Numerous foreign Invasions and disruptions caused by the provincial governments led to the decline of the Gupta Empire. Later, under the rule of Harshavardhana, the capital was shifted from Thaneswar to Kannauj and Kannauj became the centre of North India’s political dominance henceforth.
Huna Invasions
The Hunas were a wild and fierce nomadic people of Central Asia. They over-ran the whole of Persia and Afghanistan and then in the middle of the 5th century A.D. they poured towards India in large numbers.
The Hunas for the first time invaded India in about 478 A.D. when Kumaragupta was the ruler of India. The crown prince, Skandagupta, then gave them a crushing defeat and saved the honour and prestige of the Gupta dynasty.
When Hunas occupied Persia, they began to attack India with greater force and also the successors of Skandagupta were very weak. This allowed Toramana to conquer large territories from the Gupta empire including Punjab, Rajputana, Sindh and Malwa. This was the great blow to the Gupta empire.
With the death of Mihirakula in 540 A.D. ended the rule of Hunas in India.
Effects of Huna invasion in India
1. Severe blow to the tottering Gupta Empire.
2. The unity of the country was shattered.
3. Huna occupation led to the development of despotism in India. Formerly the Indian rulers believed in the democratic principles but now they learnt the lesson of despotism from their Hunas counter-parts.
4. The Hunas entered into matrimonial alliance with the Indians, and as a result of these intermarriages, the racial composition of the Indian people was greatly affected and the number of castes increased many-folds.
5. E.B.Havell suggests that Hunas and their inter-marriages resulted in the origin of the Rajputs.
6. These rulers butchered a large number of artists and scholars, burnt various literary works of great value and destroyed many big towns and cities. This proved very harmful as far as knowledge of history is concerned as valuable records of history were lost.
