Fa-hien (Faxian), the Chinese pilgrim, travelled to India during the reign of
- Samudragupta
- Chandragupta II
- Kumaragupta I
- Skandagupta
Explanation
Option (b) is correct
- Fa Xian (Fa Hien) was the first of the three renowned Chinese pilgrim travellers to visit India between the fifth and seventh centuries. The other two are Xuan Zang, or Hsuan Tsang (seventh century), and I-Qing, or I-tsing (seventh century). Fa Xian visited India during the Chandragupta II’s reign for around nine years, probably 400-410 CE. The main purpose of his visit was to see the Buddha’s land and collect Buddhist manuscripts from India. During his nine-year stay in India, he spent six years in the Gupta Empire. He stayed in Pataliputra for three years studying Sanskrit and copying Buddhist texts.
- Fa Xian provides valuable information on the religious, social and economic conditions of the Gupta empire. According to him, Buddhism was flourishing in northwestern India, but in the Gangetic valley it was neglected. He refers to the Gangetic valley as the ‘land of Brahmanism‘. He mentioned the unsatisfactory condition of some Buddhist holy places, such as Kapilavastu and Kusinagara. According to him, the empire’s economic condition was prosperous. Although his account is valuable in many respects, he did not mention Chandragupta II by name. He was not interested in political affairs. His interest was primarily religion. He assessed everything from the Buddhist angle. His observations on social conditions are found to be exaggerated. Yet his accounts are useful for understanding the general condition of the country.
