Question map
Fa-hien (Faxian), the Chinese pilgrim, travelled to India during the reign of
Explanation
Fa-hien, one of the most eminent Chinese-Buddhist pilgrims, came to India during 399-414 A.D. during the reign of Chandragupta Vikramaditya[1] (Chandragupta II). Faxian visited India during the reign of Chandragupta and spent around six years in the Gupta kingdom.[2] Chandragupta II was a capable ruler who ruled for 40 years from c. 375 to 415 CE[3], and he is also known as Vikramaditya.[3] Faxian set out on this long and difficult pilgrimage to visit sacred Buddhist sites, learn from renowned Indian scholars and collect manuscripts of Buddhist texts so he could take them back to China.[4] He records the prosperity of the Gupta Empire.[5] This visit during Chandragupta II's reign is well-documented and makes option B the correct answer.
Sources- [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandragupta_II
- [3] History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 7: The Guptas > 7.3 Chandragupta II > p. 92
- [4] Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
- [5] History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 7: The Guptas > Fahien's account on Mathura and Pataliputra > p. 93
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Full viewThis is a textbook 'Sitter' found directly in Class XI Tamil Nadu History and new NCERTs. It represents the classic 'Traveller-King Synchronization' pattern. If you miss this, you aren't failing on difficulty; you are failing on the basics of Ancient History chronology.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: Did Chinese pilgrim Faxian (Fa-hien) travel to India during the reign of Samudragupta?
- Statement 2: Did Chinese pilgrim Faxian (Fa-hien) travel to India during the reign of Chandragupta II?
- Statement 3: Did Chinese pilgrim Faxian (Fa-hien) travel to India during the reign of Kumaragupta I?
- Statement 4: Did Chinese pilgrim Faxian (Fa-hien) travel to India during the reign of Skandagupta?
- Explicitly states the ruling king during Fa-hien's visit: Chandragupta Vikramaditya.
- Gives a date range for Fa-hien's presence in India (399–414 A.D.), tying the pilgrimage to Chandragupta II's reign rather than Samudragupta.
- States that Faxian visited India during the reign of Chandragupta and spent several years in the Gupta kingdom.
- Directly names the reigning Gupta monarch associated with Faxian's visit (Chandragupta).
- Identifies Faxian as having traveled to India during the Gupta period and explicitly links his visit to Chandragupta II.
- Corroborates other sources that place Fa-hien's pilgrimage under Chandragupta II's rule, not Samudragupta.
Explicitly states Faxian visited India in the early 5th century CE, giving a time window for his pilgrimage.
A student can compare this early-5th-century date with Samudragupta's reign dates (from a standard Gupta chronology) to judge overlap.
An exercise item identifies Fahien as a Chinese traveller who presented an idyllic picture of Indian society in the fifth century CE, reinforcing the 5th-century placement.
Use this confirmation of a 5th-century timeframe alongside Samudragupta's reign period to test temporal coincidence.
Describes Samudragupta's long reign (about 40 years) and events during it, providing a multi-decade window that could overlap with early 5th-century visitors.
A student can obtain the conventional start/end years of Samudragupta's ~40-year reign from standard reference timelines and check for overlap with Faxian's early-5th-century visit.
Notes that Chinese pilgrims like Fa Xian travelled to India to collect texts, establishing that such pilgrimages from China to India occurred in this general historical period.
Combine this pattern of China–India pilgrimages with the specific date clues for Faxian and chronological data for Samudragupta to assess plausibility of contemporaneity.
- Explicitly states 'Fahien, the Buddhist scholar from China, visited India during his reign' in the paragraph about Chandragupta II.
- Links Faxian's visit to observations of Gupta prosperity, implying contemporaneous presence at the Gupta court/realm.
- States Faxian visited India in the early 5th century CE, placing his pilgrimage within the timeframe of Chandragupta II's later years.
- Notes Faxian recorded Indian society and governance, supporting that his visit overlapped a major Gupta period.
- Gives Chandragupta II's reign as c. 375 to 415 CE, providing the ruler's chronological span.
- This reign period overlaps the early 5th century date for Faxian's visit, allowing contemporaneity to be established.
- Explicitly states the dates and ruler during which Fa-hien came to India.
