Disintegration of Gupta

empire and the aftermath

Huna invasion
Maukharis, Vakatakas, Chalukyas and Later Guptas
Huna invasion
• The Huns ruled Bactria in central Asia
• Central Asia was passed through by the silk route
• It acted as a link between India and China
• There was a closed contact between India and central Asia even
before the Gupta period
• Buddhism had been spread to central Asia especially during the rule
of Kanishka
• Towards the end of Gupta period the Huns used to invade India
• Guptas could initially defend the country from the invasion
• However, they gave a major blow by the years towards the end of the
fifth century
• Hunas entered north India in large numbers. Excellent archers and
skilful horsemen familiar with metal stirrups, the Hunas hastened the
disintegration of the empire, and within the next half century it gave
way to a number of kingdoms.
• The dissolution of the tottering Gupta empire coincides with the
establishment of the Huna kingdom in north India as far as Eran in
Madhya Pradesh.
• But short lived.
• The first important Huna king was Toramana
• In AD 515 he was succeeded by his son Mihirakula, who ruled from
Sakala (Sialkot)
• Tradition speaks of him as a tyrant, an iconoclast and a persecutor of
the Buddhists, but he was also a devout Shaiva who founded the
temple of Mihireshvara.
• Mihirakula was defeated by Yashodharman of Malwa and
Narasimhagupta Baladitya of the Gupta dynasty in succession.
• But the collapse of the Huna power did not lead to the revival of the
empire of the Guptas.
Feudatories
• The disintegration of Gupta power cannot be fully explained by the
Huna invasion.
• Guptas adopted such pompous titles as maharadhiraja,
parameshvara, parama-bhattaraka, paramadvaita and chakravarti,
which imply the existence of lesser kings with considerable authority
within the empire.
• The major part of the territory conquered by the Guptas was ruled by
such feudatories as the Parivrajaka and Uchchhakalpa princes in
central India and many others subdued by Samudragupta.
• Only Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which formed the nucleus of
the empire, were directly under imperial rule.
• The leading feudatories of the Gupta emperors were the Maitrakas of
Valabhi, the Vardhanas of Thaneswar, the Maukharis of Kanauj, the
Later Guptas of Magadha, and the Chandras of Bengal.
• As soon as the opportunity presented itself, they asserted their
independence, reducing the empire to a mere shadow.
• The Maukharis at first held the region of western Uttar Pradesh
around Kanauj, and gradually they ousted the Magadhan Guptas from
their kingdom, after which the Guptas moved to Malwa.
• The Pushyabhutis ruled in Thanesar, north of Delhi. They had made a
marriage alliance with the Maukharis, and, on the death of the last
Maukhari king, the Maukhari nobles requested Harsha, the reigning
Pushyabhuti king, to unite his kingdom with the Maukhari kingdom
and rule from Kanauj.
• The Pushyabhuti family came to the fore after the Hun invasion and
achieved influence on the accession of Prabhakara-vardhana
• The Maitrakas, it is claimed, were of Iranian origin and ruled in
Gujarat (now called Saurashtra), and developed Valabhi, their capital,
into an important centre of learning.
• Of the four main kingdoms, the Maitrakas survived the longest and
continued to rule until the middle of the eighth century, when they
succumbed to attacks from the Arabs.
• On the periphery of these four kingdoms were a number of small
principalities continually fighting each other and seizing territory. This
was particularly the case in Bengal and Assam.
Vakataka
• The Vakatakas rose to power in the latter half of the third century
A.D., basing themselves on what remained of the Satavahana
kingdom – northern Maharashtra and Vidarbha (Berar).
• Vidhyashakti I was founder of the dynasty
• Pravarasena I, ruling in the early fourth century A.D., conquered large
parts of the western Deccan and central India.
• The Vakataka kingdom was divided into four parts under the
successor of Pravarasena I.
• This weakened the state, but at the same time prevented the
Vakatakas from being humiliated by Samudra Gupta, since he was
content to obtain the homage of the Vakataka feudatories in central
India and did not harass the main line of the Vakataka kings.
• Their survival after the Gupta campaigns gave them the opportunity
to rearrange their territory to good advantage in dominating the
Deccan.
• In the circumstances the Guptas found a marriage alliance
advantageous.
• A marriage alliance was concluded between the Guptas and the
Vakatakas, Chandra Gupta’s daughter marrying the Vakataka king
Rudrasena II.
• Rudrasena II died five years after coming to the throne and, his sons
being minors, his widow (the daughter of Chandra Gupta II) acted as
regent from c. 390–410.
• The Vakataka kingdom became virtually a part of the Gupta empire
and declined when the Gupta power was on the wane
• Culturally, it was instrumental in transmitting Brahmanical ideals and
institutions to the south India
Chalukyas
• The Chalukyas built their kingdom on the ruins of the Vakatakas, who
in turn had built theirs on the remains of that of the Satavahanas.
• The Chalukyas began with a base in northern Mysore at Vatapi or
Badami and the adjacent Aihole, from where they moved northwards
and annexed the former kingdom of the Vakatakas, which was
centred around Nasik and the Upper Godavari.
• There were branches of Chalukyas – the Chalukyas of Badami,
Chalukyas of Vengi, and Chalukyas of Kalyan.
• The Chalukyas of Badami laid foundations for Chalukya imperial
dynasty over south India (Dakshinapatha) from mid 8th century
• Pulakesin II was the first great ruler of Chalukyas of Badami
• They were great champion of Vedic sacrifices and even performed
asvamedha and vajapeya
• The Chalukyas of Vengi established themselves in the east but later
became feudatories of the Cholas
• Chalukyas of Kalyan were feudatories of Rashtrakutas
Later Guptas
• A dynasty known as Later Guptas established themselves in Magadha
when the Gupta empire disintegrate
• The Later Guptas were not related with the Guptas but the former
adopted Gupta titles in their name and known as Later Guptas
• They suffered subsequent invasions of the Maukhari king
Sharvavarman, the Kamarupa king Supratishthita-varman, and the
Tibetan king Songtsen.
• Sasanka of Gauda was their feudatory but declared independence
and eventually freed
• They were in matrimonial alliance with Pushyabhutis/Vardhana
dynasty of Kanauj and saved from the latters expansionism
• After the death of Harshavardhana the Later Gupta ruler Adityasena
became the sovereign ruler of a large kingdom extending from the
Ganges in the north to the Chhota Nagpur in the south; and from
Gomati River in the east to the Bay of Bengal in the west.
• Adityasena was soon defeated by Chalukyas
• Jivitagupta II, the last known ruler of the dynasty, appears to have
been defeated by Yashovarman of the Varman dynasty of Kannauj
circa 750 CE