Chapter XXII: Act 1894: transferred to the district councils of every rural district (8)

In the Tinnevelly district of Madras, and in the territories of the
same presidency in which the Malayalam language prevails, namely,
South Kanara below Mangalore, the Malabar district, and the Cochin and
Travancore states, there is used a reckoning which is known sometimes
as the Kollam or Kolamba reckoning, sometimes as the era of
Parasurama. The years of it are solar: in the southern parts of the
territory in which it is current, they begin with the month Simha; in
the northern parts, they begin with the next month, Kanya. The initial
point of the reckoning is in A.D. 825; and the year 1076 commenced in
A.D. 1900. The popular view about this reckoning is that it consists
of cycles of 1000 years; that we are now in the fourth cycle; and that
the reckoning originated in 1176 B.C. with the mythical Parasurama,
who exterminated the Kshatriya or warrior caste, and reclaimed the
Konkan countries, Western India below the Ghauts, from the ocean. But
the earliest known date in it, of the year 149, falls in A.D. 973; and
the reckoning has run on in continuation of the thousand, instead of
beginning afresh in A.D. 1825. It seems probable, therefore, that the
reckoning had no existence before A.D. 825. The years are cited
sometimes as "the Kollam year (of such-and-such a number)," sometimes
as "the year (so-and-so) after Kollam appeared;" and this suggests
that the reckoning may possibly owe its origin to some event,
occurring in A.D. 825, connected with one or other of the towns and
ports named Kollam, on the Malabar coast; perhaps Northern Kollam in
the Malabar district, perhaps Southern Kollam, better known as Quilon,
in Travancore. But the introduction of Parasurama into the matter,
which would carry back (let us say) the foundation of Kollam to
legendary times, may indicate, rather, a purely imaginative origin.
Or, again, since each century of the Kollam reckoning begins in the
same year A.D. with a century of the Saptarshi reckoning (see below
under III. Other Reckonings), it is not impossible that this reckoning
may be a southern offshoot of the Saptarshi reckoning, or at least may
have had the same astrological origin.

In Nepal there is a reckoning, known as the Newar era and commencing
in A.D. 879, which superseded the Gupta and Harsha eras there. One
tradition attributes the foundation of it to a king Raghavadeva;
another says that, in the time and with the permission of a king
Jayadevamalla, a merchant named Sakhwal paid off, by means of wealth
acquired from sand which turned into gold, all the debts then existing
in the country, and introduced the new era in commemoration of the
occurrence. It is possible that the era may have been founded by some
ruler of Nepal: but nothing authentic is known about the particular
names mentioned in connexion with it. This era appears to have been
discarded for state and official purposes, in favour of the Saka era,
in A.D. 1768, when the Gurkhas became masters of Nepal; but
manuscripts show that in literary circles it has remained in use up to
at any rate A.D. 1875.

Inscriptions disclose the use in Kathiawar and Gujarat, in the 12th
and 13th centuries, of a reckoning, commencing in A.D. 1114, which is
known as the Simha-samvat. No historical occurrence is known, on which
it can have been based; and the origin of it is obscure.

Three great Eras in general use.

The eras mentioned above have for the most part served their purposes and died out. But there are three great reckonings, dating from a very respectable antiquity, which have held their own and survived to the present day. These are the Kaliyuga, Vikrama, and Saka eras. It will be convenient to treat the Kaliyuga first, though, in spite of having the greatest apparent antiquity, it is the latest of the three in respect of actual date of origin.

The Kaliyuga Era of 3102 B.C.

The Kaliyuga era is the principal astronomical reckoning of the Hindus. It is frequently, if not generally, shown in the almanacs: but it can hardly be looked upon as being now in practical use for civil purposes; and, as regards the custom of previous times as far as we can judge it from the inscriptional use, which furnishes a good guide, the position is as follows: from Southern India we have one such instance of A.D. 634, one of A.D. 770, three of the 10th century, and then, from the 12th century onwards, but more particularly from the 14th, a certain number of instances, not exactly very small in itself, but extremely so in comparison with the number of cases of the use of the Vikrama and Saka eras and other reckonings: from Northern India the earliest known instance of is A.D. 1169 or 1170, and the later ones number only four. Its years are by nature sidereal solar years, commencing with the Mesha-samkranti, the entrance of the sun into the Hindu constellation and sign Mesha, i.e. Aries (for this and other technical details, see above, under the Calendar);[6] but they were probably cited as lunar years in the inscriptional records which present the reckoning; and the almanacs appear to treat them either as Meshadi civil solar years with solar months, or as Chaitradi lunar years with lunar months _amanta_ (ending with the new-moon) or _purnimanta_ (ending with the full-moon) as the case may be, according to the locality. Its initial point lies in 3102 B.C.; and the year 5002 began in A.D. 1900.[7]

This reckoning is not an historical era, actually running from 3102
B.C. It was devised for astronomical purposes at some time about A.D.
400, when the Hindu astronomers, having taken over the principles of
the Greek astronomy, recognized that they required for purposes of
computation a specific reckoning with a definite initial occasion.
They found that occasion in a conjunction of the sun, the moon, and
the five planets which were then known, at the first point of their
sign Mesha. There was not really such a conjunction; nor, apparently,
is it even the case that the sun was actually at the first point of
Mesha at the moment arrived at. But there was an approach to such a
conjunction, which was turned into an actual conjunction by taking the
mean instead of the true positions of the sun, the moon, and the
planets. And, partly from the reckoning which has come down to us,
partly from the astronomical books, we know that the moment assigned
to the assumed conjunction was according to one school the midnight
between Thursday the 17th, and Friday the 18th, February, 3102 B.C.,
and according to another school the sunrise on the Friday.

