Eran is an ancient town and archaeological site in the
Sagar district of
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
, India.
[ It was one of the ancient mints for Indian dynasties as evidenced by the diverse coins excavated here. The site has 5th and 6th-century Gupta era temples and monuments, particularly the colossal stone boar with sages and scholars depicted on the body of the sculpture.][ The inscription stones found at Eran are important to reconstructing the chronology of Gupta Empire history. Eran or Erakina was the capital of ''Erakina (Airikina) Pradesha'' or ''Airkina ]Vishaya A vishaya (IAST: Viṣaya) was a historical administrative unit of India, generally equivalent to a modern district.
Several other terms for units equivalent to a modern district appear in historical inscriptions, including ''āhāra'', ''rashtra'' ...
'', an administrative division of the Gupta empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
.
Etymology
The ancient name of Eran ( sa, ऐरण), ''Erakaina'', ''Erakanya'' or ''Erakina'' (as mentioned in the inscriptions);[ ''Airikina'' ( sa, ऐरिकिण, as mentioned in the inscription of Samudragupta) or ''Erikina'' (as mentioned in the inscription of Toramana) is derived from ''Eraka''. The word ''erakā'' probably refers to a tall grass commonly called the Elephant cattail, botanical name '' Typha elephantina'', which grows at Eran in abundance.
]
Location
Eran is located on the south bank of Bina River in Madhya Pradesh.[A. Cunningham (1880)]
Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa
Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 76-90, It is about north-northeast of the ancient Vidisha-Sanchi-Udayagiri site, about west-northwest of Sagar, and about northeast of Bhopal. At the site, the river makes an inverted "U" turn, surrounding it with water on three sides, which Cunningham stated made it "a very favorite position for Hindu towns".[ The terrain is forested and hilly, with high grounds shielding the south of the Eran town.][
]
History
Eran is an ancient city, one that finds mention as Erakaina or Erakanya in Buddhist and Hindu texts, on ancient coins and inscriptions nearby and distant sites such as Sanchi. It is now a small town surrounded by many mounds, likely archaeological remains of its distant past. The archaeological site nearby Eran has revealed several Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
era inscription
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
s. The town of Eran has a museum with a collection of archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
relics. The first epigraphical evidence of sati (immolation of widow) is found in an inscription at Eran, the Inscription of Bhanugupta (510 CE).
Archaeology
The following sequence of cultures have been obtained and carbon dated at the site of Eran
Period I: Chalcolithic (1800 BC-700 BC)
Period II: Early historic (700 BC-2nd century BC)
Period IIB: 2nd century BC - 1st century AD
Period III: 1st century - 600 AD
Period IV: late medieval (16th century AD - 18th century AD)
Description
The complex initially consisted in a twin temple dedicated to Vāsudeva
Vāsudeva ( sa, वासुदेव, ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in Krishna-Vāsudeva or simply Krishna, was the son of V ...
and Saṃkarṣaṇa
Saṃkarṣaṇa (IAST , "The Plougher") later known as Balarama, was a son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, king of the Vrishnis in the region of Mathura. He was a leading member of the Vrishni heroes, and may well have been an ancient historical ru ...
, and guarded by the 13 meter Garuda
Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...
pillar.
Temples
A group of ancient Hindu temple
A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...
s are located to the west of the Eran town. These are not aligned to the east or any cardinal direction, but to 76 degrees, or about 14 degrees off towards north from east. This suggests that they likely date to the Gupta period. According to Cunningham, this deliberate shift for all the temples and some other Gupta era Hindu temple sites may be to match the one ''nakshatra'' measure (lunar movement in one day), or one twenty-seventh part of 360 degrees.[A. Cunningham (1880)]
Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa
Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 81-84,
All the temples have a rectangular or square plan and they are in a row.[
]
Pillar
Pillar: It is exactly in front of the line of temples. The high monolith pillar stands on a square platform of side. The bottom of the pillar are of square cross-section (2.85 feet side), the next is octagonal. Above it is a capital in the shape of a reeded bell of height and diameter. On top of the capital is an abacus of height, then a cube of and finally double statue of Garuda
Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...