- Places Fa-hien's visit in 399–414 A.D., which is before the reign of Kumaragupta I.
- States that Faxian visited India during the reign of Chandragupta (Chandragupta II).
- Confirms the association of Faxian's visit with Chandragupta II rather than Kumaragupta I.
- Identifies Kumaragupta I as the successor of Chandragupta II with reign dated 415–455 AD.
- When combined with Fa-hien's dated visit (399–414), shows Fa-hien visited before Kumaragupta I's reign.
Directly states Faxian visited India in the early 5th century CE, giving a narrow chronological window for his journey.
A student could compare 'early 5th century CE' with the known dates of Kumaragupta I's reign (from standard reference timelines) to see if the periods overlap.
Notes that Chinese pilgrims such as Fa Xian travelled to India to collect texts, establishing that Fa Xian's voyage is part of a documented pattern of early medieval Sino-Indian pilgrimages.
Use this pattern plus chronologies of famous pilgrims to place Fa Xian relative to Indian rulers (check Kumaragupta I's dates against Fa Xian's travel era).
Gives comparative dating for another Chinese pilgrim (Xuanzang in the 7th century), helping to situate Fa Xian (early 5th century) within a broader timeline of Chinese pilgrim visits.
A student can use these relative dates (Fa Xian earlier, Xuanzang later) alongside a timeline of Gupta rulers to judge chronological overlap with Kumaragupta I.
- Explicitly states Fa-hien came to India during the reign of Chandragupta Vikramaditya.
- Gives dates for his visit (399–414 A.D.), tying the pilgrimage to Chandragupta II's period rather than to Skandagupta.
- States that Faxian visited India during the reign of Chandragupta and spent around six years in the Gupta kingdom.
- Places Faxian's visit in Chandragupta II's reign (not Skandagupta).
- Directly says Faxian traveled to India during the Gupta period and names Chandragupta II as the ruler during his visit.
- Corroborates other sources tying Fa-hien's pilgrimage to Chandragupta II rather than to Skandagupta.
Explicitly dates Faxian's visit to India to the early 5th century CE, giving a specific temporal placement for his travels.
A student could compare 'early 5th century' with the known dates of Skandagupta's reign to see whether the periods overlap.
States that a Chinese traveller (option includes 'Fahien') presented an idyllic picture of Indian society in the fifth century CE, linking Faxian to the 5th-century timeframe.
Use this 5th-century attribution alongside precise reign-dates of Skandagupta to assess chronological coincidence.
Describes the general pattern that Chinese pilgrims such as Fa Xian travelled to India to collect texts, establishing Faxian as part of a class of travellers whose journeys are datable and comparable.
A student could use this pattern plus Faxian's dated travel (from other snippets) to evaluate whether his itinerary could have occurred during Skandagupta's reign.
- [THE VERDICT]: Sitter. Direct lift from TN Board Class XI (Ch 7: The Guptas) or NCERT Class VII. Fundamental timeline question.
- [THE CONCEPTUAL TRIGGER]: 'Foreign Accounts & Chronology'. The exam constantly tests the pairing of visiting dignitaries (Ambassadors/Pilgrims) with their contemporary Indian monarchs.
- [THE HORIZONTAL EXPANSION]: Memorize the 'Big 6' pairings: 1. Megasthenes → Chandragupta Maurya. 2. Deimachus → Bindusara. 3. Fa-hien → Chandragupta II. 4. Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang) → Harsha. 5. Al-Biruni → Mahmud of Ghazni. 6. Ibn Battuta → Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
- [THE STRATEGIC METACOGNITION]: Do not study Kings in isolation. Always overlay the 'Cultural Layer' (Poets, Travellers, Architecture) on top of the 'Political Layer' (Reigns). Create a single-page cheat sheet titled 'Who Met Whom'.
Distinguishes Faxian as an early 5th‑century pilgrim and Xuanzang as a 7th‑century pilgrim, which is necessary to match travellers to particular Indian rulers and periods.
High‑yield for chronology and source‑analysis questions; helps correlate travel accounts with Indian political rulers and cultural contexts and eliminate incorrect chronological overlaps. Useful for dating cultural exchanges and primary‑source based MCQs and essays.