The reckoning thus devised was subsequently identified with the
Kaliyuga as the iron age, the last and shortest, with a duration of
432,000 years, of the four ages in each cycle of ages in the Hindu
system of cosmical periods. Also, traditional history was fitted to it
by one school, represented notably by the Puranas, which, referring
the great war between the Pandavas and the Kurus, which is the topic
of the Mahabharata, to the close of the preceding age, the Dvapara,
placed on the last day of that age the culminating event which ushered
in the Kali age; namely, the death of Krishna (the return to heaven of
Vishnu on the termination of his incarnation as Krishna), which was
followed by the abdication of the Pandava king Yudhishthira, who,
having installed his grand-nephew Parikshit as his successor, then set
out on his own journey to heaven. Another school, however, placed the
Pandavas and the Kurus 653 years later, in 2449 B.C. A third school
places in 3102 B.C. the anointment of Yudhishthira to the sovereignty,
and treats that event as inaugurating the Kali age; from this point of
view, the first 3044 years of the Kaliyuga--the period from its
commencement in 3102 B.C. to the commencement of the first historical
era, the so-called Vikrama era, in 58 B.C.--are also known as "the era
of Yudhishthira."

The Vikrama Era of 58 B.C.

The Vikrama era, which is the earliest of all the Hindu eras in respect of order of foundation, is the dominant era and the great historical reckoning of Northern India--that is, of the territory on the north of the rivers Narbada and Mahanadi--to which part of the country its use has always been practically confined. Like, indeed, the Kaliyuga and Saka eras, it is freely cited in almanacs in any part of India; and it is sometimes used in the south by immigrants from the north: but it is, by nature, so essentially foreign to the south that the earliest known inscriptional instance of the use of it in Southern India only dates from A.D. 1218, and the very few later instances that have been obtained, prior to the 15th century A.D., come, along with the instance of A.D. 1218, from the close neighbourhood of the dividing-line between the north and the south. The Vikrama era has never been used for astronomical purposes. Its years are lunar, with lunar months, but seem liable to be sometimes regarded as solar, with solar months, when they are cited in almanacs of Southern India which present the solar calendar. Originally they were Kartti-kadi, with _purnimanta_ months (ending with the full-moon). They now exist in the following three varieties: in Kathiawar and Gujarat, they are chiefly Karttikadi, with _amanta_ months (ending with the new-moon); and they are shown in this form in almanacs for the other parts of the Bombay Presidency; but there is also found in Kathiawar and that neighbourhood an Ashadhadi variety, commencing with Ashadha sukla I, similarly with _amanta_ months; in the rest of Northern India, they are Chaitradi, with _purnimanta_ months. The era has its initial point in 58 B.C., and its first civil day, Karttika sukla I, is 19th September in that year if we determine it with reference to the Hindu Tula-samkranti, or 18th October if we determine it with reference to the tropical equinox. The years of the three varieties, Chaitradi, Ashadhadi, and Karttikadi, all commence in the same year A.D.; and the year 1958 began in A.D. 1900.

Hindu legend connects the foundation of this era with a king Vikrama
or Vikramaditya of Ujjain in Malwa, Central India: one version is that
he began to reign in 58 B.C.; another is that he died in that year,
and that the reckoning commemorates his death. Modern research,
however, based largely on the inscriptional records, has shown that
there was no such king, and that the real facts are very different.
The era owes its existence to the Kushan king Kanishka, a foreign
invader, who established himself in Northern India and commenced to
reign there in B.C. 58.[8] He was the founder of it, in the sense that
the opening years of it were the years of his reign. It was
established and set going as an era by his successor, who continued
the reckoning so started, instead of breaking it by introducing
another according to his own regnal years. And it was perpetuated as
an era, and transmitted as such to posterity by the Malavas, the
people from whom the modern territory Malwa derived its name, who were
an important section of the subjects of Kanishka and his successors.
In consonance with that, records ranging in date from A.D. 473 to 879
style it "the reckoning of the Malavas, the years of the Malava lords,
the Malava time or era." Prior to that, it had no specific name; the
years of it were simply cited, in ordinary Hindu fashion, by the term
_samvatsara_, "the year (of such-and-such a number)," or by its
abbreviations _samvat_ and _sam_: and the same was frequently done in
later times also, and is habitually done in the present day; and so,
in modern times, this era has often been loosely styled "the Samvat
era." The idea of a king Vikrama in connexion with it appears to date
from only the 9th or 10th century A.D.

The Saka Era of A.D. 78.

The Saka era, though it actually had its origin in the south-west corner of Northern India, is the dominant era and the great historical reckoning of Southern India; that is, of the territory below the rivers Narbada and Mahanadi. It is also the subsidiary astronomical reckoning, largely used, from the 6th century A.D. onwards, in the _Karanas_, the works dealing with practical details of the calendar, for laying down epochs or points of time furnishing convenient bases for computation. As a result of that, it came to be used in past times for general purposes also, to a limited extent, in parts of Northern India where it was not indigenous. And it is now used more or less freely, and is cited in almanacs everywhere. Its years are usually lunar, Chaitradi, and its months are _purnimanta_ (ending with the full-moon) in Northern India, and _amanta_ (ending with the new-moon) in Southern India; but in times gone by it was sometimes treated for purposes of calculation as having astronomical solar years, and it is now treated as having Mesh di civil solar years and solar months in those parts of India where that form of the solar calendar prevails. It has its initial point in A.D. 78; and its first civil day, Chaitra sukla I, is 3rd March in that year, as determined with reference either to the Hindu M'na-samkranti or to the entrance of the sun into the tropical Pisces. The year 1823 began in A.D. 1900.

