[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Archaeology, epigraphy and coins](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy) › [Book of Indian Eras, with Tables for Calculating Indian Dates](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.cunningham-1883) › c15.7 # Book of Indian Eras, with Tables for Calculating Indian Dates c15.7 Book of Indian Eras, with Tables for Calculating Indian Dates c15.7 - **Language:** English ### [c15.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.cunningham-1883.c15.7) Now the last day of Kârtika in the Vikrama Samvat 794 was the 28th of October A.D. 737, which day was a Monday, and not a Sunday as stated in the inscription, and there was no eclipse on that date; Dr. Bühler, therefore, suggests that, as "the figure for the year probably refers, as usual in Indian dates, to completed years, the grant must have been issued at the end of Kârtika (in Gujarât the first month) of Vikrama Samvat 795." Now this is absolutely impossible. All Indian dates are given in completed years, and the Gujarât year of Vikrama Samvat 794 began on the 30th September 737 A.D., and ended on the 18th October 738. On this point there is no possibility of mistake, as the date is recorded in words as well as in figures. It is true that there was an eclipse of the sun on the 18th October 738, but that date, according to Hindu reckoning, was the last day of Aswina, and was a Saturday and not a Sunday. At present the Vikramâditya years begin with the 1st of Kârtika; but Abu Rihan mentions that in Sindh the year began with the following month of Mânkhir, or Mârgasiras.\* Now, if this was the case in the neighbouring country of Gujarât, the month of Kârtika would have fallen in the end of the year 794; and if there had been no intercalary month, the last day of Kârtika would have been the actual eclipse day, 18th October 738 A.D. But, according to the usual reckoning, the month of Ashâdha was intercalary in that year, so that the last day of Kârtika fell on the 16th of November. As it is quite clear that there must be a mistake somewhere, I think it probable that it may be in the name of the month; I would, therefore, propose to read Aswina 794 for Kârtika 794, which would agree with the real eclipse day of 18th October 738. But as that day was a Saturday, a very inauspicious day, the writing of the grant was probably made on the following day, or Sunday, which was the first day of Kârtika, and this might have led to the substitution of the name of Kârtika for that of Aswina as the actual day of the eclipse. - [Previous: c15.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.cunningham-1883.c15.6) - [Next: c15.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.cunningham-1883.c15.8) - [Up: c15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.cunningham-1883.c15) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.cunningham-1883.c15.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.cunningham-1883.c15.7) · Pramāṇa