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 8: Harsha and Rise of Regional Kingdoms > Administration of Justice > p. 108
Faxian and Xuanzang undertook pilgrimages to collect manuscripts and relics and carried them back to China.
Core for questions on religious diffusion and India‑Asia cultural transmission; links to topics on Buddhism, textual preservation, translation, and intellectual exchange. Useful in answers on how knowledge moved across regions and why traveller accounts are historically valuable.
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
- THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART I, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 4: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings > How Buddhist texts were prepared and preserved > p. 86
Samudragupta is described as a long‑reigning Gupta monarch with military campaigns and rituals, but no absolute dates are provided to link traveller visits to his reign.
Important for source‑criticism and chronology questions; trains aspirants to distinguish ruler attributes from precise chronological placement and to seek independent inscriptional/numismatic dates before asserting overlaps. Helps frame answers that require caution when matching travellers to rulers.
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 7: The Guptas > 7.2 Samudragupta > p. 92
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
Compare a traveller's visit date with a ruler's reign dates to establish whether they were contemporaries.
High-yield for source-based chronology questions: mastering this lets aspirants validate claims about interactions, corroborate accounts, and avoid anachronisms. It connects chronology, political history, and source reliability and helps answer questions asking whether events or people overlapped.
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 7: The Guptas > 7.3 Chandragupta II > p. 92
Pilgrims like Faxian recorded Indian religious sites, society and governance, making their travelogues key primary accounts for the Gupta period.
Essential for cultural and religious history questions: understanding these travellers helps evaluate external perspectives on India, assess preservation and transmission of Buddhist texts, and use travel accounts as primary sources in essays and prelim/source-based questions.
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 7: The Guptas > Fahien's account on Mathura and Pataliputra > p. 93
Faxian visited in the early 5th century while Xuanzang travelled in the 7th century; their visits and contributions belong to different periods.
Prevents chronological confusion in answers and supports accurate attribution of observations and texts to the correct traveller. Useful for comparative questions on foreign pilgrims and for questions testing timeline accuracy.
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond. Social Science-Class VI . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: India, That Is Bharat > DON'T MISS OUT > p. 83
Identifying pilgrims such as Faxian and Xuanzang by the centuries they travelled is essential to place their visits in Indian historical chronology.
High-yield for UPSC because assigning travellers to correct centuries helps date political and cultural contexts; it links travellers to contemporary rulers, religious institutions and regional politics, and enables matching-type and chronology questions.
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
- Exploring Society:India and Beyond. Social Science-Class VI . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: India, That Is Bharat > DON'T MISS OUT > p. 83
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 8: Harsha and Rise of Regional Kingdoms > Administration of Justice > p. 108
Fa-hien never explicitly mentions the name of Chandragupta II in his travelogue; he only refers to the 'King of the Middle Kingdom' and describes the administration. Contrast this with Hiuen Tsang, who explicitly names and praises Harsha. The next logical question could be about 'I-tsing' (late 7th century) who focused on the Nalanda curriculum rather than political kings.
Use the 'Golden Age' Heuristic. Fa-hien described a land of immense peace, prosperity, and vegetarianism where people moved freely. This description aligns perfectly with the peak stability of the Gupta era (Chandragupta II/Vikramaditya). Samudragupta was a warrior-conqueror (instability of expansion), and Skandagupta faced the brutal Hun invasions (instability of defense).
Link to GS-1 (Indian Society/History): Use Fa-hien's observation that 'people were not required to register their households' and 'punishments were mild (fines)' to contrast the decentralized, lenient Gupta administration against the centralized, surveillance-heavy Mauryan state described in the Arthashastra.
SIMILAR QUESTIONS
Consider the following statements: 1. The Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien attended the fourth Great Buddhist Council held by Kanishka. 2. The Chinese pilgrim Huen-Tsangmet Harsha and found him to be antagonistic to Buddhism. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The following persons came to India at one time or another : I. Fa-Hien II. I-Tsing III. Megasthenese IV. Hieun-Tsang The correct chronological sequence of their visits is :
Sanghabhuti, an Indian Buddhist monk, who travelled to China at the end of the fourth century AD, was the author of a commentary on :