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THE CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OF GUJARAT
dated A.H. 662.74 Therein the era is introduced as that of 'Bodhakara-Rasūla-Mahammada. Obviously it means the Hijrī Era. This is the earliest known Sanskrit record in the Hijrī era, found in Gujarat. The inscription is about the maintenance of a mosque erected by a Muslim sailor in the realm of the . Caulukya Ring Arjunedeva. The date of the record is given in four different eras among which the Hijrī era naturally figures as the first and foremost one. The month and the day given, however, belong to the Indian tradition, Several contemporary inscriptions in Arabic and Persian, are also dated in the Hijri era.75
The era is commonly known as the Hijrī era. It originated in Arabia. The name of the era is derived from the Arabic root 'Hijr' (to be separated or to leave). The reckoning of this era is believed to have started from the time of the flight of Muhammad, the 74, IA, Vol. XI, p. 241 75. The earliest known dates A. H. 416-19 (1027-28 A.C.) in this
era all over India are found in the legend of the bilingual coins issued by Mahmūd of Ghazni from Mohmudpur (Lahore) (Ojba, BPL., p. 191). In the Sanskrit legend the era is called the Tājikya-sanyut, i. e. the era of the Tajika (Arabic) people (D. C. Sircar, lE., p. 309)
Many dates of Arabic inscriptions of the Rajput period from Gujarat are found to have been given in the Hijri era. (Z. A. Desai, Gujarat Itihas Sandarbh Suci, vol. VI, nos, 2-27). But in most of the inscriptions the name of the era is not specified. Only in a few instances the name is specifically given as for example in an epigraph, dated A. H. 683 (1284 A.C.), from Cambay (El. Arabic and Persian Supplement, 1961, pp. 17 f.)
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