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{{distinguish|text = the country [[Iran]]}}
{{About|an ancient town in Madhya Pradesh, India||ERAN (disambiguation)}}
{{short description|Ancient town and archaeological site in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Eran
| native_name    =
| alternate_name = 
| image          = File:Vishnu temple mandapa at Eran, Madhya Pradesh.jpg
| alt   = 
| caption        = [[Mandapa]] of the Vishnu Temple at Eran
| map_type       = India #India Madhya Pradesh
| map_alt        = 
| map_size       = 
| map_dot_label  = Eran
| relief         = yes
| coordinates    = {{coord|24.093846|78.172695|display=inline,title}}
| location       = [[Sagar district]], [[Madhya Pradesh]]
| epochs         = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" -->
| website        = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
'''Eran''' is an ancient town and archaeological site in the [[Sagar district]] of [[Madhya Pradesh]], India.<ref name=cunningham76/> It was one of the ancient mints for Indian dynasties as evidenced by the diverse coins excavated here. The site has 5th and 6th-century Gupta era temples and monuments, particularly the colossal stone boar with sages and scholars depicted on the body of the sculpture.<ref name=cunningham76/> The inscription stones found at Eran are important to reconstructing the chronology of Gupta Empire history. Eran or Erakina was the capital of ''Erakina ('''Airikina''') Pradesha'' or ''Airkina [[Vishaya]]'', an administrative division of the [[Gupta Empire]].<ref>Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972) ''Political History of Ancient India'', University of Calcutta, Calcutta, p.495</ref>

==Etymology==
The ancient name of Eran ({{langx|sa|ऐरण}}), ''Erakaina'', ''Erakanya'' or ''Erakina'' (as mentioned in the inscriptions);<ref name=cunningham76/> ''Airikina'' ({{langx|sa|ऐरिकिण}}, as mentioned in the inscription of [[Samudragupta]]) or ''Erikina'' (as mentioned in the inscription of [[Toramana]])<ref>Lahiri, Bela (1972). ''Indigenous States of Northern India (Circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D.)'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p.81</ref> is derived from ''Eraka''. The word ''erakā'' probably refers to a tall grass commonly called the Elephant cattail, botanical name ''[[Typha elephantina]]'',<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/793860#page/572/mode/1up William Roxburgh. 1832. Flora indica; or, descriptions of Indian Plants 3: 566–567, ''Typha elephantina '']</ref> which grows at Eran in abundance.<ref>{{harvp|Bajpai|1996|pp=Ch 5, Pl I, 4}}</ref>

==Location==
[[File:Eran archaeological site map, 1880 sketch.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Eran archaeological site map, 1880 sketch]]
Eran is located on the south bank of Bina River in Madhya Pradesh.<ref name=cunningham76>A. Cunningham (1880), [https://archive.org/stream/reporttoursinbu01cunngoog#page/n87/mode/2up/search/eran Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa], Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 76-90, {{PD-notice}}</ref> It is about {{convert|100|km}} north-northeast of the ancient Vidisha-Sanchi-Udayagiri site, about {{convert|80|km}} west-northwest of Sagar, and about {{convert|160|km}} northeast of Bhopal. At the site, the river makes an inverted "U" turn, surrounding it with water on three sides, which Cunningham stated made it "a very favorite position for Hindu towns".<ref name=cunningham76/> The terrain is forested and hilly, with high grounds shielding the south of the Eran town.<ref name=cunningham76/>

== History ==
Eran is an ancient city, one that finds mention as Erakaina or Erakanya in Buddhist and Hindu texts, on ancient coins and inscriptions nearby and distant sites such as Sanchi. It is now a small town surrounded by many mounds, likely archaeological remains of its distant past. The archaeological site nearby Eran has revealed several [[Gupta Empire]] era [[inscription]]s. The town of Eran has a museum with a collection of [[archaeological]] relics. The first epigraphical evidence of sati (immolation of widow) is found in an inscription at Eran, the Inscription of [[Bhanugupta]] (510 CE).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eraly |first1=Abraham |title=The First Spring: The Golden Age of India |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-670-08478-4 |page=372 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&pg=PA372 |language=en}}</ref>

