Northern Indian subcontinent · Late Antiquity

Gupta Empire

India's classical golden age

320 CE – 550 CE · 230 years

Often called India's classical golden age, producing foundational advances in mathematics, astronomy, and literature.

Where it sits on the calendar

Government

Centralized empire

Writing system

Gupta script

Estimated peak population

50,000,000

How it ended

Invasion or conquest

Traits

How Gupta Empire ended

Weakened by Hephthalite (Hun) invasions and regional fragmentation.

See other civilizations that fell the same way →

Notable for

  • Decimal numeral system later transmitted via Arabic scholars
  • The Iron Pillar of Delhi's rust-resistant metallurgy
  • Flourishing Sanskrit literature and astronomy

Who else was alive at the same time

8 other civilizations in this dataset overlap with Gupta Empire's 230-year span.

See every overlap involving Gupta Empire →