holding a snake in his hands, with a chakra
Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...
wheel behind his head. Garuda, the vahana
''Vahana'' ( sa, वाहन, or animal vehicle, literally "that which carries, that which pulls") denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical, a particular Hindus, Hindu God is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vahana ...
of Vishnu, is depicted as two fused people, sharing the back, each looking over their 180 degree space, one with the temples, the other towards the town.[ Near the platform, on the side facing the temples, is a Sanskrit inscription. It mentions the year 165 and the Hindu calendar month of ]Ashadha
Ashadha or Aashaadha or Aadi ( hi, आसाढ़ ''Āsāṛh'' or ''Āṣāḍh''; as, আহাৰ ''ahar''; or, ଆଷାଢ଼ ''Āṣāḍh''; bn, আষাঢ়; syl, ꠀꠀꠠ ''aáṛ''; ne, असार ''asār''; gu, અષા ...
, and dedication to Vishnu-Janardhana
Janardana () is an epithet of Vishnu in the Puranas. Janardana means, “he who is the original abode and protector of all living beings”.
Literature
In the Mahabharata, Sanjaya uses this epithet of Vishnu to describe the latter's prowess to ...
. The Gupta year 165 implies that the pillar was dedicated in 484/485 CE.[ The pillar is sometimes referred to as the Buddhagupta pillar or Bhima pillar.
]
Varaha temple
The most unusual and remarkable temple is dedicated to the Varaha avatar of Vishnu. Typically, Varaha is presented in Hindu temples as a man-boar avatar. In Eran, it is a colossal theriomorphic representation of the Varaha legend, which Catherine Becker calls an "iconographic innovation".[A. Cunningham (1880)]
Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa
Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 82-84, [Catherine Becker (2010)]
Not Your Average Boar: The Colossal Varaha at Eran, An Iconographic Innovation
Artibus Asiae, Vol. 70, No. 1, "To My Mind": Studies in South Asian Art History in Honor of Joanna Gottfried Williams. Part II (2010), pp. 123-149
The boar is made of stone, but the intricate carving of the surface of its body, a goddess hanging by its right tusk, inscriptions and other details make the statue a symbolic narrative.[ The Eran site is in ruins, but there is enough remnants that suggest that the site was far more complex and developed. Currently, the boar stands in open, but the foundation and stumps around it confirm that around it were walls and mandapa that formed a complete temple. Scholars debate what the shape of the temple would have been.][ Cunningham, the first archaeologist to write a systematic report, suggested a rectangular shrine.][ Later scholars such as Catherine Becker suggests that it was likely larger, more along the lines of one found in Khajuraho shrine for Varaha.][
;Colossal Varaha
]
The Colossal Varaha at Eran is the earliest known completely theriomorphic iconography for the Varaha avatar of Vishnu.[ The scene shown is the return of Varaha after he had successfully killed the oppressive demon ]Hiranyaksha
__NOTOC__
Hiranyaksha ( sa, हिरण्याक्ष, "golden-eyed"), also known as Hiranyanetra ( sa, हिरण्यनेत्र) was an oppressive Asura who attacked the heavens and thereafter kidnapped and attempted to destroy th ...
, found and rescued goddess earth (Prithivi, Bhudevi), and the goddess is back safely. The Eran Varaha statue is significant for several reasons:[
*it shows the importance and popularity of ]Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
and its legend of Vishnu avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
s
*the statue includes goddess earth hanging by the boar's right tusk; she has a tidy hairdo bun, has a turban that is bejeweled, her face calm
*the floor is carved to depict the ocean (''samudra'') with serpents and sealife, a reminder of the oppressive demon who attacks dharma legend
*on the body of the Varaha are carved sages and saints of Hinduism identified by their simple robes, pointy beards and hair knotted up like '' sadhus'', by they holding kamandalu water pot in one hand and with a yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
mudra in the other, symbolizing knowledge needing protection and god's benevolence when attacked by the oppressive demon Hiranyaksha
__NOTOC__
Hiranyaksha ( sa, हिरण्याक्ष, "golden-eyed"), also known as Hiranyanetra ( sa, हिरण्यनेत्र) was an oppressive Asura who attacked the heavens and thereafter kidnapped and attempted to destroy th ...
