Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c18.s3.57

c18.s3.57

**2.** According to Marshall, Sten Konow, Smith and several other scholars Kanishka's rule began about 125 or 144 A.D.,² and ended in the second half of the second century A.D.³ Now, we learn from the Sui Vihār inscription that Kanishka's dominions included a portion at least of the Lower Indus Valley. Again we learn from the Junāgaḍh inscription of Rudradāman that the *Mahākshatrapa's* conquests extended to Sindhu and Sauvīra (which included Multān according to the Purāṇas and Alberuni) and even to the land of the Yaudheyas in the direction of the Sutlej. Rudradāman certainly flourished from A.D. 130 to A.D. 150. He did not owe his position as *Mahākshatrapa* to anybody else (*svayam adhigata Mahākshatrapa nāma*).⁴ If Kanishka reigned in the middle of the second century A.D., how are we to reconcile his mastery over the Sui Vihār region in the Lower Indus Valley with the contemporary sovereignty of Rudradāman?¹ Again Kanishka's dates 1-23, Vāsishka's dates 24-28, Huvishka's dates 28-60, and Vāsudeva's dates 67-98, suggest a continuous reckoning. In other words, Kanishka was the originator of an era. But we know of no era ever current in, or known to, North-West India, which commenced in the second century A.D.