Regarding the origin of the Saka era, there was current in the 10th and 11th centuries A.D. a belief which, ignoring the difference of a hundred and thirty-five years between the two reckonings, connected the legendary king Vikramaditya of Ujjain, mentioned above under the Vikrama era, with the foundation of this era also. The story runs, from this point of view, that the Sakas were a barbarous people who established themselves in the western and north-western dominions of that king, but were met in battle and destroyed by him, and that the era was established in celebration of that event. The modern belief, however, ascribes the foundation of this era to a king Salivahana of Pratishthana, which is the modern Paithan, on the Godavari, in the Nizam's dominions. But in this case, again, research has shown that the facts are very different. Like the Vikrama era, the Saka era owes its existence to foreign invaders. It was founded by the Chhaharata or Kshaharata king Nahapana, who appears to have been a Pahlava or Palhava, i.e. of Parthian extraction, and who reigned from A.D. 78 to about 125.[9] He established himself first in Kathiawar, but subsequently brought under his sway northern Gujarat (Bombay) and Ujjain, and, below the Narbada, southern Gujarat, Nasik and probably Khandesh. His capital seems to have been Dohad, in the Panch Mahals. And he had two viceroys: one, named Bhumaka, of the same family with himself, in Kathiawar; and another, Chashtana, son of Ghsamotika, at Ujjain. Soon after A.D. 125, Nahapana was overthrown, and his family was wiped out, by the Satavahana-Satakarni king Gautamiputra-Sri-Satakarni, who thereby recovered the territories on the south of the Narbada, and perhaps secured for a time Kathiawar and some other parts on the north of that river. Very soon, however, Chashtana, or else his son Jayadaman, established his sway over all the territory which had belonged to Nahapana on the north of the Narbada; founded a line of Hinduized foreign kings, who ruled there for more than three centuries; and, continuing Nahapana's regnal reckoning, established the era to which the name Saka eventually became attached. Inscriptions and coins show that, up to at least the second decade of its fourth century, this reckoning had no specific appellation; its years were simply cited, in the usual fashion, as _varsha_, "the year (of such-and-such a number)." The reckoning was then taken up by the astronomers. And we find it first called Sakakala, "the time or era of the Sakas," in an epochal date, the end of the year 427, falling in A.D. 505, which was used by the astronomer Varahamihira (d. A.D. 587) in his Panchasiddhantika. That this name came to be attached to it appears to be due to the points that, along with some of the Pahlavas or Palhavas and the Yavanas or descendants of the Asiatic Greeks, some of the Sakas, the Scythians, had made their way into Kathiawar and neighbouring parts by about A.D. 100, and that the Sakas incidentally came to acquire prominence in the memory of the Hindus regarding these occurrences, in such a manner that their name was selected when the occasion arose to devise an appellation for an era the exact origin of which had been forgotten. The name of the imaginary king Salivahana first figures in connexion with the era in a record of A.D. 1272, and seems plainly to have been introduced in imitation of the coupling of the name Vikrama, Vikramaditya, with the era of B.C. 58.

That the Saka era, though it had its origin in the south-west corner
of Northern India, is essentially an era of Southern India, is proved
by its inscriptional and numismatic history. During the period before
the time when it was taken up by the astronomers, it is found only in
the inscriptions of Nahapana, and in the similar records and on the
coins of the descendants of Chashtana. After that same time, it
figures first in a record of the Chalukya king Kirtivarman I., at
Badami in the Bijapur district, Bombay, which is dated on the
full-moon day of the month Karttika, falling in A.D. 578, "when there
had elapsed five centuries of the years of the anointment of the Saka
king to the sovereignty." And from this date onwards the records of a
large part of Southern India are mostly dated in this era, by various
expressions all of which include the term Saka or Saka. In Northern
India the case is very different. We have a record dated in the month
Karttika, the Saka year 631 (expired), falling in A.D. 709: it comes
from Multai in the Betul district, Central Provinces, that is, from
the south of the Narbada; but it belongs to Gujarat (Bombay), and
perhaps to the north, though more probably to the south, of that
province. But, setting that aside, the earliest inscriptional instance
of the use of this era in Northern India, outside Kathiawar and
Gujarat, is found in a record of A.D. 862 at Deogarh near Lalitpur,
the headquarters town of the Lalitpur district, United Provinces of
Agra and Oude; here, however, the record is primarily dated, with the
full details of the month, &c., in "Samvat 919," that is, in the
Vikrama year 919; it is only as a subsidiary detail that the Saka year
784 is given in a separate passage at the end of the record, a sort of
postscript. From this date onwards the era is found in other records
of Northern India, but to any appreciable extent only from A.D. 1137,
and to only a very small extent in comparison with the Vikrama and
other northern eras; and the cases in which it was used exclusively
there, without being coupled with one or other of the northern
reckonings, are still more conspicuously few. In short, the general
position is that the Saka era has been essentially foreign to Northern
India until recent times; it was used there quite exceptionally and
sporadically, and in very few cases indeed at any appreciable distance
from the dividing-line between the north and the south. That it found
its way into Northern India, outside Kathiawar and northern Gujarat at
all, is unquestionably due to its use by the astronomers. It also
travelled, across the sea, by the 7th century A.D. to Cambodia, and
somewhat later to Java; to which parts it was doubtless taken in
almanacs, or in invoices, statements of account, &c., by the persons
engaged in the trade between Broach and the far east via Tagara (Ter)
and the east coast. It also found its way in subsequent times to Assam
and Ceylon, and more recently still to Nepal.