*the Varaha's tongue is sticking out slightly, on it is standing a small goddess who has been interpreted as Saraswati
Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a go ...
(or Vedic goddess Vac)[
*in his ears are shown celestial musicians
*he wears a roundels garland on his shoulders and neck, these add up to 28 matching the 5th-century astronomy that used 28 major stars to divide the night skies into constellations; each of the roundels has miniature carvings with male and female figures
*the artists made the teeth of the boar humanlike, his eyes too are made to depict compassion
*on its front chest is the Toramana inscription which confirms that the Hunas has invaded the northwest, displaced Gupta Empire authority, and their brief rule over the northwest and central India had begun in early 6th-century
*below the inscription are more Hindu sages, further below is ruined fragment that probably was an anthropomorphic carving of Vishnu to explicitly link the Varaha's underlying identity, states Becker.][
The temple was built by king Dhyana Vishnu. Cunningham and others found it in ruins with pillars broken that suggest its destruction at some point rather than natural erosion. The boar stood on. It is long, high and wide. It was inside a sanctum. Cunningham states that there was also a mandapa in front because of the ruins of pillars he saw. He found two carved 10 feet high pillars which were "remarkably fine specimens of Hindu decorative art".][
About in front of what is now the Varaha platform, there is another stone 6 feet by 3.5 feet. It is aligned with the temple alignment and set into the ground. On it is a large shell script inscription that remains undeciphered. It is probably the stone that formed the original temple's entrance. About in front of this entrance stone is the ruined leftovers of a ]torana
''Torana'' ( sa, तोरण; '' awr-uh-nuh') is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in Southeast Asia and ...
(Hindu arched gateway). The gateway pillars are broken, but one of them survives and it is ornamented ("G" in the plan drawings). Cunningham searched for broken parts of the pillars, but only found a few broken statues and most of the torana pillars gone.[
Next to the Varaha temple remnants are two terraces, one to the south that is sided square, another by . These were likely temples too, but they are lost.][
]
Vishnu temple
The Vishnu Temple is to the north of the Varaha temple. It has a damaged colossal statue of Vishnu that is high.[A. Cunningham (1880)]
Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa
Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 85-87, This temple is also mostly ruined, but shows signs of having a sanctum, a mandapa and all the elements of a Hindu temple. Just like the Varaha temple, the Vishnu temple had intricately carved pillars, but with a different design.[ Parts of the door jamb before the sanctum have survived, and these show the traditional river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna as flanking the sanctum entrance, but they are positioned nearer to the floor like late Gupta era temples. Cunningham dated this temple as probably built in 5th or 6th century, about two or three centuries after the neighboring early Gupta era Varaha temple.][ The remnants of the entrance, wrote Cunningham, are "lavishly decorated", with the surviving reliefs showing daily life and rites-of-passage scenes.][ Near the temple are ruins of a gateway and other monuments, including one which was likely a ]Vamana
Vamana (), also known as Trivikrama (), Urukrama (), Upendra (), Dadhivamana (), and Balibandhana () is an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu, and the first Dashavatara in the Treta Yuga, after Narasimha.
O ...
temple. According to Cunningham, one of the smaller shrine monuments had a man-boar sculpture which he located in the town of Eran.[
]
Narasimha temple
The Narasimha
Narasimha ( sa, नरसिंह, lit=man-lion, ), sometimes rendered Narasingha, is the fourth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is regarded to have incarnated in the form of a part-lion, part-man being to slay Hiranyakashipu, to end rel ...
Temple is the northernmost substantial structure ruins in the group, though there were additional temples according to excavations by Cunningham. The Narasimha temple was a single room of 12.5 feet by 8.75 feet with a mandapa in front on four pillars. These pillars are now missing, but the remnants on the plinth confirm that they once did. The broken pillars found at the site among the ruins, and who dimensions match the leftover plinth profile, show that the pillars were intricately carved. The sanctum had a high Narasimha statue, the man-lion avatar of Vishnu.[A. Cunningham (1880)]
Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa
Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 88-89,
Hanuman temple
Old Temple of Lord Hanuman, About 750 CE.
