Indian Epigraphy c15.t4.15

c15.t4.15

A study of the above and numerous other instances of the kind would suggest that originally the Indian custom was to refer to the past or current regnal year of the king without specification of the day. A little later, the day is found mentioned in some parts of India with reference to the specific fortnight of a season. The year seems to have been divided into 3 seasons, viz., summer (grīṣma), the rains (varṣā) and winter (hemanta) each consisting of 8 fortnights.⁵ The seasons ended with the Cāturmāsī which was usually identified with the full-moon tithi of the months of Āṣāḍha, Kārttika and Phālguna. According to pupular tradition, summer consisted of the pūrṇimānta months of Caitra, Vaiśākha, Jyaiṣṭha and Āṣāḍha; the rains of Śrāvaṇa, Bhādra, Āśvina and Kārttika; and winter of Mārgaśīrṣa, Pauṣa, Māgha and Phālguna.⁶ A South Indian epigraph of c. 300 A.D.¹ suggests the later inclusion of *śarad*, autumn, in the list of seasons in some parts of the country.