he rise of the Sassanids in Persia. For more than a century the
political history of India is a blank and little can be said except that
the kingdom of Surashtra continued to exist under a Saka dynasty.

Light returns with the rise of the Gupta dynasty, which roughly marks
the beginning of modern Hinduism and of a reaction against Buddhism.
Though nothing is known of the fortunes of Pataliputra, the ancient
imperial city of the Mauryas, during the first three centuries of our
era, it continued to exist. In 320 a local Raja known as Candragupta I
increased his dominions and celebrated his coronation by the institution
of the Gupta era. His son Samudra Gupta continued his conquests and in
the course of an extraordinary campaign, concluded about 340 A.D.,
appears to have received the submission of almost the whole peninsula.
He made no attempt to retain all this territory but his effective
authority was exercised in a wide district extending from the Hugli to
the rivers Jumna and Chambal in the west and from the Himalayas to the
Narbudda. His son Candragupta II or Vikramaditya added to these
possessions Malwa, Gujarat and Kathiawar and for more than half a
century the Guptas ruled undisturbed over nearly all northern India
except Rajputana and Sind. Their capital was at first Pataliputra, but
afterwards Kausambi and Ayodhya became royal residences.

The fall of the Guptas was brought about by another invasion of
barbarians known as Hunas, Ephthalites[119] or White Huns and apparently
a branch of the Huns who invaded Europe. This branch remained behind in
Asia and occupied northern Persia. They invaded India first in 455, and
were repulsed, but returned about 490 in greater force and overthrew the
Guptas. Their kings Toramana and Mihiragula were masters of northern
India till 540 and had their local capital at Sialkot in the Panjab,
though their headquarters were rather in Bamyin and Balkh. The cruelties
of Mihiragula provoked a coalition of Hindu princes. The Huns were
driven to the north and about 565 A.D. their destruction was completed
by the allied forces of the Persians and Turks. Though they founded no
permanent states their invasion was important, for many of them together
with kindred tribes such as the Gurjaras (Gujars) remained behind when
their political power broke up and, like the Sakas and Kushans before
them, contributed to form the population of north-western India,
especially the Rajput clans.

The defea