Hindu calendar era
Coin of
Western Satrap
ruler
Damasena
. The minting date, here 153 (100-50-3 in
Brahmi script numerals
) of the Saka era, therefore 231 CE, clearly appears behind the head of the king.
The
Shaka era
(
IAST
:
?aka, ??ka
) is a historical Hindu
calendar era
(year numbering), the
epoch
(its year zero)
[2]
of which corresponds to
Julian year
78.
The era has been widely used in different regions of the
Indian subcontinent
as well as in
Southeast Asia
. According to the
Government of India
, it is referred as the
Shalivahana Era
(IAST:
??liv?hana
).
History
[
edit
]
Mohar of Gorkhali king
Prithvi Narayan Shah
dated Shaka era 1685 (AD 1763)
The origin of the Shaka era is highly controversial.
There are two Shaka era systems in scholarly use, one is called
Old Shaka Era
, whose epoch is uncertain, probably sometime in the 1st millennium BCE because ancient Buddhist and Jaina inscriptions and texts use it, but this is a subject of dispute among scholars. The other is called
Saka Era of 78 CE
, or simply
Saka Era
, a system that is common in epigraphic evidence from southern India. A parallel northern India system is the
Vikrama Era
, which is used by the
Vikrami calendar
linked to Vikramaditya.
The beginning of the Shaka era is now widely equated to the ascension of
Indo-Scythian
king
Chashtana
in 78 CE.
[5]
His inscriptions, dated to the years 11 and 52, have been found at Andhau in
Kutch
region. These years are interpreted as Shaka years 11 (89 CE) and 52 (130 CE).
[6]
A previously more common view was that the beginning of the Shaka era corresponds to the ascension of
Kanishka I
in 78 CE.
However, the latest research by Henry Falk indicated that Kanishka ascended the throne in 127 CE.
[7]
Moreover, Kanishka was not a Shaka, but a
Kushana
ruler.
[8]
Other historical candidates have included rulers such as
Vima Kadphises
,
Vonones
, and
Nahapana
.
[8]
According to historian
Dineshchandra Sircar
, the historically inaccurate notion of "Shalivahana era" appears to be based on the victory of the
Satavahana
ruler
Gautamiputra Satakarni
over some Shaka (
Western Kshatrapa
) kings. Sircar also suggested that the association of the northern king Vikramaditya with
Vikrama era
might have led the southern scholars to fabricate a similar legend.
[9]
Another similar account claims that the emperor
Shalivahana
,
[10]
[11]
grandson of legendary emperor Vikramaditya defeated the Shakas in 78 CE, and the Shaka era marks the day of this conquest. This legend has been mentioned in the writings of
Brahmagupta
(7th century CE),
Al-Biruni
(973?1048 CE), and others. However, it is an obvious fabrication.
Over time, the word "Shaka" became generic, and came to be mean "an era"; the era thus came to be known as "Shalivahana Shaka".
[12]
Usage
[
edit
]
The earliest known users of the era are the
Western Satraps
, the
Shaka
(
Indo-Scythian
) rulers of
Ujjain
. From the reign of
Rudrasimha I
(178?197), they recorded the date of minting of their coins in the Shaka era, usually written on the obverse behind the king's head in
Brahmi numerals
.
[13]
The use of the calendar era survived into the
Gupta period
and became part of
Hindu
tradition following the
decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent
. It was in widespread use by the 6th to 7th centuries, e.g. in the works of
Var?hamihira
and
Brahmagupta
, and by the 7th century also appears in epigraphy in
Hindu Southeast Asia
.
The calendar era remained in use in India and Southeast Asia throughout the medieval period, the main alternative era in traditional Hindu timekeeping being the
Vikram Samvat
era (56 BC). It was used by Javanese courts until 1633, when it was replaced by
Anno Javanico
, a hybrid Javanese-Islamic system.
[14]
It was adopted as the era of the
Indian national calendar
(also known as "?aka calendar") in 1957.
The Shaka epoch is the
vernal equinox
of the year AD 78. The year of the official Shaka Calendar is tied to the
Gregorian date
of 22 March every year, except in Gregorian leap years when it starts on 21 March. The Lunisolar Shalivaahana Saka continues to be used widely in Southern and Western India for many religious and some secular purposes such as sowing and agriculture.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
Government of India (1955),
"The Saka Era"
,
Report of the Calendar Reform Committee
, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, pp. 255?256
- ^
Like most Indian eras, the ?aka era uses expired, elapsed, or complete years, where a year must have elapsed before it can be counted. This is similar to the Western method of determining a person's age, whose first year must have been completed before that person reaches one year old. The uncounted first year of the era is numbered as year zero. This differs from Western eras which use current years.
[1]
- ^
Shailendra Bhandare (2006).
"Numismatics and History: The Maurya-Gupta interlude in the Gangetic Plains"
. In Patrick Olivelle (ed.).
Between the Empires : Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE
. Oxford University Press. p. 69.
ISBN
9780199775071
.
- ^
Adalbert J. Gail; Gerd J. R. Mevissen; Richard Salomon, eds. (2006).
Script and Image: Papers on Art and Epigraphy
.
Motilal Banarsidass
. p. 193.
ISBN
9788120829442
.
- ^
Ladislav Stan?o (2012).
Greek Gods in the East
.
Karolinum Press
. p. 18.
ISBN
9788024620459
.
- ^
a
b
Krishna Chandra Sagar (1992).
Foreign Influence on Ancient India
. Northern Book Centre. pp. 135?136.
ISBN
9788172110284
.
- ^
D. C. Sircar (1965).
Indian Epigraphy
.
Motilal Banarsidass
. pp. 262?266.
ISBN
9788120811669
.
- ^
kamlesh kapur (2010).
History of Ancient India
. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. p. 321.
ISBN
978-81-207-5212-2
.
- ^
RajendraSingh Kushwaha (2003).
Glimpses of Bhartiya History
. Ocean books. p. 184.
ISBN
9788188322404
.
- ^
P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar (1982).
South Indian Shrines: Illustrated
.
Asian Educational Services
. pp. 80?81.
ISBN
978-81-206-0151-2
.
- ^
Rapson, "A Catalogue of Indian coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc." p. CCVIII
- ^
Ricklefs, Merle Calvin (1993).
A history of modern Indonesia since c. 1300
(2nd ed.). Stanford University Press and Macmillans. pp. 5 and 46.
ISBN
9780804721950
.
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