178 Y. A. Smitli — History and Coinage of tlxe Gupta Period. [No. 4, 
be superseded in time, as knowledge advances, by more definite and 
suitable terms. The adjective Later is intended to distinguish the 
minor Indian dynasties of Central Asian origin during the period 
A. D. 200 to 600 1 from the Early Indo-Scythians—the great imperial 
line of Kaniska, Huviska, and Vasudeva, and their forerunners. 
The Later Great Kusan chiefs, who are included among the Later 
Indo-Scythians, seem to extend from about A.D. 200 to A.D. 425 
or 430. 
The Little Kusans occupied the throne of Gandhara from about 
A. D. 430 to 500, and seem then to have been driven by the White 
Huns back into Chitral and the neighbouring territories, 
The Ephthalites, or White Huns, are first heard of in India during 
the reign of Skanda Gupta, about A.D. 470, and seem to have been 
the dominant power in Northern India during the first half of the sixth 
century. 
Cunningham’s essays are extremely difficult reading, and are not 
universally accessible. I have, therefore, thought it worth while to 
try and present some of his principal results in a convenient and in¬ 
telligible form. My special subject, the Gupta Dynasty from Candra 
Gupta I to Skanda Gupta, can no longer remain isolated. It must 
be considered in connection with its contemporaries and successors. 
In a restricted sense the term “ Gupta Period ” may be interpreted 
to mean only the period extending from the accession of Candra 
Gupta I to the death of Skanda Gupta, or about A.D. 320 to 480. 
In a more extended sense it may be taken to comprise the three 
centuries from A. D. 300 to 606, when Harsa Vardliana became the 
chief power in Northern India and founded his era. When the term 
is taken in this more extended sense, all the coinages of the Later 
Indo-Scythians, except the earlier issues of the Later Great Kusans, 
fall within the Gupta period. 
During the whole of these three centuries coins form almost our 
sole authority for the history of the Panjab, the chief supplementary 
sources of information being the meagre notes of Fa-Hian and Sung- 
yun. The Panjab seems never to have been included in the Gupta 
Empire. 
For the history of the North-Western Provinces, Oudh, and Bihar 
the materials are considerably more ample, inasmuch as the numerous 
Gupta inscriptions on stone and metal supply a record more detailed 
than that which coins can furnish. The culminating point of the 
Gupta Empire may be placed approximately in the year A. D. 410, 
when Candra Gupta II had completed his conquest of Malwa and 
1 Dates are given in round numbers without any pretension to minute accuracy. 
