Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 1.pdf/79

 61

SANSKRIT NUMERALS.

Feb. 2, 1872.]

the present one ; and we now know the values of the symbols for 10, 20, 40, 80, and 90. The second figure in Mr. Wathen's plate which resembles none of these, must then be 30, 50, 60, or 70, and, as the last figure in it consist.ng of two simple strokes clearly represents 2, the most probable date would be 272—giving a value of 70 to the second sym bol. A tenure of 54 years would not be too long for a single holder of a hereditary office. The symbol too bears a sufficient resemblance, making allowance for the difference of age, to that for 70 in Rudra Dama's Girnar inscription, in which the date 72 is given in words and figures.” Mr. Wathen's second plate, in the Museum of the Bombay Society, resembles Dr. Burn's No. 4: the grantor in both cases is the same—S h i lá d it y a II., the third king after Dhar as en a IV. and the date in bothf is the same, viz.-

T& The first figure is equal to 300, and the second symbol has generally been taken for 70—a value just assigned to a different one. Now the minister who prepared Shi lád it ya’s deed was Mad an a Hala, the

son of Sk and a b hat a: but there is probably no instance in history of a father and son holding an office for 104 years, which period the date 376

here would place between Dhar a sena II, and

father and son holding between them the office of minister to all the kings for 84 years. Mr. Thomas and Dr. Bhau Dáji think the aera used in these dates is the Shaka, and we find the words Shaka-Kāla used in those records of the period in which the aera is specified; and the name Shaka nripa-kāla and the very existence of such an epoch show that there was a great king from whom it originated and who belonged to a tribe known as

S h a kas. Now from cave inscriptions and coins, it appears that Gujarāt and a great part of Mahārāshtra were for about three centuries governed by kings calling themselves K s h a trap a s—a name of foreign origin, and the same as the Persian word S a trap. The earliest known of these is N i hâp a na, the K s h a trap a of a king named Kshah a rāta, and another was called Chash t a na—all three names of foreign origin, as is also the name S 4 h of the Satrap dynasty of Surāshtra. Nâ h a p an a, or his sovereign, or whoever conquered this part of the country, and established the dynasty, must have been the Shaka king with whom the aera originated. And U S h a v a data, the son-in-law of Nāhāpana, is called a S h a ka in one of the Nāsik inscriptions.S. When the Satraps were superseded by the Walabhis in Surāshtra, the same aera must have continued in use. From what has taken place in later times, after the Marathas succeeded the Muhammadans, we should also expect to find the Walabhis and the Chālukyas using the aera of the Satraps whom they succeeded—especially when they had no other.

Shi là di tya II. ; and the only tens now avail

And if we refer the V a lab h i dates to the aera of

able for the symbol are 30, 50, and 60. Now 30 would limit the duration of three reigns to ten years ; 60

the Shaka king, we arrive at an intelligible starting point for the V a lab h i aera itself, ascertained by Col.

would give too long a period to Skandabhata's son ;

Tod to have commenced in 319 A.D.

but if not, the dates on the Sãh coins support the in terpretation of the symbol as 50 rather than 60. For

the grant of Dharasen a II. be referred to the Shaka kāla it corresponds to 350 A.D., and shows that he was reigning in the 31st year of the family aera. Now

after Rudra Sá h, the 12th in Mr. Newton's list,t reigned his two sons W i s h va S in ha and A tri Dáma, then W is h va Sá h the son of Atri D ima, and, after an interval, Rudra Sáh's third son, Ash a Dáma.

One of Rudra Sáh's coins is dated 197, one

of Atri Dáma's 214, one of Wishva Sáh's 227, and one of Asha Dáma's a date, the second symbol in which is the one under consideration. The value of 30 has been

rejected on other grounds; 50 ranks next in probability, asö0 would render Asha Dáma's reign too long and make

him live at least 33 years after his second brother, The date on Mr. Wathen's 2nd plate and of Dr. Burn's thus appears to be 356. The conclusions here drawn

are—that AJ stands for 50, and

If the date 272 of

Bh a tär ka and his first son did not assume the

title of king, but were called Sen ap at is or ‘com manders of

forces.'

Dr on a-s in h a

the

second

son is the first to whom the title of Mahārāja is given in Mr. Wathen's first plate, and he is spoken of as having been crowned by “the only sovereign of the whole world'—whoever he may have been. The independence of the Walabhi kings therefore dates from this event.

Dr on a-sin ha also

must have received the title of Mahārāja some years after he succeeded his brother; and therefore 31 years is a sufficiently long period for a portion of the reign of Drona-sinha and the reigns of his two brothers

for 70 ; that and Gu has ena.

the date of the grant of Dhar as en a II. discovered by Mr. Wathen is 272; of Dhar as en a IV, 326; and of Shiláditya II. is 356. The interval between Dhara sena II, and Shi lád it ya II. is thus 84 years, and

The conclusions then are, that the date of the grant of Dharasena II. discovered by Mr. Wathen is 272 Shaka, or 350 A.D., that of the present grant is 326 Shaka, or 404 A.D., and that of those of Shil

there is no impossibility in the circumstance of a

āditya II. is 356 Shaka or 434 A.D.

"Jour. Beng. As Soc., Vol. VII., p. 334 lith. ; Jour. Bom. B. R. As. Soc., Vol. I., p. 149, lith. 4; and Vol. VII., p. 118, lith. f Jour. Beng. As. Soc., Wol. VII., p. 849.

t Jour. Bom. B. R. A. Soc., Wol. VII, p. 28.

§ No. 14, Jour. Bom. B. R. A. Soc., Vol. VII., p. 52.