III. OTHER RECKONINGS

The Cycles of Jupiter.

We come now to certain reckonings consisting of cycles, and will take first the cycles of Guru or Brihaspati, Jupiter. This planet, a very conspicuous object in eastern skies, requires a period of 4332.6 days, = 50.4 days less than twelve Julian years, to make a circuit of the heavens, and has provided the Hindus with two reckonings, each in more than one variety; a cycle of twelve years, and a cycle of sixty years. The years of Jupiter, in all their varieties, are usually styled _samvatsara_; and it is convenient to use this term here, in order to preserve clearly the distinction between them and the solar and lunar years. The _samvatsaras_ have no divisions of their own; the months, days, &c., cited with them are those of the ordinary solar or lunar calendar, as the case may be.

The 12-years Cycle.

The older reckoning of Jupiter appears to be that of the 12-years cycle, which is found in two varieties; in both of them the _samvatsaras_ bear, according to certain rules which need not be explained here, the same names with the lunar months, Chaitra, Vaisakha, &c. In one variety, each _samvatsara_ runs from one of the planet's heliacal risings--that is, from the day on which it becomes visible as a morning star on the eastern horizon--to the next such rising; and the length of such a _samvatsara_, according to the Hindu data, is from 392 to 405 days, with an average of 399 days. Inscriptional instances of the use of this cycle are found in six of the Gupta records of Northern India, ranging from A.D. 475 to 528.

In the other variety of the 12-years cycle, which is mentioned in astronomical works from the time of Aryabhata onwards (b. A.D. 476), the _samvatsaras_ are regulated by Jupiter's course with reference to his mean motion and mean longitude: a _samvatsara_ of this variety commences when Jupiter thus enters a sign of the zodiac, and lasts for the time occupied by him in traversing that sign from the same point of view; and the period taken by him to do that--that is, the duration of such a _samvatsara_--is slightly in excess, according to the Hindu data, of 361.02 days, which amount is very close to the actual fact, 361.05 days. Inscriptional instances of the use of this cycle are perhaps found in two records of Southern India of the Kadamba series, belonging to about A.D. 575.

The 12-years mean-sign cycle seems to be still used in some parts. And the heliacal risings of Jupiter, as also, indeed, those of the other planets, are shown in almanacs for astrological purposes. In either variety, however, the 12-years cycle is now chiefly of antiquarian interest.

The 60-years cycle.

The cycle of Jupiter now in general use is a cycle of sixty years, the _samvatsaras_ of which bear certain special names, Prabhava, Vibhava, Sukla, Pramoda, &c., again in accordance with certain rules which we need not explain here. This cycle exists in three varieties.

According to the original constitution of this cycle, the _samvatsaras_ are determined as in the second or mean-sign variety of the 12-years cycle: each _samvatsara_ commences when Jupiter enters a sign of the zodiac with reference to his mean motion and longitude; and it lasts for slightly more than 361.02 days. This variety is traced back in inscriptional records to A.D. 602, and is still used in Northern India.

Now, the _samvatsaras_ are calculated by means of the astronomical solar year commencing with the Mesha-samkranti, the entrance of the sun into the sign Mesha (Aries). The process gives the number of the _samvatsara_ last expired before any particular Mesha-samkranti, with a remainder denoting the portion of the current _samvatsara_ elapsed up to the same time; and the remainder, reduced to months, &c., gives the moment of the commencement of the current _samvatsara_, by reckoning back from the Mesha-samkranti. As the result, apparently, of unwillingness to take the trouble to work out the full details, at some time about A.D. 800 a practice arose, in some quarters, according to which that _samvatsara_ of the 60-years cycle which was current at any particular Mesha-samkranti was taken as coinciding with the astronomical solar year beginning at that _samkranti_, and with the Chaitradi lunar year belonging to that same solar year. And this practice set up a lunisolar variety of the cycle, in connexion with which we have to notice the following point. While the duration of a mean-sign _samvatsara_ is closely about 361.02 days, the length of the Hindu astronomical solar year is closely about 365.258 days. It consequently happens, after every 85 or 86 years, that a mean-sign _samvatsara_ begins and ends between two successive Mesha-samkrantis. In the mean-sign cycle, such a _samvatsara_ retains its existence unaffected; and the names Prabhava, Vibhava, &c., run on without any interruption. According to the lunisolar system, however, the position is different; the _samvatsara_ beginning and ending between the two Mesha-samkrantis is expunged or suppressed, in the sense that its name is omitted and is replaced by the next name on the list. The second variety of the 60-years cycle, thus started, ran on alongside of the mean-sign variety, and, being eventually transferred, with that variety, to Northern India, is now known as the northern lunisolar variety. It preserves a connexion between the _samvatsaras_ and the movements of Jupiter: but the connexion is an imperfect one; and both in this variety, and still more markedly in the remaining one still to be described, the _samvatsaras_ practically became mere appellations for the solar and lunar years.

