | Page 159 | A banished yakṣha sends a message to his beloved through a passing cloud |
| Charaka Saṃhitā & Suśhruta Saṃhitā | The foundational Āyurveda texts, compiled and given final shape in the Gupta period | DON’T MISS OUT, page 160 | Diagnosis of diseases, diet, preparation of medicines and surgery — plus holistic healing |
| ghaṭikās | Centres of learning that first emerged under the Sātavāhanas | ‘Meanwhile in the South …’, page 161 | They made Pallava Kānchipuram a major centre of education in the south |
| Prāgjyotiṣha | An ancient name for the Brahmaputra valley of Assam | Pages 161–162 | The Kāmarūpa kingdom of the Varman dynasty; the Mahābhārata names its king Bhagadatta |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 145
- Why Chandragupta II carries a ‘II’ after his name — DON’T MISS OUT Page 149
- Fig. 7.5, an inscription by Harisena — THINK ABOUT IT Page 150
- Looking back at the Grade 6 chapter ‘Timeline and Sources of History’ — LET’S EXPLORE Page 151
- Fig. 7.8 — LET’S EXPLORE Page 151
- A Traveller’s Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age — LET’S EXPLORE Page 153
- Fig. 7.10, an artist’s reimagination of Prabhāvatī Gupta sitting in her court — LET’S EXPLORE Page 155
- Meeting Āryabhaṭa and Varāhamihira with Bhavisha and Dhruv’s time machine — LET’S EXPLORE Page 159
- The codification of Āyurveda in the Gupta period — DON’T MISS OUT Page 160
- Fig. 7.15.1 and 7.15.2, ‘Various aspects of Gupta art’ (page 162) — LET’S EXPLORE Page 160
- The chapter in three points, with the timeline of Fig. 7.19 (page 164) — Before we move on … Page 165
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions and activities Page 165–166