- The last recognised king of the Gupta line was Vishnugupta who reigned from 540 to 550 CE.
- Internal fighting and dissensions among the royal family led to its collapse.
- During the reign of a Gupta king, Budhagupta, the Vakataka ruler Narendrasena of western Deccan, attacked Malwa, Mekala and Kosala.
- Later on, another Vakataka king Harishena conquered Malwa and Gujarat from the Guptas.
- During Skanda Gupta’s reign, the grandson of Chandragupta II, the Huns invaded northwest India.
- He was successful in repulsing the Huns, but consequently his empire was drained of financial resources.
- In the sixth century CE, the Huns occupied Malwa, Gujarat, Punjab and Gandhara.
- As the Hun invasion weakened the Gupta hold in the country, independent rulers emerged all over the north like
– Yasodharman of Malwa,
– the Maukharis of Uttar Pradesh,
– the Maitrakas in Saurashtra and
– others in Bengal.
- In time, the Gupta Empire came to be restricted to only Magadha.
- They did not focus on empire building and military conquests.
- So, weak rulers along with incessant invasions from foreign as well as native rulers caused the decline of the Gupta Empire.
- By the beginning of the sixth century, the empire had disintegrated and was ruled by many regional chieftains.