During this period, the Northern Indians invented the numeral system, sometimes erroneously attributed to the Arabs, and the decimal system. Aryabhatta's astronomical exhibitions led to the calculations of the solar year and the shape and movement of astral bodies. Charaka and Sushruta developed a fully evolved system of medicine, similar to that of Hippocrates and Galen in Greece. Indian physicians excelled in pharmacopoeia, caesarean section, bone setting, and skin grafting (Rapson 122).

             Chandra's son, Samudragupta, was perhaps the greatest king of the Gupta Dynasty. He is correctly known as the father of the Gupta monetary system, creating and disseminating an extensive coinage. Samudragupta minted seven distinct types of coins: the standard, archer, Battle Axe (military activities), Ashwamedha (commemorating the horse sacrifice ceremony), tiger slayer, king and queen, and lyrist types. Most Gupta gold coins weighed close to 8 grams and had Shri-Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, on their reverse side (Rapson 307). .

             The Gupta Dynasty died out due to weak rulers and invasions, but much of the cultural and intellectual achievements, including the cave art and sculptures, were saved and transmitted to other cultures. They still remain in sections of the country today.

             Although South India developed later than the North, it became a crossroads of the ancient world, linking the Mediterranean lands and the Far East. The Southern coastline became the most important trading shore in the Indian sub-continent, resulting in a great deal of relationships of natives with the traders. The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. . .

             The South was impacted considerably by the spread of Aryan culture from the North. However, North Indian culture was transmitted not only by those who spoke Sanskrit: In this period of history, Buddhists and Jainists who spoke Pali and Prakit were as important as Brahmins who spread forms of Hinduism (Kulke 96-97).