== Archaeology ==
The following sequence of cultures have been obtained and carbon dated at the site of Eran

Period I: Chalcolithic (1800 BC-700 BC)

Period II: Early historic (700 BC-2nd century BC)

Period IIB: 2nd century BC - 1st century AD

Period III: 1st century - 600 AD

Period IV: late medieval (16th century AD - 18th century AD) <ref>{{Cite book|last=Bajpai|first=K. D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&q=eran+coin+dhamapalasa&pg=PA6|title=Indian Numismatic Studies|date=October 2004|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-035-8|language=en}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Eran Budhagupta pillar built circa 476–495 CE.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[Buddhagupta]] pillar at Eran (c.476–495 CE), raised in honour of [[Janardana]], another name of [[Vishnu]].{{sfn|Fleet|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254/page/n303 88]}} On top is a double statue of [[Garuda]], holding a serpent in his hands, with a [[chakra]] wheel behind the head.<ref name="Indian Numismatic Studies">{{cite book |last1=Bajpai |first1=K. D. |title=Indian Numismatic Studies |date=2004 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-035-8 |pages=19–20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA19 |language=en}}</ref>]]

The complex initially consisted in a twin temple dedicated to [[Vāsudeva]] and [[Saṃkarṣaṇa]], and guarded by the 13 meter [[Garuda]] pillar.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balogh |first1=Dániel |title=Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History |date=12 March 2020 |publisher=Barkhuis |isbn=978-94-93194-01-4 |page=330, and note 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA330 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bakker |first1=Hans T. |title=The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia |date=12 March 2020 |publisher=Barkhuis |isbn=978-94-93194-00-7 |page=75, and note 4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |language=en}}</ref>

===Temples===
A group of ancient [[Hindu temple]]s are located to the west of the Eran town. These are not aligned to the east or any cardinal direction, but to 76 degrees, or about 14 degrees off towards north from east. This suggests that they likely date to the Gupta period. According to Cunningham, this deliberate shift for all the temples and some other Gupta era Hindu temple sites may be to match the one ''nakshatra'' measure (lunar movement in one day), or one twenty-seventh part of 360 degrees.<ref name=cunningham81>A. Cunningham (1880), [https://archive.org/stream/reporttoursinbu01cunngoog#page/n87/mode/2up/search/eran Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa], Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 81-84, {{PD-notice}}</ref>

All the temples have a rectangular or square plan and they are in a row.<ref name=cunningham81/>

====Pillar====
Pillar: It is exactly {{convert|75|ft}} in front of the line of temples. The {{convert|43|ft}} high monolith pillar stands on a square platform of {{convert|13|ft}} side. The bottom {{convert|20|feet}} of the pillar are of square cross-section (2.85 feet side), the next {{convert|8|ft}} is octagonal. Above it is a capital in the shape of a reeded bell of {{convert|3.5|ft}} height and {{convert|3|ft}} diameter. On top of the capital is an abacus of {{convert|1.5|ft}} height, then a cube of {{convert|3|ft}} and finally {{convert|5|ft}} double statue of [[Garuda]] holding a snake in his hands, with a [[chakra]] wheel behind his head.<ref name="Indian Numismatic Studies"/> Garuda, the [[vahana]] of Vishnu,  is depicted as two fused people, sharing the back, each looking over their 180 degree space, one with the temples, the other towards the town.<ref name=cunningham81/> Near the platform, on the side facing the temples, is a Sanskrit inscription. It mentions the year 165 and the Hindu calendar month of [[Ashadha]], and dedication to Vishnu-[[Janardhana]]. The Gupta year 165 implies that the pillar was dedicated in 484/485 CE.<ref name=cunningham81/> The pillar is sometimes referred to as the Buddhagupta pillar or Bhima pillar.

====Varaha temple====
The most unusual and remarkable temple is dedicated to the Varaha avatar of Vishnu. Typically, Varaha is presented in Hindu temples as a man-boar avatar. In Eran, it is a colossal theriomorphic representation of the Varaha legend, which Catherine Becker calls an "iconographic innovation".<ref name=cunningham82>A. Cunningham (1880), [https://archive.org/stream/reporttoursinbu01cunngoog#page/n93/mode/2up/search/eran Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa], Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 82-84, {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name=becker123>Catherine Becker (2010), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20801634 Not Your Average Boar: The Colossal Varaha at Eran, An Iconographic Innovation], Artibus Asiae, Vol. 70, No. 1, "To My Mind": Studies in South Asian Art History in Honor of Joanna Gottfried Williams. Part II (2010), pp. 123-149</ref>

{{multiple image
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| image1 = Vishnu temple at Eran, Madhya Pradesh.jpg
| width1 = 225
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| caption1 = Eran colossal boar statue
| image2 = 1892 photo of Hindu temple ruins Gupta Empire era at Eran, Bina Sagar District Madhya Pradesh.jpg
| width2 = 200
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = Ruins with broken pillars in 1892
| footer = 
}}
The boar is made of stone, but the intricate carving of the surface of its body, a goddess hanging by its right tusk, inscriptions and other details make the statue a symbolic narrative.<ref name=becker123/> The Eran site is in ruins, but there is enough remnants that suggest that the site was far more complex and developed. Currently, the boar stands in open, but the foundation and stumps around it confirm that around it were walls and mandapa that formed a complete temple. Scholars debate what the shape of the temple would have been.<ref name=becker123/> Cunningham, the first archaeologist to write a systematic report, suggested a rectangular shrine.<ref name=cunningham82/> Later scholars such as Catherine Becker suggests that it was likely larger, more along the lines of one found in Khajuraho shrine for Varaha.<ref name=becker123/>

;Colossal Varaha
[[File:5th century Varaha boar statue with goddess earth hanging, sages and saints reliefs on its body.jpg|left|thumb|The Eran Varaha boar statue with ruins in late 19th-century, showing the relief on the boar's body.]]
The Colossal Varaha at Eran is the earliest known completely theriomorphic iconography for the Varaha avatar of Vishnu.<ref name=becker123/> The scene shown is the return of Varaha after he had successfully killed the oppressive demon [[Hiranyaksha]], found and rescued goddess earth (Prithivi, Bhudevi), and the goddess is back safely. The Eran Varaha statue is significant for several reasons:<ref name=becker123/>
*it shows the importance and popularity of [[Vaishnavism]] and its legend of Vishnu [[avatar]]s
*the statue includes goddess earth hanging by the boar's right tusk; she has a tidy hairdo bun, has a turban that is bejeweled, her face calm
*the floor is carved to depict the ocean (''samudra'') with serpents and sealife, a reminder of the oppressive demon who attacks dharma legend
*on the body of the Varaha are carved sages and saints of Hinduism identified by their simple robes, pointy beards and hair knotted up like ''[[sannyasi|sadhus]]'', by they holding [[kamandalu]] water pot in one hand and with a [[yoga]] mudra in the other, symbolizing knowledge needing protection and god's benevolence when attacked by the oppressive demon [[Hiranyaksha]]
*the Varaha's tongue is sticking out slightly, on it is standing a small goddess who has been interpreted as [[Saraswati]] (or Vedic goddess Vac)<ref name=becker123/>
*in his ears are shown celestial musicians
*he wears a roundels garland on his shoulders and neck, these add up to 28 matching the 5th-century astronomy that used 28 major stars to divide the night skies into constellations; each of the roundels has miniature carvings with male and female figures
*the artists made the teeth of the boar humanlike, his eyes too are made to depict compassion
*on its front chest is the Toramana inscription which confirms that the Hunas has invaded the northwest, displaced Gupta Empire authority, and their brief rule over the northwest and central India had begun in early 6th-century
*below the inscription are more Hindu sages, further below is ruined fragment that probably was an anthropomorphic carving of Vishnu to explicitly link the Varaha's underlying identity, states Becker.<ref name=becker123/>

The temple was built by king Dhyana Vishnu. Cunningham and others found it in ruins with pillars broken that suggest its destruction at some point rather than natural erosion. The boar stood on. It is {{convert|13.83|ft}} long, {{convert|11.17|ft}} high and {{convert|5.125|ft}} wide. It was inside a sanctum. Cunningham states that there was also a mandapa in front because of the ruins of pillars he saw. He found two carved 10 feet high pillars which were "remarkably fine specimens of Hindu decorative art".<ref name=cunningham82/>

