Eran Group of Monuments – History

Eran Group of Monuments – History

Eran is an ancient city known as Erakaina, Erakanya, Erakina Airikina and Erikina in Buddhist & Hindu texts, on ancient coins and inscriptions in the surrounding region. It is generally believed that the name is derived from the word eraka. Eraka refers a tall grass commonly called the Elephant cattail, botanical name Typha elephantina, which grows at Eran in abundance. Eran was the capital of Erakina (Airikina) Pradesha or Airkina Vishaya, an administrative division of the Gupta empire.

Eran was an important stop on an ancient route from the east towards Ujjain and from the north linking Mathura and Vidisha. It was one of the ancient mints for Indian dynasties as evidenced by the diverse coins excavated here. Eran was under the control of Western Kshatrapas during 4^th century CE as per a clay seal inscription found in Eran. It mentions the Western Kshatrapa King Isvaramitra and his son Simhasrisena.

Samudra Gupta conquered Eran from the Western Kshatrapas as attested by his inscription found in Eran. However, his conquest was short lived. Samudra Gupta is said to have visited Eran and renamed it to Swabhog Nagar. His successors Ramagupta and Chandragupta II Vikramaditya fought Western Kshatrapas after the demise of their father.

The presence of the large caches of their coins in Eran & their inscriptions and inscriptions of Shaka Kings would confirm that Eran was hotly contested between the two dynasties. Finally, Chandragupta II Vikramaditya completely subjugated the Western Kshatrapas. Eran was invaded by Huna King Toramana during the waning period of Guptas.

The inscription on Varaha in Eran dates to the reign of Huna King Toramana. It records the construction of a Vishnu temple by Dhanya Vishnu. Another inscription dated to 484 CE during the Gupta King Bhuda Gupta records that the Dhanya Vishnu along with his brother jointly erected the Vishnu pillar. Eran was under the control of Huna King Toramana for a short period of time.

Bhanugupta fought a battle in Eran in 510 CE to wrestle the control of the town from Hunas. Finally, Aulikara king, Prakashadharma, routed Toramana in 515 CE as per his inscriptions. Eran houses remains of 5^th and 6^th century Gupta era temples and monuments. The inscription stones found at Eran are important to reconstructing the chronology of Gupta Empire history.

Vishnu Temple:

The Temple was built by Emperor Chandragupta II (380 –  415 CE) of Gupta Dynasty. The doorway and front mandapa of this temple might have been installed during the Pratihara period of 8^th – 9^th century CE.

Varaha Temple:

The Temple was constructed by Dhanya Vishnu, younger brother of Matri Vishnu, during the reign of Huna King Toramana. He was the same person who is mentioned in the inscription of the Garuda pillar in the same complex.

Garuda Pillar:

The pillar was installed by two brothers, Matri Vishnu and Dhanya Vishnu, during the reign of the Gupta emperor Budha Gupta. Matri Vishnu was referred as a king in the inscription. He might have been ruling the region under the patronage of the Gupta emperors.

Nrivaraha Idol:

The Nrivaraha idol might have been installed during the reign of Gupta King Budha Gupta. An image of Nrivaraha was found by Cunningham in possession of a local brahmin priest in Eran during his visit. The brahmin priest told Cunningham that the image was brought from the location of the Budhagupta pillar. It is currently housed in Sagar University. It has a short inscription near pedestal reads two names Mahesvara Datta and Varaha Datta, probably the brothers who installed this idol. The inscription can be dated to 5^th century based on paleographic studies.

Coins:

Eran was likely one of the ancient mints for Indian kingdoms, along with Vidisha, Ujjain, and Tripuri. Over 3,000 coins of different styles, shapes and inscriptions have been found here. These coins have been dated to between 300 BCE to 700 CE. A unique square shaped coins were found abundantly in Eran. Cunningham, a late 19^th century archaeologist states that the copper coins of Eran are the finest specimen found in India.

The largest coin has measured about 1.1 inches (28 mm) and the smallest about 0.2 inches (5.1 mm) in diameter. The coins found in the Eran are grouped into four categories namely Punch-marked coins, Cast coins, Die struck coins and Inscribed coins. The common motifs found on the coin include Gajalakshmi, horses, elephants, bull, flowers, rivers, swastikas, dharma chakra, tri ratna, triangles and a cross with circle in four sections.

One of the coins found in Eran was inscribed with the name Dharmapala in Brahmi script. This copper coin is presently displayed in the British Museum, in London. Another circular coin inscribed with the name of a ruler Indra Gupta has been discovered at Eran. Several inscribed copper coins bearing the name Erakanya or Erakana in the Brahmi script have also been found at Eran. A Bronze coin of Eran dated to the 3^rd Century B.C was found at Sulur, in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu in one of the excavations.

Sati Pillars:

There are several inscribed sati pillars in Eran dating from Gupta period to 18^th century CE. An ancient Sati pillar dated to 510 CE during the reign of Bhanu Gupta of Gupta Dynasty can be seen in Eran. It records Goparaja, a chieftain of Gupta King Bhanu Gupta came to Eran and lost his life in a battle. His wife committed Sati on the funeral pyre of her husband. This Sati pillar is considered as one of the earliest sati pillars in India. This Sati pillar was discovered by General Alexander Cunningham during his visit to Eran in 1874 – 1875 CE. Several Sati pillars found in Eran are dated to the medieval period.

Alexander Cunningham’s Visit:

Alexander Cunningham, an 19^th century British archeologist, was the first person to catalogue the antiquities of the Eran. His studies were published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal vol. clxxxi m 1847. He again visited Eran in 1874 – 1875 CE and his findings were included in the seventh volume of his survey reports.

Excavations:

Due to the importance of the town, extensive excavations were carried out by K D Bajpai, under the auspices of University of Sagar, between 1960 and 1965. These excavations revealed various layers of settlement patterns taking back the history of the town to the second millennium BCE. On the basis of stratigraphy, Bajpai classified the periods of settlement as below;

·        Period I: Chalcolithic (18^th century BC - 7^th BC)

·        Period II A: Early Historic (7^th century BC – 2^nd century BC)

·        Period II B: 2^nd century BC – 1^st century CE

·        Period III: 1^st century – 6^th century CE

·        Period IV: Late Medieval (16^th century CE – 18^th century CE)

The most important finding of the period I was a mud defense wall and its associated moat. The wall was 154 feet wide and 21 feet deep. A circular lead piece bearing the name of king Indragupta, belonging to period II A is the most important. A hoard of 3,268 punch marked coins is among the most significant finding belonging to Period II B. An important finding of Period III is a clay seal depicting Gaja-Lakshmi icon with a Brahmi inscription.