Indian Epigraphy c15.s1.t1.2

c15.s1.t1.2

The name of the era is derived from the Arabic root hijr, ‘to be separated, to leave’, and the reckoning is believed to have started from the time of the departure of Muḥammad, the great founder of Islām, from Mecca to Medina, viz. the evening of the 15th July 622 A. D. (Vikrama 679, Śrāvaṇa-sudi 2). The era was instituted by Khalifa Umr (634-44 A.D.) a few years after the death of Muḥammad. According to some authorities, its institution took place in the Hijrī year 17.