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

142 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
equivalent to expired Śaka years. It is evident from the details given above regarding
Śaka-Saṁvat 1808 and 1809, that, according to the reckoning of the era as fixed by the
early astronomers, and as preserved to the present day, the true epoch is A.D. 77-78,
and the period from the 3rd March, A.D. 78, to the 20th February, A.D. 79, is in reality the
commencement, or first current year; and that, to obtain current Christian years,
equivalent to current Śaka years, the true additive quantity is 77-78. But, of
course, there is always the possibility that, if ever we obtain a date, with full details for
calculation, in a very early Śaka year, or in one of the very earliest of the regnal or
dynastic years which afterwards developed into the Śaka era, this exact equation may
not hold good; in consequence of the date belonging to a period anterior to the adoption
of the era by the astronomers.
The Śaka era is emphatically one of the eras that originated in an exten-
sion of regnal or dynastic years. The chief Hindu tradition about it, is, that it was
founded in celebration of a defeat of the Śaka king by the king Vikrama or Vikramâditya
who is also the supposed founder of the Vikrama era, commencing a hundred and thirty-
five years earlier.¹ This tradition is mentioned by Albêrûnî ;² but he saw through it so far
as to remark "since there is a long interval between the era which is called the era of
Vikramâditya and the killing of Śaka, we think that that Vikramâditya from whom the
era has got its name is not identical with that one who killed Śaka, but only a namesake
of his." And the tradition has now been quite exploded by the Bâdâmi cave inscrip-
tion of the Chalukya king Maṅgalîśa,³ which is specifically dated "when there have
expired five centuries of the years of the installation of the Śaka king (or kings) in the
sovereignty." It is certain, from this record, that the real historical starting-point of the
era, is the commencement of the reign of some particular king, or kings, of the Śaka
¹ Another tradition (e.g. Prinsep's Essays, Vol. II. Useful Tables, p. 154) is that the era dates
from the birth of Śâlivâhana, king of Pratishṭhâna, who opposed Vikramâditya, king of Ujjayinî.
But the introduction of the name of Śâlivâhana in connection with the era, is of comparatively
modern date, the earliest instance that I have succeeded in obtaining, being one of the thirteenth cen-
tury A.D. ; and the epigraphical instances speak of the year as having been 'established, settled,
or decided' (nirṇîta) by Śâlivâhana, but not as running from his birth (see Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p.
214 f.).—A passage to the latter effect has been quoted by Prof. Max Müller (India ; What can it
teach us? p. 300 f.) from the Muhûrtabhuvanônmârtaṇḍa of Nârâyaṇa, which means "in the year
measured by three, the (nine) numerals, and the (fourteen) Indras, from the birth of Śâlivâhana (i.e.
in Śaka-Saṁvat 1493), in (the month) Tapas (Mâgha), this Mârtaṇḍa was composed."—As Prof.
Max Müller has pointed out, in his comments on this passage, it is not exactly wrong to speak of
the era as the Śâlivâhana-Śaka or Śâlivâhana era ; for there are ample instances in which the Hindus
give it that name, in epigraphical records of authority and of some antiquity. At the same time,
those instances shew that it was only in comparatively modern times that the name of Śâlivâhana
came to be connected with the era. And, in all discussions respecting early dates, it is an anachronism
and a mistake, to call the era by his name.
² Sachau's Albêrûnî's India, Translation, Vol. II. p. 6.
³ Ind. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 363 f., and Vol. X. p. 57 ff.