Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c12.s8.30

c12.s8.30

The *Matsya Purāṇa* assigns 88 years to the reign of the first Nanda, but 88 (*Ashṭāśīti*) is probably a mistake for 28 (*Ashṭāviṁśati*), as the *Vāyu* assigns only 28 years. According to Tāranāth Nanda reigned 29 years.¹ The Ceylonese accounts inform us that the Nandas ruled only for 22 years. The Purāṇic figure 28 is probably to be taken to include the period when Nanda was the *de facto* ruler of Magadha before his final usurpation of the throne.