The Vakataka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c8.2

c8.2

Owing to the dearth of original sources, the history of the Punjab, Afghanistan and Sindh, subsequent to the death of Vāsudeva I (in c. 180 A.D.), is shrouded in considerable obscurity. There are no contemporary inscriptions to throw light upon the events in the political history of these provinces during the 3rd century A. D. The Purāṇas no doubt refer to Śaka, Yavana and Tuṣāra rulers ruling in the north-west during this period, but do not give their names or the duration of their reigns. Foreign sources supply us with some more definite information, but it is meagre and often difficult to interpret. Coins of the kings ruling in these provinces and their contemporaries in Iran and Bactria are almost the only reliable source of information. These, however, are not dated, and their legends also are often incomplete or illegible. It will be thus seen that we can at present reconstruct the history of this period only in broad outline; subsequent discoveries may modify our present tentative conclusions.