Yashodharman

{{Main|Battle of Sondani}}

Towards the end of the 5th century, India came under attack from the Hunas. Yashodharman and possibly the Gupta emperor, Narasimhagupta, defeated a Huna army and their ruler Mihirakula in 528 AD and drove them out of India.{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinovskiĭ |first2=Boris Abramovich |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=9788120815407 |page=175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&pg=PA175 |language=en}}

Three inscriptions of Yasodharman have been found in Mandsaur. One of these, the Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana is of samvat 589 (532 AD).

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|caption = The 532 AD Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana mentions victorious campaigns against northern kings (probably referring to the victory against the Alchon Huns at Sondani), and against "mighty kings of the east", including a campaign across the Vindhya range.

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{{location map~ |India |lat=25|N |long=81|E |label=Campaign through the Vindhya range|position=right |label_size=70|mark=Arrow-060(000).svg|marksize=25 }}

{{location map~ |India |lat=24.07|N |long=75.08|E |label=Sondani|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=Red Star.gif|marksize=20}}

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{{Main|Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana}}

The Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana was written in 532 AD, and records the construction of a well by a person named Daksha in Dashapura (modern Mandsaur, also often spelled Mandasor), during the rule of Yashodharman. The inscription mentions the victories of local ruler Yasodharman and Vishnuvardhan over Northern and Eastern kingdoms. These kingdoms are not further specified, but it is known that Yashodhaman occupied most of the territories of the Alchon Huns or Hunas to the north, and most of the territories of the Gupta Empire to the east following his victories.Historical Geography of Madhyapradesh from Early Records by P. K. Bhattacharyya [https://books.google.com/books?id=njYpsvmr2dsC&pg=PA200 p.200]Indian Esoteric Buddhism: Social History of the Tantric Movement by Ronald M. Davidson [https://books.google.com/books?id=n_VquVQvnBwC&pg=PA31 p.31] Only one more Gupta inscription is known after that date, a land grant in the area of Kotivarsha (Bangarh in West Bengal) by the last Gupta emperor Vishnugupta. The victory against the Alchons Huns is also described in the Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman.Hans Bakker 50 years that changed India (Timeline)

{{Quote|"(L. 5.)— And, again, victorious over the earth is this same king of men, the glorious Vishnuvardhana, the conqueror in war; by whom his own famous lineage, which has the Aulikara-crest, has been brought to a state of dignity that is ever higher and higher. By him, having brought into subjection, with peaceful overtures and by war, the

mighty kings of the east and many (kings) of the north, this second name of "Supreme King of Kings and Supreme Lord", pleasing in the world (but) difficult of attainment, is carried on high."|Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman and VishnuvardhanaFleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 150sq.}}

File:Sondani victory pillar of Yashodharman.jpg, Mandsaur.]]

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|caption = In the Mandsaur pillar inscription, Yashodharman claims he now controls the territory from the neighbourhood of Lauhitya (Brahmaputra River) to the "Western Ocean" (Western Indian Ocean), and from the Himalayas to mountain Mahendra.{{cite journal |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=New Inscriptional Evidence For The History Of The Aulikaras of Mandasor |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |date=1989 |volume=32 |issue=1 |page=11 |doi=10.1163/000000089790082971 |issn=0019-7246|jstor=24654606 }} He also claims he defeated the Hunas at Sondani.Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol 3 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358795 p.145]

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{{location map~ |India |lat=24.07|N |long=75.08|E |label=Battle of Sondani|position=top |label_size=70|mark=Red Star.gif|marksize=20}}

{{location map~ |India |lat=19|N |long=84.33|E |label=Mahendra|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=AS-góra-icon.svg|marksize=20}}

{{location map~ |India |lat=30|N |long=82|E |label=Himalayas |position=right |label_size=70|mark=AS-góra-icon.svg|marksize=20}}

{{location map~ |India |lat=19|N |long=70|E |label="Western Ocean"|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=Emoji u1f32b.svg|marksize=30}}

{{location map~ |India |lat=23.2|N |long=89.66|E |label=Brahmaputra River|position=top |label_size=70|mark=RiverIcon-delta.svg|marksize=20}}

{{Location map~|Near East|lat=34.5|N|long=40|E|position=left|label_size= |mark=Red circle (thin).svg|marksize=110|label=}}

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{{Main|Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman}}

Twin monolithic pillars at Sondani in Mandsaur District were erected by Yasodharman as a record of his victory.Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 147–148[http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/mandasor_pillar.htm Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman] In a part of the Sondani inscription, Yasodharman thus praises himself for having defeated king Mihirakula:[http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase9?language=en Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna]

{{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"|Mandsaur pillar inscription of YashodharmanPunjab Monitor, April 2013 [http://www.punjabmonitor.com/2013/04/sondhni-pillars-where-punjabis-met-with.html], from Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 147–148.}}

In Line 5 of the Mandsaur pillar inscription, Yashodharman claims he vanquished his enemies and now controls the territory from the neighbourhood of the (river) Lauhitya (Brahmaputra River) to the "Western Ocean" (Western Indian Ocean), and from the Himalayas to mountain Mahendra.Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol 3 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358795 p.145]Foreign Influence on Ancient India by Krishna Chandra Sagar [https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&pg=PA216 p.216]

Yashodharman thus conquered vast territories from the Hunas and the Guptas,Tribal Culture, Faith, History And Literature, Narayan Singh Rao, Mittal Publications, 2006 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Pplg_F0VyVEC&pg=PA18 p.18] although his short-lived empire would ultimately disintegrate between c. 530–540 AD.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/bijayagadh_stone_pillar.htm Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080905170414/http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/docs/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/mandasor_pillar.htm Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman]

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Category:6th-century Indian monarchs

Category:Kings of Malwa

Category:Aulikara dynasty

Category:Emperors in India

Category:People from Mandsaur