The identity of Prakāśāditya
Files
Accepted manuscript
Date
2015-10
Authors
Tandon, Pankaj
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
Pankaj Tandon. 2015. "The Identity of Prakāśāditya." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 25, Issue 4, pp. 647 - 668. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1356186315000346
Abstract
One of the enduring open questions in ancient Indian history is the identity of the king who identifies himself on the reverse of his gold coins as prakāśāditya. Most authors have assumed that he was a Gupta king. This paper reviews the various proposals on the identity of Prakāśāditya, arguing why we can be quite sure, as suggested by Robert Göbl, that he was in fact a Hun king and not a Gupta. Then, by presenting a near-complete reading of the obverse legend, it is shown that it is virtually certain that he was in fact the Hun king Toramāṇa, as Göbl had speculated. Implications of this finding are then considered.