{{multiple image
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| image1 = 5th century Varaha Hindu temple pillar Eran Madhya Pradesh.jpg
| width1 = 200
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = 5th century Narasimha Hindu temple pillar Eran Madhya Pradesh.jpg
| width2 = 200
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| caption2 = 
| footer = The pillar design at two Eran temples. Left: Varaha temple pillar; Right: Narasimha temple.
}}
About {{convert|33|ft}} in front of what is now the Varaha platform, there is another stone 6 feet by 3.5 feet. It is aligned with the temple alignment and set into the ground. On it is a large shell script inscription that remains undeciphered. It is probably the stone that formed the original temple's entrance. About {{convert|15|ft}} in front of this entrance stone is the ruined leftovers of a [[torana]] (Hindu arched gateway). The gateway pillars are broken, but one of them survives and it is ornamented ("G" in the plan drawings). Cunningham searched for broken parts of the pillars, but only found a few broken statues and most of the torana pillars gone.<ref name=cunningham82/><ref name=becker123/>

Next to the Varaha temple remnants are two terraces, one to the south that is {{convert|13|ft}} sided square, another {{convert|13.5|ft}} by {{convert|9.25|ft}}. These were likely temples too, but they are lost.<ref name=cunningham82/>

====Vishnu temple====
The Vishnu Temple is to the north of the Varaha temple. It has a damaged colossal statue of Vishnu that is {{convert|13.17|ft}} high.<ref name=cunningham85>A. Cunningham (1880), [https://archive.org/stream/reporttoursinbu01cunngoog#page/n95/mode/2up/search/eran Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa], Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 85-87, {{PD-notice}}</ref> This temple is also mostly ruined, but shows signs of having a sanctum, a mandapa and all the elements of a Hindu temple. Just like the Varaha temple, the Vishnu temple had intricately carved pillars, but with a different design.<ref name=cunningham85/> Parts of the door jamb before the sanctum have survived, and these show the traditional river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna as flanking the sanctum entrance, but they are positioned nearer to the floor like late Gupta era temples. Cunningham dated this temple as probably built in 5th or 6th century, about two or three centuries after the neighboring early Gupta era Varaha temple.<ref name=cunningham85/> The remnants of the entrance, wrote Cunningham, are "lavishly decorated", with the surviving reliefs showing daily life and rites-of-passage scenes.<ref name=cunningham85/> Near the temple are ruins of a gateway and other monuments, including one which was likely a [[Vamana]] temple. According to Cunningham, one of the smaller shrine monuments had a man-boar sculpture which he located in the town of Eran.<ref name=cunningham85/>

====Narasimha temple====
The [[Narasimha]] Temple is the northernmost substantial structure ruins in the group, though there were additional temples according to excavations by Cunningham. The Narasimha temple was a single room of 12.5 feet by 8.75 feet with a mandapa in front on four pillars. These pillars are now missing, but the remnants on the plinth confirm that they once did. The broken pillars found at the site among the ruins, and who dimensions match the leftover plinth profile, show that the pillars were intricately carved. The sanctum had a {{convert|7|ft}} high Narasimha statue, the man-lion avatar of Vishnu.<ref name=cunningham88>A. Cunningham (1880), [https://archive.org/stream/reporttoursinbu01cunngoog#page/n99/mode/2up/search/eran Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa], Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 88-89, {{PD-notice}}</ref>

====Hanuman temple====
Old temple of Hanuman, about 750 CE. 
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:5th century Hindu temples Eran Madhya Pradesh, plan sketched in 1880.jpg|Temple plans
File:Eran, Varaha und Garuda-Säule (1999).jpg|The body of the stone boar statue has carvings of sages and scholars.
</gallery>

