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HINDU CHRONOLOGY
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See also:HINDU See also:CHRONOLOGY . The subject of See also:Hindu See also:chronology divides naturally into three parts: the See also:calendar, the eras, and other reckonings . I . THE CALENDAR The See also:Hindus have had from very See also:ancient times the See also:system of lunisolar cycles, made by the See also:combination of See also:solar years, regulated by the course of the See also:sun, and lunar years, regulated by the course of the See also:moon, but treated in such a manner as to keep the beginning of the lunar See also:year near the beginning of the solar year . The exact manner in which they arranged the details of their earliest calendar is still a subject of See also:research . We See also:deal here with their calendar as it now stands, in a See also:form which was See also:developed from about A.D . 400 under the See also:influence of the See also:Greek See also:astronomy which had been introduced into See also:India at no very See also:long See also:time previously . The Hindu calendar, then, is determined by years of two kinds, solar and lunar . For See also:civil purposes, solar years are used in See also:Bengal, including See also:Orissa, and in the Tamil and See also:Malayalam districts of See also:Madras, and lunar years throughout the See also:rest of India . But the lunar year regulates everywhere the See also:general religious See also:rites and festivals, and the details of private and domestic See also:life, such as the selection of auspicious occasions for marriages and for starting on journeys, the choice of lucky moments for shaving, and so on . Consequently, the details of the lunar year are shown even in the almanacs which follow the solar year . On the other See also:hand, certain details of the solar year, such as the course of the sun through the signs and other divisions of the See also:zodiac, are shown in the almanacs which follow the lunar year . We will treat the solar year first, because it governs the lunisolar system, and the explanation of it will greatly simplify the See also:process of explaining, the lunar calendar . The civil solar year is determined by the astronomical solar year . The latter professes to begin at the vernal See also:equinox, The astro.' but the actual position is as follows . In our Western nomlcat astronomy the signs of the zodiac have, in consequence solar of the precession of the equinoxes, See also:drawn away to year . a large extent from the constellations from which they derived their names; with the result that the sun now comes to the vernal equinox, at the first point of the sign See also:Aries, not in the See also:constellation Aries, but at a point in See also:Pisces, about 28 degrees before the beginning of Aries . The Hindus, however, have disregarded precession in connexion with their calendar from the time (A.D . 499, 522, or 527, according to different See also:schools) when, by their system, the signs coincided with the constellations; and their sign Aries, called Mesha by them, is still their constellation Aries, beginning, according to them, at or near the See also:star Piscium . Their astronomical solar year is, in fact, not the tropical year, in the course of which the sun really passes from one vernal equinox to the next, but a sidereal year, the See also:period during which the See also:earth makes one revolution in its See also:orbit See also:round the sun with reference to the first point of Mesha; its beginning is the moment of the Mesha-samkranti, the entrance of the sun into the sidereal sign Mesha, instead of the tropical sign Aries; and it begins, not with the true equinox, but with an artificial or nominal equinox . The length of this sidereal solar year was determined in the following manner . The astronomer selected what the Greeks termed an exeligmos, the See also:Romans an annus See also:magnus or mundanus, a period in the course of which a given See also:order of things is completed by the sun, moon, and See also:planets returning to a See also:state of See also:conjunction from which they have started . The usual Hindu exeligmos has been the See also:Great See also:Age of 4,320,000 sidereal solar years, the aggregate of the Krita or See also:golden age, the Treta or See also:silver age, the Dvapara cr brazen age, and the See also:Kali or See also:iron age, in which we now are; but it has sometimes been the Kalpa or See also:aeon, consisting according to one view of woo, according to another view of reo8, Great Ages . He then laid down the number of revolutions, in the period of his exeligmos, of the nakshatras, certain stars and See also:groups of stars which will be noticed more definitely in our See also:account of the lunar year; that is, the number of rotations of the earth on its See also:axis, or, in other words, the number of sidereal days . A See also:deduction of the number of the years from the number of the sidereal days gave, as See also:remainder, the number of civil days in the exeligmos . And, this remainder being divided by the number of the years, the quotient gave the length of the sidereal solar year : refinements, suggested by experience, inference, or extraneous See also:information, were made by increasing or decreasing the number of sidereal days assigned to the exeligmos . The Hindus now recognize three See also:standard sidereal solar years determined in that manner . (r) A year of 365 days 6 hrs . 12 See also:min . 30 sec. according to the Aryabhatiya, otherwise called the First Arya-Siddhanta, which was written by the astronomer Aryabhata (b . A.D . 476) : this year is used in the Tamil and Malayalam districts, and, we may add, in See also:Ceylon . (2) A year of 365 days 6 hrs . 12 min . 30'9r5 sec. according to the Rajantriga ka, a See also:treatise based on the Brahma-Siddhanta of Brahmagupta (b . A.D .
