The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire on the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of northern India. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by some other historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta.
Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on the border of Mewar and Malwa regions of Madhya Pradesh, a state in Central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandsaur District. The ancient Pashupatinath Temple is located in Mandsaur. Later come under Gwalior state Which was 2nd biggest state. Mandsaur is famous for its opium farming.
Yashodharman was ruler of the Malava Empire in North India, from 515 until his death in 545. He belonged to the Second Aulikara dynasty. He conquered much of the Indian subcontinent between c. 530–540 according to the Mandsaur pillar inscription.
Mihirakula, sometimes referred to as Mihiragula or Mahiragula, was the second and last Alchon Hun king of northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent between 502 and 530 CE. He was a son of and successor to Toramana of Huna heritage. His father ruled the Indian part of the Hephthalite Empire. Mihirakula ruled from his capital of Sagala.
Toramana also called Toramana Shahi Jauvla was a king of the Alchon Huns who ruled in northern India in the late 5th and the early 6th century CE. Toramana consolidated the Alchon power in Punjab, and conquered northern and central India including Eran in Madhya Pradesh. Toramana used the title "Great King of Kings", equivalent to "Emperor", in his inscriptions, such as the Eran boar inscription.
NarasimhaguptaBaladitya was the Gupta Emperor from 495 to 530 CE. He was son of Purugupta and probably the successor of Budhagupta.
The Aulikaras, were an ancient clan that ruled the Kingdom of Daśapura between the 4th-century CE and 6th-century CE.
Hunas or Huna was the name given by the ancient Indians to a group of Central Asian tribes who, via the Khyber Pass, entered the Indian subcontinent at the end of the 5th or early 6th century. The Hunas occupied areas as far south as Eran and Kausambi, greatly weakening the Gupta Empire. The Hunas were ultimately defeated by a coalition of Indian princes that included an Indian king Yasodharman and the Gupta emperor, Narasimhagupta. They defeated a Huna army and their ruler Mihirakula in 528 CE and drove them out of India. The Guptas are thought to have played only a minor role in this campaign.
Kumaragupta III was a later Gupta Emperor. He succeeded his father Narasimhagupta in about 530 CE.
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.
The Alchon Huns, also known as the Alkhan, Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alakhana, and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. They were first mentioned as being located in Paropamisus, and later expanded south-east, into the Punjab and Central India, as far as Eran and Kausambi. The Alchon invasion of the Indian subcontinent eradicated the Kidarite Huns who had preceded them by about a century, and contributed to the fall of the Gupta Empire, in a sense bringing an end to Classical India.
Sondani, also Sondhni, is a small village at a distance of about 4 km from Mandsaur situated on Mahu-Nimach Highway towards Mahu.
The Mandasor Pillar Inscriptions of Yashodharman are a set of Sanskrit inscriptions from early 6th-century discovered at an archaeological site at the village of Sondani (सोंधनी), about 4 kilometers south of Mandsaur (Mandasor) in northwestern Madhya Pradesh, India. These record the victory of Aulikara king Yasodharman over the Huna king Mihirakula. According to Richard Salomon, these are notable for "their outstanding literary, calligraphic and historical value". The Mandasor inscription praises Yasodharman, describes him as having rescued the earth from "rude and cruel kings of the Kali age, who delight in viciousness".
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 Eran boar inscription of Toramana, is a stone inscription found in Eran in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is 8 lines of Sanskrit, the first three of which are in meter and the rest in prose, written in a North Indian script. It is carved on the neck of a freestanding 11 feet (3.4 m) high red sandstone Varaha statue, a zoomorphic iconography of Vishnu avatar, and dated to the 6th century. The inscription names king Toramana, ruler of the Alchon Huns, as ruling over Malwa and records that a Dhanyavishnu is dedicating a stone temple to Narayana (Vishnu).
The Second Aulikara dynasty was a royal dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Daśapura, and at its peak under Yashodharman Vishnuvardhana controlled a vast area, consisting of almost all of Northern India and parts of Deccan plateau. It was the second royal house of the Aulikara clan.
The Kingdom of Daśapura was a kingdom in Central India ruled by the Aulikara dynasty during the classical era and the early medieval era. It was established by Jayavarman in 350 AD. The name Malava Empire is applied to the territorial conquests of Yashodharman, who reigned between 515 and 545 AD.
The First battle of Eran was a key engagement of the First Hunnic War that took place in 498 CE at Airikana (Eran), India. It was fought between the Gupta Empire and the invading army of Alchon Huns. The battle involved the Emperor Budhagupta, his viceroys, and Toramana, an acclaimed Hunnic king. The confrontation had significant consequences for the political and territorial situation in the region. The conflict concluded with a victory for the Alchon Huns that influenced subsequent events in the region.
The second battle of Eran, around 510 CE, marked a significant conflict between Emperor Bhanugupta of the Gupta Empire and the Huna invaders led by Toramana. The battle, commemorated in the Eran inscription, resulted in the death of Bhanugupta's general, Goparaja. It was pivotal in either halting the Huna advance into eastern Malwa or attempting to expel them from the region. The battle marked the first of a series of setbacks for the Huna conqueror. During his struggle against the invader, Bhanugupta may have received support from King Prakāśadharman, the ruler of Mandasor.
