A note on names and descent, added in revision to align this older page with what the evidence supports. The Xiongnu — whose first recorded leader was Touman, in the late third century BCE — were the eastern-steppe confederation of Mongolia; the Alkhan Huns of Gandhara and India, Toramana among them, belong to the western branch of the Hunnic world, the “Iranian Huns,” kin to the Xiongnu but not descended from them. The resemblance between the names Touman and Toramana is a resemblance, not a proven line of descent. Nor was Toramana (c. 500 CE) the son of Barha Tegin: Barha Tegin founded the Turk Shahi dynasty of Kabul far later, around 666 CE. What links these Hunnic houses in this book’s argument is the boar-name — Varaz → Barha → Varaha — which G. S. L. Devra reads as a dynastic thread: an argument, not a documented genealogy. The Eran stone boar inscription of Toramana reads: “… maharajadhiraja-sri-Toramane prasasati” — “in the first year, while the Maharajadhiraja Sri Toramana, of great fame and of great lustre, is governing the earth.” The Gurjaras, who rose to rule Rajputana from their capital at Bhilmal, belong to the same migration: there is good evidence that they entered India with or shortly after the White Huns in the fifth or sixth century, and that the Pratihara royal clan was a branch of them — a Hunnic-era connection given here as the scholarly argument it is, not as settled descent.

Raja Bhoja of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, in 860 CE, extended his rule westward and helped Lalliya Shahi of the Hindu Shahi dynasty to recover Gandhara and Kabul from the Utapala dynasty of Kashmir. This inference of Harmatta’s writings brings the Gurjara dominion beyond the Indus and shows a close Kinship between the Alchons/Shahis and Gurjaras.

The Hunnic relationship between Toramana,  Mihirakula, and Gurjars was established, but the precise nature of this relationship remained unclear. The Huns were divided into a royal class and a lower class. Hornle (2012) suggested that the Gurjara may be one of the factions.

’Numerous inscriptions of multiple dynasties document the Gurjaras’ endless wars with the Rashtrakutas and other powers. The long series of Gadhiya or Gadhaiya coins in base silver and copper or bronze can be assigned with certainty to the Gurjaras, despite lacking details about their dates. These coins, which depict the Sassanian type in its most degraded form, are most prevalent in regions occupied by the Gurjara clans, which rapidly evolved into Hindu castes. For centuries, they served as the common currency of the Gurjara kingdoms in western India and Rajputana.

Numismatists have linked the origin of Gadhiya coins to Bhilmal, the Gurjara capital, writes Vincent A Smith in his paper on Gurjaras of Rajputana and Kanauj. One non-Gadhiya coin bearing the name of Vyaghramukha, the Capa King, was issued. This was undoubtedly a coin of Vyaghramukha, the Capa Raja of Bhilmal, in 528 CE due to the rarity of his name and the fact that it was minted in a region known for White Hun coins. The Capas were an offshoot of the Gurjaras. When first issued, the currency was believed to have been issued by a White Hun, but now it belongs to the Gurjaras.
Jain history has recorded a Capa king named Dharani Varaha. According to Muni Jina Vijayaji, he might have been a member of the Paramära dynasty of Arbuda(Mount Abu).” Pt. V. N. Reu assumes, based on the evidence from Kirādu and Vasantagadha inscriptions, that Dharapivaraha might have been the fifth member of the Paramāra branch of Arbuda between Kṛṣṇarāja and Mahipala. Pt. G. H. Ojha and Dr. Bhandarkar accept him as the former’s son and the latter’s father.” This Dharanivaräha may also be taken to be identical to Arbudešvara mentioned in the Dvyasraya-kävya in relation to the attack over Gräharipu. Hemacandra states that as an ally of Mularāja, Arbudeśvara and the king of Srimal accompanied him in the war of Suraṣṭra. The commentator, Abhayatilakagani, refers to the two kings as being identical.”

Given that King Mihira Bhoja belonged to the Gurjara dynasty, his Adi-Varaha coins, which imitated Sassanian coins, must also be classified as Gurjara coins. Thus, it is evident that the numismatic relationship between the Huns and the Gurjaras is extraordinarily close. The fact significantly supports the conclusion drawn from inscriptions and writings that the two communities were related. There is a clear connection between the modern castes of  Gujar and Gujara and the Gurjaras. In Rajputana, some sections of Punjab, the northern districts of the United Provinces, and central India, the Gujars are a well-known and powerful caste. It is predominantly a pastoral community. They are physically indistinguishable from the Jats, with whom they share close ties, and are also related to the Ahirs and Golas.

 The appearance of the Gahiya coins led to its classification as a White Hun or Hephthalite coin, and the revelation of its probable date and attribution does not necessitate a reclassification. The coin was associated with the Toramana and Mihirakula White Hun coins. The fact that a Gurjara king’s coin could be accurately characterised as a White Hun coin merely indicates that the Grurjaras were an alien race that invaded Indian territory alongside the White Huns in the 5th  century.

The Pehowa inscriptions of a Tomar family give the names of their three generations and say that the family sprang from a king, Jaula, who lived ages ago. The Tomar dynasty ruled Delhi and parts of Haryana between 8 and 12 CE. This inscription is connected to MahendraPala-1 of the Gurjar Pratihar dynasty. DB Bhanderkar, General Cunningham and Mr Smith all believed that Tomars, Kachwaha and Pratihars were all descendants of Jabula Gujars. One of the edicts of Hun Chief Jabula was excavated in Malwa, at Mandsor, and is said to have been inscribed in 533 CE and is connected to Tormana. 

Mehrauli in Delhi is said to be named after the son of Toramana, Mihirakula. Therefore, the Gurjar clan of Tomars, which founded and ruled Delhi for 500 years (700 CE to 1200 CE), was a clan of Alkhans.
The names of the last few kings look similar to those of the Gurjara Pratiharas. For example, ‘Jayapala’ was a Gurjara Praihar ruler of the same name and same period.
Epithets from the Bari Kot inscriptions record his full title as “Parambhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara Sri Jayapala deva” the first Emperor of the Kabul Shahi phase. The Gurjar-Pratihars used the same title. The dates and names of the second last ruler, Trilochanapala, also almost exactly coincide with those of Gurjara-Pratihars Emperor Trilochanapala (1018–1027). This makes Shahis closely connected to the Gurjars and gives a clear view of the frequent interferences of the Gurjara-Pratiharas into the Shahi dynasty’s domain.
The Varaha Rajput belong to the original line of the Turk Shahi and Hindu Shahi dynasty, which ruled the North and North Western parts of India until Gandhara. The Varaha are now predominantly settled in Himachal Pradesh.