Page:Epigraphia Indica Vol 8.djvu/381

 290 EPrGRAPHTA INDTCA. [Vol. THE Bun 51° 2' 52". 1 And liis -heliacal rising after the conjunction atook place before pnnriae of .either the 25th May, 2 when hie true longitade was 54° 21' (while that of the Bun was 64° 23' 35"), or the 26th May, when hi* true longitude was 54° 35' (while that of the iron was 65° 20' 81"). Whichever of the two days may be absolutely correct, it is <Jlear that bafcare sunrise -of the 25th or the 26th May A.D. 518 Jupiter— since ISs true longitude in <either oa^ was jnx*re than 53° 20' — by all three systems of the nokshatrae rose heliaoally in the nakshatra tfpgatiras, and that therefore the year which then commenoed was a Maha^MArgftMrsha year. 9Stat year of course included both the 15 th September and the 15th October A.O. SIB; for Jupiter's next conjunction with the sun only took place some itime before sunrise of the 17th June A.D. 519,* and his next heliacal rising about the 1st July A.D. 519,* when a Mahft-Pansha year com- menced. I may add that, according to Mr. Diksbotfs calculations, * Mahl-Magha year com- menced on the 3rd August A.D. 520, and a Maha-Phalguna year on the 4th September AD. 521. The result is that the month Xarttika of the Gupta year 199 which is quoted in the date must have fallen in A J). 518, and that the date .probably corresponds to Monday, the 15th October A.D. 518, but may possibly correspond to Saturday, the 15th September AD. 518.

Madras was " a mere fishing village up to the vear 1639 A J)., when the -English became possessed of it by a grant from the .puppet sovereign Sriranga of Vijayanagara, then at Chandra-giri." 5 Some of the suburbs of Madras are, however, very ancient. Leaving aside St- Thame connected with the St. Thomas legends, 6 Mailapur (or Mayilftppur) and TiruvAmur (Timvanmiyur) are mentioned in the Tamil poem JDevdram conqposed in the 7th century AJDJ The former is also believed to have been the residence of the immortal Tiruv^^TOr, 8 a-ooupLat of whose is quoted in the ancient Tamil work ManimSgalaii 9 Tiruvallikkexu (ttiie 'modem Triplioane) is referred to in the Tamil scriptures of the Yaishnavas known as Ndldyirapraban- dham by the saints Peyalvar, 10 Tirumalifiai-llvaif 11 and Tirumangai-Alvar, the last of whom informs us that the (Parthasarathisvamin) temple was founded by an unnamed king of the Tondaiyar, i.e. by a PaHava king. 19 ISgmore (Elumbur in Tamil) is mentioned in records of the Chdja king Kuldttunga I. and was apparently the headquarters of a subdivision (n&fu)

1 The calculations which have yielded the above results have all been made according to the Sorva-siddhAnta. By the Axya-siddbanta, at mean sunrise of the nth Hay A D. 618 the true longitude of Jupiter was 51° 43', and that of the sun 61° 4' 18" ; and at mean sunrise #f the 12th May . AJD/flL8 the true longitudrof Jupiter was 61° 67'> and that of the sun 52° V .86". This shows that, according to -the Arya-etddhanta, the oonjnnctipn would have taken place between one and two hours before mean sunrise of the 12th May A.D. 518. 1 At mean sunrise of the preceding day, the 24th May A.D. 518, the true longitude of Jupiter was 54° and that of the sun 63° 28' 88". • 1 At mean sunrise of this day the true longitude of Jupiter was 85° 88', and that of the sun 85° 58' 68". 4 At mean sunrise of this day the true longitude of Jupiter was 88° 45', and that of the sun 99° 18' 8". • Mr. Sewell'a XUts of Antiquitiei, Vol. I. p. 175. • The fcoman Catholic Ctiurth at St. Thome* is' believed to be built over the grave of St. Thomas ; ibid. p. 176. Bamaraya>of Vijayanagara is sail} to hate led an expedition against the place m AD. J8$8 j Mr. Seweil's forgotten Empire, p. 183.. 7 The saint Tirunsnasambandar is reported to have revived at MayilAppur a dead girl, whose "hones had been preserved by her father in a pot. The temple is called Eapalichcharam (•'.«. KapaleSvara) in the hymn compoted by the saint. Tairas and Buddhists seem to have lived at that time in the vicinity of MayilAppur. • Ind. Ant Vol. VII. 221. 9 Bitay on Tamil literature by the late Professor M. Seshagxri Sastri of Madras, No. I. p.HSf. ,f Iyarpd, III. 16. » Ibid. IV. 35. ™ JPet^aii^moii, verse HO. s Digitized by