Who among the following provides much useful information for determining the beginning of Gupta Era?

Correct option is D

The correct answer is (D) Al – Biruni

Explanation:
• Al-Biruni was a 11th-century Persian scholar who came to India with Mahmud of Ghazni. In his masterpiece 'Kitab-ul-Hind', he provides a detailed account of Indian science, philosophy, and chronology.
• Al-Biruni mentions the various eras (Samvats) used in India. He explicitly notes the relationship between the Shaka Era and the Gupta Era.
• He states that the Gupta Era began 241 years after the Shaka Era. Since the Shaka Era started in 78 CE, historians used Al-Biruni's data to calculate the start of the Gupta Era: 78 + 241 = 319 CE.
• This specific chronological calculation provided by a foreign observer was instrumental for modern historians (like J.F. Fleet) to fix the dates of the Gupta dynasty accurately.

Information Booster:
• Al-Biruni is often called the 'First Anthropologist' for his objective study of Indian culture.
• He mastered Sanskrit to study the Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita.

Additional Knowledge:
• Fa-Hian (Option A): Visited during Chandragupta II's reign (early 5th century) but his focus was on Buddhism and social conditions, not chronology.
• Hien-Tsang (Option B): Visited during Harsha's reign (7th century) and provides information on post-Gupta India.
• Al-Masudi (Option C): A 10th-century Arab traveler known as the 'Herodotus of the Arabs', he wrote about the Gurjara-Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas.