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PREFACE
Chronology is the back-bone of history, political and cultural as well. Indian chronology is of hoary antiquity. In course of time it evolved into different systems for the calculation of days, months and years, the completion of months, the commencement of the year, the reckoning of diverse eras, the intercalations and suppressions of months and days etc. Different systems came into vogue in different parts of the country at different times. The prevalence of diverse systems in present India has a long history behind it.
The general features of ancient Indian chronology are well studied on the basis of epigraphic and literary records. A detailed study of its salient features requires a minute investigation into all available data. But the country is so spacious and its history is so extensive that the data must first be studied in groups regionally as well as chronologically. With this view I have aimed at collecting and examining all the available data supplied by the epigraphic and literary records of Gujarat. Here I have commenced with early times which coincide with the Mauryan period in the history of Gujarat and proceeded upto the end of the Solanki (or Caulukya) Period, which marks an outstanding landmark in the history of Gujarat, as it witnessed the end of Hindu rule and the establishment of Muslim rule in the region. On the whole it covers a long span of about 16 centuries (from circa 300 B.C. to 1304 A.C).
Certain systems of chronology are in vogue in Gujarat since long. While studying the dates of the early period, it is found that some of the present systems are comparatively of later origin, while some other systems that were in vogue in early times have ceased to exist in course of time. Different eras came into use in different periods. The systems of years and months, too, altered in course of time. A detailed study of the available dates collected from the epigraphic and literary records of the successive periods reveals not only an interesting history of the modifications in the chronological systems but also some landmarks for ascertaining particular systems for the dates pertaining to the respective periods.
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