Ancient History of the Deccan c3.s4.63

c3.s4.63

(2) We do not know exactly in what era are dated the inscription of the year 103 of Gondophares and the inscriptions of the years 113 and 122 of the Kushâns; if we suppose that it is the Vikrama era, the dates agree so well with all the information furnished by history, palæography, and the coins, that most of the savants have accepted this hypothesis. For example, the year 103 of this era being the 26th year of Gondophares, he must have come to the throne in 19 A. D. And Gondophares uses the title "autocrator" which was introduced by Augustus and adopted by the Parthian king Phraates IV (8 to 11 A. D.). Mr. Marshall has discovered at Taxila (J. R. A. S., for 1914, pp. 973, 978) in the "Chir Stûpa" a document dated 136, which, in the Vikrama era, corresponds to 79 A. D., and the king mentioned therein is probably Kadphisês I, but certainly not Kanishka (see "Taxila insc. of year 136" by Sten Konow, in Ep. Ind. Vol. XIV., pp. 284 to 288). This discovery is enough to shake the conviction of those that attribute to Kanishka the era of 78 A. D.