Huns, Mihirakula and the Gonanda Line

The Huns in Kashmir

• The Hunas (White Huns, Hephthalites) invaded north-west India in the 5th to 6th century CE.
• Toramana and his son Mihirakula (about 502 to 530 CE) ruled from Sakala (Sialkot).
• Kalhana describes Mihirakula as a cruel tyrant who took Kashmir and persecuted Brahmins and Buddhists. He founded Mihirapura, and a pass in the Pir Panjal (Hastivanj) was connected with a story of him.
• His reign ended in defeat in the plains, and he fled to Kashmir, where he seized power.

Pravarasena II

• Pravarasena II (6th century CE) is the king who founded Pravarapura, the city that became Srinagar. The great gate and market were laid out beside the Vitasta.
• The Kashmiri tradition also names Pravarasena as a builder of the bridge and temple in his city.

The last Gonanda: Baladitya

• The Gonanda line ended with Baladitya. Durlabhavardhana, his son-in-law, took the throne and started the Karkota dynasty (c. 625 CE).

More on the Huns (Alchon Huns)

• The Huns were a nomadic people who set up states in Central Asia and South Asia between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. They were first noticed near Paropamisus and then moved south-east into the Punjab and Central India.
• During the Gupta period, Kashmir was an independent principality. After the Gupta empire fell, Kashmir was captured by the Huns.
• Their chief Mihirakula, when driven out of the Punjab, took shelter in Kashmir and then seized the throne.
• He was cruel, persecuted Buddhists, killed monks and destroyed many viharas.
• Another Hun ruler, Aksha, founded Akshavala, today's Achabal (Anantnag).
• A ruler named Gopaditya built the Jyeshteshwara temple, now called the Shankaracharya Temple, on Gopadri (Gopa Hill), as Kalhana records.
• Some exam notes call Pravarasena II, the founder of Pravarapura (Srinagar), a king of the Alchon Huns line.

The Second Gonanda dynasty

• This dynasty ruled just before the Karkotas.
• Meghavahana was its founder and Baladitya its last king.
• After Baladitya's death Kashmir passed to Durlabhavardhana, his son-in-law, the founder of the Karkota dynasty.