598) and attributed to See also:
This amounts to exactly one See also:day in 115* years, and five days in S76 years
.
Thus, if we take the longer period and confine ourselves to a time when the Julian calendar (old See also:style) was in use, according to Aryabhata the Mesha-samkranti began to occur in A.D
.
603 on loth See also: The civil solar year exists in more varieties than one . The See also:principal variety, conveniently called the Meshadi year, i.e . " the year beginning at the Msha-samkranti," is the only one that we need See also:notice at this point . The The beginning of it is determined directly by the astrono- year solar mical solar year; and for religious purposes it begins, with that year, at the moment of the Mesha-samkranti . Its first civil day, however, may be either the day on which the samkranti occurs, or the next day, or even the day after that: this is determined partly by the time of day or See also:night at which the samkranti occurs, which, moreover, of course varies in accordance with the locality as well as the particular authority that is followed; partly by differing details of practice in different parts of the See also:country . In these circumstances an exact See also:equivalent of the Meshadi civil solar year cannot be stated.; but it may be taken as now beginning on or closely about the 12th of April . The solar year is divided into twelve months, in accordance with the successive sathkrantis or entrances of the sun into the (sidereal) signs of the zodiac, which, as with us, are twelve in The solar number . The names of the signs in See also:Sanskrit are as See also:month . follows: Mesha, the See also:ram (Aries) ; Vrishabha, the See also:bull (See also:Taurus) ; Mithuna, the pair, the twins (See also:Gemini) ; Karka, Karkata, Karkataka, the crab (See also:Cancer) ; Sirhha, the See also:lion (See also:Leo) ; Kanya, the See also:maiden (See also:Virgo); See also:Tula, the scales (See also:Libra); Vrischika, the See also:scorpion (See also:Scorpio) ; Dhanus, the See also:bow (See also:Sagittarius) ; Makara, the See also:sea-See also:monster (See also:Capricornus); Kumbha, the See also:water-pot (See also:Aquarius); and See also:Mina, the fishes (Pisces) . The solar months are known in some parts by the names of the signs or by corrupted forms of them; and these are the best names for them for general use, because they See also:lead to no confusion . But they have elsewhere another set of names, preserving the connexion of them with the lunar months: the Sanskrit forms of these names are Chaitra, Vaisakha, Jyaishtha, Ashadha, Sravana, Bhadrapada, Asvina or Asvayuja, Karttika, Margasira or Margasirsha (also known as Agrahayana), Pausha, Magha, and Phalguna: in some localities these names are used in corrupted forms, and in others See also:vernacular names are substituted for some of them; and, while in some parts the name Chaitra is attached to the month Mesha, in other parts it is attached to the month Mina, and so on throughout the See also:series in each See also:case . The astronomical solar month runs from the moment of one samkranti of the sun to the moment of the next samkranti; and, as the signs of the Hindu zodiac are all of equal length, 30 degrees, as with us, while the See also:speed of the sun (the See also:motion of the earth in its orbit round the sun) varies according to the time of the year, the length of the month is variable: the shortest month is Dhanus; the et_ ' The disregard of precession, and the consequent travelling forward of the year through the natural seasons, is, of course, a serious defect in the Hindu calendar, the principles of which are otherwise See also:good . Accordingly, an See also:attempt was made by a small See also:band of reformers to rectify this state of things by introducing .a precessional calendar, taking as the first lunar month the synodic See also:lunation in which the sun enters the tropical Aries, instead of the sidereal Mesha; and the publication was started, in or about 1886, of the Sayana-Panchang or " Precessional See also:Almanac." Further, the Hindu sidereal solar year is in excess of the true mean sidereal year by (if we use Aryabhata's value) 3 min . 20.4 sec . If we take this, for convenience, at 3 min . 