Who were the Hunas? Write in short about their invasion of India. Who was Yasodharman?

a. Hunas:

The Hunas were nomadic savages, who lived in the neighbourhood of China. Advancing towards the west they became divided into two main branches.

One branch moved towards the Roman Empire and the other towards India.

The Hunas invaded India about a few hundred years after the invasion of the Kushanas. The branch of the Hunas which entered into India were known as the ‘White Hunas’

b. Huna Invasion:

The Huna invasion took place at a time when the Guptas had been ruling over a greater part of India. The first Huna invasion of 458 was repelled by the Gupta emperor Skandagupta.

Next time the Hunas, under the leadership of Tormana, were successful in their Indian campaign. Mihirkula (also known, as Mihirgula), the son and successor of Tormana, was a tyrant and destroyer.

Mihirkula, known as the ‘Indian Attila’, ruled from his capital at Sakal (modern Sialkot).

He was, however, defeated successively by two Indian rulers-Yasodharman of Malwa and Narasimhagupta Baladitya of the Later Gupta dynasty.

The Huna power collapsed in India after the defeat of Mihirkula.

c. Yasodharman:

Little is known about Yasodharman. In all probability Yasodharman established himself as an independent king taking advantage of the political confusion that had set in the Gupta Empire after Skandagupta.

Yasodharman established himself firmly in Malwa (i.e. Malava) with Mandosar as its capital.

The greatest achievement of Yasodharaman was his victory over the Hunas under the leadership of Mihirkula.

Yasodharman, however, could not exterminate the Hunas which is evident from the fact that the later Gupta king Narasimhagupta Baladitya also had to reckon with them a few years later.

Yasodharman’s power came to an end immediately after his success over the Hunas though it is not known how his power ended.