Indian Epigraphy c15.s2.t7.1

c15.s2.t7.1

Some scholars read the expression *muriya-kāla* (Sanskrit *Maurya-kāla*, i.e. the Maurya era) in line 16 of the Hāthigumphā inscription of Khāravela³ and suggested the existence of an era of the Mauryas started by Candragupta (c. 324-300 B.C.). There is however no evidence that Maurya Candragupta ever started any era. The correct reading of the passage in question is again *mukhiya-kala* (Sanskrit *mukhya-kalā*, ‘the principal art’, and not *Muriya-kāla*. Thus the suggestion about a Maurya era is entirely based on imagination.