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36 The Hāthīgumpha Inscription and the Bhabru Edict
Taken in M.E. the above three events would fall in 424 BC, 414 BC, and 362 BC, respectively.
The extant literary traditions of both the Digambaras and the Svetāmbaras, the principal sects among the Jains, seem to confirm that the date for gradual decline of the canonical knowledge may be M.E. 165. According to the Digambaras as well as the Svetāmbaras eight pontiffs after Mahāvīra possessed full canonical knowledge and the last of them was Bhadrabāhu I. The Digambaras assign a period of 162 years to these eight pontiffs, while the Svetāmbaras assign 178 years.' It is possible that the period was actually 165 years since the tradition recorded in this inscription is closer to the event than any of the available literary traditions.
As for placing the event of the opening of the Tanasuliyavāļā canal in M.E. 103 or 424 BC, it is necessary to consider the chronology of Nanda. Nanda is twice mentioned in this inscription: he opened the canal in the year 103 and he took away the image of Jina from Kalinga to Magadha. It means that this Nanda was the King of Magadha. The Jain tradition unanimously places the Nandas 60 years after Mahāvīra and assigns them a rule of 155 or 150 years. This is with reference to Ujjayini” and indicates that the Nanda kings of Magadha had annexed Ujjayini in 467 BC. The expression Naṁda-rāja used in the inscription also seems to indicate that it does not refer to a particular King Nanda; it more correctly refers to a Nanda king, i.e., a king of the Nanda dynasty. The Nandas continued to rule in Ujjayini till 312 or 317 BC, when the Mauryas dislodged them. Candragupta Maurya's coup in Magadha is dated in circa 324 Bc. He may have taken some time to
The Jaina Sources of the History of Ancient India, pp. 32-54; also Appendix III infra. A Tirtharkara is a religious pioneer and deified saint. J.P. Jain, op. cit., pp. 262-65 (Pontifical Genealogy of Mahāvira's Successors). Ibid., pp. 255-61, (Dynastic Chronology from Mahāvira's nirvana to M.E. 1000).
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