Aftermath of the Guptas and the Rise of Vardhanas (Mid-6th to Mid-7th CE)

By the time of the final dissolution of the Gupta Empire, by 550 CE, Northern India was in turmoil. Small kingdoms were beginning to assert their independence and looking towards their neighbours with a hunger for conquest and to expand their domains.

The northern plains saw the rise of many a Gupta feudatory to independence, among them the Gurjaras (of Rajasthan), Devaguptas (of Malwa), Maukharis (of Thaneshwar), Maitrakas (of Vallabhi in Gujarat) and Karkotas (of Kashmir). Rising out of the ashes and destruction of the post-Gupta world finally emerged a new power - the Vardhanas of Thaneshwar (in present-day Haryana).