North India

The treatise begins by talking about when greeks ruled a large portion of Central Asia on the border with India. One of Alexander the Great’s heirs, Antiochos III, could not keep control of the ancient provinces of Parthia and Bactria. These provinces broke away to create two separate kingdoms around 261 – 246 BC.

Around 150 BC, a group of invaders called the Huns began invading Central Asia. This invasion pushed the native inhabitants out of Parthia and Bactria into Northwest India. There were two groups of people that came to settle in northwest India was the Tokhanians and the Sakas. They joined with natives to form the Kushan Empire.

The Kushan Empire gives birth to one of the most famous Buddhist lines of royalty after the time of Ashoka. The first in the line is Phises I, who took power sometime between 15 – 40 AD. He is recorded as receiving Jesus’s disciple St. Thomas. Phises I had a son Phises II (78 -123 AD) who took control of most of NW India. After Phises II, King Kanishka came to power (78 – 123 AD). Kanishka is known as a great general who fought the Chinese and the Parthians. Their dynasty continues with Huvishka (123 – 140 AD) and Vasudeva (140 – 178 AD). Then the Kushan Empire mysteriously ends, most historians think the Sassanids of Persia took over.

There is then a period that is lost to history before the Gupta dynasty arose around 320 AD with King Chandragupta I. His son Samudra Gupta conquers most of northern India in 340 AD. The Gupta kings rule until the first invasion of the Huns in 455 AD. The Huns will be repelled, and they will invade again in 490 AD. The Empire of the Huns falls apart in 565 AD.

South India

The history of South India is more obscure, but there is more than enough evidence for historians to know a vibrant civilization survived there. A Roman history records that South Indian King Pandion sent a mission to visit Augustus in 20 BC. Pliny spoke of a Temple to Augustus in the same region. However, there were many kingdoms in this region.

Cera and Kerala lay on the West coast of India in modern-day Travancore. The Cola kingdom stretch from the southeast coast of India to central India. Central Asian invaders established the most famous kingdom called the Pallavas. King Narasimha-Varman 625 – 645 AD ruled over the Deccan, which is in Maharashtra province today. The Pallavas were rivals to the Cola Kingdom.

The Andhras is and ethnic group that was powerful in the Deccan where Narasima- Varman ruled. The Andhras were known to go to war with Buddhist fiefdoms in the region from 220 BC till 236 AD.

There is another large gap in known history before the Calukya dynasty is established. King Pulakesian II (608 – 642 AD) built an empire that stretched from the east to west coast of South India. He even had an embassy in Persia. King Harsha of the Pallavas defeated Pulakesian II, ending his rule.

The Rajput period happens from 650 – 1000 AD. This period hosted many Hindu kingdoms. From 840 – 910, King Panchala is known for waging war with Buddhists in Bengal.