===Coins===
Eran was likely one of the ancient mints for Indian kingdoms, along with Vidisha, Ujjain, and Tripuri. A large number of antique coins, of different styles, shapes and inscriptions spanning the last few centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the 7th-century have been discovered here.<ref name=cunningham76/><ref name="BopearachchiPieper1998p23">{{cite book|author1=Osmund Bopearachchi|author2=Wilfried Pieper|title=Ancient Indian coins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UVmAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Brepols|isbn=978-2-503-50730-9|pages=23–24}}</ref> Over 3,000 coins found here have been dated to between 300 BCE to 100 CE. Square coins were Eran's specialty and these predominate in excavated discoveries. According to Brown, the ancient Erakina or Eran mint innovated the "die-method" a far more perfect technique to make coins than "punch-marked coins", thereby distinguishing itself.<ref>{{cite book|author=C. J. Brown|title=Coins of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-d497CKID0C|year=1979|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0345-5|pages=20–21}}</ref> Cunningham, a late 19th-century archaeologist, states that "copper coins of Eran are the finest specimen" that he found across India, as well "remarkable also for presenting the largest and smallest specimens of old Indian money". The largest coin has measured about {{convert|1.1|inch}} and the smallest about {{convert|0.2|inch}} in diameter.<ref name="Cunningham1891p99">{{cite book|author=Sir Alexander Cunningham|title=Coins of Ancient India from the Earliest Times Down to the Seventh Century A.D.|url=https://archive.org/details/coinsancientind00cunngoog|year=1891|publisher=B Quaritch|pages=[https://archive.org/details/coinsancientind00cunngoog/page/n132 99]–102}}</ref> Cunningham grouped the found coins in four:<ref name="Cunningham1891p99"/>

#[[Punch-marked coins]]
#[[Cast coins]]
#[[Coining (mint)|Die struck coins]]
#[[Inscribed coins]]

The common motifs on the coin include goddess Lakshmi seated with two elephants flanking her as if spraying water, horses, elephants, bull, trees (probably Bodhi), flowers particularly lotus, swastikas, rivers, Buddhist symbols such as dharmachakra and tri-ratna, triangles. Almost all coins, states Cunningham, show an unusual symbol consisting of a cross with circle in four sections.<ref name="Cunningham1891p99"/>

One of the coins found in Eran with the name Dharmapala stamped on it is in Brahmi script. This copper coin is presently displayed in the British Museum, in London.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chadhar |first1=Mohan Lal |title=Punch Marked Coins Found From Eran, Madhya Pradesh|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2016 |volume=77 |pages=915–918 |jstor=26552723 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> This, stated Cunningham in 1891, is among the earliest inscribed coins in India.<ref name="Cunningham">Cunningham, A.: Coins of Ancient India, London, 1891, p.&nbsp;101, pl. xi</ref> On the paleographic grounds this coin has been assigned to the late 3rd century BCE. Another circular lead piece bearing the name of another ruler "Indragupta", assignable to the same period has been discovered at Eran. Several inscribed copper coins bearing the name 'Erakannya' or 'Erakana' in the Brahmi script have also been found at Eran.<ref>Cunningham, A: Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, Vol. xiv, plate, xxxi</ref> Cunningham proposed that the symbol of the river represent the river Bina on which the village stands. He also surmised that the semi-circle on the coins was representative of the old Eran town. Which was probably so shaped.
Bronze coin of Eran of the 3rd Century B.C was found at [[Sulur]], in the [[Coimbatore]] district of [[Tamil Nadu]] in one of the excavations.<ref name="guru">Ceramic Traditions in South India; S.Gurumurthy; University of Madras; 1981;page 21</ref>

<gallery>
File:EranVidishaCoin.jpg|Eran Vidisha coin.
File:EranTypeCoin2ndCenturyBCE.jpg|Eran coin (2nd century BCE).
</gallery>

=== Inscriptions ===
====Inscription of Sridharavarman (circa 350 CE)====
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=350|caption_align=center
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| header=Eran pillar inscription of Sridharavarman
| image1   = Sridharavarman_pillar_(horserider_detail).jpg
| caption1 = Horserider on the pillar
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| caption2 = Eran inscription of [[Saka]] King [[Sridharavarman]]
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}}
{{main|Sridharavarman}}
The [[Saka]] ([[Indo-Scythian]]) king [[Sridharavarman]], who ruled in Central India circa 339-368 CE, made an inscription of a small pillar at Eran, together with his [[Nagas of Padmavati|Naga]] military commander.<ref name="CII4">{{cite book |last1=Mirashi |first1=Vasudev Vishnu |title=Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era |date=1955 |publisher=Archaeological Society of India |pages=605–611 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.3725/page/n321}}</ref><ref name="Shaw 58">Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 2016 [https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR58 p58-59]</ref> [[Bhanugupta]] later also wrote his inscription on the same pillar, circa 510 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=John Faithfull |title=Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors |date=1960 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254/page/n94 91]–93 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254}}</ref>

