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

80 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.

The Calculation of Recorded Dates.

Our next step, therefore, will be, to see how far the available Gupta-Valabhî dates,
converted into Śaka dates by the addition of two hundred and forty-one years in
accordance with Albêrûnî's most specific statement regarding the equation of the two
eras, and treated as northern dates, with the Pûrṇimânta arrangement of the lunar
fortnights, and with Chaitra śukla 1 as the initial day of the year, give satisfactory results ;
and what uniform equations can be established between, on the one hand, the years of
the Gupta-Valabhî era, and, on the other, those of the Śaka and the Christian eras.

The Êraṇ Inscription of the year 165.

The earliest record that furnishes the easy test which is provided by the mention of
the name of a week-day, combined with the other necessary details, and the first that
was tested for me by Mr. Sh. B. Dikshit, is that given in the Êraṇ pillar inscription
nights has to be applied.—Again, in a grant of the Râshṭrakûṭa king Gôvinda III., from the Kanarese
country, we have for calculation (Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. p. 126, line 1 ff.) Śaka-Saṁvat 726, the
Subhânu saṁvatsara of the Sixty-Year Cycle of Jupiter, the month Vaiśâkha (April-May), the dark
fortnight, the fifth tithi, and Bṛihaspativâra or Thursday. Whether a literal translation of the text
indicates the given Śaka year as current, or as expired, is not quite certain. But correct results can
be obtained only by taking it as an expired year. With the basis of Śaka-Saṁvat 726 expired,
the given tithi, belonging to Śaka-Saṁvat 727 current, ended, by the Amânta arrangement, on
Friday, the 3rd May, A.D. 804; but, by the Pûrṇimânta arrangement, on Thursday, the 4th April, as
required. And this is in accordance with the Northern System of the Sixty-Year Cycle, by which the
Subhânu saṁvatsara commenced in Śaka-Saṁvat 726 current, on the 17th June, A.D. 803, and was
followed by the Târaṇa saṁvatsara in Śaka-Saṁvat 727 current, on the 12th June, A.D. 804 ; so that
it was current, as recorded, on the given date. By the Southern System of the cycle, the Subhânu
saṁvatsara coincided with Śaka-Saṁvat 726 current (A.D. 803-804). And for this year, with the
basis of Śaka-Saṁvat 725 expired, the equivalents of the given tithi are, by the Amânta arrangement,
Saturday, the 15th April, A.D. 803, and, by the Pûrṇimânta arrangement, Friday, the 17th March.—
On the other hand, the Śirûr (Dhârwâḍ District) inscription of the Râshṭrakûṭa king Amôghavarsha I.
gives us for calculation (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 219, line 15 ff.) Śaka-Saṁvat 788, the Vyaya
saṁvatsara, the month Jyêshṭha (May-June), the new-moon tithi Âdityavâra or Sunday, and an
eclipse of the sun. Here, again, it is not quite certain whether a literal translation of the text indi-
cates the given Śaka year as current, or as expired. But correct results can be obtained only by
taking it as an expired year. In Śaka-Saṁvat 788 current (A.D. 865-66), there was no eclipse of the
sun on the given tithi. Also, by the Southern System of the Sixty-Year Cycle the Vyaya saṁvatsara
coincided with Śaka-Saṁvat 789 current (A.D. 866-67) ; and by the Northern System it commenced in
Śaka-Saṁvat 788 current, on the 23rd September, A.D. 865, and was followed by the Sarvajit saṁvat-
sara in Śaka-Saṁvat 789 current, on the 20th September, A.D. 866. With the basis of Śaka-Saṁ-
vat 788 expired, the given tithi ended, by the Pûrṇimânta arrangement, on Saturday, the 18th May,
A.D. 866, when there was no solar eclipse ; but, by the Amânta arrangement, on Sunday, the 16th
June, as required, when there was an eclipse of the sun (see Indian Eras, p. 212), which, as the
tithi ended about 2.0 P.M. (for Bombay), would, cæteris paribus, be visible in India.—It would
appear, therefore, that the Amânta southern arrangement of the lunar fortnights was applied to the
Śaka years, in Southern India, at some point between A.D. 804 and 866.