Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s5.101

c8.s5.101

From one source, entitled to the highest respect,¹ an objection has been raised that the reigns of the earlier kings work out to an impossible average length for a direct succession. But it is easy to imagine that some unimportant steps may have been omitted, as occurs in other known annals. That this was actually the case appears from Sh 4, which inserts a Pṛithivī-Ganga between Nos. 4 and 5. That the Gangas were long-lived is clear from the statement that the first king reigned for 51 years, and regarding Vishṇugōpa, that his mental energy was unimpaired to the end of life, evidently meaning that he lived to a very advanced age, while Avinīta certainly reigned for 52 years. To take the particular reigns referred to by our critic:—From Harivarmma in 247 to Avinīta in 430 gives 183 years up to the fifth generation; from Avinīta in 482 to Śivamāra in 670 similarly gives 188 years up to the fifth generation. And if the first five centuries of the Ganga history were occupied by even only eleven generations, this gives an average of 45 years to each, which is about the same as the above, and though high, seems by no means impossible. At any rate, apart from all theory, there they are.