Draft:Gupta Army
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The Gupta Army (or the Imperial Gupta Army) refers to the military of The Gupta Empire (240 CE - 550 CE).
Military Innovations
[edit]In contrast to the Mauryan Empire, the Guptas introduced several military innovations to Indian warfare.
Military Organisation
[edit]Chief amongst these was the use of siege engines, heavy cavalry archers and heavy sword cavalry. The heavy cavalry formed the core of the Gupta Army and were supported by the traditional Indian Army elements of war elephants and light infantry.[1]
The utilisation of horse archers in the Gupta period is evidenced on the coinage of Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I and Prakasaditya (postulated to be Purugupta)[2] that depicts the kings as horse-archers.[3]
There is a paucity of contemporary sources detailing the tactical operations of the Imperial Gupta Army. The best extant information comes from the Sanskrit mahakavya (epic poem) Raghuvaṃśa written by the Classical Sanskrit writer and dramatist Kalidasa. Many modern scholars put forward the view that Kalidasa lived from the reign of Chandragupta II to the reign of Skandagupta and that the campaigns of Raghu – his protagonist in the Raghuvaṃśa – reflect those of Chandragupta II. In Canto IV of the Raghuvamsa, Kalidasa relates how the king's forces clash against the powerful, cavalry-centric, forces of the Persians and later the Yavanas (probably Huns) in the North-West. Here he makes special mention of the use horse-archers in the king's army and that the horses needed much rest after the hotly contested battles. The five arms of the Gupta military included infantry, cavalry, chariotry, elephantry and ships. Gunaighar copper plate inscription of Vainya Gupta mentions ships but not chariots. Ships had become integral part of Indian military in the 6th century CE.
Military Engagements
[edit]Gupta conquests of Bengal [Gupta Victory]
Gupta-Saka Wars [Gupta Victory]
Samudragupta's conquest of Western Satraps [Gupta Victory]
Gupta–Hunnic Wars [Gupta Victory]
Chandragupta II's conquest of Western Satraps [Gupta Victory]
Chandragupta II's conquest of Western Satraps [Gupta Victory]
References
[edit]- ^ Roy, Kaushik (2015). Warfare in Pre-British India, 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-315-74270-0. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ Ganguly, Dilip Kumar (1987). The imperial Guptas and their times (1. publ ed.). New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-222-2.
- ^ Roy, Kaushik (2015). Warfare in pre-British India, 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Asian states and empires. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-52979-2.