________________ THE MAITRAKA PERIOD Five of the six dates mentioned above date the events in V.S. 802, while the sixth one assigns them to V.S. 821. The latter date is unacceptable as the dates given in Vicarasreni have proved to be unreliable especially in the light of the date of Mularaja's accession recorded in the Sambhar inscription of Siddharaja Jayasimha. Though V.S. 802 is the most common traditional date, even that is now regarded to be unreliable, as Vanaraja is chronologically found to have flourished at least a century later. 82 If the traditional dates be taken as misascribed to the Vikrama era and assigned to the Saka era as suggested by H.G. Shastri, all the different dates of V.S. 802 are found to be untenable, when they are referred to the Tables of Tithis and week-days. These traditional dates, therefore, all seem to have been forged by mere surmise in later times.83 The Hansot plates of the Cahamana King Bhartrvaddha II represent the earliest known record in Gujarat, the date of which seems to belong to the Vikrama Era. Accordingly, the Vikrama era which has been common in Gujarat for several centuries appears since the year 813 (A.C. 756-57) by the end of the Maitraka period. 81. TA., Vol. LVII, p. 234. 82. K. M. Munshi, Glory that was Gurjara Desa, part III, pp. 67 ff; H. G. Shastri, 'The problem of the Chronology of the Cavada Kings', Proceedings and Transactions of the All India Oriental Conference, seventeenth Session, pp. 425, ff. 83. The earliest accounts are dated about V.S. 1285-1290, i.e. about 500 years later than the period assigned to Vanaraja. Jain Education International For Personal & Private Use Only www.jainelibrary.org