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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; INTRODUCTION. 131
to the throne. The dates in the Early Gupta records shew clearly that the Gupta era, cannot,
under any circumstances, run from the accession of any member of the dynasty later than
Chandragupta I. And there are essential difficulties, under any normal conditions, in the
way of making the era date from the commencement of his reign; i.e. of taking A.D. 320-21
as his first current year. For his great-grandson, Kumâragupta, we have dates in the era,
ranging from the year 96 to the year 130 odd;¹ of which we may take, as the latest certain
one,² that of the year 129, recorded in the Mankuwâr inscription, No. 11, page 45. And,
as we ought to assume that Chandragupta I. was at least twenty years old when his reign
commenced, this gives us a period of a hundred and forty-nine years, which, spread over
four generations, gives to each a duration of thirty-seven years and a quarter, or nearly
half as much again as the usually accepted average maximum rate of twenty-five years for
a Hindu generation. This, too. is only dealing with the question of generations. If we
take the period of a hundred and twenty-nine years only, from the commencement of the
reign of Chandragupta I. to nearly the end of that of Kumâragupta,—which gives an
average of thirty-two years and a quarter for each of the four reigns,—then, as compared
with the average duration, twenty years at the outside, of a Hindu reign, the excess is still
more remarkable. And almost exactly the same results are obtained, if, instead of con-
sidering four generations and reigns, down to the end of the time of Kumâragupta, we
take the latest certain date³ of Chandragupta II., viz. the year 93 given in the Sâñchi
inscription, No. 5, page 29, and spread the period of ninety-three years over three
reigns, or, on the same assumption as regards the age of Chandragupta I., the period of a
hundred and thirteen years over three generations. On the question of generations, I will
not base any particularly special objection. An analogy for an abnormal average rate
might be deduced from the Western Châlukya genealogy,⁴ in which we have Śaka-
Saṁvat⁵ 930 for the commencement of the reign of Vikramâditya V., and Śaka-Saṁvat
1060 for the end of the reign, and it may safely be assumed the death, of Sômêśvara III.
in the third generation after him. If we take it that Vikramâditya V. was twenty years
old in Śaka-Saṁvat 930, we have one hundred and fifty years for the four generations; or
an average of thirty-seven years and a half for each. But, from Śaka-Saṁvat 930 to
1060, there were six reigns; with an average of twenty-five years, or seven less than we
¹ See page 67 above.
² And it must be very nearly his latest date; for, he had then been reigning for at least thirty-
three full years, and we have the date of the year 136 for his son and successor, Skandagupta.—The
selection of any later date would, of course, only intensify the force of the argument.
³ The silver coins (see Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 65 f.) seem to give the year 94 or 95; but the latest
absolutely certain date is the one that I quote. Here again, the adoption of a later date would only
strengthen the argument.
⁴ See my Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts, p. 18, Table.
⁵ The exact year was doubtful when I wrote the book referred to in the preceding note; but it
has now been established by the Kauthêm grant (Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 15 ff.)
R 2