20 sec., the excess amounts to exactly one day in 432 years . And so even the sidereal Mesha-samkranti is now found to occur three or four days later than the day on which it should occur . Accordingly, another re-former had begun, in or about 1865, to publish the Navin athava Patwardhani Panchang, the " New or Patwardhani Almanac," in which he determined the details of the year according to the proper Mesha-samkranti . longest is Mithuna . The civil solar month begins with its first civil day, which is determined, in different localities, in the same manner with the first civil day of the Meshadi year, as indicated above . The civil month is of variable length; partly for that See also:reason, partly because of the variation in the length of the astronomical month . No exact equivalents of the civil months, therefore, can be stated; but, speaking approximately, we may say that, while the month Mesha now begins on or closely about 12th April, the beginning of a subsequent month may come as See also:late as the 16th day of the See also:English month in which it falls . The solar year is also divided into six seasons, the Sanskrit names of which are Vasanta, See also:spring;,Grishma, the hot See also:weather; Varsha, The the See also:rainy See also:season; Sarad, autumn; Hemanta, the See also:cold seasons. weather; and Sisira, the dewy season . Vasanta begins at the Mina-sanhIcranti; the other seasons begin at each successive second samkranli from that . Originally, this See also:scheme was laid out with reference to the true course of the sun, and the starting-point of it was the real See also:winter See also:solstice, with Sisira, as the first season, beginning then: now, owing partly to the disregard of precession, partly to our introduction of New Style, each season comes about three See also:weeks too late; Vasanta begins on or about 12th March, instead of 19th or 2oth See also:February, and so on with the rest . It may be added that in See also:early times the year was also divided into three or four, and even into five or seven, seasons; and there appears to have been also a practice of reckoning the seasons ac-cording to the lunar months, which, however, would only give a very varying arrangement, in addition to neglecting the point that the seasons are naturally determined by the course of the sun, not of the moon . But there is now recognized only the See also:division into six seasons, determined as stated above . The solar year is also divided into two parts called Uttarayana, the period during which the sun is moving to the See also:north, and Dakshiniyana, the period during which it is moving to the See also:south . The sot- The Uttarayana begins at the nominal winter solstice, s The s as marked by the Makara-sarhkranti ; and the day on divisions which this solstice occurs, usually 12th See also:January at of the present, is still a See also:special occasion of festivity and re- year, joking; the Dakshinayana begins at the nominal summer solstice, as marked by the Karka-sarhkranti . It may be added here that, while the Hindus disregard precession in the actual computation of their years and the regulation of their calendar, they pay See also:attention to it in certain other respects, and notably as regards the solstices: the precessional solstices are looked upon as auspicious occasions, as well as the non-precessional solstices, and are customarily shown in the almanacs; and some of the almanacs show also the other precessional safhkrantis of the sun . The civil days of the solar month begin at sunrise . They are numbered 1, 2, 3, &c., in unbroken See also:succession to the end of the The civil month . And, the length of the month being variable for the reasons stated above, the number of the civil day. days may range from twenty-nine to See also:thirty-two . The civil See also:clays are named after the weekdays, of which the usual appellations (there are various synonyms in each case, and some The See also:week- of the names are used in corrupted forms) are in Sanskrit Adityavara or Ravivara, the day of the sun, sometimes day. called Adivara, the beginning-day (See also:Sunday) ; Somavara, the day of the moon (See also:Monday); Mangalavara, the day of See also:Mars (Tuesday); Budhavara, the day of See also:Mercury (Wednesday); Brihaspativara or Guruvara, the day of See also:Jupiter (See also:Thursday); Sukravara, the See also:clay of See also:Venus (See also:Friday); and Sanivara, the day of See also:Saturn (Saturday) . It may be mentioned, as a See also:matter of archaeological See also:interest, that, while some of the astronomical books perhaps postulate an earlier knowledge of the " lords of the days," and other writings indicate a still earlier use of the period of seven days, the first proved instance of the use of the name of a weekday is of the year A.D . 