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August, 1889.]
THE COINS AND HISTORY OF TORAMANA,
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SangalawAlâţibb, -the Sangla Hill, G. T. S., of the map, Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 30, Lat. 31° 42' N., Long. 73° 26 E., - in the 'Jhang' District, and on the borders of Gujranwala,' about forty-four miles west by north of Lahôr. And Toramana has recently been connected with the same part of the country, through Mr. M. F. O'Dwyer's discovery, at Kara' in the Salt Range, of an inscription of the Shahi or Shaha Tôramaņa, whom I hold to be undoubtedly the Tôramana whose coins I am discussing. Mihirakula's date is now known sufficiently closely; for, as I have shewn on a previous occasion (ante, Vol. XV. p. 252), his fifteenth year, recorded in his Gwalior inscription, must fall somewhere very close to A.D. 533-34, which is the recorded date for Yasodharman, who overthrew him in Western and Central India, and we shall be very near the mark, if we select A.D. 515 for the commoncement of his career.
This fixes Toramana's date, approximately. But it is also determined, and for just the same period, by independent considerations. The Eraņ pillar inscription, dated in the reign of Badhagupta. (Oorp. Inscr. Indic. Vol. III. No. 19, p. 88), records the erection of the column by the Maharaja Mâtsivishou and his younger brother Dhanyavishņu, and thus shews that at that time both of these persons were alive. On the other hand, the Eraņ boar inscription, referred to above, dated in the first year of the reign of Toramana, records that the temple, in the portico of which the boar stands, was built by the same Dhanyavishņa, after, as is distinctly stated, the decease of his elder brother, the Maharája Mâtsivishņu. These two records accordingly shew that Tôramâna came, in Eastern Malwa, after Budhagupta, and within the remnant of the generation to which the brothers Mâtsivishnu and Dhanyavishņu belonged. For Budhagupta we have the date of A.D. 484, from the pillar inscription, and from his coins (ante, Vol. XIV. p. 67 f.), the date of A.D. 494-95, and possibly a somewhat later date, corresponding to Gupta-Samvat 180 (A.D. 499-500), with or without a numeral in the units place. The next native kirg after Budhagapta, in the same part of the country, was, as far as our present information goes, Bhânugupta ; for whom we have the date of A.D. 510, from the Eray pillar inscription of Goparkja (Corp. Inscr. Indic. Vol. III. No. 20, p. 91). And further, we have the grants of the Parivrâjaka Mahárájas Hastin and Samkshobha (id. Nos. 21, 22, 23, 25, Pp. 93, 100, 106, 112), dated in A.D. 475, 482, 511, and 528; which, though they do not give the names of the paramount sovereigns, distinctly record that the dominion of the Gupta kings was then still continuing. These various records and dates, taken together, shew that in the period there was an interruption of the Gupta sovereignty by foreign invaders, led by Tôl amâna and Mihirakula. But they shew also that, in Malwa at least, this interruption did not last for any great time, and that the first year of Toramapa, mentioned in the Eray boar inscription. must fall either between A.D. 494 and 510, or between A.D. 510 and about 515, when he may be supposed to have died and to have been succeeded by Mihirakula. Under any circumstances, taking even the latest date of A.D. 533-34, when Mihirakula in his turn had been overthrown by Yaáôdharman, the whole period of the tenancy of Malwa by these foreign invaders did not amount to more than forty years. And, accordingly, the year 52 on Tôramâna's coins cannot have a local application, and cannot be reckoned from his conquest of Malwa.
Others of the records throw still more light on the history of the period. The Mandasôr inscription of MAlava-Samvat 529 expired (Corp. Inscr. Indic. Vol. III. No. 18, p. 79) shews that Kumâragupta's rule included Western Malwa in A.D. 436; but that, between then and A.D. 473, that part of the country passed under the power of other kings, and the Early Gupta sway thero ceased, at least temporarily. Other specific references to a serious interruption of the Early Gupta sovereignty at that time, and to the enemies by whom it was effected, are to be found in the Bhitari pillar inscription (id. No. 13, p. 52) of Kumaragupta's
Notified in the Academy, 19th January, 1889, p. 39. I have seen an impression of this inscription, through the kindness of Dr. Bühler, who has it in hand for publication elsewhere. It is dated; but unfortunately the passage is much damaged, and, as an estampage may make the passage somewhat clearer herenfter, it is useless to speculate on the possible readings of the date here, and I will only point out that, if it is dated in an era, that era mast of necessity be the saka ora, though probably not mentioned by that name. For present purposes, it is sufficient to state that, on palmographical grounds, the inscription may undoubtedly be referred to the time of Toramana, the father of Mihirakula.
