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DECEMBER, 1884.]
HISTORY OF NEPÅL.
421
The former is clearly dated during the reign of Adityasê nad ê va, in Samvat 88. The distance between this date and that of his greatgrandson, Jaya dê va, is 65 years, or not much less than the duration of three Indian generations, which, as already stated, amounts to 78 years. Under these circumstances it is not in the least doubtful that the great-grandfather and great-grandson used the same era," and it follows further that this era was not confined to Nepal, but generally current in North-Eastern India. If that is the case, neither is it doubtful that the era used by Amsuvarman and the other later Nepal inscriptions, Nos. 9-15, is that of Sriharsha which begins in 606-7 A.D. No other known Indian era can possibly meet the requirements of the case; and it is not difficult to show how this particular era found its way into Nepal. Though Albirûni, when speaking of the Sriharsha era, merely says that it is used in Northern India, and adds no information regarding its founder, it is certain that this personage can be nobody else but the hero of Bâņa bhatta's Sriharshacharita, whom his protégé, Hiuen Thsang, calls Har shavardhana or Siladitya. From BÅpa's and Hiuen Thsang's accounts, 18 well as from the admissions made in the in- scriptions of his valiant and unconquered foe, the Chalukya Satyasra ya-Pulikesi, it appears that this prince united the whole of Northern and Western and Eastern India under his sceptre during the greater part of the first half of the seventh century. In the North-East he was acknowledged as lord paramount as far as Kamarûpa or Asâm, the king of which province conducted Hinen Thsang to Sriharsha's court, and attended his great religions gathering. As Sriharsha's empire included all the districts south of Nepal, he must merely for that reason have exercised a great influence on the political circumstances of the valley, and it would not be astonishing if its princes had adopted his era, merely because he was a powerful neighbour. Bat it
"General Cunningham, Arch. Rep., vol. XV, p. 12, and yol. XVI, pp. 79-80, reads it Samvat 55. But according to all analogies in other ancient inscriptions the figure Qaed can only be equivalent to 8. If the reading 55 were right, it would not affect the deductions as to the era.
** This conclusion would be further confirmed, if General Cunningham's statement that the Deo-Barnak grant, which was issued by a great-grandson of Adityasena, is dated Samvat 152, could be substantiated.
would seem that they had still more pressing reasons for adopting this course, as Sriharsha, in all probability, invaded and conquered their country. General Cunningham (Arch. Reports, vol. I, p. 280), states distinctly that this was the case. In the published historical documents a direct confirmation of this assertion is not traceable. But there are some indications contained in statements of the Varikávali which make it very probable. First, the Varnsávali informs us that just before Ansu varman's accession to the throne Vikramaditya came to Nepal and established his era there. The name of the king and the particular era intended by the authe are certainly quite wrong; but it is very probable that real facts, the conquest of the country by an Indian king about Anónvarman's time, and the adoption of his'era by the humbled princes of Nepal, form the historical substratum of the erroneous account in the Variávali, and that the latter has thus kept & reminiscence of Sriharsha's invasion and of its result, the adoption of his era. A much stronger argument is furnished by another piece of information, preserved in the Varis vali, the existence of Vais Rajputs in Nepal. According to the Vashkávali the kings of the VIIth dynasty belonged to this clase, which had long been settled on the hill of Nav åk oţ. Now Hiuen Thsang tells us that the race or caste to which Sriharsha himself belonged was called Feï-she** and General Cunningham has shown that this caste must have been that of the Vaisa or Bais Rajputs who, even at the present day, are found in nearly the whole of Southern Oudh, and claim to have ruled over the districts between Dehli and Allahabâd. As it is an almost universal rule with Indian princes that on the occasion of conquests they grant a portion of the land to their olansmen, it happens very frequently that centuries later, when the government has passed into other hands, descendants of the grantholders still remain in possession, and that their
vol. I, p. 200 moires, tome I, p. 247; Beal, Records,
5 Geography, pp. 377-8. The argumente given there will fully convince anybody noquainted with India, that Sriharsha cannot have been a merchant or Vaisya. The marriage of his sister Rajyaárt with Grahavarman, the Maukhari, which oocurred before Srlharshe became powerful, would have been impossible if he had been & low-born Vaisya.
