The Han, Roman, and Gupta Empires were three great empires during the classical age.
However all three did not last as long as many expected. There were a number of reasons for the fall of these empires and their demise had an effect on the future of their respective areas.
The Han Dynasty controlled China for almost 400 years, during this time the empire was expanded greatly and a unified China prospered for over 200 years. However during the later Han there was a period of political decline. There were a number of struggles between Han rulers and the different factions of the courts. During the later Han the Eunuchs gained substantial power and became palace administrators. The eunuchs were used to check the power of the emperor’s wives’ families. This turned into a struggle between the
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A number of peasant revolts and attempts by military leaders to overthrow the Han leaders eventually succeeded in overthrowing the dynasty in 22 c.e. . After the fall of the Han Dynasty China suffered through a period of political turmoil and a number of divisions were made in the empire.
The Gupta Empire took control of Northern India after taking over the Mauryan Dynasty. Under the Mauryans, India enjoyed a golden age of political and economic prosperity due to the rule of Ashoka and his institution of a number of Buddhist laws. However after the Gupta Empire took control they worked to reintroduce Hinduism and the caste system but they also had little control over the regional leaders. The “empire” was basically just a group of Vassal kingdoms held together by a weak central government. During this time the threat of nomadic invaders from the north caused the Guptas to focus their military actions on keeping the Huns out of India. This caused a number of resistance movements from the Vassals and threats from the Southern Indian kingdoms caused the Gupta empire to lose even more control of their lands. The nomadic invaders from the north eventually broke into the empire