The Vakataka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c7.6

c7.6

The overlordship of the Guptas in the political field did not last for more than a century (c. 360 to 460 A.D.) The later Gupta emperors were not so able as the earlier ones; local governors began to develop into semi-independent feudatories, and the great strength acquired by the alliance with the Vākāṭakas disappeared when that Deccan power began to decline towards the middle of the 5th century. In the first half of the 6th century, it was clearly realised that the days of the Guptas and the Vākāṭakas were over and there was a great scramble for the imperial position between the Later Guptas, the Maukharis, the Hūṇas, and the Aulikaras in northern India, and the Naḷas, the Kadambas and the Kalachuris in the Deccan. The history of India once more assumed the spectacle of interminable wars between rival powers which decimated national strength without benefitting any party. The time-honoured political philosophy, which maintained that local powers should not be sacrificed for establishing a strong central state, was mainly responsible for this state of affairs. The situation was worsened by the influx of the Hūṇas, whose invasions were facilitated by the failure of the Guptas to secure or keep control over the Khyber pass and the Punjab.