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NOVEMBER, 1883.]
NOMENCLATURE OF HINDÛ ERAS.
291
ON THE NOMENCLATURE OF THE PRINCIPAL HINDÛ ERAS, AND THE USE OF THE WORD SAMVATSARA AND ITS ABBREVIATIONS.
BY J. F. FLEET, Bo.C.S., M.R.A.S.
(Continued from p. 215.) II. THE VIKRAMA ERA.
to denote 10.* The objections to interpreting A S in the case of the Saka era, the earliest it in this grant as 30, to the purport that, A technical expression for the era of Vikrama though the grant was made on the tenth day or Vikramaditya, supplied by an epigraphical of Ashâdha, the actual writing of the charter record, is the simple word
was effected or completed on the thirtieth day Samvatsara
of the same month, are-that the thirtieth or the year.' It is furnished by—1, the Kavi day of the month belongs to the dark fortgrant of the Gurjara king Jayabhata,' in night, not to the bright; -and that it does which the date, which is given in both words not seem possible, from any of the computaand numerical symbols, is expressed (11. 15-16 tions of this date, that the thirtieth day of and 24-5) by Ashadha-buddh*]a-daśam[y]d[11] Ashadha of Vikrama-Samvat 486 can have Karkkataka-rásau sa[i]krántê ravare
fallen on a Sunday. In order to interpret it . . . Sasivatsara-sata-chatushtaye sha...! as 10, we ought to have some form or other .............. [Sali 400 80 6 of the vowel si below it. And I think, from Ashadha su 10 Adityaváre.
indications in the photograph which are too In my reading of this date, I differ in one faint to be reproduced with certainty, that a detail from Dr. Bühler's reading, as published; variety of the vowel si is below it. This can but probably he would now adopt what I pro- only be determined by another examination pose. He read the sign before Adityavárd as of the original plate. But the advantage of di, i.e. su di. This, however, was at a time accepting that we have here the symbol for 10 when the system of numerical symbols was is, that, whether the tenth day of the bright not as fully understood as it is now. On the fortnight of Ashâdha of Vikrama-Samvat 486 analogy of the two Kaira grants of Dadda II.,' fell on a Sunday or not,--this interpretation we should expect to have after sua numerical is at any rate in exact accordance with the symbol for the day of the fortnight. In deter- distinct specification of the tenth day in line mining what the reading is, three aksharas have 15 of the text. to be noted, viz. :
This date has recently been strongly critia 9
cised by Professor Max Müller. He seems, in The first of these is the symbol that follows the first instance, inclined to question the fact éu;' the second is the sign used for di in this of the Jayabhata of this grant being identical grant, e.g. in the following word Adityaváré ; and with the Jayabhata who is mentioned as the the third is the sign used for di in this grant, father of Dadda II. in the four grants of the c.g. in gandha-dhúpa-pushpa-dipa, 1. 10. It is latter. But, with regard to this, I think that the evident at once that what follows su is not di, arguments put forward by. Dr. Bühler in his or even di for di. Also, this symbol that paper on this grant leave no reasonable doubt follows su does not occur, even approximately, as to the identity of the two Jayabhatas. anywhere else in this grant; and therefore it Further, his special objections are--(a), the imcannot be interpreted as any ordinary syllable. probability of the father, Jayabhata, using one It is, however, almost identical with, and era, and the son, Dadda II., using another;-(0) evidently is only a variety of, the la which is the injury to the date in the original plate; used-(a), by itself, in Gupta and Valabhi and-(e), the doubt induced by the differing inscriptions, to denote 30,--and (6), in conjunc- results of the computations of the details of tion with the vowel ri, in Gupta inscriptions, the date. Irrespective of the fact that the
Ind. Ant. Vol. V. pp. 110 ff.; and Pali, Sanskrit, by the copper pushed up by the engraver's tool. and Old-Canarere Inscriptions, No. 272.
Ind. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 44, columns 4 and 5. Nos. 1 and 2, p. 208 above.
See, for instance, No. 81, p. 213 above. * The slight space between the horizontal line and India; What can it teach us? pp. 285 f.; and ante the bottom of the vertical line seems to have been caused I p. 232.
