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152
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JUNE, 1897.
Sak-abdo, in the Saka year, we have, in verse, in No. 133 of S. 999, No. 134 of S. 1001, No. 247 of S. 1172, No. 286 of S. 1278, and No. 292 of S. 1300; and, in prose, in No. 135 of S. 1003. In verse we also find Saké=bdé in No. 313 of S. 1348, Saké=bdaké in No. 301 of S. 1320, and Sale-abdándn in No. 159 of S. 1056; and in prose, Sák-ábdéshr in No. 160 of S. 1057.
Saka-vatoare, in the year of the Saka (or "Sakas), Occurs, everywhere in verse,33 in No. 353 of S. 1478, No. 361 of S. 1506, No. 364 of S. 1523, No. 400 of S. 1556, No. 368 of S. 1558, and No. 371 of S. 1566; and Saka-vatsaréshu, in verse, in No. 104 of S. 944, and in prose, in No. 146 of S, 1040.
Besides we find, in datey which are in verse, Sakéndra-varsh, 'in the year of the Saka king (or kings),' in No. 18 of S. 526 and 546 from Cambodia; samasu sanatitásu Sakandm=api bhábhujám, 'when.years of the Saka kings had passed,' in No. 21 of 'S. 556; Sakapatisamay-abdé, in the year of the time (or era) of the Saka king (or kings),' in No. 22 of S. 586 from Cambodia; Sákêndré-tigate ... vatsare,' when the year... of the Saka king (or kings) had passed,' in No. 35 of S. 654 from Java ; -abda Şaka-samaye, 'in the year ... in the time (or era) of the Saka (or Sakas),' in No. 78 of S. 867; varshanda Saka-prithivípatéh, 'years of the Saka king,' in No. 228 of S. 1144; -saran-mité Saka-uripé, * when the time from the Saka king was measured by... years,' in No. 281 of S. 1235; and, in a componnd and without a word for year,' éri-Sakabhupati- in No. 316 of 8. 1353. And finally we have in prose, in the earliest genuine date of the list, No. 13 of S. 500, Sakansipatirajyabhisheka-sanoatearéshv=atikrántéshu, when... years had passed since the coronation of the Saka king.'
. Where, after having been given in words, a date (or the number of years of a date) is repeated in figures, these figures are preceded by sarhvat in eight dates, the earliest of which is No. 37 of S. 675 and the latest No. 138 of S. 1016, and three of which are from inscriptions of the Stlaras of the Northern Konkan. Other terms, used in the same way, are sanih in the date No. 38 of S. 679, sasivatsaráh in No. 95 of S. 922, saivatsaranáin in No. 73 of 8. 855, saivatsarasah in No. 55 of S. 775 (for 773), saavatsara-satán 4 (followed by 735) in No. 50 of S. 735, Saku in No. 186 of S. 1008, Saka in No. 161 of S. 1059, Saka-sarivat in No. 174 of S. 1078 (from a Silkra inscription), and Saka-Darsha in No. 316 of S. 1353. In No. 61 of $. 799 and nine other dates the figures are not preceded by any word for year, and in the dates Nos. 264 and 267 of S. 1194 and 1199 the numeral figares precede the numerical words by which the year of the date is expressed.
From the above we see that, ever since the earliest date of S. 500, the ers with which we are dealing has been uniformly described as that of the Saka or Sakas, or, what really is the same, 35 of the Saka king or kings, but that none of the phrases enumerated contains any suggestion as to who those Sakas were, or what particular Saka king or kings those, who first used
88 The corresponding phrase Vikrama-tatsaré, also, is only used in verse.
* With this samvatsara-satani, in which the word sata of course is superfinous, we may compare the expression samvatsara-atangal in dates which are in Kanarese, e.g. in No. 74 of 8. 856. Compare also, in Vikrams dates, samvatsara-sa(da)ta nata-salia)ta in Ep. Ind. Vol. I. p. 173, 11. 2 and 4, and p. 174, 11. 8 and 11, and the similarly redundant use of the word sahasra in arhvatsara sahasra 1049,' ibid. p. 81, L. 20. See, moreover, the date of the Naushet plates of the Chalukya Palakesirkja, sathwataar a-fata 400 90' (Vienna Or. Congress, Arian Section p. 234, 1. 48), with which we may compare the date of an unpublished inscription at Jcdhpur, which ha sashvachchhara-lattahs, followed by a numerical symbol for one of the hundreds (perhape 800). In my opinion, we have an abbreviation of this serbuatara sata in the samvat sa of the K A inscription of the Samanta Devadatta (ante, Vol. XIV. p. 45), the date of which I would read 'samoat ta 847 Magha-fudi 6.
* The years of the MAlava-Vikrama era are described both as years 'according to the reckoning of the MAlavas' and a years of the Malava lorda's son ante, Vol. XX. p. 401. Some stress has been laid on the fact that in the date of B. 500 the coronation of the Bata king is spoken of, but I fail to see the particular value of, this expression. As the regal years of a king were his rdjyabhishka-sarhatara (as they are called 6. g. in the dato No. 17 of B. 534), it was only natural to describe the years of the Beka kipg's his nyábhishka-asateara.
