5th-century Hindus

Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviving works consist of three plays, two epic poems and two shorter poems.

Bhartṛhari (Devanagari: ; Bhartrihari; fl. c. 5th century CE), was an Indian-Hindu linguistic philosopher and poet, known for his contributions to the fields of linguistics, grammar, and philosophy. He is believed to have been born in the 5th century in Ujjain, Malwa, India. He decided to live a monastic life and find a higher meaning but was unable to detach from worldly life. He lived as a yogi in Ujjain until his death.

Ruler of Gupta Empire from c. 375 to c. 415

Skandagupta (Ska-nda-gu-pta, r. –467) was a Gupta Emperor. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He repulsed an invasion by the Indo-Hephthalites (known as Hunas in India), probably the Kidarites. He seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, and is generally considered the last of the great Gupta Emperors. The Gupta genealogy after him is unclear, but he was most probably succeeded by Purugupta, who appears to have been his younger half-brother.

Narasimhagupta (Gupta script: 12px12px16px16px14px12px Na-ra-si-ṅha-gu-pta) Baladitya was the Gupta Emperor from 495 to 530. He was son of Purugupta and probably the successor of Budhagupta. Hiuen Tsang refers to him as the king of Magadha.

Purugupta (Gupta script: 12px12px14px14px Pu-ra-gu-pta, ) (reigned 467–473 CE) was an emperor of the Gupta dynasty in northern India. Purugupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I by his queen Anantadevi. He succeeded his half-brother Skandagupta. No inscription of Purugupta has been found so far. He is known from the Bhitari silver-copper seal of his grandson Kumaragupta III and Nalanda clay sealings of his sons Narasimhagupta and Budhagupta and his grandson Kumaragupta III. From the Saranath Buddha image inscription, it is concluded that he was succeeded by Kumaragupta II. According

Harishena () was the last known ruler of the Vatsagulma branch of the Vakataka dynasty. He succeeded his father Devasena. Harishena was a great patron of Buddhist architecture, art and culture, with the World Heritage monument of Ajanta being his greatest legacy. He is also credited with many conquests. The end of Harishena's reign and the ultimate fate of the Vatsagulma branch is shrouded in mystery, as it seems the Vakataka dynasty came to an end not long after the death of Harishena.

Damodarasena () was a ruler of the Nandivardhana-Pravarapura branch of the Vakataka dynasty. He was the son of Rudrasena II and Prabhavatigupta, the daughter of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. His father's early death led to Prabhavatigupta ruling as regent for an extended period of time as their sons Divakarasena, Damodarasena, and Pravarasena were all minors. Divakarasena, the Crown Prince, died before ascending the throne and so it was Damodarasena and his brother, Pravarasena II, who became Vakataka kings instead. It is possible that Prabhavatigupta continued to act as regent during par