File:5th century Hindu temples Eran Madhya Pradesh, plan sketched in 1880.jpg, Temple plans
File:Eran, Varaha und Garuda-Säule (1999).jpg, The body of the stone boar statue has carvings of sages and scholars.
Coins
Eran was likely one of the ancient mints for Indian kingdoms, along with Vidisha, Ujjain, and Tripuri. A large number of antique coins, of different styles, shapes and inscriptions spanning the last few centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the 7th-century have been discovered here. Over 3,000 coins found here have been dated to between 300 BCE to 100 CE. Square coins were Eran's specialty and these predominate in excavated discoveries. According to Brown, the ancient Erakina or Eran mint innovated the "die-method" a far more perfect technique to make coins than "punch-marked coins", thereby distinguishing itself. Cunningham, a late 19th-century archaeologist, states that "copper coins of Eran are the finest specimen" that he found across India, as well "remarkable also for presenting the largest and smallest specimens of old Indian money". The largest coin has measured about and the smallest about in diameter. Cunningham grouped the found coins in four:
# Punch-marked coins
# Cast coins
# Die struck coins
# Inscribed coins
The common motifs on the coin include goddess Lakshmi seated with two elephants flanking her as if spraying water, horses, elephants, bull, trees (probably Bodhi), flowers particularly lotus, swastikas, rivers, Buddhist symbols such as dharmachakra and tri-ratna, triangles. Almost all coins, states Cunningham, show an unusual symbol consisting of a cross with circle in four sections.
One of the coins found in Eran with the name Dharmapala stamped on it is in Brahmi script. This copper coin is presently displayed in the British Museum, in London. This, stated Cunningham in 1891, is among the earliest inscribed coins in India.[Cunningham, A.: Coins of Ancient India, London, 1891, p. 101, pl. xi] On the paleographic grounds this coin has been assigned to the late 3rd century BCE. Another circular lead piece bearing the name of another ruler "Indragupta", assignable to the same period has been discovered at Eran. Several inscribed copper coins bearing the name 'Erakannya' or 'Erakana' in the Brahmi script have also been found at Eran. Cunningham proposed that the symbol of the river represent the river Bina on which the village stands. He also surmised that the semi-circle on the coins was representative of the old Eran town. Which was probably so shaped.
Bronze coin of Eran of the 3rd Century B.C was found at Sulur, in the Coimbatore
Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...
district of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
in one of the excavations.[Ceramic Traditions in South India; S.Gurumurthy; University of Madras; 1981;page 21]
File:EranVidishaCoin.jpg, Eran Vidisha coin.
File:EranTypeCoin2ndCenturyBCE.jpg, Eran coin (2nd century BCE).
File:Malwa. Budhagupta. Circa AD 476-495.jpg, Coin of Buddhagupta
Budhagupta ( Gupta script: ''Bu-dha-gu-pta'', ) was a Gupta emperor and the successor of Kumaragupta II. He was the son of Purugupta and was succeeded by Narasimhagupta.Raychaudhuri, H.C. (1972). ''Political History of Ancient India'', Calcutta: ...
in Malwa
Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...
(476-495 CE)
Inscriptions
Inscription of Sridharavarman (circa 350 CE)
The Saka
The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...
(Indo-Scythian
Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into modern day Pakistan and Northwestern India from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th centur ...
) king Sridharavarman
Sridharavarman ( Gupta script: , ''Shri-dha-ra-va-rmma-na'', ruled CE)Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 201p58-59/ref ...
, who ruled in Central India circa 339-368 CE, made an inscription of a small pillar at Eran, together with his Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:
Mythology
* Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions
* Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata''
* Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...
military commander.[Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 201]
p58-59
/ref> Bhanugupta later also wrote his inscription on the same pillar, circa 510 CE.
