Jump to content

Gupta–Hunnic Wars: Difference between revisions

Gupta–Hunnic Wars (edit)

Revision as of 12:21, 1 July 2025

15,811 bytes added ,  Tuesday at 12:21
no edit summary
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit
Line 413: Line 413:
Mihirakula is said to have been the founder of the [[Shankaracharya Temple]], a shrine dedicated to [[Shiva]] in [[Srinagar]],<ref>"He is credited with the building of the temple named Jyeshteswara on the Gopa (Sankaracharya) hill in Srinagar" in {{cite book |last1=Bamzai |first1=Prithivi Nath Kaul |title=Kashmir and Central Asia |date=1980 |publisher=Light & Life Publishers |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COgeAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=112}}
Mihirakula is said to have been the founder of the [[Shankaracharya Temple]], a shrine dedicated to [[Shiva]] in [[Srinagar]],<ref>"He is credited with the building of the temple named Jyeshteswara on the Gopa (Sankaracharya) hill in Srinagar" in {{cite book |last1=Bamzai |first1=Prithivi Nath Kaul |title=Kashmir and Central Asia |date=1980 |publisher=Light & Life Publishers |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COgeAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=112}}
{{clear left}}
{{clear left}}
== Second Hunnic War ==
=== Mihirkula the Huna ===
The Second Hunnic War began when [[Mihirakula]], the son of [[Toramana]], established his position in West [[Punjab]] shortly after taking over as leader of his father shortly after 515.
Based on numismatic evidence, it appears that [[Mihirakula]] led a group of Alkhan chiefs and was not as powerful as his father. [[Song Yun]] met the "King of the Huns" in 520, as we have seen above, on the banks of the [[Jhelum River]]. The [[Northern Wei]] envoy depicted the king (chiqin) as having a violent and harsh disposition and having perpetrated massacres. The meeting was unpleasant.{{sfn|Bakker|2020|p=92}}
[[Mihirakula]] tightened his hold in [[India]] by going the same path his father had taken during the latter's initial campaign. This is inferred from the one known inscription of [[Mihirakula]], which was discovered "built into the wall in the porch of a temple of the Sun in the fortress of [[Gwalior]]," between the [[Chambal River|Chambal]] and [[Betwa]] rivers. The Sun Temple at Surāj Kund, where the inscription was discovered, is no longer standing; it might have been the heir to the first Sun ([[Surya]]) temple established by Mātrceta.{{sfn|Bakker|2020|p=92}}
One of the people who was rumoured to live there because of King [[Mihirakula]] (prasadena) was Mātrceta. These individuals are identified as the heirs who will benefit from the foundation's success. Consequently, the recently established Sun Temple might have served as a [[Hun]] temple, with a garrison inside the fort. A monarch named [[Mihirakula]], which means "Family of Mihira" and is of [[Mithra|Mitra]], is a direct example of the Alkhan's [[Iran]]ian ties.{{sfn|Bakker|2020|p=92}}
According to [[Hans T. Bakker]] It's possible that some of the garrison's members were of Iranian descent, and a temple that combined the sun gods of India's Surya (Bhanu) and Iran's Mithra catered to their religious needs.The Roman legionary stations contain Mithraea.{{sfn|Bakker|2020|p=92}}
It is clear that [[Mihirakula]] ruled over a wide swath of territory that connected his stronghold of Gwalior Hill in eastern [[Malwa]] to his home base of [[Sialkot]] in northern [[Punjab]]. This corridor shared borders with the Aulikara kingdom of [[Yashodharman]] to the southwest and the [[Maukhari]]s' territory to the northeast, where they had previously taken over portions of the [[Ganga]]-[[Yamuna]] Plain.{{sfn|Bakker|2020|p=92}}
=== Hunnic reverses ===
[[File:Mihirakula portrait.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.79|[[Mihirakula]] on one of his coins. He was finally defeated in 528 by King [[Yasodharman]].]]
The Second Hunnic War started in 520, when the Alchon king [[Mihirakula]], son of Toramana, is recorded in his military encampment on the borders of the [[Jhelum]] by Chinese monk [[Song Yun]]. At the head of the Alchon, Mihirakula is then recorded in [[Gwalior]], [[Central India]] as "Lord of the Earth" in the [[Gwalior inscription of Mihirakula]].{{sfn|Bakker|2020|pp=484-534}} According to some accounts, Mihirakula invaded India as far as the Gupta capital [[Pataliputra]], which was sacked and left in ruins.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1978|p=[https://archive.org/details/personalgeograph00sharuoft/page/170/mode/1up]232}}<ref name="Sinha1977" />{{rp|p=64}}