It seems that the inscription of Sridharavarman is succeeded chronologically by a monument and an inscription by [[Gupta Empire]] [[Samudragupta]] (r.336-380 CE), established "for the sake of augmenting his fame", who may therefore have ousted Sridharavarman in his campaigns to the West.<ref name="MP">"During the course of this expedition he is believed to have attacked and defeated the Saka Chief Shridhar Varman, ruling over Eran-Vidisha region. He then annexed the area and erected a monument at Eran (modern Sagar District) "for the sake cf augmenting his fame"." in {{cite book |last1=Pradesh (India) |first1=Madhya |last2=Krishnan |first2=V. S. |title=Madhya Pradesh: District Gazetteers |date=1982 |publisher=Government Central Press |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CYLAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref>

====Inscription of Samudragupta====
[[File:Eran inscription of Samudragupta.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.5|Eran inscription of [[Samudragupta]].]]
{{main|Samudragupta}}
The Eran Inscription of [[Samudragupta]] (336-380 CE) is presently stored in [[Kolkata]] [[Indian Museum]]. The inscription, in red sandstone, was found not far to the west of the ruined temple of the boar. Though damaged and much of the inscription is missing, this was a significant find, states Cunningham, because on it are numeral scripts, with at least "2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7" preserved.<ref name=cunningham88/>

====Inscription of Budhagupta (484–485 CE)====
[[File:Eran Budhagupta inscription.jpg|thumb|Budhagupta pillar inscription at Eran.]]
The [[Budhagupta]] inscription is dated to 484–485 CE. It is s Vaishnava inscription. It describes that the Gupta kingdom stretched from Kalindi River to Narmada River, that the inscription marks the raising of a column in honour of [[Janardana]], another name of [[Vishnu]].{{sfn|Fleet|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254/page/n303 88]}}

====Inscription of Toramana (circa 500 CE)====
{{Main|Eran boar inscription of Toramana}}
The Eran boar inscription of Toramana is a stone inscription with 8 lines of Sanskrit, first three of which are in meter and rest in prose, written in a North Indian script. It is carved on the chest of a freestanding {{convert|11|feet}} high red sandstone boar statue, a zoomorphic iconography of Vishnu avatar, and dated to the 6th century. The inscription names king [[Toramana]], a King of the [[Alchon Huns]], as ruling over Malwa ("governing the earth") and records that a [[Dhanyaviṣṇu]] is dedicating a stone temple to Narayana (Vishnu).{{sfn|Fleet|1888|pp=158-160]}}<ref>A. Cunningham (1880), [https://archive.org/stream/reporttoursinbu01cunngoog#page/n95/mode/2up/search/eran Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa], Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 84-85, {{PD-notice}}</ref>

====Inscription of Bhanugupta (510 CE)====
[[File:Eran pillar of Goparaja (detail).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Eran inscription of [[Goparaja]], on the reverse of the pillar of [[Sridharavarman]]. Probable depiction of [[Goparaja]] and his wife.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bajpai |first1=K. D. |title=Indian Numismatic Studies |date=2004 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-035-8 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA20 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Bhanugupta Eran stone pillar inscription.jpg|thumb|Eran stone pillar inscription of [[Bhanugupta]].]]
[[File:Eran pillar of Sridharavarman.jpg|thumb|Location of the pillar of [[Sridharavarman]] with his inscription (c.350 CE) and that of [[Bhanugupta]] (510 CE). Coordinates: {{coord|24.0864|N|78.1762|E|display=inline}}]]
The fourth inscription is badly damaged, but important. The inscription mentions [[Bhanugupta]] and is inscribed on the reverse of the [[Sridharavarman]] pillar. It also mentions the death of chieftain or noble [[Goparaja]] in a battle the 191st year without mentioning calendar system. This is generally accepted as Gupta era 191, or 510 CE. It also mentions the cremation of [[Goparaja]], and his wife also cremated herself on the funeral pyre. This, states Shelat, is one of the earliest recorded instances of [[Sati (practice)|Sati]].<ref>{{cite book|author=B. Shelat|editor=Adalbert J. Gail|display-editors=etal|title=Script and Image: Papers on Art and Epigraphy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwkOdPtZmVcC&pg=PA194|year=2006|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-2944-2|page=194}}</ref> Cunningham did not comment on this Bhanugupta-[[Goparaja]] inscription, but did comment on three Sati stones he found and stated that earliest Sati stone monument he found is from Samvat 1361 (1304 CE).<ref name=cunningham90/> The Bhanugupta inscription does not use the word sati or equivalent and the inscription was interpolated by Fleet in the first edition, later revised in the second edition:

