Indian Epigraphy c15.s1.t3: 3. Śuhūr, Shāhūr or Sur Era

Indian Epigraphy c15.s1.t3

Language: English

3. Śuhūr, Shāhūr or Sur Era

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¹ See Date’s *Mahārāṣṭra Śabdakośa*, s. v. Śuhūr and Suru sanna or Sursan ; Ojha, *Bhāratīya Prācin Lipimālā*, p. 91.

This era, often used in the *firmāns* of the ’Adilshāhī kings of Bijapur, is a modification of the Hijrī and is also called the Arbi (Arabic) San and Mṛga Sāl. The name Śuhūr or Shāhūr is probably derived from the plural form of Arabic *shahr* meaning ‘a month’. It was prevalent in the Marāṭhī-speaking areas of the Deccan. *Sur* is probably a Marāṭhī modification of the Arabic name.

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It is a solarised form of the Hijrī, its years and months being solar. Like the Faslī era, it must have been introduced for linking particular months of each year with the two crop seasons for the convenience of rent collection.

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In order to get the equivalent of the Christian era, we have to add 599-600 to the year of the Śuhūr era and this shows that the solarisation of the Hijrī for the creation of this era took place on the 15th of May 1344 A.D. (Vikrama 1401, Jyaiṣṭha-sudi 2) when the sun was in the Mṛgaśirā *nakṣatra*. The name Mṛga Sāl applied to the era is due to the fact that its years begin with the sun’s entry in the said *nakṣatra*.

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The years of this era are not indicated by figures but by Arabic words which have been modified in Marāṭhī spoken in the region where it was prevalent. Thus 1=Ahad (Marāṭhī *Ahde*, *Ihde*); 2=Asana (Marāṭhī *Isanne*); 3=Salasah (Marāṭhī *Sallis*); 4=Arba; 5=Khamsa (Marāṭhī *Khammas*); 6=Sitta (Marāṭhī *Sin*); 7=Saba (Marāṭhī *Sabbā*); 8=Samaniya (Marāṭhī *Sammān*); 9=Tasaa (Marāṭhī *Tissā*); 10=Ashar; 11=Ahad Ashar; 12=Asana Ashar; 13=Salasah Ashar; 14=Arba Ashar; 20=Asharin, 30=Salasin (Marāṭhī *Sallāsin*); 40=Arabain; 50=Khamsin; 60=Sittin (Marāṭhī *Sittain*); 70=Sabin (Marāṭhī *Sabbain*); 80=Samanin (Marāṭhī *Sammānin*); 90=Tisain (Marāṭhī *Tissain*); 100=Maya (Marāṭhī *Mayā*), 200=Maatin (Marāṭhī *Mayātain*); 300=Salas Maya (Marāṭhī *Sallās Mayā*); 400=Arba Maya; 1000=Alf; 10000=Ashar Alf; etc.

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As indicated above, the era was prevalent in the Marāṭhī-speaking area and, although it is no longer in use, it still finds mention in the Marāṭhī almanacs. Nothing is known about the founder of the era. But it is possible that it was introduced by Sulṭān Muḥammad bin Tughlak (1325-51 A.D.) after his conquest of Devagiri (Daulatabad), the old capital of the Yādavas, near modern Aurangabad.