Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/328

 286 THE GUPTA EMPIRE AND THE WHITE HUNS About ten years later the nomads appeared in greater force and overwhelmed the kingdom of Gan- dhara, or Peshawar, and starting from that base, as already related, penetrated into the heart of the Gan- ges provinces, and overthrew the Gupta empire. The collapse of Persian opposition in 484 must have greatly facilitated the eastern movement of the horde, and allowed immense multitudes to cross the Indian fron- tier. The leader in this invasion of India, which, no doubt, continued for years, was a chieftain named Tora- mana, who is known to have been established as ruler of Malwa in Central India prior to 500 A. D. He as- sumed the style and titles of an Indian " sovereign of maharajas," and Bhanugupta, as well as the King of Valabhi and many other local princes, must have been his tributaries. When Toramana died, about 510 A. D., the Indian dominion which he had acquired was consolidated suf- ficiently to pass to his son Mihiragula, whose capital in India was Sakala in the Panjab, which should be identified apparently with either Chuniot or Shahkot in the Jhang District. But India at this time was only one province of the Hun empire. The headquarters of the horde were at Bamyin in Badhaghis near Herat, and the ancient city of Balkh served as a secondary capital. The Hun king, whose court, whether at Bamyin or Herat cannot be determined, was visited by Song-Yun, the Chinese pilgrim-envoy in 519 A. D., was a powerful monarch levying tribute from forty countries, extending from