In Hinduism, kingship was a monarchy institution guided by the religious laws of Hinduism, with a corresponding complex and hierarchical structure. Hindu monarchies headed by Hindu kings were widespread in South Asia since about 1500 BC and later in Southeast Asia. Hindu monarchies went into slow decline in medieval times, with most gone by the end of the 17th century, although the last one, the Kingdom of Nepal, was abolished only in 2008. Modern countries with Hindu majority population, like India, Nepal and Mauritius, practice state secularism.
The notable Hindu empires in India included the Guptas (c. 320–550 AD), The Kushan Empire, the Chola Empire in Tamil Nadu (c. 848–1279 AD), and the Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1336–1646 AD). At different points in time, Hindu kingdoms and empires had dominated in Southeast Asia on the territories of the modern Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Timor Leste, Brunei and Thailand.
