Indian Epigraphy c15.t16.5

c15.t16.5

In twelve solar years, Jupiter’s reappearance occurs eleven times. One of the solar years of the Cycle is therefore regarded as suppressed. Some inscriptions of about the 5th century A.D. mention the years of Jupiter’s Twelve-year Cycle though they are even now mentioned in the almanacs in some parts of India. The earliest occurrence of the reckoning in North and South India can be traced in the Khoh copper-plate grant¹ of the Parivrājaka king Hastin dated in the Gupta year 163 (482-83 A.D.) called Mah-Āśvayuja-saṃvatsara and a grant² of the Kadamba king Mṛgeśavarman (second half of the 5th century A.D.) dated in his third regnal year styled Pauṣa-saṃvatsara. Among other records mentioning the said reckoning, reference may be made to the Majgaon plates³ of Hastin (dated in the Gupta year 191 = 510-11 A.D. called Mahā-Caitra-saṃvatsara), the Khoh plates⁴ of Saṃkṣobha (dated in the Gupta year 209 = 528-29 A.D. called Mah-Āśvayuja-saṃvatsara) and the Bhumara pillar inscription⁵ (dated in the Mahā-Māgha-saṃvatsara) of the time of Hastin.