186 
V. A. Smith — History and Coinage of the Gupta Period. [No. 4, 
of names. The Chinese writers call them Yuan-yuan, Yetha-i-lito, 
Yetha, or Himatala (Hiuen Tsiang). The Greek historians knew 
them as Ovwoi , AcvkoI 0 vwoi, E0 0aA.tr ai, or Ne<£0aAirai. The Armenians 
call them Hunk, and in Sanskrit authors they are named Huna (or 
Huna), Sita Huna ( Brhat Samhita , xi, 61), fveta-Huna (ibid., xvi, 
38), or Hara-Huna. 1 
The earliest Indian inscription which mentions the Huns is the 
Bhitarl inscription of Skanda Gupta, circa A.H. 470, which records 
(1. 15), the fact that the king “joined in close conflict with the Hunas.” 
(Gupta Inscr., p. 56.) The Mandasor inscription of Ya^dharman, king 
of Northern India, circa A.D. 535, alleges that his prowess was dis¬ 
played by invading those parts of the earth, “ which the command of 
the chiefs of the Hunas, that established itself on the tiaras of many 
kings, failed to penetrate.” (ibid., p. 148.) The inscription of Aditya- 
sena, king of Magadha, mentions the defeat by Damodara Gupta 
(circa A.D. 565), of the Maukharls, who had themselves defeated the 
Hunas. (ibid., p. 206.) 
These records show that, during the first half of the sixth century and 
the latter part of the fifth, the invading and aggressive Huns were in 
constant conflict with the Gupta and other native kings of Northern 
India. 
The Indian history of the White Huns begins with a chief called 
Lae-lih by the Chinese, who established himself on the Indus near 
the close (circa A.D. 470-480) of the fifth century. 
The son of Lae-lih appears to have been Toramana. 2 Two inscriptions 
of this king are known. The inscription on the boar statue at Eran 
in the Sagar District of the Central Provinces is dated in the first year 
of his reign (Gupta Inscr,, p. 159.) The second inscription, which was 
found recently at Kura in the Salt Range, calls him Maharaja Tora¬ 
mana Saha Jauvla, and has been edited by Dr. Buhler (JEpigraphia 
Indica, Vol. I, p. 238). Dr. Buhler denies the identity of this prince with 
the Toramana of the Eran record, but Cunningham has no doubt of the 
identity, and I think he is right. 
Toramana succeeded in extending his dominion over a wide area, 
1 Most of the above synonyms are given by Cunningham (Trans. Intern. 
Congress of Orientalists, 1892, Vol. I, p. 222), but he makes a slight error in assert¬ 
ing that “ by the Indians they are always called Huna or Ear a Huna.” The refer¬ 
ences to the Brhat Samhita of Varaha Mikira are given in Dr. Fleet’s valuable 
paper entitled The Topographical List of the Brhat Samhita ( Indian Ant., ^ol. XXII 
(1893), pp. 169-195). Huna I?«T is a various reading for Huna 
i The name Toramana is not Indian. It is supposed to be connected with the 
Turkish word turaman, meaning a * rebel ’ or ‘ insurgent.’ ( Epigr . Ind. 1. c.). 