Meanwhile, just after A.D. 900, another development occurred, and there was started a third variety, which is now known as the southern lunisolar variety. The precise year in which this happened depends on the particular authority that we follow. If we take the elements adopted in the Surya-Siddhanta as the proper data for that time and for the locality--Western India below the Narbada--to which the early history of the cycle belongs, the position was as follows. At the Mesha-samkranti in A.D. 908 there was current, by the mean-sign system, the _samvatsara_ No. 2, Vibhava: but No. 4, Pramoda, was current by the same system at the Mesha-samkranti in A.D. 909; and No. 3, Sukla, began and ended between the two Mesha-samkrantis. Accordingly, No. 2, Vibhava, was the lunisolar _samvatsara_ for the Meshadi solar year and the Chaitradi lunar year commencing in A.D. 908; and by the strict lunisolar system, which was adhered to by some people and is now known as the northern lunisolar system, it was followed in A.D. 909 by No. 4, Pramoda, the name of the intermediate _samvatsara_, No. 3, Sukla, being passed over. On the other hand, whether through oversight, or whatever the reason may have been, by other people the name of No. 3, Sukla, was not passed over, but that _samvatsara_ was taken as the lunisolar _samvatsara_ for the Meshadi solar year and the Chaitradi lunar year beginning in A.D. 909, and No. 4, Pramoda, followed it in A.D. 910. On subsequent similar occasions, also, there was, in the same quarters, no passing over of the name of any _samvatsara_. And this practice established itself in Southern India, to the exclusion there of the mean-sign and the northern lunisolar varieties; the discrepancy between the last-mentioned variety and the variety thus set up continuing, of course, to increase by one _samvatsara_ after every 85 or 86 years. In this variety, the southern lunisolar variety, all connexion between the _samvatsaras_ and the movements of Jupiter has now been lost.

The present position of the 60-years cycle in its three varieties may
be illustrated thus. In Northern India, by the mean-sign system the
_samvatsara_ No. 46, Paridhavin, began, according to different
authorities, in August, September or October, A.D. 1899. Consequently,
by the northern or expunging lunisolar system, that same _samvatsara_,
No. 46, Paridhavin, coincided with the Meshadi civil solar year
beginning with or just after 12th April, and with the Chaitradi lunar
year beginning with 31st March, A.D. 1900. But by the southern or
non-expunging lunisolar system those same solar and lunar years were
No. 34, Sarvarin.

The treatment of the cycles of Jupiter in the Sanskrit books shows
that it was primarily from the astrological point of view that they
appealed to the Hindus; it was only as a secondary consideration that
they acquired anything of a chronological nature. For the practical
application of any of them to historical purposes, it is, of course,
necessary that, along with the mention of a _samvatsara_, there should
always be given the year of some known era, or some other specific
guide to the exact period to which that _samvatsara_ is to be
referred. But it is fortunately the case that the _samvatsaras_ have
been but rarely cited in the inscriptional records without such a
guide, of some kind or another.

The Saptarshi reckoning.

The Saptarshi reckoning is used in Kashmir, and in the Kangra district and some of the Hill states on the south-east of Kashmir; some nine centuries ago it was also in use in the Punjab, and apparently in Sind. In addition to being cited by such expressions as Saptarshi-samvat, "the year (so-and-so) of the Saptarshis," and Sastra-samvatsara, "the year (so-and-so) of the scriptures," it is found mentioned as Lokakala, "the time or era of the people," and by other terms which mark it as a vulgar reckoning. And it appears that modern popular names for it are Pahari-samvat and Kachcha-samvat, which we may render by "the Hill era" and "the crude era." The years of this reckoning are lunar, Chaitradi; and the months are _purnimanta_ (ending with the full-moon). As matters stand now, the reckoning has a theoretical initial point in 3077 B.C.; and the year 4976, more usually called simply 76, began in A.D. 1900; but there are some indications that the initial point was originally placed one year earlier.

The idea at the bottom of this reckoning is a belief that the
Saptarshis, "the Seven Rishis or Saints," Marichi and others, were
translated to heaven, and became the stars of the constellation Ursa
Major, in 3076 B.C. (or 3077); and that these stars possess an
independent movement of their own, which, referred to the ecliptic,
carries them round at the rate of 100 years for each _nakshatra_ or
twenty-seventh division of the circle. Theoretically, therefore, the
Saptarshi reckoning consists of cycles of 2700 years; and the
numbering of the years should run from 1 to 2700, and then commence
afresh. In practice, however, it has been treated quite differently.
According to the general custom, which has distinctly prevailed in
Kashmir from the earliest use of the reckoning for chronological
purposes, and is illustrated by Kalhana in his history of Kashmir, the
_Rajataramgini_, written in A.D. 1148-1150, the numeration of the
years has been centennial; whenever a century has been completed, the
numbering has not run on 101, 102, 103, &c., but has begun again with
1, 2, 3, &c. Almanacs, indeed, show both the figures of the century
and the full figures of the entire reckoning, which is treated as
running from 3076 B. C., not from 376 B.C. as the commencement of a
new cycle, the second; thus, an almanac for the year beginning in A.D.
1793 describes that year as "the year 4869 according to the course of
the Seven Rishis, and similarly the year 69." And elsewhere sometimes
the full. figures are found, sometimes the abbreviated ones; thus,
while a manuscript written in A.D. 1648 is dated in "the year 24" (for
4724), another, written in A.D. 1224 is dated in "the year 4300." But,
as in the _Rajataramgini_, so also in inscriptions, which range from
A.D. 1204 onwards, only the abbreviated figures have hitherto been
found. Essentially, therefore, the Saptarshi reckoning is a centennial
reckoning, by suppressed or omitted hundreds, with its earlier
centuries commencing in 3076, 2976 B.C., and so on, and its later
centuries commencing in A.D. 25, 125, 225, &c.; on precisely the same
lines with those according to which we may use, e.g. 98 to mean A.D.
1798, and 57 to mean A.D. 1857, and 9 to mean A.D. 1909. And the
practical difficulties attending the use of such a system for
chronological purposes are obvious; isolated dates recorded in such a
fashion cannot be allocated without some explicit clue to the
centuries to which they belong. Fortunately, however, as regards
Kashmir, we have the necessary guide in the facts that Kalhana
recorded his own date in the Saka era as well as in this reckoning,
and gave full historical details which enable us to determine
unmistakably the equivalent of the first date in this reckoning cited
by him, and to arrange with certainty the chronology presented by him
from that time.

