Bhanugupta

Bhanugupta was one of the lesser-known kings of the Gupta dynasty. He is only known from an inscription in Eran, and a mention in the Manjushri-mula-kalpa.

Only mentioned in the Eran inscription as a "Raja", not a "Maharaja" or a "Maharajadhiraja" as would be customary for a Gupta Empire ruler, Bhanugupta may only have been a Governor for the region of Malwa, under Gupta Emperor Narasimhagupta.

This translation was the basis for various conjectures about a possible encounter with Toramana, the Alchon Huns ruler. It has been suggested that Bhanugupta was involved in an important battle of his time, and suffered important losses, possibly against the Hun invader Toramana, whom he may or may not have defeated in 510. Mookerji actually considers, in view of the inscription, that Bhanugupta was vanquished by Toramana at the 510 CE Eran battle, so that the western Gupta province of Malwa fell into the hands of the Hunas at that point.

Bhanugupta in the inscription is only mentioned as a "Raja" and not a "Maharaja" or a "Maharajadhiraja" as would be customary for a Gupta Empire ruler. Therefore he may only have been a Governor for the region of Malwa, under Gupta Emperor Narasimhagupta.

Manjushri-mula-kalpa According to a 6th century CE Buddhist work, the Manjushri-mula-kalpa, "after the death of Budhagupta, two kings in the Gupta line were crowned, one in Gauda and the other in Magadha", the latter being probably Narasimhagupta. According to this work, after Bhanu Gupta had lost Malwa, Toramana continued his conquest to Magadha, forcing Narasimhagupta Baladitya to make a retreat to Bengal. Toramana is said to have crowned a new king in Benares, named Prakataditya, who is presented as a son of Narasimha Gupta. Toramana then died in Benares as he was returning westward.