who was fa-hien what did he say about India the question in the age of Guptas
Answers
Answer:
Fa Hien was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled by foot from Ancient China to Ancient India, visiting many sacred Buddhist sites in Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia between 399-412 to acquire Buddhist texts.
Fa-hien did not record anything specifically about the political condition of India. He did not mention even the name of Chandra Gupta II in whose dominion he must have lived for more than five years.
Explanation:
Fa-hien, a Chinese pilgrim, visited India during the reign of Chandra Gupta II. His primary aim was to visit the Buddhist religious places and to take with him the copies of the Buddhist religious texts. He, therefore, travelled through the Gupta empire and also wrote down his impressions about India. As his main interest was religion, we know nothing about the political condition of India from his account. However, his account helps us to know something about the social and religious condition of that period.
Fa-hien started his voyage to India in 399 A.D. He travelled through the desert of Gobi and reached Khotan where he found many Buddhist monasteries. He then visited Shanshan. Tarter Pradesh and Kasagara. The then ruler of Kasagara was a Buddhist. Therefore, he met Buddhist monks and found many monasteries there also. After that, he crossed the Pamir plateau, Swat and entered Gandhara Pradesh.
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He reached India about 400 A.D. and remained here up to 411 A.D. He visited Peshawar, Taxila, Mathura, Kannauj. Sravasti, Kapilavastu, Sarnath and many other places. He embarked for Ceylon at the sea-port of Tamralipti (West Bengal). He remained in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for two years and then reached back China via Jawa in 414 A.D.
His account, which refers to India, provides us the following information:
1. Political Condition and Administration:
Fa-hien did not record anything specifically about the political condition of India. He did not mention even the name of Chandra Gupta II in whose dominion he must have lived for more than five years. However, we can deduce something from his records. It is inferred that the administration of the Guptas was liberal, the people enjoyed economic prosperity and the burden of taxes on them was not heavy.
There were a few quarrels or disputes and the people rarely felt the necessity to approach the judiciary. Mostly, corporal punishment was avoided and usually fines were exacted from the offenders according to the nature of their offence. Those who attempted repeated offences against the state were punished severely and in that case their right hands were cut off. It suggests that the offences were few and minor and, probably, death penalty was absent.