484, and is furnished by an inscription in the See also:Saugor See also:district, Central India . The divisions of the civil day, as far as we need See also:note them, are 6o ei palas Pala =24 seconds; 6o palas = ighatika =24 minutes; 6o ghatikas=24 See also:hours =i day . There is also the muhurta Divisions =2 ghatikas=48 minutes: this is the nearest approach of the to the " See also:hour." The See also:comparative value of these measures day. of time may perhaps be best illustrated thus: 2; muhurtas =2 hours; 2f ghatikas=l hour; 22 galas=i See also:minute; 21 vipalas= i second . As their civil day begins at sunrise, the Hindus naturally See also:count all their times, in ghatikas and palas, from that moment . But Civil the moment is a varying one, though not in India to time. anything like the extent to which it is so in See also:European latitudes; and under the See also:British See also:Government the Hindus have recognized the See also:advantage, and in fact the See also:necessity, especially in connexion with their lunar calendar, of having a convenient means of referring their own times to the time which prevails officially . Consequently, some of the almanacs have adopted the European practice of showing the time of sunrise, in hours and minutes, from midnight; and some of them add the time of sunset from See also:noon . The lunar year consists primarily of twelve lunations or lunar months, of which the present Sanskrit names, generallyit begins with a certain day in the month Chaitra, or The lunar year . with the corresponding day in Karttika: the former variety is conveniently known as the Chaitradi year; the latter as the Karttikadi year . For religious purposes the lunar year begins with its first lunar day: for civil purposes it begins with its first civil day, the relation of which to the lunar day will be explained below . Owing to the manner in which, as we shall explain, the beginning of the lunar year is always shifting backwards and forwards, it is not practicable to See also:lay down any See also:close equivalents for comparison: but an indication may be given as follows . The first civil day of the Chaitradi year is the day after the new-moon conjunction which occurs next after the entrance of the sun into Mina, and it now falls from about 13th March to about See also:lath April: the first civil day of the Karttikadi year is the first day after the new-moon conjunction which occurs next after the entrance of the sun into Tula, and it now falls from about 17th See also:October to about 15th See also:November . The present names of the lunar months, indicated above, were derived from the nakshatras, which are certain conspicuous stars and groups of stars lying more or less along the neigh- bourhood The tanar of the See also:ecliptic . The nakshatras are regarded month . sometimes as twenty-seven in number, sometimes as twenty-eight, and are grouped in twelve sets of two or three each, beginning, according to the earlier arrangement of the See also:list, with the pair Krittika and Rbhini, and including in the See also:sixth See also:place Chitra and Strati, and ending with the triplet Revati, Asvini and Bharani . They are sometimes styled lunar mansions, and are sometimes spoken of as the signs of the lunar zodiac; and it is, no doubt, chiefly in connexion with the moon that they are now taken into See also:consideration . But they See also:mark divisions of the ecliptic: according to one system, twenty-seven divisions, each of 13 degrees 20 minutes; according to two other systems, twenty-seven or twenty-eight unequal divisions, which we need not explain here . The almanacs show the course of the sun through them, as well as the course of the moon; and the course of the sun was marked by them only, before the time when the Hindus began to use the twelve signs of the solar zodiac . So there is nothing exclusively lunar about them . The present names of the lunar months were derived from the nakshatras in the following manner: the full-moon which occurred when the moon was in conjunction with Chitra (the star a Virginis) was named Chaitri, and the lunar month, which contained the Chaitri full-moon, was named Chaitra; and so on with the others . The present names have superseded another set of names which were at one time in use concurrently with them; these other names are Madhu (=Chaitra), Madhava, Sukra, Suchi, Nabhas, Nabhasya, Isha, Urja (=Karttika), Sahas, Sahasya, Tapas, and Tapasya (= Phalguna) : they seem to have marked originally solar season-months of the solar year, rather than lunar months of the lunar year . A lunar month may be regarded as ending either with the new-moon, which is called amavasya, or with the full-moon, which is called purnamasi, purnima: a month of the former See also:kind is termed amanta, " ending with the new-moon," or sukladi, " beginning with the See also:bright fortnight;" a month of the latter kind is termed purnimanta, " ending with the full-moon," or ktishnadi, " beginning with the dark fortnight." For all purposes of the calendar, the amanta month is used in See also:Southern India, and the purnimanta month in Northern India . But only the amanta month, the period of the synodic revolution of the moon, is recognized in Hindu astronomy, and for the purpose of naming the lunations and adjusting the lunar to the solar year by the intercalation and suppression of lunar months; and the See also:rule is that the lunar Chaitra is the amanta or synodic month at the first moment of which the sun is in the sign Mina, and in the course of which the sun enters Mesha: the other months follow in the same way; and the lunar Karttika is the amanta month at the first moment of which the sun is in Tula, and in the course of which the sun enters Vrischika . The connexion[ between the lunar and the solar months is maintained by the point that the name Chaitra is applied according to one practice to the solar Mina, in which the lunar Chaitra - begins, and according to another practice to the solar Mesha, in which the lunar Chaitra ends . Like the lunar year, the lunar month begins for religious purposes with its first lunar day, and for civil purposes with its first civil day . One mean lunar year of twelve lunations measures very nearly 354 days 8 hrs . 48 min . 34 sec . ; and one Hindu solar year measures 365 days 6 hrs . 12 min . 30 sec. according to Aryabhata, or slightly more according to the other two authorities . Consequently, the beginning of a, lunar year pure and See also:simple would be always travel-See also:ling backwards through the solar year, by about eleven days on used in more or less corrupted forms, are Chaitra, Vaisakha, &c., to Phalguna, as given above in connexion with the solar months . It is of two principal varieties, according as 494 each occasion, and would in course of time recede entirely through the solar year, as it does in the See also:Mahommedan calendar . The /utercala- Hindus prevent that in the following manner . The length to and of the Hindu astronomical solar month, measured by the fi samkrantis of the sun, its successive entrances into the suppress signs of the zodiac, ranges, in accordance with periodical See also:Sion or See also:variations in the speed of the sun, from about 29 days monr 7 hrs . 38 min. up to about 31 days 15 hrs . 28 min . The months. length of the amanta or synodic lunar month ranges, in accordance with periodical variations in the speed of the moon and the sun, from about 29 days 19 hrs . 30 min. down to about 29 days 7 hrs . 20 min . Consequently, it happens from time to time that there are two new-moon conjunctions, so that two lunations begin, in one astronomical solar month, between two sariskrantis of the sun, while the sun is in one and the same sign of the zodiac, and there is no samkranti in the lunation ending with the second new-moon: when this is the case, there are two lunations to which the same name is applicable, and so there is an additional or intercalated month, in the sense that a name is repeated: thus, when two new-moons occur while the sun is in Mesha, the lunation ending with the first of them, during which 'the sun has entered Mesha, is Chaitra; the next lunation, in which there is no samkranti, is Vaisakha, because it begins when the sun is in Mesha; and the next lunation after that is again Vaisakha, for the same reason, and also because the sun enters Vrishabha in the course of it: in these circumstances, the first of the two Vaisakhas.is called Adhika-Vaisakha, " the additional or intercalated Vaisakha," and the second is called simply Vaisakha, or sometimes Nija-Vaisakha, " the natural Vaisakha." On the other hand, it occasionally happens, in an autumn or winter month, that there are two saritkrdntis of the sun in one and the same amanta or synodic lunar month, between two new-moon conjunctions, so that no lunation begins between the two samkrantis: when this is the case, there is one lunation to which two names are applicable, and there