गुप्त अभिलेख संग्रह (जे. एफ. फ्लीट - गुप्त सम्राटों एवं परवर्ती नरेशों के ऐतिहासिक पाषाण व ताम्रलेख)

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; INTRODUCTION. 121

If the dates in the grants of the Mahârâjas of Uchchakalpa are to be referred to
the Kalachuri era,¹ then the Mahâ-Mâgha saṁvatsara of this record will be earlier by
either one or two cycles than the first of the two years given above. Here, again, in res-
pect of the actual epoch no absolute proof can be derived from this record; and the only
important point is, to ascertain that the Mahâ-Mâgha saṁvatsara was not omitted in either
of the two cycles in question. Mr. Sh. B. Dikshit finds that, in Gupta-Saṁvat 165 +
242 = Śaka-Saṁvat 407 current, Jupiter's rising took place on Śrâvaṇa śukla 10, corre-
sponding to Thursday, the 19th July, A.D. 484; or, by the English calendar, on Friday, the
20th July. His longitude then was 108° 19'. By both the systems of unequal spaces, he
was then in Âślêshâ; and the saṁvatsara which then began, and which was current through
the whole month of Kârttika in the same year, must have been named Mahâ-Mâgha.
Again, in Gupta-Saṁvat 177 + 242 = Śaka-Saṁvat 419 current, Jupiter's rising took
place on Bhâdrapada kṛishṇa 13, corresponding to Wednesday, the 24th July, A.D. 496;
or, by the English calendar, on Thursday, the 25th July. His longitude then was 112° 48'.
By the Brahma-Siddhânta system of unequal spaces, he was then in Maghâ, and by the
Garga system, in Âślêshâ; and, by both systems, the saṁvatsara which then began, and which
was current through the whole month of Kârttika in the same year, must have been named
Mahâ-Mâgha. Therefore, by both the systems of unequal spaces, in Gupta-Saṁvat
165 and 177 also, with the running difference of two hundred and forty-two years between
current Gupta and current Śaka years, the Mahâ-Mâgha saṁvatsara was current
on the given date, and was not omitted. And these results give either Śaka-Saṁvat
407 current (A.D. 484-85) or 419 current (A.D. 496-97), as the equivalent of the possible
current Gupta year.
By the mean-sign system, in Gupta-Saṁvat 166 + 242 = Śaka-Saṁvat 408
current, the Mahâ-Mâgha saṁvatsara commenced on Chaitra śukla 5, corresponding to
Thursday, the 7th March, A.D. 485; and it was current through the whole month of
Kârttika in the same year; being followed by Mahâ-Phâlguna on Chaitra śukla 12 of
Śaka-Saṁvat 409, corresponding to Monday, the 3rd March, A.D. 486. Again, in Gupta-
Saṁvat 177 + 242 = Śaka-Saṁvat 419 current, the Mahâ-Mâgha saṁvatsara com-
menced on Phâlguna kṛishṇa 12, corresponding to Thursday, the 16th January, A.D.
497; and it was current through the whole month of Kârttika in Gupta-Saṁvat 178;
being followed by Mahâ-Phâlguna on Mâgha śukla 4 of Śaka-Saṁvat 420, corresponding
to Monday, the 12th January, A.D. 498. Again, in Gupta-Saṁvat 189 + 242 = Śaka-
Saṁvat 431 current, the Mahâ-Mâgha saṁvatsara commenced on Pausha kṛishṇa 3, cor-
responding to Wednesday, the 26th November, A.D. 508; and it was current through the
whole month of Kârttika in Gupta-Saṁvat 190; being followed by Mahâ-Phâlguna on
Pausha kṛishṇa 9 of Śaka-Saṁvat 432, corresponding to Sunday, the 22nd November,

---

¹ See page 8 above.