{{blockquote|There was a king called Mo-hi-lo-kiu-lo (Mihirakula), who established his authority in this town ([[Sagala]]) and ruled over India. He was of quick talent, and naturally brave. He subdued all the neighbouring provinces without exception.|[[Xuanzang]] "The Record of the Western Regions", 7th century CE<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hsüan-tsang |last2=Beal |first2=Samuel |title=Si-yu-ki, Buddhist records of the Western world; |date=1884 |publisher=London : Trübner |page=[https://archive.org/details/siyukibuddhistre01hsuoft/page/167 167] |url=https://archive.org/details/siyukibuddhistre01hsuoft}}</ref>}}
The destructions of Mihirakula are also recorded in the [[Rajatarangini]]:<ref name="academia.edu">{{cite journal |last1=Rezakhani |first1=Khodadad |title=From the Kushans to the Western Turks |journal=King of the Seven Climes |year=2021 |page=207 |url=https://www.academia.edu/32671225 |language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Mihirakula, a man of violent acts and resembling [[Kāla]] (Death) ruled in the land which was overrun by hordes of [[Mlecchas]]... the people knew his approach by noticing the vultures, crows, and other [birds], which were flying ahead to feed on those who were being slain within his army's [reach]|The Rajatarangini<ref name="academia.edu" />}}
{{multiple image
| align = left
|direction=vertical
| total_width =200
| image2 = Sondani.jpg
| caption2 = Pillar of [[Yashodharman]] at [[Sondani]] near [[Mandsaur]], with the [[Sondani inscription]] claiming victory over [[Mihirakula]] of the Alchons in 528 CE.
}}
Finally however, Mihirakula was defeated in 528 by an alliance of Indian principalities led by [[Yasodharman]], the [[Aulikaras|Aulikara]] king of [[Malwa]], in the [[Battle of Sondani]] in [[Central India]], which resulted in the loss of Alchon possessions in the Punjab and north India by 542. The [[Sondani inscription]] in [[Sondani]], near [[Mandsaur]], records the submission by force of the Hunas, and claims that Yasodharman had rescued the earth from rude and cruel kings,<ref name="PM">{{cite news |url=http://www.punjabmonitor.com/2013/04/sondhni-pillars-where-punjabis-met-with.html |title=Sondhni pillars: where Punjabis met with their Waterloo 1500 years ago |work=Punjab Monitor |location=Amritsar |publisher=Bhai Nand Lal Foundation |date=27 April 2013 |access-date=8 July 2018}}</ref><ref group="Note" name="SONDHNI PILLARS: WHERE PUNJABIS MET WITH THEIR WATERLOO 1500 YEARS AGO - Punjab Monitor">"The earth betook itself (for succour), when it was afflicted by kings of the present age, who manifested pride; who were cruel through want of proper training; who,from delusion, transgressed the path of good conduct; (and) who were destitute of virtuous delights " from {{cite news |url=http://www.punjabmonitor.com/2013/04/sondhni-pillars-where-punjabis-met-with.html |title=Sondhni pillars: where Punjabis met with their Waterloo 1500 years ago |work=Punjab Monitor |location=Amritsar |publisher=Bhai Nand Lal Foundation |date=27 April 2013 |access-date=8 July 2018}}</ref> and that he "had bent the head of Mihirakula".{{sfn|Bakker|2020|pp=484-534}} In a part of the Sondani inscription [[Yasodharman]] thus praises himself for having defeated king [[Mihirakula]]:<ref name="pro.geo.univie.ac.at" />
[[File:Mihirakula of the Alchon Huns.jpg|thumb|[[Mihirakula]] used the Indian [[Gupta script]] on his coinage. Obv: Bust of king, with legend in [[Gupta script]] ([[File:Gupta allahabad j.svg|14px]])[[File:Gupta allahabad y.svg|14px]]<sub>[[File:Gupta allahabad tu.jpg|16px]]</sub><sup>[[File:Gupta allahabad mi.jpg|14px]] [[File:Gupta ashoka hi.jpg|18px]]</sup>[[File:Gupta allahabad r.svg|12px]]<sub>[[File:Gupta allahabad ku.jpg|16px]]</sub>[[File:Gupta allahabad l.svg|14px]],<ref>The "h" ([[File:Gupta ashoka h.svg|12px]]) is an early variant of the Gupta script.</ref> ''(Ja)yatu Mihirakula'' ("Let there be victory to Mihirakula").<ref>The "h" ([[File:Gupta_ashoka_h.svg|12x12px]]) is an early variant of the Gupta script. Rev: Dotted border around Fire altar flanked by attendants, a design adopted from [[Sasanian coinage]].