Eran (ऐरण) is a small village situated at the south bank of river
Bina. It is surrounded on three sides by this river. This town is
referred as Erakina or Erakanya in epigraphs and coins and seems to have
held an important position in olden times. Eran was located on an
ancient route connecting Pataliputra with Mathura passing through
Vidisha. The earliest main route joined Kausambi (Allahabad district) to
the south-eastern sea coast via Bharhut, Amarkantak, Sarabhapur
(Malhar) and the Dandaka forest. The other main route from Kausambi went
in south-western direction passing through Bharhut, Airikina (Eran),
Vidisha, Ujjain, Mahishmati (Maheswar) to Bhrigukachchha (Broach) on
Arabian Sea coast. This prime location helped the town to acquire a
commendable position in those times.
Eran was annexed into Gupta empire by Samudragupta when he annexed many kingdoms of Aryavarta into Gupta dominion. Before this annexation Airikina was the capital of eastern Malwa for a long time. Tumain inscription mentions Ghatotkachagupta as a governor of Airikina appointed by Kumaragupta I. It would have acted as a buffer state between the Huns and the Guptas when Huns started extending their kingdom towards east hence marking it as the easternmost boundary for the Huns.
Alexander Cunningham visited Eran in 1874-75 and reported its antiquity. He found many punch-marked, die-struck and cast coins during his excavations. The die-struck coins bear various symbols such as an elephant, horse, river with fishes, tree with railings, Indradhwaja and the so called Ujjain symbol. Few die-struck coins were inscribed in Brhami characters of second century BCE and give the name of the city as as Erakana.
Few coins have legend rano Dhamapalasa, of king Dharmapala. On the basis of paleography, this king can be assigned to the end of third century BCE or the start of second century BCE. A very rare gold coin unearth during the excavation carried out by the Sagar University has been assigned to 1000 BCE as mentioned by K D Bajpai. He has assigned the coins of Eran from the Chalcolithic period (1800 BCE) onwards. The punch-marked coins found here are assigned between 700 BCE to second century CE. A legend in Maurya Brahmi characters on few coins reads rano Indagutasa, of king Indragupta.
Eran was annexed into Gupta empire by Samudragupta when he annexed many kingdoms of Aryavarta into Gupta dominion. Before this annexation Airikina was the capital of eastern Malwa for a long time. Tumain inscription mentions Ghatotkachagupta as a governor of Airikina appointed by Kumaragupta I. It would have acted as a buffer state between the Huns and the Guptas when Huns started extending their kingdom towards east hence marking it as the easternmost boundary for the Huns.
Alexander Cunningham visited Eran in 1874-75 and reported its antiquity. He found many punch-marked, die-struck and cast coins during his excavations. The die-struck coins bear various symbols such as an elephant, horse, river with fishes, tree with railings, Indradhwaja and the so called Ujjain symbol. Few die-struck coins were inscribed in Brhami characters of second century BCE and give the name of the city as as Erakana.
Few coins have legend rano Dhamapalasa, of king Dharmapala. On the basis of paleography, this king can be assigned to the end of third century BCE or the start of second century BCE. A very rare gold coin unearth during the excavation carried out by the Sagar University has been assigned to 1000 BCE as mentioned by K D Bajpai. He has assigned the coins of Eran from the Chalcolithic period (1800 BCE) onwards. The punch-marked coins found here are assigned between 700 BCE to second century CE. A legend in Maurya Brahmi characters on few coins reads rano Indagutasa, of king Indragupta.
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