Toramana also called Toramana Shahi Jauvla (

Gupta script The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script)Sharma, Ram. '' 'Brahmi Script' ''. Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002 was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcon ...

''Toramāṇa'', ruled circa 493-515 CE) was a king of the

Alchon Huns The Alchon Huns, ( Bactrian: αλχον(ν)ο ''Alchon(n)o'') also known as the Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alkhan, Alakhana and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. ...

who ruled in northern India in the late 5th and the early 6th century CE. Toramana consolidated the Hephthalite power in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

(present-day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

), and conquered northern and central India including

Eran Eran is an ancient town and archaeological site in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, 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 ...

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 ...

. Toramana used the title "Great King of Kings" (''Mahārājadhirāja'' Gupta allahabad m

), equivalent to "Emperor", in his inscriptions, such as the

Eran boar inscription Eran is an ancient town and archaeological site in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, 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 t ...

. The

Sanjeli Sanjeli, (Hindi: संजेली)cotila or sometimes known as Sanjeda Mehvassi, is a Hindu former petty princely state, located in the present Gujarat state in western India. It is now also one of the tehsils of Dahod district. History It b ...

inscription of Toramana speaks of his conquest and control over Malwa and Gujarat. His territory also included

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. He probably went as far as

Kausambi Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi (Sanskrit) was an important city in ancient India. It was the capital of the Vatsa kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It was located on the Yamuna River about southwest of its confluence with the Ganges at ...

, where one of his seals was discovered. According to the

Rīsthal inscription The Rīsthal inscription is a stone-slab inscription which was discovered in 1983 in the area of Rīsthal near Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, India. The inscription describes the event in the year 515 CE, when the Aulikara king Prakashadharma of Mal ...

, discovered in 1983, the

Aulikara The Aulikaras (Late Brahmi script: ''Au-li-ka-rā''), also referred to as Aulikara dynasty or Olikara dynasty, were an ancient Indian clan from the Maurya era, that emerged into a kingdom between the 4th-century CE and 6th-century CE. They w ...

king Prakashadharma of

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 ...

defeated him.Ojha, N.K. (2001). ''The Aulikaras of Central India: History and Inscriptions'', Chandigarh: Arun Publishing House, , pp.48-50

Overview

Toramana is known from

Rajatarangini ''Rajatarangini'' ("The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western part of India, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE. The ...

, through coins and inscriptions.

Punjab inscription

An inscription found at Kura in the

Salt Range The Salt Range ( pnb, ) is a mountain range in the north of Punjab province of Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt. The range extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River. The ...

records the building of a Buddhist monastery by a person named Rotta Siddhavriddhi during the reign of the Huna ruler Toramana. The donor expresses the wish that the religious merit gained by his gift be shared by him with the king and his family members. In the Khurā inscription (495-500, from the

and now in Lahore), Toramana assumes the Indian regnal titles in addition to central Asian ones: ''Rājādhirāja Mahārāja Toramāṇa Shahi Jauvla''. Among which Shahi is considered to be his Title and Jauvla being an epithet or Biruda. This is a Buddhist record in hybrid Sanskrit, recording the gift of a monastery (''vihāra'') to members of the

Mahīśāsaka Mahīśāsaka ( sa, महीशासक; ) is one of the early Buddhist schools according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the Second Buddhist council. The Dharmaguptaka sect is thought to have branched out from Mah� ...

school.

Gwalior inscription of Mihirakula

In the

Gwalior inscription of Mihirakula The Gwalior Inscription of Mihirakula is a Sanskrit inscription recording the construction of a Surya temple from stone on the Gopa hill of Gwalior. Though now referred with the name of Mihirakula, the temple and the inscription was commissioned by ...

, from

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

in northern

, India, and written in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, Toramana is described as:

Eran Boar inscription

The

Boar inscription (in

, Malwa, 540 km south of

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, state of

) of his first regnal year indicates that eastern

was included in his dominion. The Eran Boar inscription was erected in honor of the deity

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 ...

as his avatar,

Varaha Varaha ( sa, वराह, , "boar") is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. Varaha is most commonly associated with the lege ...

. The statue is of the deity in form of a boar, with engravings display it protecting

rishi ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" or ...

s and upholding

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

. Additionally, the statue contains

inscriptions inscribed on the neck of the boar, in 8 lines of in

Brahmi script Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' o ...

. It also records the building of the temple in which the current

image stands, by Dhanyavishnu, the younger brother of the deceased Maharaja Matrivishnu. The first line of the inscription, made after 484/85 CE mentions the "''Maharajadhiraja Toramana''" ("The great king of king Toramana")

Hans Bakker Hans T. Bakker (born 1948) is a cultural historian and Indologist, who has served as the Professor of the History of Hinduism and Jan Gonda Chair at the University of Groningen. He currently works in the British Museum as a researcher in project ...

br>24th Gonda lecture
/ref> and reads:

Sack of Kausambi

The presence of seals in the name of "Toramana" and "Hunaraja" in

, suggests that the city was probably sacked by the Alkhons under Toramana in 497–500.

Defeats

Maharajadhiraja Sri Toramana on Eran boar inscription

According to the '' Rishtal stone-slab inscription'', discovered in 1983, the

king Prakashadharma of

defeated him in 515 CE. Toramana may also have been defeated by the Indian Emperor

Bhanugupta Bhanugupta was one of the lesser known kings of the Gupta dynasty. He is only known from an inscription in Eran, and a mention in the Manjushri-mula-kalpa. Only mentioned in the Eran inscription as a "Raja" and not a "Maharaja" or a "Maharajad ...

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 ...

in 510 A.D. according to the

inscription, although the "great battle" to which Bhanagupta participated is not explicited. A few silver coins of Toramana closely followed the Gupta silver coins. The only difference in the obverse is that the king's head is turned to the left. The reverse retains the fantailed peacock and the legend is almost similar, except the change of name to Toramana Deva. A Jaina work of the 8th century, the '' Kuvalayamala'' states that he lived in Pavvaiya on the bank of the

Chandrabhaga Chandrabhaga may refer to: Rivers * Chenab River in Punjab, India * Bhima River near Pandharpur, Maharashtra, India * Chandrabhaga River (Purna River) in Maharashtra, India Other uses * Chandrabhaga Dam (Nagpur), Maharashtra, India * Chandrabhaga ...

and enjoyed the sovereignty of the world.

Successor

Toramana was succeeded by his son

Mihirakula Mihirakula (Gupta script: , ''Mi-hi-ra-ku-la'', Chinese: 摩酰逻矩罗 ''Mo-hi-lo-kiu-lo''), sometimes referred to as Mihiragula or Mahiragula, was the second and last Alchon Hun king of northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent between ...

Notes

{{s-end 5th-century Indian monarchs 6th-century Indian monarchs History of Kashmir Hephthalites