</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Verma |first1=Thakur Prasad |title=The Imperial Maukharis: History of Imperial Maukharis of Kanauj and Harshavardhana |date=2018 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=978-1-64324-881-3 |page=264 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09FqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT264 |language=hi}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sircar |first1=D. C. |title=Studies in Indian Coins |date=2008 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120829732 |page=376 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1JYwP5tVQUC&pg=PA376 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tandon |first1=Pankaj |pages=24–34 |title=Notes on the Evolution of Alchon Coins Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society, No. 216, Summer |date=2013 |publisher=Oriental Numismatic Society |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-alchon-early.html}} also [http://coinindia.com/galleries-toramana.html Coinindia Alchon Coins (for an exact description of this coin type)]</ref>]]
{{blockquote|He (Yasodharman) to whose two feet respect was paid, with complimentary presents of the flowers from the lock of hair on the top of (his) head, by even that (famous) king [[Mihirakula]], whose forehead was pained through being bent low down by the strength of (his) arm in (the act of compelling) obeisance|[[Sondani inscription|Sondani pillar inscription]]<ref name="PM" /><ref name="Fleet1888">{{cite book |author=John Faithfull Fleet |editor=John Faithfull Fleet |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the early Gupta kings and their successors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HON9OAAACAAJ |volume=3 |year=1888 |oclc=69001098 |publisher=Office of the Superintendent of Government Print |location=Calcutta |pages=147–148|archive-url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.108395/2015.108395.Corpus-Inscriptionum-Indicarum-Vol3-inscriptions-Of-The-Early-Gupta-Kings_djvu.txt|archive-date=2015-07-01}}</ref>}}
The [[Gupta Empire]] emperor [[Narasimhagupta]] is also credited in helping repulse Mihirakula, after the latter had conquered most of India, according to the reports of Chinese monk [[Xuanzang]].{{sfn|Jain|1972|p=249}}{{sfn|Eraly|2011|p=48}} In a fanciful account, Xuanzang, who wrote a century later in 630 CE, reported that Mihirakula had conquered all India except for an island where the king of [[Magadha]] named Baladitya (who could be Gupta ruler [[Narasimhagupta Baladitya]]) took refuge, but that was finally captured by the Indian king. He later spared Mihirakula's life on the intercession of his mother, as she perceived the Hun ruler "as a man of remarkable beauty and vast wisdom".{{sfn|Eraly|2011|p=48}} Mihirakula is then said to have returned to [[Kashmir]] to retake the throne.{{sfn|Agrawal|1989|p=245}}<ref name="Neelis" />{{rp|168}} This ended the Second Hunnic War in {{circa}} 534, after an occupation which lasted nearly 15 years.{{sfn|Bakker|2020|pp=484-534}}
==== Victories of the Maukharis ====
According to the [[Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena]], the [[Maukharis]] also fought against the Hunas in the areas of the [[Gangetic Doab]] and [[Magadha]].<ref name="MG145">{{cite journal |last1=GHOSE |first1=MADHUVANTI |title=The Impact of the Hun Invasions: A Nomadic Interlude in Indian Art |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |pages=145–146 |jstor=24049312 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049312 |issn=0890-4464}}</ref> The Aphsad inscription of [[Aditya-sena|Ādityasena]] mentions the military successes of kings of the [[Later Gupta dynasty]] against the Maukharis, and explains that the Maukharis were past victors of the Hunas:<ref name="MG145" />
{{blockquote|[[File:Aphsad Stone of Adityasena (photograph).jpg|thumb|upright=0.68|left|The [[Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena]]]]"The son of that king ([[Kumara-gupta|Kumaragupta]]) was the illustrious [[Damodara-gupta|Dâmôdaragupta]], by whom (his) enemies were slain, just like the demons by (the god) [[Damodar (name of Krishna)|Dâmôdara]]. Breaking up the proudly stepping array of mighty elephants, belonging to the Maukhari, which had thrown aloft in battle the troops of the Hûnas (in order to trample them to death), he became unconscious (and expired in the fight)."|Line 8 of the [[Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Madan |first1=A. P. |title=The History of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas |date=1990 |publisher=Harman Publishing House |isbn=978-81-85151-38-0 |page=208 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kr1AAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>}}
