History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s8.35

v1.c7.s8.35

(*iii*) The *Chedi Saṁvat* is one of the thirty-four eras, whose use has been discovered in inscriptions and grant plates. The occurrence of nine dates in the Chédi Saṁvat, written in the old notation after this plate, does not prove the unsoundness of this particular piece of evidence, as Kaye would like us to conclude. It simply shows that in India too, the new system had to fight for supremacy over the older one just as in other countries. In Arabia the new system was introduced in the eighth century, but it did not come into common use until five or six hundred years later. In Europe we find that it was exceptional for common people to use the new system before the sixteenth century—a good witness to this fact being the popular almanacs. Calendars of 1557-96 have generally Roman numerals, while Koebel’s *Calendar* of 1578 gives the Hindu numerals as subordinate to the Roman.¹