List of Hindu empires and dynasties

These monarchies were widespread in South Asia since about 1500 BC,[1] went into slow decline in the medieval times, with most gone by the end of the 17th century, although the last one, the Kingdom of Nepal, dissolved only in the 2008.

[2] The history of India up to (and including) the times of the Buddha, with his life generally placed into the 6th or 5th century BCE, is a subject of a major scholarly debate.

[3] Early Indian history does not have an equivalent of chronicles like the ones established in the West by Herodotus in the 5th century BC or Kojiki / Nihongi in Japan.

These texts are considered by Western scholars to be legendary,[5] corresponding kingdoms are listed separately in the Puranic kings section.

[19] Approach of researchers to these lists varies from outright skepticism, especially prevalent in the 19th century ("extravagant romances, ... works of imagination",[20] "particular year is never mentioned"[21]) to cautious partial acceptance along the lines traced by F. E. Pargiter: "false genealogies ... imitate genuine genealogies", accepting limitations does not require to declare the absence of "any trust whatever".