The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by some other historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta.
Chandragupta II, also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was the Gupta emperor. Modern scholars generally identify him with King Chandra of the Delhi iron pillar inscription.
Chandragupta I was a monarch of the Gupta Empire, who ruled in northern and central India. His title Mahārājadhirāja suggests that he was the first suzerain ruler of the dynasty. It is not certain how he turned his small ancestral kingdom into an empire, although a widely accepted theory among modern historians is that his marriage to the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi helped him extend his political power. Their son Samudragupta further expanded the Gupta Empire.
Kumaragupta I was Gupta emperor from 415 until his death in 455. A son of the Gupta king Chandragupta II and Queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, which extended from Gujarat in the west to Bengal region in the east.
Skandagupta was a Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He repulsed an invasion by the Indo-Hephthalites, probably the Kidarites. He seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, and is generally considered the last of the great Gupta Emperors. The Gupta genealogy after him is unclear, but he was most probably succeeded by Purugupta, who appears to have been his younger half-brother.
Yashodharman was ruler of the Malava Empire in North India, from 515 until his death in 545. He belonged to the Second Aulikara dynasty. He conquered much of the Indian subcontinent between c. 530–540 according to the Mandsaur pillar inscription.
The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns, were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna, and in Europe as the Chionites, and may even be considered as identical to the Chionites. The 5th century Byzantine historian Priscus called them Kidarite Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites". The Huna/Xionite tribes are often linked, albeit controversially, to the Huns who invaded Eastern Europe during a similar period. They are entirely different from the Hephthalites, who replaced them about a century later.
The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central parts of India, between 35 and 415 CE. The Western Satraps were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and were possibly vassals of the Kushans. They were also contemporaneous with the Satavahana who ruled in Central India. They are called "Western Satraps" in modern historiography in order to differentiate them from the "Northern Satraps", who ruled in Punjab and Mathura until the 2nd century CE.
Ghatotkacha was a pre-imperial Gupta king of northern India. He was a son of the dynasty's founder Gupta, and the father of the dynasty's first emperor Chandragupta I.
Budhagupta was a Gupta emperor and the successor of Kumaragupta II. He was the son of Purugupta and was succeeded by Narasimhagupta.
The Aulikaras, were an ancient clan that ruled the Kingdom of Daśapura between the 4th-century CE and 6th-century CE.
Purugupta was an emperor of the Gupta dynasty in northern India. Purugupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I by his queen Anantadevi. He succeeded his half-brother Skandagupta. No inscription of Purugupta has been found so far. He is known from the Bhitari silver-copper seal of his grandson Kumaragupta III and Nalanda clay sealings of his sons Narasimhagupta and Budhagupta and his grandson Kumaragupta III. From the Saranath Buddha image inscription, it is concluded that he was succeeded by Kumaragupta II. According to Hornell and Raychaudhary, Prakashaditya was another title of Purugupta, although this has now been disproven by Pankaj Tandon, who has definitively shown that Prakashaditya was the Hun king Toramana.
The Pushyamitras were a tribe who lived in Central India during the 5th century CE. Living on the banks of the river Narmada, they are believed to have posed a serious threat to the Gupta Empire during the late period of Kumaragupta I's reign.
Kumaragupta III was a later Gupta Emperor. He succeeded his father Narasimhagupta in about 530 CE.
The Alchon Huns, also known as the Alkhan, Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alakhana, and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. They were first mentioned as being located in Paropamisus, and later expanded south-east, into the Punjab and Central India, as far as Eran and Kausambi. The Alchon invasion of the Indian subcontinent eradicated the Kidarite Huns who had preceded them by about a century, and contributed to the fall of the Gupta Empire, in a sense bringing an end to Classical India.
The Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta was discovered in the village of Bhitari near Saidpur in Uttar Pradesh and dates to the reign of Gupta Empire ruler Skandagupta. Further, the inscription is written in Sanskrit and is 15 feet high.
Govindagupta was a Gupta prince of ancient India. He was a son of Chandragupta II and Dhruvadevi, and a brother of Kumaragupta.
The Gupta–Saka Wars refers to the military conflict between the Gupta Empire and the Western Satraps during the 4th century CE. Chandragupta II, also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was a prominent ruler of the Gupta Empire during the 4th century CE. His reign is marked by significant military achievements, notably his subjugation of the Western Satraps who ruled in west-central India. Chandragupta II's success against the Western Satraps is attested by a combination of historical and literary evidence.
The Gupta - Kidarite Conflict was a military confrontation of the Imperial Guptas under the command of Skandagupta during the Reign of Kumaragupta and the Kidarites.
Sudarshana Lake is an artificial lake located in the semi-arid region of Kathiawar. The lake was originally commissioned by Chandragupta Maurya and later renovated by several kings across different dynasties.
