DECLINE OF THE GUPTA EMPIRE

DECLINE OF THE GUPTA EMPIRE


The last great king of the Gupta was Skanda Gupta was ascended the

throne about 455 A.D. Even during the later years of Kumar Gupta's

reign, the empire was attacked by a tribe called Pushyamitra but it

was repulsed, And immediately after the accession of Skanda Gupta,

Hunas made inroads, but they too were repelled.

However, fresh waves of Invaders arrived and shattered the fabric of

the Gupta Empire. Although in the beginning the Gupta king Skanda

Gupta tried effectively to stem the march of the Hunas into India, his

successors proved to be weak and could not cope with the Huna

invaders, who excelled in horsemanship and who possibly used

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stirrups made of metal, Although the Huna power was soon

overthrown by Yasodharman of Malwa, the Malwa prince successfully

challenged the authority of the Guptas and set up Pillars of victory

commorating his conquest (AD 532) of almost the whole of northern

India. Indeed Yasodharman's rule was short lived, but he dealt a

severe blow to the Gupta empire.

The Gupta empire was further undermined by the rise of the

feudatories. The governors appointed by the Gupta kings in north

Bengal and their feudatories in Samatata or south-east Bengal broke

away from the Gupta control. The later Gutpas of Magadha established

their power in Bihar. Besides, the Maukharis rose to power in Bihar

and Uttar Pradeshand had their capital at Kanauj. Proabably by AD 550

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and passed out of gupta hands. And the rulers

of Valabhi established their authority in Guajarat and Western Malw

ANOTHER CAUSE :

After the reign of Skanda Gupta (467 AD) any Gupta coin or inscription

has been found in western Malwa and Saurashtra. The migration of

guild of Silk weavers from Gujarata to Malwa in AD 473 and their

adoption of non-productive professions show that there was not much

demand for cloth produced by them. The advantages from Gujarat

trade gradually disappeared. After the middle of the fifth century the

Gupta kings made desperate attempts to maintain their gold currency

by reducing the content of pure gold in it. The loss of western India

complete by the end of the fifth century, must have deprived the

Gutpas of the rich revenues from trade and commerce and crippled

them economically, and the princes of Thaneswar established their

power in Haryana and then gradually moved on to Kanauj.

ADDITIONAL NOTE :

The causes of the downfall of disappearence of the Guptas were

basically not different from those that brought the end many ancient

and medieval dynasties. Over and above the usual causes of

administrative inefficiency, weak successors and stagnant the fall of

the Guptas: dynastic dissensions, foreign inassions and some internal

rebellions.

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DYNSTIC DISSENSIONS AND WEAKK RULERS :

There is evidence to show that following the death of Kumaragupta

and Skandagupta, there were civil wars and struggles for the throne.

For instance, wehave the successors of Buddhagupta, highlighting the

rule of more than just one king. Those were Vinayagupta in Bengal

and Bhanugupta in Iran.

Absence of law of primogeniture along with strong centralized

authority in ancient and medieval periods led to chaos. Thus we see

that the resources of the empire were frittered away in petty

squabbles and wars for the throne.

Besides circumstances weakening the Gupta monarchy, the very

personalities of the later Gupta Kings contributed to the ultimate fall of

this dynasty. They were not only men of weak character but also some

of them followed pacifies that affected other spheres of administration,

particularly that of military efficiency.

FOREIGN INVASIONS:

Foreign invasions was the second major factor in the decline and

disappearance of the Gutpas. The invasion of barbaric tribe

Pushyamitra was not the decisive. A far more important invasion was

that of the White Huns, who, after settling in the Oxus vally, invaded

India. First appeared during the reign of Budhagupta. Again they

reappeared under the command of Toramana who annexed a large

portion of the north-western region including parts of Moder U.P. He

followed by hisson, Mihirakula, who became the overlord of north

India. Indeed he was defeated by Yashodharman of Malwa but the

repercussions of these invasions were disastrous for the Gupta Empire.

INTERNAL REBELLIONS :

As a result of the weakning of Central Authoriy a number of feudal

chieftans, principally those of the north-western region, assumed the

status of independent rulers might more some names in this regard

such as Maitrakas (of Kathiawar), Panivarajaks (of Budndhelkhand),

Unchkalpas, Laxman in Allahabad. Etc.

After the reign of Buddhagupta, the status of certain, governors of

North Bengal and Yamuna - Narmada area around Magadh too

assumed independence and became to be known as the later Guptas.

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By fat one of the most important rebellions was that of Yashodharman

of western Malwa who became independentand established his

kingdom. He defeated Mihirakula and sesms to have made extensive

conquests from the Himalayas to Brahamputra. However, his empire

did not last very long. Nevertheless, it set a pattern for other feudal

cheiftans, who in due course, broke away from Central authority.

Last but not the lest, we might note that the change in the Gupta

polity from one of militancy to that of pacifism greatly affected the

composition of the empire. We do have instance some of the later

Gupta kings who changed from Hinduism to Buddhism and this was

reflected inmate total military inefficiency of the later Guptas.

Apart from these three major groups of causes, that led to the final

disappearance of the Gupta empire, it is to be borne mind that no

empire after the Mauryas was a reality. Ver often they were total

fictions. With the disappearance of the Mauryan empire no empire in

its full connotation came into existence in India since we had no

tradition like that of the Greeks where it is held that the State comes

into existence for the necessities of life but continues to exist for the

good of life, and man, by nature, is a political animal. Somehow, after

the Mauryan era the thinking of India became apolitical. The first

factor that contributed for this outlook of Indians was the emergence

of feudalism about which evidence is there from the days of the

Satavahanas. This tendency grew in the Christian ara and was firmly

established by the seventh century AD.

Along with this development one more saboteur of political

consciousness was the religious perception of ancient Indians.

Beginning before the Christian are it came to be gradually established

that the kingship has its own dharma known as rajya-dhrma while the

people had a handul of dharmas like varnashrama dharma and the

grihadharma. All these dharmas led the individual loyalty or perception

towards a non-political entity. This thinking is given religious sanction

by the priestly order. This thinking is given religious sanction by the

priestly order of the day. Thus the State never was the architectonic

factor in the life of ancient Indian except during the Mauryan era. It is

this perception of ancient India that made the emergence and

disappearance of hundreds of States mere non-events.

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