Eran
Eran is an ancient town and archaeological site in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It was one of the ancient mints for Indian dynasties as evidenced by the diverse coins excavated here. The site has 5th and 6th-century Gupta era temples and monuments, particularly the colossal stone boar with sages and scholars depicted on the body of the sculpture. The inscription stones found at Eran are important to reconstructing the chronology of Gupta Empire history. Eran or Erakina was the capital of Erakina (Airikina) Pradesha or Airkina Vishaya, an administrative division of the Gupta empire. Etymology The ancient name of Eran (), Erakaina, Erakanya or Erakina (as mentioned in the inscriptions); Airikina (, as mentioned in the inscription of Samudragupta) or Erikina (as mentioned in the inscription of Toramana) is derived from Eraka. The word erakā probably refers to a tall grass commonly called the Elephant cattail, botanical name Typha elephantina, which grows at Eran in abundance. Location Eran is located on the south bank of Bina River in Madhya Pradesh. It is about north-northeast of the ancient Vidisha-Sanchi-Udayagiri site, about west-northwest of Sagar, and about northeast of Bhopal. At the site, the river makes an inverted "U"