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THE CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OF GUJARAT
(ii) The Devli grant issued by the Rāstrakūta king Govindarāja Prabhūtavarşa of the Gujarat branch, is dated in the Vālabhīya Samvat year 5003. This is the earliest known instance of the specific mention of the Valabhi era by its name. The year corresponds to 818-19 A.C.
(iii) The Unā plates of the Cālukya Mahāsāmanta Balavarman, a feudatory of Mahārājādhirāja Mahendrāyudhadeva, identified with the Pratihāra king Mahendrapāla, are dated in the Valabhī year 574 which corresponds to 892-93 A.C.'.
At the time of the Hilol plates, the Maitraka kingdom of Valabhī had shortly come to an end and the Rāştrakūta power seems to have extended over North Gujarat only a month or so before. It is, therefore, just likely that the Valabhi era which was in vogue in Gujarat for the last three centuries, continued to appear in the grant issued by Candrāditya, though he was a feudatory of the Rāstrakūtas, and that the name of the era was left unspecified as in the records of the Maitraka kings.
After about twenty years another branch of the Rāştrakūțas was established in Gujarat. The plates of Karkarāja Suvarṇavarşa of this branch are dated Saka 3. EI, Vol. XXXV, pp. 269 ff. 4. Prof. F. Kielhorn, El, Vol. IX, pp. 1 ff. 5. From the evidence of this grant it is inferred that the fall of
Valabhi took place in the beginning of the Karttikādi Vikrama year 846 (i.e. Valabhi year 470) and the Rastrakūta power extended over Northern Gujarat shortly before Mārgasira su. di. 7 of the Valabhi year 470 (Vallabh Vidyanagar Research Bulletin, Vol. I, issue i, p. 36).
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