Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c10.s3.t2.5

c10.s3.t2.5

A typical simple formulation of a regnal year date would contain the ruler's name and titles in the genitive case with a word for 'year' in the locative, such as *saṃvatsare* (often abbreviated *saṃvat* or *saṃ*) or less commonly *varṣe* (or their Prakrit equivalents), plus the date in words, numerical figures, or both; for example, *ūdākasa dasama-savachare*, "in the tenth year of Ūdāka," in the Pabhosā cave inscription (SI I.95–7).²⁶ More elaborate formulae, particularly in Sanskrit verse inscriptions, may involve other constructions such as the locative absolute, as in the Eraṇ boar inscription of Toramāṇa (SI I.420–2): *varṣe prathame pṛthivīm pṛthukīrttau pṛthudyutau / mahārājādhirāja-śrī-Toramāṇe praśāsati* . . . ("While the Great King of Kings, the Illustrious Toramāṇa of vast fame and glory was ruling the Earth, in (his) first year . . ."). Further details of the date such as month, *tithi*, weekday, and so on, may or may not be included with the regnal year (see 5.4.2.2).²⁷