Book of Indian Eras, with Tables for Calculating Indian Dates c5.19

c5.19

But if this be the true origin of the Hindu *Yuga* and the monstrous system of *Mahâyugas*, *Manwantaras*, and *Kalpas*, it follows that some other mode of reckoning must have been in use before the Christian era. Now the only early eras used in Northern India, of which detailed accounts still remain, are the cycle of the seven Rishis, the two cycles of Jupiter, and the Kâli-Yuga. The Saptârshi-Kâl is unknown in Southern India; but the Kâli-Yuga and the 60-year cycle of Jupiter are well known, besides the two cycles of Parasurâma and Grahaparivrithi, which are peculiar to Southern India. The eras of Buddha and Mahâvira, both of which are prior to Vikramâditya, must have been used by the Buddhists and the Jains at an early period. The former was certainly current amongst the Buddhists in the time of Asoka; and the latter was probably in use about the same period. In the Mathura inscriptions of the Indo-Scythian kings, which are found upon the statues of both Jains and Buddhists, the dates are invariably expressed in an era which may have originated with Kanishka, but which was most probably only an Indian adoption of the Seleukidan era as suggested by Mr. Thomas.