The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c11.16

c11.16

The deaths of these saints form well-marked epochs in the history of Indian religion, and are constantly referred to by ecclesiastical writers for chronological purposes. It might therefore be expected that the traditional dates of the two events would supply at once the desired clue to the dynastic chronology. But close examination of conflicting traditions raises difficulties. According to Pāli tradition Mahāvīra predeceased Buddha. But other reasons support the date 467 B. C., as advocated by Charpentier, and this fits in with the traditional date of Bhadrabāhu, who was the contemporary of Chandragupta Maurya.¹ The year 527 (528-7) B. C., the most commonly quoted date for the death of Mahāvīra, is merely one of several traditionary dates,² but it is supported by the evidence of the Khāravela inscription. It is impossible to reconcile wholly the Jain traditions either among themselves or with the known approximate date of Chandragupta.