Tumain

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (Retd.)

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Ashoknagar on District map of Guna

Tumain (तुमैन) is a large village in tahsil and district Ashoknagar in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier it was in Guna district.

Variants

• Tumen
• Tumbavana (तुंबवन) (परगना अशोकनगर, जिला गुना,म.प्र.) (AS, p.407)
• Tumbavananagar (तुंबवनगर)
• Tubavana

Location

It is about 10 km to the south-south-east of the Ashoknagar station on the Bina-Kota line of the Western Railway in Madhya Pradesh.

Origin

Tumain gets name from Tumba, the gourd Citrullus colocynthis was in abundance at this place.

This town according to Bhäskara I was on the prime meridian is Vananagari. Shukla proposes to identify it with Tumbavananagar (modern Tumain) in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. Tumbavana is mentioned by Varahamihira as one of the countries lying to the south of Madhyadesa.

The identity of Tumbavana with modern Tumain has been established by the discovery at Tumain of a stone inscription which records the erection of a temple by five brothers during the regin of Kumârgupta I".

The Tumain inscription of 435 AD mentions Prince Ghatotkaca as governing the province of Eran, which included Jambuvana.

Sanchi inscriptions

This is mentioned by Cunningham in an inscription at the Buddhist Stupa of Sanchi of the Ashoka period as under:

No. 40. — Tubavani-gahapatinopatithiya-nasāya-visamana- datiya-dānam.

" Gift of Visarmana-Datti the . . . of Pratisthiya, a householer of Tubavana."

No. 41 . — Tubavani-gahapatino-patithiyasa-dānam.

" Gift of Pratisthiya, a Householder of Tubavan."

Tumain Inscription of Kumaragupta I G.E. 116 (335 AD)

This record does not mention Govindagupta at all. It mentions Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I, and then a prince or chief named Ghatotkacagupta. This Ghatotkacagupta cannot be the father of Chandragupta I as he was living in G.E. 116. Unfortunately that portion of the inscription which recorded the relationship of Ghatotkacagupta to Kumaragupta I is not preserved and therefore it is extremely difficult to say in what relation they stood. It is possible that this Ghatotkacagupta was either a younger brother or son of Kumaragupta I and was the governor of Malava at that time.

Tumain Inscription of Gupta Year (=A.D. 435)

Tumain Fragmentary Inscription of the time of Kumaragupta I and Ghatotkachagupta Gupta Year (=A.D. 435)

तुंबवन

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है.... तुंबवन (AS, p.407) परगना अशोक नगर ज़िला, मध्य प्रदेश का प्राचीन स्थान था। अशोक नगर स्टेशन से पांच मील की दूरी पर स्थित 'तुमैन' ही गुप्त काल के अभिलेखों में वर्णित 'तुंबवन' था। गुप्त काल में तुंबवन एरण प्रदेश में सम्मिलित था। यहाँ से गुप्त संवत 116=435 ई. का कुमारगुप्त के काल का एक अभिलेख प्राप्त हुआ था, जिसका संबंध गोविंदगुप्त नामक व्यक्ति से है। इस अभिलेख में घटोत्कचगुप्त का भी उल्लेख है। स्थानीय किंवदंती के अनुसार यहाँ राजा मकरध्वज की राजधानी थी। गुप्त कालीन इमारतों के कई अवशेष यहाँ आज भी स्थित हैं।

References

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