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280 AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA doubt that 300 years has been used in the weM-known Indian way of reckoning by hundred, illustrated so often in early Indian literature.
K. P. Jayaswal himself had accepted this interpretation, as already mentioned, but identified Nandarāja with Nandivardhana, so that Pushyamitra Sunga and Khāravela were placed as contemporaries. But, Nandivardhana was a Saiśunāga king and the Śaiśunāgas never had any connection with Kalinga. It was Mahāpadma Nanda who is described in the Purāṇas to have brought 'all under his sole sway', and who 'uprooted all kshatriyas'. Hence Nandarāja may be indentified with Mahāpadma Nanda, who could not have reigned beyond (accession of Chandragupta Maurya in 321 B. C., plus 12 years as the reign period of the sons of Mahāpadma Nanda, i. e. in) 334 B. C. Therefore the incident of extending the acqueduct 300 years after Nandarāja took place near about 33 B. C. The mention of a round figure of 300 years, which is a conventional form of expression, may not be taken too literally. Taking into consideration, Khāravela's contemporaniety with Sāta karņi, as already mentioned, we may fix Khāravela's accession to the throne of Kalinga in about 25 B. C. We may, therefore, draw up a tentative table of his approximate chronology with 25 B. C. as the starting point :Birth
- 19 B. C. (25 + 16+8) Yuvarāja – 33 B. C. (25+8) Rājyābhisheka – 25 B. C.
But it may be argued against the above date that if we are to understand 300 years by 'ti-vasa-sata,' than it would be obligatory upon us to take the phrase "terasa
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