It seems that the inscription of Sridharavarman is succeeded chronologically by a monument and an inscription by Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
Samudragupta (r.336-380 CE), established "for the sake of augmenting his fame", who may therefore have ousted Sridharavarman in his campaigns to the West.["During the course of this expedition he is believed to have attacked and defeated the Saka Chief Shridhar Varman, ruling over Eran-Vidisha region. He then annexed the area and erected a monument at Eran (modern Sagar District) "for the sake cf augmenting his fame"." in ]
Inscription of Samudragupta
The Eran Inscription of Samudragupta (336-380 CE) is presently stored in Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
Indian Museum
The Indian Museum in Central Kolkata, West Bengal, India, also referred to as the Imperial Museum at Calcutta in colonial-era texts, is the ninth oldest museum in the world, the oldest and largest museum in India as well as in Asia. It has rare ...
. The inscription, in red sandstone, was found not far to the west of the ruined temple of the boar. Though damaged and much of the inscription is missing, this was a significant find, states Cunningham, because on it are numeral scripts, with at least "2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7" preserved.[
]
Inscription of Budhagupta (484–485 CE)
The Budhagupta inscription is dated to 484–485 CE. It is s Vaishnava inscription. It describes that the Gupta kingdom stretched from Kalindi River to Narmada River, that the inscription marks the raising of a column in honour of Janardana
Janardana () is an epithet of Vishnu in the Puranas. Janardana means, “he who is the original abode and protector of all living beings”.
Literature
In the Mahabharata, Sanjaya uses this epithet of Vishnu to describe the latter's prowess t ...
, another name of Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
.
Inscription of Toramana (circa 500 CE)
The Eran boar inscription of Toramana is a stone inscription with 8 lines of Sanskrit, first three of which are in meter and rest in prose, written in a North Indian script. It is carved on the chest of a freestanding high red sandstone boar statue, a zoomorphic iconography of Vishnu avatar, and dated to the 6th century. The inscription names king Toramana, a King of the Alchon Huns, as ruling over Malwa ("governing the earth") and records that a Dhanyavishnu is dedicating a stone temple to Narayana (Vishnu).
Inscription of Bhanugupta (510 CE)
The fourth inscription is badly damaged, but important. The inscription mentions Bhanugupta and is inscribed on the reverse of the Sridharavarman
Sridharavarman ( Gupta script: , ''Shri-dha-ra-va-rmma-na'', ruled CE)Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 201p58-59/ref ...
pillar. It also mentions the death of chieftain or noble Goparaja in a battle the 191st year without mentioning calendar system. This is generally accepted as Gupta era 191, or 510 CE. It also mentions the cremation of Goparaja, and his wife also cremated herself on the funeral pyre. This, states Shelat, is one of the earliest recorded instances of Sati. Cunningham did not comment on this Bhanugupta-Goparaja inscription, but did comment on three Sati stones he found and stated that earliest Sati stone monument he found is from Samvat 1361 (1304 CE).[ The Bhanugupta inscription does not use the word sati or equivalent and the inscription was interpolated by Fleet in the first edition, later revised in the second edition:
Eran site has yielded additional sati stones. ]Alexander Cunningham
Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly ...
mentioned three inscribed Sati stones in and around the Eran site including villages across the river in his archaeological survey report for 1874–1875. With inscriptions on them, he dated the first one to the reign of Sultan Mahmud Khilchi of Mandugar-durg and Chanderi, the second to 1664 CE during the reign of Patisahi Sahi Jahan who Cunningham speculated was likely a jagir
A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...
and noble in court of Shah Jahan, and a third stone he dated to 1774 CE during the rule of Pandit Balwant Rau Govind and Balaji Tuka Deva.[A. Cunningham (1880)]
Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa
Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 89-90,
See also
* Pataini temple
Pataini temple or Pataini devi temple in a 5th century Jain temple located near Unchehara town in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The temple was constructed during the reign of Gupta Empire.
Location
The temple is located on a lofty hill North of ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
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*
External links
Characterization of ancient Indian iron from Eran
Indian Epigraphy By D. C. Sircar
{{Hindu inscriptions and arts, state=autocollapse
Cities and towns in Sagar district
Gupta art
Tourist attractions in Sagar district
Vishnu temples
Varaha temples
Narasimha temples