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

28 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
That the true solution was to be found, not in wrong information given to Albêrûnî
or in a mistake made by him in reporting correct information, but in an erroneous inter-
pretation of his meaning, was first indicated to me by Mr. Rehatsek, who, in December,
1886, gave me, from M. Reinaud's published text, the following literal rendering of the crucial
passage,—"and (as regards) the Gupta era, it was, as is said, a nation wicked (and)
strong; and when they perished, dating was made according to them."¹ Such a rendering
as this would enable us to give to Albêrûnî's words a meaning perfectly clear and consis-
tent with the usual order of things; vis. that the Guptas, though wicked and inferentially
unpopular, yet had exercised so powerful a sway that, even when their dynasty came to
an end, the era, that had been used by them, still continued to be used.
So also, somewhat later, Mr. H. C. Kay, translating the words by "dating was made
by (or, according to) them," added the following remarks on the interpretation of them .—
"The author's meaning is not clear. But, taking the words as they stand, I think they
"can most consistently be understood as signifying an adoption or continuation of the
"method of dating that had been used by the Guptas. The preceding words 'when they
"came to an end' suggest the possible meaning that the dating ran from that event. But
"it seems to me that this construction can be properly preferred, only if there be something
"else in the context, or in the known facts of the case, that would make it obligatory; or,
"at least, that clearly points to it."
I had the hope that, before it came to my own turn to write finally on the subject,
Prof. Sachau's translation of the Arabic text would have removed all doubt as to Albêrûnî's
real meaning on this point. This, however, has not been the case; because of the intro-
duction in his translation as in M. Reinaud's, of the word 'epoch,' which does not exist in
the original text, and the use of which gives the translation a fixed obligatory meaning
that, at any rate, a literal rendering of the original does not compel us to adopt.
that, in the particular instance, 948 must be deducted, with a remainder of only 5 years over.—Gen.
Cunningham, in giving a somewhat similar explanation of the figures 606 (Indian Eras, p. 16), has
assumed that in this process Śaka-Saṁvat 242 is a mistake for 241. But this, as I have now shewn, is
not the case. And I do not agree with the manner in which he deals with the figures as a whole.
Śaka-Saṁvat 241 expired or completed brings us to the end of A.D. 318-19 and the beginning of A.D.
319-20. If to this we add 6 and 600 and 99 complete years, it only brings us to Śaka-Saṁvat 946
expired, or to the end of A.D. 1023-24 and the beginning of A.D. 1024-25; and leaves us still one
year short of that in which the event in question occurred.
¹ Similarly, some thirteen years ago, Mr. Blochmann (see the Jour. Beng. As. Soc. Vol. XLIII.
Part I. p. 368) proposed to translate—"as regards the Guptakâl, they were, as is related, a people
wicked and powerful; and when they were cut off, it was dated in them (the era commenced?)."—
This translatior, however, is spoilt by the bracketed words "(the era commenced?) ;' the use of which
shews why Mr. Blochmann, though giving a translation capable of a totally different meaning,
expressed himself as not able to see any fault in Reinaud's translation.