Indian Epigraphy c16.s1.1

c16.s1.1

From about the early centuries of the Christian era, contraction of words began to appear in the date portion of inscriptions. The Prakrit forms of the words *saṃvatsara*, *pakṣa*, *divasa*, *grīṣma*, *varṣā* and *hemanta* were contracted respectively as (1) *sa*, *saṃ*, *sava*, *saṃva* or *saṃvat*, (2) *pa*, (3) *di* or *diva*, (4) *gi*, *gr* or *gri*, (5) *va* or *vā* (for Prakrit *vāsa*) and (6) *he* or *hema*.¹ These abbreviations were used when the numbers of years, etc., were expressed in figures. The contractions *saṃvat* for *saṃvatsara*, *śu-di*, *su-di* or *śu-ti* for *śukla-pakṣa-dina* or °*tithi*, and *ba-di*, *va-di*, *ba-ti* or *va-ti* for *bahala-pakṣa-dina* or °*tithi* or *vadya-pakṣa-dina* or °*tithi* are popular even to this day.²