Samvatsaras in the Parivrajaka Inscriptions

This article examines the samvatsaras, or Jovian years, found in seven inscriptions of the Parivrajaka Mahirijas, who ruled the Baghelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh during the Imperial Gupta period. The main argument is that the samvatsaras mentioned in these inscriptions cannot be explained by either the Mean-sign system of the Zodiacal signs or the system of the Heliacal rising of Jupiter. The author argues that because the dates do not align with either established astronomical system, the samvatsaras must have been calculated using a completely different, unknown system. The evidence consists of seven dated inscriptions from the Gupta era, ranging from Gupta year 156 to year 209, which also specify the corresponding samvatsara. The author tests these dates against the Mean-sign system, which was applied by A. Cunningham and other scholars. This system involves a repeating cycle of lunar months where one year is omitted every 84 or 85 years. The author constructs a table mapping Gupta years to samvatsaras and finds that only two of the seven dates match the table. To force the other three dates to fit, the author notes that an excessive number of intercalations and omissions would be required, which contradicts the standard rules of the Mean-sign system. Furthermore, the author dismisses the Heliacal rising of Jupiter system, which was followed by I. F. Fleet, because it requires a fixed omission of one year every 12-year cycle without exception. The Parivrajaka inscriptions show a different pattern, including two intercalations in one cycle and consecutive omissions in two cycles, a pattern that does not match either known system. The author concludes that scholars in astronomy must identify this unknown system before the samvatsaras can be used to determine the positive date for the epoch of the Gupta era.

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