Some idols found from Choti Khatu of Nagaur district are inscribed with Brahmi script. These inscriptions belong to the 4th or 5th century and are estimated to be of the Gupta period. There are many Buddha statues in the treasury of sculptures found from Chhoti Khatu.
Muthari's remains
Bhuteshwar fair in Muthari village of Dholpur district and Sawan Krishna Chaudas to Parva for two days. The fair takes place on the banks of the famous Utangan River which is famous for Buddhist relics. Presently there is a temple of Shiva here.
Uttar Gupta period Buddhist monument
Some of the later Gupta rulers, especially Purugupta (467 AD to 473 AD) adopted Buddhism, but this time also the Magadha Empire faced the same plight as the Maurya rulers had adopted Buddhism. That is, the armies of the Gupta Empire began to weaken and the Sun of the Gupta Empire rolled towards Astachal.
The Buddhist inscriptions of the post Gupta period have been found from Koshavardhana fort (Shergarh) in Baran district, which dates back to sometime between 6th and 7th century AD. This inscription is inscribed in the wall of the inner wall of the fort on a ledge of stairs located on the south side of the Barkhadi gate. Twenty Sanskrit shlokas have been written in this inscription. The opening lines of this inscription are as follows - Om Namo Ratnatrayaya. Jayantih promise:sugatasya nirmmala:samtasandeh nirasabhasuraah kutarkkasampat nipatahatevo yugantavata eva visvantateh. That is, it is a prashasti whose opening lines mention the three jewels- Buddha, Sangha and Dharma and Buddha is called Sugata.
In this article, in the seventh year of his rule, the construction of a Buddhist temple and Vihara is mentioned in the east of the mountain named Samvardhana Giri by Devadatta Samanta. Hinayana Matanuyayi used to address Buddha as Sugata. From this it is inferred that this place was related to Hinayana.
In this prashasti, the author Jajjaka has called himself Shakyakulodadhi i.e. the author of this inscription was a Buddhist monk and probably took birth in the same family as Lord Buddha. It is also known from this article that Hinayana Matanuyayi was also using Sanskrit language in the 6th-7th century in Rajasthan.
The Decline of Buddhism
Buddhism flourished well from its appearance for about a thousand years, i.e. from the sixth century BC to the fifth century AD, but with the rise of the Guptas, the brilliance of Buddhism began to fade. Nevertheless, Buddhism and Jainism continued to exist. The decline of Buddhism started in the fifth century and in the next seven hundred years, that is, by the end of the twelfth century AD, this religion was almost completely eradicated from the land of India.
It is a matter of great surprise that Buddhism exists even today in foreign countries, but it is almost extinct in India, its native land. There were many reasons for the decline of Buddhism, including the dissolution of the unity of Buddhism, the growing of the general public due to alienation from God, the practice of rituals, ceremonies, pomp and superstitions in Buddhism, and the worship of many gods and goddesses. Commencement of monks living a luxurious life in Buddhist sanghas, organizing dance-songs in monasteries, the work of revival of Brahmanism, birth of high-ranking scholars and philosophers in Brahmanism like Shankaracharya, Kumaril Bhatt etc. Many such reasons have arisen due to which Buddhism started shrinking, etc.
Annihilation Leela of the Huns
In the fifth century AD, a catastrophic storm broke out from Bactria. Bactria was located between India and Iran and west of the Hindukush Mountains. It was established by King Alexander of Alexandria as his provincial capital in Central Asia, about 325 years before the birth of Christ. The devastating storm that erupted from Bactria was caused by the devastating conquest of an ancient Chinese race called the Huangnu, known as the Huns in India, who had to leave their native place and live in Bactria because of the Yuchis.
In the fifth century AD, Attila, the leader of the Huns, devastated the two major capitals of Central Asia - Ravenna and Kustuntunia, by attacking them and defeating Iran and killing the king there.
His barbaric armies crossed the Danube River and trampled the area up to the Indus River. In such an odd time, the great king of the Guptas, Skandagupta (415-455 AD) protected the nation and subjects by pushing the Huns beyond the land of India, but in this work the power of the Gupta Empire was weakened so much that the later Gupta-Emperor, India could not save him from the attacks of the Huns.
At the end of the fifth century (around 484 AD), the Huns invaded India under the leadership of Toman. He first established dominance over Gandhara and later on the western parts of the Gupta Empire and also conquered Malwa. Jhalawar, Kota, Baran etc. districts of modern Rajasthan province and Mandsaur region of Madhya Pradesh were located in this Malwa.
Some parts of Mewar also came under it. In this way, Toorman took control of a large part of the North-Western region of India, making Sialkot in Punjab its capital and started ruling. After Toraman, his son Mihirkul became the king of the Huns. His coins have been found in sufficient numbers in North India, from which it is known that during that period vast territories like Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Malwa etc. had gone under the rule of Huns.
Mihirkul was very ruthless and bloodthirsty. He attacked Baladitya, the Gupta emperor of Magadha. Baladitya captured Mihirkul alive. He wanted to kill Mihirkul, but he was left alive on the orders of Rajmata. Mihirkul fled and took refuge in Kashmir, but after some time betrayed and killed the king there and himself became the king of Kashmir.
He also captured Gandhara by killing the Gandhara king. When Mihirkul slipped from the hands of the Guptas, then King Yashodharma (Yashovarman) of Malwa attacked Mihirkul and defeated him badly. Mandsaur inscription says that before being defeated by Yashodharma, Mihirkul did not bow his head in front of anyone other than Sthan (Lord Shiva).