________________
August, 1881.)
DATES OF ANCIENT INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS AND COINS.
223
the others enjoyed their dominion, having | Kanishka belonged than any other known. become feudal chiefs. Because they came from The tale of their expedition to Ujjayini appears Saka kala, they are called Sakas. Thus to be scarcely better than one of those legends, originated this dynasty of Saka Kings." valueless for history, which grow nowhere more Some time afterwards Vikramaditya readily than near the origins of the Saka epoch, operthrew this dynasty and introduced the era and of the epoch which derives its name from called after his name. 135 years after this the fabulous Vikramaditya of Ujjayini. event a Saka became king again, who intro- Nor do I believe that anything can be made duced the sa ka era.
ont of the statement that Sarashtra was " In order to explain the Sa ka era this
touched by this expedition. Possibly the reepisode has been told."
membrance of another expedition which came Professor Jacobi thinks it probable that from * Sakadvipa," and was directed first to the the Sáhis mentioned in this legend are the same part of India, may have exercised some "Shâh kings" of Kathiâwâd. But as the influence here,-the immigration of the so-called usual appellation of these “Shâh kings" is | Maga Brahmans. founded, as I have shown, on a mislection of The result of all this is purely negative: we their coins, Dr. Jacobi's conjecture loses its find that no traditions regarding the Kshatrapa support. Besides it must be remembered dynasty are left us except the inscriptions and that the Ksbatrapa inscriptions (among which coins. the Junagadh one is very large, and the Jasdan The coins of this long series of kings are, for one is distinct in stating the titles of the differ- the most part, dated. The highest among these ent princes) contain nothing similar to the dates are those of the coins of the last king or titles Sahi, Sâhâņu Sâhi, Saka, or to Deve- the last but one, Svâmi Radrasena, son of Svami patra, which is found several times connected Rudradâman." On these coins are read the with the titles mentioned."
numbers 284, 192 (read, 292), 294. A still In my opinion everything tends to show higher number is found on coin mentioned rather that it is the dynasty of Kanishka by Sir E. Clive Bayley," the date of which he and his successors to whom the disfigured) says is 300. tradition preserved in the Kalaka legend The date 300 is the last in this series, and refers. That they are said to have crossed the after it follow the coins of the two Gupta kings Indus, that India is called by them the Hin- Kumâragupta and his son Skand 8duga country, that they are designated gupta, which are frequently found in Sarashsa k&s and also as Sáhis,'-all this taken tra. The delineations given by Newton and together suits better the dynasty to which the remarks of the same gentleman, which are
stioned 56
sa I. c. p. 256.
5. Another argument adduced by Professor Jacobi in favour of his conjecture does not appear to me much stronger. In order to show that the Shah Kings were Sakas, he makes use of one of the Nasik cave inscriptions, in which, as he says, the first king of the Shah dynasty, Nahapana, is called the father-in-law of the Saka Ushavadata. But granting the conclusiveness of this inference from & son-in-law to his father-in-law, and granting, which is not less doubtful, that Nahapana belonged to the Shah dynasty, it must be objected that fragments like these, in which 7 sakasa Ushavaddtasa is read, in an inscription which, according to Mr. West, is partly illegible, can by no mons be made use of as if they could be interpreted with any certainty.
As It may be observed here also that the usual Kshatrape head on the coins shows a thoroughly Indian physiognomy, in which respect it differs very much from the heads of the Saka princes Kanishka and Havishks.
60 deve receives the title of ShAhi in well-known Mathur inscription (Cunningham, Arch. Report, vol. III, plate rv, No. 18). The Daivaputras ShAhi ShahAnash Ahi Sake, who sent presenta or tribute to Samudragupta (Allahabad inscription, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, 1887, pl.lv, line 30), may have been successors of the Deva patra ShAhi Vadova." The gold coinage belonging to
Vasudeva's successors must have continued in use for den t aries (Laten, Ind. Alt., vol. II, 2nd ed., p. 868; Thomas, J. R. A. 8., vol. XII, p. 15).
57 See Weber, Monatsbertchte der Berliner Akademie, 1879, pp. 466, 457.
i Newton gives after this king, another of the same name, son of Svami Satya Sih (or rather, Sv. Satyasena), but he adds that this king may have preceded the former one gnito na well. He states that he know only of one coin belonging to Svåmi Badrasena, son of Svámi Satyasena ; it may be inferred therefrom that the reign of this prince was at all events very short.
5. I dare not pronounce & judgment about the units of the first and third of these numbers. Prof. Bhandarkar (Transactions of the International Congress of Oriental ists, London, 1876, p. 858) identifies this king with a preceding Rumah (read rather, Budrasena), son of Virada. man, and he reads the first numeral in his dates 100 instead of 900. This conjecture is every way inadmissible, the facts showing this may be found clearly stated in Mr. Newton's paper (J. B. Br. R. As. Soc., vol. Vii).
60 Indian Ant., vol. VI, p. 57, note.
& l. c. pp. 9, 10; Nos. 9 and 10 of the plate. It is scaroely necessary to add that palmographical reasons also establish without doubt the priority of the Kshatrapas to the Guptas; 3 comparison of the two great inscriptions of the Jundh rook will rudice to show this.
