Timeline

A consolidated chronology of the Varaha line — c. 1000 BCE to 1700 CE

Dates marked with a tilde (~) are approximate; dates marked with a question mark are disputed across sources. Where two sources give different dates for the same event, both are noted.

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• I · Origins — the Altai steppe
• c. 1000–700 BCE · Slab-grave culture in the Altai mountains; gold-inlay boar-and-deer animal style emerges.
• c. 350 BCE · Western Altai clans separate from the Mongolian (Xiongnu) cousin-line.
• ~209 BCE · Modun kills Touman; the Xiongnu confederation is unified on the eastern steppe.
• 162 BCE · Han Emperor Wendi’s edict to the Xiongnu shanyu — Sima Qian, Shiji.
• 99 BCE · Han general Li Ling captured by the Xiongnu.
• 36 BCE · Death of Chanyu Zhizhi; western Xiongnu push begins.
• 89 CE · Han general Dou Xian breaks the northern Xiongnu; western migration accelerates.
• II · Migration west into Bactria and Persia
• 110–134 CE · Reign of Kanishka the Great (Kushan empire); Bactrian-Greek-Indian syncretism on coinage.
• 234 CE · Sassanian Ardashir I conquers Bactria; Kushanshah viceroyalty installed.
• ~250 CE · Markandeya Purana mentions Varvaras alongside the Sakas.
• 311 CE · Huns conquer Lo-yang (Luoyang).
• 313 CE · Sogdian merchant Nanaivande’s letter — first written reference to “the Huns” en route.
• 345 CE · Guptas absorb Gandhara, Kashmir, East Punjab.
• 367 CE · Kidarites attested in Armenian sources.
• 410 CE · Kidarites rule both sides of the Hindu Kush.
• 413–455 CE · Reign of Kumaragupta I; Kidarite/Hun pressure on the Guptas.
• ~455 CE · Bhitari Pillar of Skandagupta — victory over the Hunas.
• 459 CE · Hephthalites take Bactria from the Kidarites.
• 470s CE · Hephthalites finish off the Kidarites in Gandhara.
• 484 CE · Battle of the trench; Sassanian Peroz I killed by the Hephthalite Warāz.
• III · Hephthalites & Alkhans
• c. 430/40 – 490 CE · Reign of Khingila; first Alkhan king to mint named coinage; Gardez Ganesha consecrated.
• 484–515 CE · Reign of Toramana — Eran Boar (~500 CE), Kura Pillar, Sanjeli Plates (regnal year 3).
• 492/93 CE · Schøyen Copper Scroll — coalition of eight Alkhan kings.
• 510 CE · Toramana’s authority extends to Malwa.
• 515 CE · Toramana dies at Benares; Mihirakula succeeds.
• 520 CE · Songyun meets Mihirakula in Gandhara.
• ~530 CE · Cosmas Indicopleustes — King Gollas (Mihirakula).
• ~537 CE · Mihirakula defeated by Yasodharman (Mandasor) and Baladitya (Bihar); dies.
• ~554 CE · Mihirakula’s sons defeated; flee to Kashmir.
• late 6th c. CE · Battle of Gol-Zarriun (Bukhara); Hephthalite-Sassanian alliance breaks under Turkic pressure; the Hephthalite king V.R.Z./Warāz is killed.
• IV · Turk Shahi
• 630 CE · Xuanzang traveling through Gandhara.
• 648–659 CE · Western Turkic Khaganate collapses under Tang.
• 665–66 CE · Arab raids on Kabul.
• 666 CE · Barha Tegin founds the Turk Shahi dynasty.
• 671/72 CE · Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad burns Tepe Sardar.
• 680 CE · Khorasan Tegin Shah succeeds Barha Tegin.
• 692 CE (S. 748) · Jhalrapatan Inscription of Raja Doorgangul — Varaha king in Rajasthan.
• 720–764 CE · Janos Harmatta’s later Turk Shahi succession (Phromo Kesaro, Po-fu-Chun, Ju-lo-li Gandhara).
• ~779 CE · Jaina Kuvalayamala references Toramana.
• 813 CE · The Ispahbad of Kabul converts to Islam under Caliph Al-Mamun.
• V · Hindu Shahi
• ~843 CE · Kallar/Lalliya overthrows Lagaturman; Hindu Shahi dynasty founded.
• 883 CE · Lalliya at Udabhandapura under Sankaravarman of Kashmir.
• 902–904 CE · Kamaluka crowned under Gopalavarman of Kashmir.
• ~939–967 CE · Rashtrakuta Krishna III; Somadeva on Huna conquest of Citrakuta.
• 988 CE · Sabuktigin defeats Jayapala at Lamghan.
• 1001 CE · Mahmud of Ghazna defeats Jayapala at Peshawar; Jayapala immolates himself.
• 1008 CE · Battle of Wahind — Mahmud defeats Anandapala and the Rajput coalition.
• 1009 CE · Mahmud takes Kangra Fort; Masrur temple complex sacked; throne of Raja Bhim taken to Ghazni.
• 1021 CE · Trilocanapala killed.
• 1026 CE · Bhimapala dies; Hindu Shahi political line ends.
• VI · Final settlement
• 1130 CE · Muhammad Ghori attacks Bhatinda Fort under Raja Vinaypal.
• 1174 CE · Ghori sacks Ghazna.
• 1192 CE · Second Battle of Tarain; Prithviraj Chauhan defeated; Rajput frontier collapses.
• ~16th c. CE · Birāhān/Varaha disappear from Rajasthan/Punjab/Sindh records.
• 17th c. CE · Forced conversions under Aurangzeb; Varahas migrate from Bhatinda → Sirhind → Himachal Pradesh.
• ~late 17th c. · Chaudhary Jahjar Chand moves from Arniala and settles in Anboota (Ambota).
• 26 May 1967 · Ambota Vanshavali formally recorded in state revenue documents.

For the textual sources behind each date see the Sources page; for the era pillar pages, see I — Altai, II — Migration West, III — Hephthalites & Alkhans, IV — Turk Shahi, V — Hindu Shahi, and VI — Final Settlement.