{{Quote|
<poem>
Line 7 (actual surviving inscription): ''bhakt=anurakta cha priya cha kanta bhr=alag=anugat=agirsim''

Line 7 (Fleet's interpolation): ''bhakt=anurakta ch priya cha kanta bh[a]r[y]=a[va]lag[n]=anugat=ag[n]ir[a]sim''

Fleet's translation (1st edition): and (his) devoted, attached, beloved, and beauteous wife, in close companionship, accompanied (him) onto the funeral pyre.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.358795/2015.358795.Corpus-Inscriptionum#page/n305/mode/2up Gupta Inscriptions No. 20], John Fleet, page 93</ref>

Fleet's translation (2nd edition): and (his) devoted, attached, beloved, and beauteous wife, clinging (to him), entered into the mass of fire (funeral pyre).<ref>John Fleet, Ed: [[D. R. Bhandarkar]], Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume III, Archaeological Survey of India (Reprinted in 1981), page 354</ref>
</poem>
}}

Eran site has yielded additional sati stones. [[Alexander Cunningham]] mentioned three inscribed Sati stones in and around the Eran site including villages across the river in his archaeological survey report for 1874–1875. With inscriptions on them, he dated the first one to the reign of Sultan Mahmud Khilchi of Mandugar-durg and Chanderi, the second to 1664 CE during the reign of Patisahi Sahi Jahan who Cunningham speculated was likely a [[jagir]] and noble in court of Shah Jahan, and a third stone he dated to 1774 CE during the rule of Pandit Balwant Rau Govind and Balaji Tuka Deva.<ref name=cunningham90>A. Cunningham (1880), [https://archive.org/stream/reporttoursinbu01cunngoog#page/n101/mode/2up/search/eran Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa], Archaeological Survey of India, Volume 10, Calcutta, pages 89-90, {{PD-notice}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Pataini temple]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Bajpai |first=Krishnadutta D. |year=1967 |title=Sagar Through the Ages |location=New Delhi }}
*{{cite book |last=Bajpai |first=Krishnadutta D. |year=1996 |title=Indian Numismatic Studies |location=New Delhi }}
*{{cite book |last=Bajpai |first=Krishnadutta D. |year=2003 |title=Indological Researches in India: Selected Works of Prof. K.&nbsp;D. Bajpai |editor=S. K. Bajpai |location=Delhi |publisher=Eastern Book Linkers |isbn=81-7854-025-8}}
*{{cite book |last=Fleet |first=J. F. |author-link=John Faithfull Fleet |year=1888 |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum |volume=3 |publisher=Government of India, Central Publications Branch |location=Calcutta |quote={{PD-notice}} |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254}}
*{{cite book |last=Chadhar |first=Mohan Lal. |year=2016 |title= Eran: Ek Sasnkritik Dharohar |publisher=Aayu Publication, Delhi |isbn=978-93-85161-26-1 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Eran}}
* [http://www.ias.ac.in/matersci/bmsjun2001/317.pdf Characterization of ancient Indian iron from Eran]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=hXMB3649biQC&dq=eran+madhya+pradesh&pg=PA12 Indian Epigraphy By D. C. Sircar]

{{Hindu inscriptions and arts|state=autocollapse}}

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[[Category:Gupta art]]
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[[Category:Narasimha temples]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Madhya Pradesh]]