Mehama

Mehama (Bactrian: Meyam, Brahmi: Me-ha-ma), ruled c.461-493, was a king of Alchon Huns dynasty. He is little known, but the Talagan copper scroll mentions him as an active ruler making a donation to a Buddhist stupa in 492/93.[1][2] At that time, it is considered that the Alchon Huns were firmly in charge of the Buddhist region around Taxila, but had not yet started to conquer the Indian mainland.

Mehama
Ruler of the Alchon Huns
Portrait of king Mehama, with his name in Brahmi script Me-ha-ma, and Alchon tamgha
Approximate location of Mehama's territory
Reign461-493
SuccessorLakhana Udayaditya
Died493
Alchon Huns
(400–670 CE)
c.400–440 (Anonymous kings)
c.430–490 Khingila
c.490 Javukha
c.461–493Mehama
c.490 Lakhana Udayaditya
Aduman
c.490–515Toramana
c.515–540Mihirakula
c.530–570Toramana II
c.530–590 Pravarasena
c.590–597Gokarna
c.597-633Narendra
c.630–670Yudhishthira

Mehama is named Maha Shahi Mehama (Great Lord Mehama) in the Talagan copper scroll.[3]

Mehama appears in a letter in the Bactrian language he wrote in 461-462 CE.[3] The letter comes from the archives of the Kingdom of Rob, located in southern Bactria. In this letter he presents himself as:

Meyam, King of the people of Kadag, the governor of the famous and prosperous King of Kings Peroz[3]

Kadag is Kadagstan, an area in southern Bactria, in the region of Baghlan. Significantly, he presents himself as a vassal of the Sasanian Empire king Peroz I.[3][4]

Mehama (r.461-493) allied with Sasanian king Peroz I (459-484) in his victory over the Kidarites in 466 CE, and may also have helped him take the throne against his brother Hormizd III.[5]

It is thought that Mehama, after being elevated to the position of Governor for Peroz, was later able to wrestle autonomy or even independence.[5]

  • Coin of Mehama, with portrait and fire altar with attendants on the reverse, in the style of Sasanian coinage.
  • Coin of Mehama, circa 461-493, in the style of the Kushans, Shiva on the reverse. Bactria mint
  • Bactrian language letter from "Meyam, King of the people of Kadag", dated to 461-462 CE.

See also

References
  1. Gudrun Melzer; Lore Sander (2006). Jens Braarvig (ed.). A Copper Scroll Inscription from the Time of the Alchon Huns. Buddhist manuscripts. 3. Hermes Pub. pp. 251–278. together with the great Íahi Khiãgila, together with the god-king Toramana, together with the mistress of a great monastery Sasa, together with the great sahi Mehama, together with Sadavikha, together with the great king Javukha, the son of Sadavikha, during the reign of Mehama.
  2. For an image of the copper scroll: Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna Showcase 8
  3. Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. p. 118. ISBN 9781474400305.
  4. "ALKHAN: Contemporaries of Khingila | Digitaler Ausstellungskatalog". pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.
  5. Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 120–122. ISBN 9781474400305.
Preceded by
Javukha		 Tegin of the Alchon Huns
461-493		 Succeeded by
Lakhana Udayaditya


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