The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c11.4

c11.4

and to reconcile some of the traditions. The fixed point from which to reckon backwards is the year 322 B. C., the date for the accession of Chandragupta Maurya, which is approximately correct, with a possible error not exceeding three years. The second principal datum is the list of ten kings of the Śaiśunāga dynasty as given in the oldest historical entries in the Purāṇas, namely, those in the *Matsya* and the *Vāyu*, the general correctness of which is confirmed by several lines of evidence; the third is the revised reading (1917) of the Khāravela inscription, referred to in note 2 on p. 44 *supra*; and the fourth is the probable date of the death of Buddha.