Yashodharman Pillar at Sondhni

At Sondhni, a village a few kilometres from Mandsaur, stand two tall victory pillars (vijaya stambhas) erected by King Yashodharman in the sixth century CE to commemorate his defeat of the Huna — the Central Asian nomads who had been pushing into the subcontinent as the Gupta empire weakened. The inscriptions on the pillars describe campaigns ranging from the Himalayas to the southern sea, suggesting a rule of considerable scope.

The pillars are not spectacular objects — plain sandstone columns in a field — but the story behind them is extraordinary. Yashodharman appears to have been one of the most powerful rulers of his era in India, yet he left almost no other trace. The Sondhni pillars are effectively his only monument. The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India but is quiet and understated, as befits a place commemorating a forgotten king.

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A story
King Yashodharman is one of the least-known great rulers in Indian history. He defeated the Huna invaders in around 528 CE, halting their advance into central India at a moment when the Gupta empire was collapsing. The victory pillars at Sondhni, which he erected to commemorate this defeat, stand as the primary physical evidence that he existed at all — no dynasty followed him, no coins bear his image, and most of what we know of him comes from the inscriptions on these stones.