70. Consider the following statements :
1. The famous Chinese pilgrim, Fahien visited India during the reign of Samudragupta.
2. Fahien refers to the Gangetic valley as the ‘land of Brahmanism’.
Which of the above statements is/are correct ?
b) 2 only
Answer : B
Explanation :
The famous Chinese pilgrim, Fahien visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II. Out of his nine years stay in India, he spent six years in the Gupta empire. He came to India by the land route through Khotan, Kashgar, Gandhara and Punjab. He visited Peshawar, Mathura, Kanauj, Sravasti, Kapilavastu, Kusinagara, Pataliputra, Kasi and Bodh Gaya among other places. He returned by the sea route, visiting on the way Ceylon and Java. The main purpose of his visit was to see the land of the Buddha and to collect Buddhist manuscripts from India. He stayed in Pataliputra for three years studying Sanskrit and copying Buddhist texts.
Fahien provides valuable information on the religious, social and economic condition of the Gupta empire. According to him, Buddhism was in a flourishing condition in the northwestern India but in the Gangetic valley it was in a state of neglect. He refers to the Gangetic valley as the ‘land of Brahmanism’. Fahien mentions the unsatisfactory state of some of the Buddhist holy places like Kapilavastu and Kusinagara. According to him the economic condition of the empire was prosperous.