The belief underlying this reckoning according to the course of the
Seven Rishis is traced back in India, as an astrological detail, to at
least the 6th century A.D. But the reckoning was first adopted for
chronological purposes in Kashmir and at some time about A.D. 800; the
first recorded date in it is one of "the year 89," meaning 3889, =
A.D. 813-814, given by Kalhana. It was introduced into India between
A.D. 925 and 1025.

The Grahaparivritti cycle.

The Grahaparivritti is a reckoning which is used in the southernmost parts of Madras, particularly in the Madura district. It consists of cycles of 90 Meshadi solar years, and is said, in conformity with its name, which means "the revolution of planets," to be made up by the sum of the days in 1 revolution of the sun, 22 of Mercury, 5 of Venus, 15 of Mars, 11 of Jupiter, and 29 of Saturn. The first cycle is held to have commenced in 24 B.C., the second in A.D. 67, and so on; and, in accordance with that view, the year 34, which began in A.D. 1900, was the 34th year of the 22nd cycle.

No inscriptional use of this cycle has come to notice. There seems no
substantial reason for believing that the reckoning was really started
in 24 B.C. The alleged constitution of the cycle, which appears to be
correct within about twelve days, and might possibly be made
apparently exact, suggests an astrological origin. And, if a guess may
be hazarded, we would conjecture that the reckoning is an offshoot of
the southern lunisolar variety of the 60-years cycle of Jupiter, and
had its real origin in some year in which a Prabhava _samvatsara_ of
that variety commenced, and to which the first year of a
Grahaparivritti cycle can be referred: that was the case in A.D. 967
and at each subsequent 180th year.

The Onko cycle.

In part of the Ganjam district, Madras, there is a reckoning, known as the Onko or Anka, i.e. literally "the number or numbers," consisting of lunar years, each commencing with Bhadrapada sukla 12, which run theoretically in cycles of 59 years. But the reckoning has the peculiarity that, whether the explanation is to be found in a superstition about certain numbers or in some other reason, the year 6, and any year the number of which ends with 6 or 0 (except the year 10), is omitted from the numbering; so that, for instance, the year 7 follows next after the year 5. The origin of the reckoning is not known. But the use of it seems to be traceable in records of the Ganga kings who reigned in that part of the country and in Orissa in the 12th and following centuries. And the initial day, Bhadrapada sukla 12, which figures again in the Vilayati and Amli reckoning of Orissa (see farther on), is perhaps to be accounted for on the view that this day was the day of the anointment, in the 7th century, of the first Ganga king, Rajasimha-Indravarman I.

The Maghi reckoning.

In the Chittagong district, Bengal, there is a solar reckoning, known by the name Maghi, of which the year 1262 either began or ended in A.D. 1900; so that it has an initial point in A.D. 639 or 638. It appears that Chittagong was conquered by the king of Arakan in the 9th century, and remained usually in the possession of the Maghs--the Arakanese or a class of them--till A.D. 1666, when it was finally annexed to the Mogul empire. In these circumstances it is plain that the Magh reckoning took its name from the Maghs; its year, which is Meshadi, from Bengal; and its numbering from the Sakkaraj, the ordinary era of Arakan and Burma, which has its initial point in A.D. 638.

Hinduized offshoots of the Hijra era.

The Hijra (Hegira) era, the reckoning from the flight of Mahomet, which dates from the 16th of July, A.D. 662, is, of course, used by the Mahommedans in India, and is customarily shown, with the details of its calendar, in the Hindu almanacs. An account of it does not fall within the scope of this article. But we have to mention it because we come now to certain Hinduized reckonings which are hybrid offshoots of it. We need only say, however, in explanation of some of the following figures, that the years of the Hijra era are purely lunar, consisting of twelve lunar months and no more; with the result that the initial day of the year is always travelling backwards through the Julian year, and makes a complete circuit in thirty-four years. The reckonings derived from it, which we have to describe, have apparent initial points in A.D. 591, 593, 594, and 600. They had their real origin, however, in the 14th, 16th, and 17th centuries.

The emperor Akbar succeeded to the throne in February, A.D. 1556, in the Hijra year 963, which ran from 16th November 1555 to 3rd November 1556. Amongst the reforms aimed at by him and his officials, one was to abolish, or at least minimize, by introducing uniformity of numbering, the confusion due to the existence of various reckonings, both Mahommedan and Hindu. And one step taken in that direction was to assign to the Hindu year the same number with the Hijra year. It is believed that this was first done by the Persian clerks of the revenue and financial offices at an early time in Akbar's reign, and that it received authoritative sanction in the Hijra year 971 (21st August 1563 to 8th August 1564). At any rate, the innovation was certainly first made in Upper India; and the numbering started there was introduced into Bengal and those parts as Akbar extended his dominions, but without interfering with local customs as to the commencement of the Hindu year. The result is that we now have the following reckonings, the years of which are used as revenue years:--

The Fasli reckoning of Upper India.

