The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c6.s3.12

c6.s3.12

It now remains to see if our present-day knowledge of chronology and epigraphy throws any new light on the age of the Śaṅgam; or even if it renders the early centuries of the Christian era an improbable period for it. The astronomical data in the text of the Śilappadikāram have been held insufficient by many scholars for the purpose of calculating correctly the date of the events mentioned therein, and Mr. Swamikkannu Pillai’s efforts to eke out the text by doubtful particulars from the commentary cannot be held to be satisfactory,¹ and his result has not been generally accepted. And there is no reason to think that the mention of a week day in a work must mean that it is later than A.D. 400 as has been maintained by those who advocate a late date for the Śilappadikāram and quote Fleet in their support. This has been made sufficiently clear by other writers who suggest a Chaldean origin for the Indian system. A recent writer has remarked² that ‘the Hindu names (of week days) are the exact equivalents of the Roman names which came into use in the West about the beginning of the Christian era’ and we know that there was active intercourse between the Early Empire and South India at the time.