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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; INTRODUCTION. 95
undoubtedly fell, not in A.D. 649, as should be the case according to the true Gupta
Valabhî reckoning, but in A.D. 648; and belonged, for astronomical purposes, to Śaka-
Saṁvat 571, or, according to the popular usage of Gujarât, to the southern Vikrama-Saṁvat
706. And, since the localities mentioned in the charter connect it absolutely with a pro-
vince of Gujarât,¹ the year 330 of this record must have commenced, like the southern
Vikrama-Saṁvat 706, with the month Kârttika that preceded the true commencement of
Gupta-Saṁvat 330, with Chaitra śukla 1 of Śaka-Saṁvat 572, according to the original
scheme of the years of the era.
The result, therefore, gives the southern Vikrama-Saṁvat 706 current (A.D. 648-49),
as the nominal equivalent of the given current Gupta year. And this date, with that of the
Verâwal inscription of Valabhî-Saṁvat 927, must be allotted to a class of cases, in which the
running difference of exactly two hundred and forty-two years between current Gupta-Valabhî
and current Śaka years was not maintained, in consequence of a local adaptation of the
Gupta-Valabhî year to the scheme of the southern Vikrama year, made in such a way that,
as pointed out at page 73 above, each subsequent Gupta-Valabhî year, where this
adaptation was applied, commenced five lunations before the true commencement of the
year according to the original scheme. The anomaly, however, is natural enough in the
present instance, because of the locality to which the record refers itself.
The Nêpâl Inscription of the year 386.
The next inscription that I have to notice, is the Nêpâl inscription of Mânadêva,
of the Sûryavaṁśi or Lichchhavi family of Mânagṛiha, on the lower part of a broken pillar
placed to the left of the door of the temple of the god Chângu-Nârâyaṇa, about five miles
to the north-east of Khâṭmâṇḍu; in which the date (from Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji's publish-
ed text and lithograph; Ind. Ant. Vol. IX. p. 163, line 1 f.) runs — saṁvat 300 80 6
Jyêshṭha-m[â]sa-śukla-pakshê pratipadi 1 [Rô]hiṇî-nakshattra-yukt[ê*] chandramasi
m[u]hûrttê praśastê=Bhijiti,—" the year 300 (and) 80 (and) 6; in the bright fortnight of
the month Jyêshṭha, on the first tithi or lunar day, (or in figures) 1; the moon being in
conjunction with the Rôhiṇî nakshatra; in the excellent muhûrta (named) Abhijit."
The Nêpâl inscriptions were first brought to notice by Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji, in the
Ind. Ant. Vol. IX. p. 163 ff.; and his view of the historical results of them was given in
the same Journal, Vol. XIII. p. 411 ff. My own view, originally published in the same
Journal, Vol. XIV. p. 342 ff., will be found explained in detail in Appendix IV. below.
And all that it is necessary to state here, is, that the earliest inscriptions disclose the use
of two eras; viz. the so-called Gupta era, and the Harsha era. At the time, however,
when Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji wrote, the fact that the Gupta era was used in some of these
¹The charter was issued from the victorious camp at Bharukachchha, i.e. the modern Broach
(Bharuch); and it records the grant of some lands in the Khêṭaka âhâra, or the territorial division of
which the chief town was Khêṭaka, i.e. the modern Kaira (Khêḍâ).