In the United Provinces and the Punjab, there is an Asvinadi lunar
reckoning, known as the Fasli, according to which the year 1308 began
in A.D. 1900; so that the reckoning has an apparent initial point in
A.D. 593. The name of this reckoning is derived from _fasl_, "a
harvest," of which there are two; the _fasl-i-rabi_ or "spring
harvest," commencing in February, and the _fasl-i-kharif_, or "autumn
harvest" commencing in October. The years of this reckoning begin with
the _purnimanta_ Asvina krishna 1, which now falls in September. A
peculiar feature of it is that, though the months are lunar, they are
not divided into fortnights, and the numbering of the days runs on, as
in the Mahommedan month, from the first to the end of the month
without being affected by any expunction and repetition of _tithis_;
and, for this and other reasons, it seems that in this case a new form
of Hindu year was devised, of such a kind as to enable the
agriculturists to realize their produce and pay their assessments
comfortably within the year. The Hijra era has, of course, now drawn
somewhat widely away from this and the other reckonings derived from
it; the Hijra year commencing in A.D. 1900 was 1318, ten years in
advance of the Fasli year.

The Vilayati-san and Amli-san of Orissa.

In Orissa and some other parts of Bengal, there is a reckoning, or two
almost identical reckonings, the facts of which are not quite clear.
According to one account, the term Amli-san, "the official year," is
only another name of the Vilayati-san, "the year received from the
_vilayat_ or province of Hindustan." But we are also told that the
Vilayati-san is a Kanyadi solar year, whereas the Amli-san, though it
too has solar months, changes its number on the lunar day Bhadrapada
sukla 12 (mentioned above in connexion with the Onko cycle of Orissa),
which comes sometimes in Kanya, but sometimes in the preceding month,
Simha. Elsewhere, again, it is the Vilayati-san which is shown as
changing its number on Bhadrapada sukla 12. In either case, the year
1308 of this reckoning, also, began in A.D. 1900; and so, like the
Fasli of Upper India, this reckoning, too, has an apparent initial
point in A.D. 593. The day Bhadrapada sukla 12 now usually falls in
September, but may come during the last three days of August. The
first day of the solar month Kanya now falls on 15th or 16th
September.

The Bengali-san.

In Bengal there is in more general use a Meshadi solar reckoning,
known as the Bengali-san or "Bengal year," according to which the year
1307 began in A.D. 1900; so that this reckoning has an apparent
initial point in A.D. 594. The initial day of the year is the first
day of the solar month Mesha, now falling on 12th or 13th April.

The Fasli of Bombay and Madras.

The system of Fasli reckonings was introduced into Southern India
under the emperor Shah Jahan, at some time in the Hijra year 1046,
which ran from 26th May, A.D. 1636, to 15th May, A.D. 1637. But the
numbering which was current in Northern India was not taken over. A
new start was made; and, as the year of the Hijra had gone back,
during the intervening seventy-three Julian years, by two years and a
quarter (less by only five days) from the date of its commencement in
the year 971, the Fasli reckoning of Southern India began with a
nominal year 1046 (instead of 971 + 73 = 1044), commencing in A.D.
1636. The Fasli reckoning of Southern India exists in two varieties.
The years of the Bombay Fasli are popularly known as Mrigasal years,
because they commence when the sun enters the _nakshatra_ Mrigasiras,
which occurs now on 6th or 7th June: the reckoning seems to have taken
over this initial day from the Maratha Sur-san (see below). The Fasli
years of Madras originally began at the Karka-samkranti, the nominal
summer solstice: under the British government, the commencement of
them was first fixed to 12th July, on which day the _samkranti_ was
then usually occurring; but it was afterwards changed to 1st July as a
more convenient date. The years of the Bombay and Madras Fasli have no
division of their own into months, fortnights, &c.; the year is always
used along with one or other of the real Hindu reckonings, and the
details are cited according to that reckoning.

The Maratha Sur-san or Arabi-san.

Another offshoot of the Hijra era, but one of earlier date and not
belonging to the class of Fasli reckonings, is found, in the Maratha
country, in the Sur-san or Shahur-san, "the year of months," also
known as Arabi-san, "the Arab year." This reckoning, which is met with
chiefly in old _sanads_ or charters, appears to have branched off in
or closely about the Hijra year 745, which ran from 15th May, A.D.
1344, to 3rd May, A.D. 1345; but the exact circumstance in which it
originated is not known. The years of this reckoning begin, like those
of the Bombay Fasli, with the entrance of the sun into the _nakshatra_
Mrigasiras, which now occurs on 6th or 7th June; but the months and
days are those of the Hijra year. The Sur-san year 1301 began in A.D.
1900; and so the reckoning has an apparent initial point in A.D. 600.
A peculiarity attending this reckoning is that, whatever may be the
vernacular of a clerk, he uses the Arabic numeral words in reading out
the year; and the same words are given alongside of the figures in the
Hindu almanacs.

