The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c10.7

v1.c10.7

The failure of the Guptas to capture and guard the north-western gates of India soon resulted in the arrival of another horde of barbarian invaders, the Hūṇas, about the middle of the 5th century A.D. The shock of the Hūṇa invasions must have shaken the foundations of the imperial power of the Guptas, although, as is indicated by the Damodarpur plates (443-543 A.D.), they apparently retained a substantial section of their dominions till about the first half of the 6th century A.D. But the Gupta power was fast declining by that time, and new rivals had arisen who threatened its foundations. The period that followed saw a scramble for power amongst the Puṣpabhūtis of Sthāṇvīśvara, the Maukharis of Kānyakubja, the Gauḍas of Karṇasuvarṇa, the Bhagadattas of Prāgjyotiṣa, and the later Guptas. The struggle ended about the beginning of the 7th century A.D. in the establishment of the hegemony of the Puṣpabhūtis over a large portion of Northern India, with their capital at Kanauj. In the Deccan the Cāḷukyas of Vātāpi had supplanted the Vākāṭakas, while further south the Pallavas of Kāñcī were fast growing into a great power. There was little love lost between these three kingdoms, and bitter wars soon ensued between them. The Cāḷukyas had to maintain a twofold struggle on the Narbada and the Kistna-Tungabhadra frontiers against their northern and southern enemies.