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DECEMBER, 1885.]
EARLY CHRONOLOGY OF NEPAL.
345
own inscription N., appears in 0. line 10, and in the Variávali, as Vasantadêva; and Jayadeva I. of 0. line 8 perhaps appears in the Vamnávali as Jayavarman. But even this is rare enough, And I cannot call to mind a single instance in which (apart from the substitution of birudas) the inscriptions shew any variation in the first and really distinctive part of a king's name. If the present inscription is one of Sivadêva II., then Vijayadôva was another son of his; if, as seems to me more probable, it is one of Jayadêva II, then Vijayadêva was his son.
N.-Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji's inscription No. 3; ante, Vol. IX. p. 167.-The charter is issued from Managļiha. The inscription is one of the Mahárája, the illustrious Vasanta sê na." The Dataka is the Sarvadandanáyaka and Mahápratihára Ravigapta. The date is (Gupta)-Samvat 435, + A.D. 319-20, = A.D. 754-55.
0.-Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji's inscription No. 15; ante, Vol. IX. p. 178ff. - This is not a formal charter, issued from any specified place. The inscription,-which gives a good deal of genealogical information, to be commented on below, is one of Jaya dê va II., who also had the second name or biruda of Parachakrakama. The object of it is to record that he caused a silver waterlily to be made, for the worship of Siva under the name of Pasupati, and that it was worshipped and installed by his mother Vatsadevi. The date is (Harsha)-Samvat 153, + A.D. 606-7, = A.D. 759-60.
P.-Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji's inscription No. 4; ante, Vol. IX. p. 168.-The commencement of the inscription, recording the place whence the order was issued and the king's name, is broken away and lost. The Dútaka is the Rajaputra Vikramasêna." The date is (Gupta)-Samvat 535, + A.D. 319-20, = A.D. 854-55.
The two dates of A. the year 318 for Sivadéva I. and Amśavarman, and C. the year 34 for ATMsuvarman, suffice to shew quite clearly that, here at all events, we are dealing with two very different series or eras. Acting on the identification of Amsuvarman with the king of that name who was reigning during,
» In O. line 10, he is called Vasantadêva. » See noto 6 above, p.812.
anta, Vol. XIII. pp. 418 and 422. » See noto 1 above, p. 342.
or very shortly before, Hiuen Tsiang's visit to Northern India, as which was about A.D. 637,Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji very properly referred the dates of (C.) 34, (D.) 39, (E.) 45 (?), (F.) 48, (J.) 119, (L.) 143 ), (M.) 145, and (0.) 153, to the era established by Harshavardhana of Kanauj, and dating from his accession in A.D. 606 or 607. And, this much being proved, it follows that the date of (A.) 318 must of necessity be referred to an era commencing just about three hundred years before that of Harshavardhana. The era that exactly meets the requirements of the case is the Gupta era," commencing in A.D. 319-20; for, (A.) 318 + 319-20,= A.D. 637-38, and (C.) 34 + 606-7, = A.D. 640-41. There can be no doubt that this era was well known in Nepal at an early date; for,-Chandragupta I. married Kumaradevi, the daughter of Lichchhavi, or of a Lichchhavi prince ; Népal is mentioned, in the Allahâbâd pillar inscription, as one of the countries conquered by Samudragupta;-and the Kahaum pillar inscription shows that, in Gupta-Samvat 141 (A.D, 460-61), Skandag upta's empire extended, at any rate, up to the confines of the country. And it is not impossible that the Népal Vansívali itself has unconsciously preserved a reminiscence, not only of the introduction of the Gupta era, but of the actual year in which it was introduced. The earliest king mentioned in it has the curious name of "Bhuktamânagata ;" and the duration of his reign is given as eighty-eight years. Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji has pointed out" that this is not a real name, but is probably a corruption of bhuktamánagatavarsha, “the year of the reign." I would suggest, as a matter worth considering and probably capable of being cleared up by a collation of manuscripts, that it is really corraption of hhujyamána-Gupta-varsha, “the year of the Guptas that was being enjoyed, i.e. that was current,"—that the eighty-eight years of the reign of this " Bhuktamânagata" point to Gupta-Samvat 88 + A.D. 319-20,= A.D. 407-8, when Chandragupta II., the successor of Samudragupta, was on the throne, as the time when the era was introduced into Nepal, and that it is owing to the influence of this
11 The form Lichohhivi also occurs in two of the Gupta insoriptions,-the Bhitari pillar inscription of Skanda gupta ; and a spurious Gay& plate of Samudragupta. Sante, Vol. XIII. p. 411, Dote 8.