The Maukharis led by their king [[Ishanavarman]], rather than any of the [[Gupta Empire|Guptas]], were therefore pivotal in repelling the Hunas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Willis |first1=Michael |title=Later Gupta History: Inscriptions, Coins and Historical Ideology |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=2005 |volume=15 |issue=2 |page=140 and 149 |jstor=25188529 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25188529 |issn=1356-1863}}</ref>
=== Battle of Sondani ===
This resulted in the loss of [[Alchon Huns|Alchon]] possessions in the Punjab and [[north India]] by 542. The [[Sondani inscription]] in [[Sondani]], near [[Mandsaur]], records the submission by the [[Hunas]], and claims that Yasodharman had rescued the earth from rude and cruel kings,<ref name="PM"/><ref group="Note" name="SONDHNI PILLARS: WHERE PUNJABIS MET WITH THEIR WATERLOO 1500 YEARS AGO - Punjab Monitor" /> and that he "had bent the head of Mihirakula".<ref name="Bakker">{{cite conference |title=Monuments of Hope, Gloom, and Glory in the Age of the Hunnic Wars: 50 years that changed India (484 – 534) |author=[[Hans T. Bakker]] |date=26 November 2016 |location=Amsterdam |conference=24th Gonda Lecture |url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2016/11/monuments-of-hope-gloom-and-glory |doi=10.5281/zenodo.377032 |access-date=8 July 2018 |archive-date=8 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708221146/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2016/11/monuments-of-hope-gloom-and-glory |url-status=dead }}</ref> In a part of the Sondani inscription [[Yasodharman]] thus praises himself for having defeated king [[Mihirakula]]:<ref name="pro.geo.univie.ac.at" />
{{quote|He (Yasodharman) to whose two feet respect was paid, with complimentary presents of the flowers from the lock of hair on the top of (his) head, by even that (famous) king [[Mihirakula]], whose forehead was pained through being bent low down by the strength of (his) arm in (the act of compelling) obeisance|[[Sondani inscription|Sondani pillar inscription]]<ref name="PM" /><ref name="Fleet1888" />}}
The [[Gupta Empire]] emperor [[Narasimhagupta]] is also credited in helping repulse [[Mihirakula]], after the latter had conquered most of [[India]], according to the reports of [[China|Chinese]] monk [[Xuanzang]].{{sfn|Jain|1972|p=[https://books.google.mu/books?id=_3O7q7cU7k0C&pg=PA249&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false]249}}{{sfn|Eraly|2011|p=[https://books.google.mu/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&redir_esc=y]48}}
In a fanciful account, [[Xuanzang]], who wrote a century later in 630 CE, reported that Mihirakula had conquered all India except for an island where the king of [[Magadha]] named Baladitya (who could be Gupta ruler [[Narasimhagupta Baladitya]]) took refuge, but that was finally captured by the Indian king. He later spared Mihirakula's life on the intercession of his mother, as she perceived the Hun ruler "as a man of remarkable beauty and vast wisdom".{{sfn|Eraly|2011|p=[https://books.google.mu/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&redir_esc=y]48}} Mihirakula is then said to have returned to [[Kashmir]] to retake the throne.{{sfn|Agrawal|1989|p=245}}<ref name="Neelis">{{cite book |author=Jason Neelis |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC |date=19 November 2010 |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-18159-5}}</ref>{{rp|168}} [[File:Sondani victory pillar of Yashodharman.jpg|thumb|Victory pillar of Yashodharman at Sondani, [[Mandsaur]].]]
Moreover, according to some scholars' suggestions, a confederacy of [[Yashodharman]] and [[Narasimhagupta|Narasimhagupta Baladitya]] defeated and overthrew the Hunas in [[Malwa]] and eastern [[India]].{{sfn|Sinha|1974|p=[https://books.google.mu/books/about/Comprehensive_History_of_Bihar.html?id=2WlDAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y]89}}


==Notes==
==Notes==
Mr.Sanemi
1,837

edits

Retrieved from "https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/462821"