What are the four causes of the downfall of the Guptas?

Causes of the Downfall:

The causes of downfall of the Guptas may be summed up as follows:

First, forces of disintegration became once again powerful in India after the death of Skandagupta.

In fact, the bid towards imperial unity centering Magadha that had started with the reign of Bimbisara of the Haryanka dynasty came to an end with Skandagupta of the Gupta Empire.

The fall of the Gupta Empire, however, was not due to the Huna invasion alone. The forces of disintegration had already been at work.

Second, factor that was responsible for the collapse of the Gupta Empire was the weakness of the Gupta rulers who succeeded Skandagupta.

In those days of monarchical absolutism the strength and security of the empire depended mainly on the personality a.id efficiency of the rulers themselves.

But the Gupta kings who succeeded Skandagupta were weak personalities having no capability to bear the burden of the empire.

Third, taking advantage of the weakness of the central power the provincial governors had been trying to assert their independence.

The independence declared by Yasodharman of Mandosar dealt a servers blow to the Gupta Empire. Besides, the breakaway provinces became independent resulting in the breakdown of the Gupta imperial authority.

Fourth, the collapse of the Gupta Empire can never be explained without a reference to the economic decline.

The revenue income of the Government was considerably reduced under the later Gupta rulers as a result of the large scale land grants made by the Gupta emperors.

As a consequence it was becoming increasingly difficult for the Gupta rulers to meet the administrative expenses.

Further, with the decline of export market in Roman Empire for Indian goods, the inflow of gold and silver almost came to a stop. Languishing foreign trade thus explains the fall of the Gupta Empire.