Revision summary
Gupta gold showed the king as archer, lyrist, or horseman with Lakshmi or ritual reverses and Brahmi verse. Metal was relatively pure and the die work was sculptural. Post-Gupta and early medieval coins often debased metal and used stiff stock types. Sultanate and Mughal art followed another visual language. The claim holds for Gupta-style numismatic art, not for all later mint skill.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD G[Gupta dinara] --> P[Portrait legend Lakshmi] D[Debase copy Huna] M[Medieval types] P --> X[Later series] D --> X M --> X X --> L[Excellence not continued]
Conclusion
- Justify the view with die quality, metal, and iconography, and name Samudragupta’s lyrist type against a later bull-and-horseman piece.
- Treat the break as a change of court taste and metal supply after the sixth century, not as the death of all Indian coin skill.
Gupta numismatic art set a peak of portrait, legend, and ritual reverse on gold. Later Indian coinage remained useful money, but that particular excellence of modelling and royal theatre is not noticeable in the same way.
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Students also ask
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Clarify how mid-eighteenth century India was beset with the spectre of a fragmented polity.
Next question in the 2017 paper (Q2). View answer →
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Did Indian coin art die after the Guptas?
No. Mints continued. The lost thing is the Gupta mix of naturalistic royal portrait, Sanskrit legend, and mythic reverse on fine gold.
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Are Mughal coins inferior as art?
Not as calligraphy or as imperial propaganda. They are a different tradition, so they do not continue Gupta numismatic excellence.
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