AUTHORITIES.--The Hindu astronomy had already begun to attract
attention before the close of the 18th century. The investigation,
however, of the calendar and the eras, along with the verification of
dates, was started by Warren, whose _Kala Sankalita_ was published in
1825. The inquiry was carried on by Prinsep in his _Useful Tables_
(1834-1836), by Cowasjee Patell in his _Chronology_ (1866), and by
Cunningham in his _Book of Indian Eras_ (1883). But Warren's
processes, though mostly giving accurate results, were lengthy and
troublesome; and calculations made on the lines laid down by his
successors gave results which might or might not be correct, and could
only be cited as approximate results. The exact calculation of Hindu
dates by easy processes was started by Shankar Balkrishna Dikshit, in
an article published in the _Indian Antiquary_, vol. 16 (1887). This
was succeeded by methods and tables devised by Jacobi, which were
published in the next volume of the same journal. There then followed
several contributions in the same line by other scholars, some for
exact, others for closely approximate, results, and some valuable
articles by Kielhorn on some of the principal Hindu eras and other
reckonings, which were published in the same journal, vols. 17 (1888)
to 26 (1897). And the treatment of the matter culminated for the time
being in the publication, in 1896, of Sewell and Dikshit's _Indian
Calendar_, which contains an appendix by Schram on eclipses of the sun
in India, and was supplemented in 1898 by Sewell's _Eclipses of the
Moon in India_. The present article is based on the above-mentioned
and various detached writings, supplemented by original research. For
the exact calculation of Hindu dates and the determination of the
European equivalents of them, use may be made either of Sewell and
Dikshit's works mentioned above, or of the improved tables by Jacobi
which were published in the _Epigraphia Indica_, vols. 1 and 2
(1892-1894). (J. F. F.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The disregard of precession, and the consequent travelling
forward of the year through the natural seasons, is, of course, a
serious defect in the Hindu calendar, the principles of which are
otherwise good. Accordingly, an attempt was made by a small band of
reformers to rectify this state of things by introducing a
precessional calendar, taking as the first lunar month the synodic
lunation in which the sun enters the tropical Aries, instead of the
sidereal Mesha; and the publication was started, in or about 1886, of
the Sayana-Panchang or "Precessional Almanac."

Further, the Hindu sidereal solar year is in excess of the true mean
sidereal year by (if we use Aryabhata's value) 3 min. 20.4 sec. If we
take this, for convenience, at 3 min. 20 sec., the excess amounts to
exactly one day in 432 years. And so even the sidereal
Mesha-samkranti is now found to occur three or four days later than
the day on which it should occur. Accordingly, another reformer had
begun, in or about 1865, to publish the Navin athava Patwardhani
Panchang, the "New or Patwardhani Almanac," in which he determined
the details of the year according to the proper Mesha-samkranti.

[2] It might also be called Pausha, because the sun enters Makara in
the course of it; and it may be observed that, in accordance with a
second rule which formerly existed, it would have been named Pausha
because it ends while the sun is in Makara, and the omitted name
would have been Margasira. But the more important condition of the
present rule, that Pausha begins while the sun is in Dhanus, is not
satisfied.

[3] The well-known Metonic cycle, whence we have by rearrangement our
system of Golden Numbers, naturally suggests itself; and we have been
told sometimes that that cycle was adopted by the Hindus, and
elsewhere that the intercalation of a month by them generally takes
place in the years 3, 5, 8, 11, 14, 16, and 19 of each cycle,
differing only in respect of the 14th year, instead of the 13th, from
the arrangement which is said to have been fixed by Meton. As regards
the first point, however, there is no evidence that a special period
of 19 years was ever actually used by the Hindus during the period
with which we are dealing, beyond the extent to which it figures as a
component of the number of years, 19 X 150 = 2850, forming the
lunisolar cycle of an early work entitled _Romaka-Siddhanta_; and, as
was recognized by Kalippos not long after the time of Meton himself,
the Metonic cycle has not, for any length of time, the closeness of
results which has been sometimes supposed to attach to it; it
requires to be readjusted periodically. As regards the second point,
the precise years of the intercalated months depend upon, and vary
with, the year that we may select as the apparent first year of a set
of 19 years, and it is not easy to arrange the Hindu years in sets
answering to a direct continuation of the Metonic cycle.

[4] It is customary to render the term _tithi_ by "lunar day:" it is,
in fact, explained as such in Sanskrit works; and, as the _tithis_ do
mark the age of the moon by periods approximating to 24 hours, they
are, in a sense, lunar days. But the _tithi_ must not be confused
with the lunar day of western astronomy, which is the interval, with
a mean duration of about 24 hrs. 54 min., between two successive
meridian passages of the moon.

[5] We illustrate the ordinary occurrences. But there are others.
Thus, a repeated _tithi_ may occasionally be followed by a suppressed
one: in this case the numbering of the civil days would be 6, 7, 7,
9, &c., instead of 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, &c. Or it may occasionally be
preceded by a suppressed one: in this case the numbering would be 5,
7, 7, 8, &c., instead of 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, &c.

[6] It is always to be borne in mind that, as already explained,
while the Hindu Mesha answers to our Aries, it does not coincide with
either the sign or the constellation Aries.

[7] We select A.D. 1900 as a gauge-year, in preference to the year in
which we are writing, because its figures are more convenient for
comparative purposes. In accordance with the general tendency of the
Hindus to cite expired years, the almanacs would mostly show 5001
(instead of 5002) as the number for the Kaliyuga year answering to
A.D. 1900-1901. And, for the same reason, this reckoning has often
been called the Kaliyuga era of 3101 B.C. There is, perhaps, no
particular objection to that, provided that we then deal with the
Vikrama and Saka eras on the same lines, and bear in mind that in
each case the initial point of the reckoning really lies in the
preceding year. But we prefer to treat these reckonings with exact
correctness.

[8] It may be remarked that there are about twelve different views
regarding the date of Kanishka and the origin of the Vikrama era.
Some writers hold that Kanishka began to reign in A.D. 78, and
founded the so-called Saka era beginning in that year; one writer
would place his initial date about A.D. 123, others would place it in
A.D. 278. The view maintained by the present writer was held at one
time by Sir A. Cunningham: and, as some others have already begun to
recognize, evidence is now steadily accumulating in support of the
correctness of it.

[9] See the preceding note.