Toramana II (

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 ...

Śrī Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Indo ...

Toramāṇa'', "Lord Toramana") was a ruler of the

Alchon Huns The Alchon Huns, ( Bactrian: ''Alkhon(n)o'' or ''Alkhan(n)o'') 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 centurie ...

in the 6th century CE.

Confrontation with the Nezaks

Around the middle of the 6th century CE, the

Alchons The Alchon Huns, ( Bactrian: ''Alkhon(n)o'' or ''Alkhan(n)o'') 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 centurie ...

, after having extensively invaded the heartland of India, had withdrawn from

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, 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 P ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

, and going back west across the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

they resettled in

Kabulistan Kabulistan ( Persian: کابلستان) is a historical regional name referring to the territory that is centered on present-day Kabul Province of Afghanistan. By the 10th century, Ibn Khordadbeh and the Hudud al-'Alam report the southern part ...

. It seems that there was a direct confrontation between the Alchon Toramana II and the

Nezaks The Nezak Huns ( Pahlavi: 𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩 ''nycky''), also Nezak Shahs, was a significant principality in the south of the Hindu Kush region of South Asia from circa 484 to 665 CE. Despite being traditionally identified as the last of the ...

, as he made overstrikes of Nezak coins, and at the same time adopted the Nezak bull's head in his own crown in some of his coins minted in

. The legend of the coins of Toramana II were previously mistakenly read as "''srī nara''" and "''nara''", leading to suggestions that there was an Alchon Hun king named "Narana" or "Narendra". Since a 2013 study by Matthias Pfisterer, it has been recognized that the legends on these coins should be read as "srī tora" and "tora", hence the attribution to a "Toramana II". According to Michael Alram, the supposed king "Narana" or "Narendra" should be "deleted without substitution". The coins of Toramana II in Kabulistan generally have the mention "His Excellence, King Tora", and some of them are overstrikes over Nezak coins.

Coinage

File:Alchon Huns. Toramana. Circa 490-515 CE.jpg, A coin in the name of "

Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

Tora" in (

) File:Narana-Narendra Circa 540 CE.jpg, Coin of Toramana II Circa 540 CE. Circa 540 CE. Æ 22mm "Drachm" (3.75 gm). Crowned head right with diadem and two trident patterns File:Narana-Narenda_of_the_Alchon_Huns_late_4th-early_5th_century_CE.jpg, Another coin of Toramana II, again with the name Gupta_allahabad_shrii

Toramana II of Kashmir

A more sophisticated type of coinage from

is also known that bears the name "Toramana", and is often called "Toramana II" in numismatic studies. It is dated to the end the 6th-7th century CE. This coin type belongs to another ruler,

Toramana of Kashmir Toramana of Kashmir (Gupta script: ''Śrī Toramāṇa'', "Lord Toramana"), was a ruler of Kashmir in the 6-7th century CE. This ruler has often been called "Toramana II" in numismatic studies, but this name now tends to be used for an earlier ...

, a probable descendant of the Alchon Huns in Kashmir, and may bear a relation with the "Toramana" of the

Gonanda dynasty (II) The Second Gonanda dynasty (or Restored Gonanda dynasty), was a Kashmiris, Kashmiri Hindu dynasty. According to Kalhana, this dynasty ruled Kashmir just before the Karkota Dynasty, Karkotas. Sources Literature No contemporary literature e ...

mentioned in

Kalhana Kalhana (c. 12th century) was the author of '' Rajatarangini'' (''River of Kings''), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own wri ...

's ''

Rajatarangini ''Rājataraṅgiṇī'' (Sanskrit: Devanagari, राजतरङ्गिणी, IAST, romanized: ''rājataraṅgiṇī'', International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɑː.d͡ʑɐ.t̪ɐˈɾɐŋ.ɡi.ɳiː ) is a metrical legend ...

''.

References

Sources

* {{s-end 6th-century Indian monarchs Medieval history of Afghanistan Kings of the Alchon Huns