The Hunas invasion gave greatest shock to the Gupta imperial power. The Hunas, a horde of fierce nomadic race, originally from the neighbourhood of China, moving out of their original home, overran the whole of Persia and Afghanistan, putting the country through which they passed under fire and sword.
The first invasion of the Hunas on India took place about the close of Kumaragupta’s reign which was successfully resisted by the crown prince Skandagupta. But this defeat did not discourage them and they came again in large number about the close of the fifth century A.D. under the leadership of ‘Toramana.
They got success in Uttarpatha including Gandhara and Kusnira and then attacked the Western territories of the Guptas.
They killed men and women, destroyed fields, homes and raised to the ground the monuments and glorious relics of the Gupta Empire. Kalhana carries the name of Toramana.
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‘Mikirakula’, the son and successor of Toramana, figures in traditional literature as a friend of destruction and a monster who took immense delight in acts of wanton brutality. According to Huein-Tsang he carried on a merciless persecution of the Buddhist, destroying and plundering their “stupas” and monasteries.