Editing Outline of ancient India (section)

=== Classical Period (c. 200–550 CE) ===
[[File:East-Hem 500ad.jpg|thumb|270px|The [[Gupta Empire]] and main polities in Eurasia around 500 CE]]  
There are varying definitions of this period.{{refn|group=note|Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism":
* Smart calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It is the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism{{refn|group=subnote|Smart distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting  "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52, 83-86}}}} Jainism and Buddhism. For Smart, the "classical period" lasts from 100 to 1000 CE, and coincides with the flowering of "classical Hinduism" and the flowering and deterioration of Mahayana-buddhism in India.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52}}
* For Michaels, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "Ascetic reformism",{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=36}} whereas the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}}
* Muesse discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and "personal enlightenment and transformation", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed in this time.{{sfn|Muesse|2003|p=14}}}}
{{main|Middle kingdoms of India}}
*[[Gupta Empire]] ({{Circa|320}}–650 CE)
*[[Later Gupta dynasty]] ({{Circa|490–750 CE}})
*[[Vakataka dynasty|Vakataka Empire]] ({{Circa|250|500 CE}})
*[[Pallava dynasty|Pallava Empire]] ({{Circa|275}}–901 CE)
*[[Kadamba dynasty]] ({{Circa|345}}–1347 CE)
*[[Western Ganga dynasty]] ({{Circa|350}}–1024 CE)
*[[Vishnukundina dynasty|Vishnukundina Empire]] ({{Circa|420}}–624 CE)
*[[Maitraka dynasty]] ({{Circa|475|776 CE}})	
*[[Rai dynasty]] ({{Circa|489}}–632 CE)