The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c32.10

c32.10

But the story told by Minhāj-i-Sirāj enables us to fix the date with a little more precision. He was informed that Rāe Lakhmaniya had then been on the throne for eighty years, reckoned from his birth. That assertion, which is supported by an anecdote, manifestly legendary, is in itself highly improbable. The longest recorded Indian reign is that of Choṛaganga of Orissa, which extended to seventy-one years complete (A. D. 1076–1147); and, so far as I know, a reign of eighty years cannot be traced in the history of any country. Raverty supported his belief in the eighty years' reign by quoting a statement made by Munshi Shiām Parshād in an account of Gauṛ, written for Major Francklin, that Lakshmaṇasena reigned from A. H. 510–590, eighty lunar years. But it does not appear what authority the Munshi had for his statement. Another argument on the same side is that Muhammad died in A. H. 602, and according to certain historians had reigned or ruled for twelve years in Lakhnautī or Gauṛ. Twelve years back from A. H. 602 bring us to A. H. 590. It is possible, however, as Bābū Monmohan Chakravarti suggests, that the rule of Muhammad may have been reckoned from a time prior to the attack on Nūdīah. On reconsideration, I agree with Blochmann in rejecting both the alleged eighty years' reign and the date A. H. 590 for the attack on Nūdīah.