write a note on the post gupta kingdom in north india
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The post-Gupta era is a period that witnessed the beginnings of the regional identities that took deep roots in course of time.
This formative period requires a detailed study, since many institutions and problems of present-day India owe their origin to this period.
With the disintegration of the Gupta political power centre, the northern half of the subcontinent splintered into ‘warring kingdoms’ and each tried to become a sovereign power.
The basis of this sovereignty was distinct regionalism and localism that achieved a clear picture and structure in later centuries. The political heirs to the Gupta political power attempted to recreate an empire but, with the exception of the Pratihara kingdom, the attempts of others remained only a distant dream. The ability to establish large kingdoms and empires appears to have shifted to the region beyond the Vindhyas, i.e., the powers of the Deccan and the Tamil country. These powers of the Deccan and the south, the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, the Pallavas and the Cholas showed the greatest vitality in the evolution of the classical Indian civilization.
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The post-Gupta era is a period that witnessed the beginnings of the regional identities that took deep roots in course of time.
This formative period requires a detailed study, since many institutions and problems of present-day India owe their origin to this period.
With the disintegration of the Gupta political power centre, the northern half of the subcontinent splintered into ‘warring kingdoms’ and each tried to become a sovereign power.
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The basis of this sovereignty was distinct regionalism and localism that achieved a clear picture and structure in later centuries. The political heirs to the Gupta political power attempted to recreate an empire but, with the exception of the Pratihara kingdom, the attempts of others remained only a distant dream. The ability to establish large kingdoms and empires appears to have shifted to the region beyond the Vindhyas, i.e., the powers of the Deccan and the Tamil country. These powers of the Deccan and the south, the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, the Pallavas and the Cholas showed the greatest vitality in the evolution of the classical Indian civilization.
The decline of the Gupta kingdom in the 6th century AD slowly and gradually led to the growth of many small kingdoms. In this process, certain regions witnessed the emergence of new kingdoms; and in other regions, the erstwhile Gupta vassals freed themselves from the sovereignty of the Guptas, founding independent kingdoms. Of the new political powers that emerged, the important ones are kings like Yasodharman, and powers such as the Maukharis, the Hunas and the later Magadhan Guptas.
Along with these new powers, the Pushyabhutis, the Gaudas, the Varmans and the Maitrakas also became important powers to be reckoned with at that time. The political scenario of this period is to be understood against this background of the emergence of regional identities represented by the new political powers. The first to be studied is Yasodharman.
Yasodharman:
Bandhuvarman, a feudatory of Kumaragupta I, ruled Mandasor, in Malwa. This Bandhuvarman of Aulikara family appeared to have ruled until the beginning of the 6th century as can be seen from the two stone pillars of Mandasor, one of which is dated to AD 532 refers to the achievements of Yasodharman. The epigraph glorifies him as a conqueror of the areas that were not even conquered by the Guptas. Except the name of Mihirakula, no other name is mentioned in the epigraph. It is suggested that Yasodharman must have ruled from AD 528 to 543, by which year his power appears to have disappeared.