is a suppressed month, in the sense that a name is omitted: thus, if the sun enters both Dhanus and Makara during one synodic lunation, that lunation is Margasira, because the sun was in Vrischika at the first moment of it and enters Dhanus in the course of it;' the next lunation is Magha, because the sun is in Makara by the time when it begins and will enter Kumbha in the course of it; and the name Pausha, between Margasira and Magha, is omitted . When a month is thus suppressed, there is always one intercalated month, and sometimes two, in the same Chaitradi lunar year, so that the lunar year never contains less than twelve months, and from time to time consists of thirteen months . There are normally seven intercalated months, rising to eight when a month is suppressed, in 19 solar years, which equal very nearly 235 lunations;2 and there is never less than one year without an intercalated month between two years with intercalated months, except when there is only one such month in a year in which a month is suppressed; then there is always an intercalated month in the next year also . The suppression of a month takes place at intervals of 19 years and upwards, regarding which no definite statement can conveniently be made here . It may be added that an intercalated Chaitra or Karttika takes the place of the See also:ordinary month as the first month of the dear; an intercalated month is not rejected for that purpose, though it is tabooed from the religious and auspicious points of view . The manner in which this arrangement of intercalated and sup-pressed months See also:works out, so as to prevent the beginning of the Chaitradi lunar year departing far from the beginning of the Meshadi i It might also be called Pausha, because the sun enters Makara in the course of it; and it may be observed that, in accordance with a second rule which formerly existed, it would have been named Pausha because it ends while the sun is in Makara, and the omitted name would have been Margasira . But the more important See also:condition of the present rule, that Pausha begins while the sun is in Dhanus, is not satisfied . 2 The well-known Metonic See also:cycle, whence we have by rearrangement our system of Golden See also:Numbers, naturally suggests itself; and we have been told sometimes that that cycle was adopted by the Hindus, and elsewhere that the intercalation of a month by them generally takes place in the years 3, 5, 8, 11, 14, 16, and 19 'of each cycle, differing only in respect of the 14th year, instead of the 1 th, from the arrangement which is said to have been fixed by Meton . As regards the first point, however, there is no See also:evidence that a special period of 19 years was ever actually used by the Hindus during the period with which we are dealing, beyond the extent to which it figures as a component of the number of years, 19X 15o 2850, forming the lunisolar cycle of,an early work entitled Romaka-.Siddhanla; and, as was recognized by Kalippos not long after the time of Meton himself, the Metonic cycle has not, for any length of time, the closeness of results which has been sometimes supposed to attach to it; it requires to be readjusted periodically . As regards the second point, the precise years of the intercalated months depend upon, and vary with, the year that we may select as the apparent first year of a set of 19 years, and it is not easy to arrange the Hindu years in sets answering to a See also:direct continuation of the Metonic cycle . solar year, may be illustrated as follows . In A.D . 1815 the Meshasarhkranti occurred on i ith April ; and the first civil day of the Chaitradi year was ioth April . In A.D . 1816 and 1817 the first civil day of the Chaitradi year See also:fell back to 29th March and 18th March . In A.D . 1817, however, there was an intercalated month, gravana; with the result that in A.D . 1818 the first civil day of the Chaitradi year advanced to 6th April . And, after various shiftings of the same kind—including in A.D . 1822 an intercalation of Asvina and a suppression of Pausha, followed in A.D . 1823, when the first civil day of the Chaitradi year had fallen back to 13th March, by an intercalation of Chaitra itself—in A.D . 1834, when the Meshasarhkranti occurred again on lath April, the first civil day of the Chaitradi year was again loth April . The lunar month is divided into two fortnights (paksha), called bright and dark, or, in See also:Indian terms, Bukla or See also:Buddha, sudi, sudi, and See also:krishna or bahula, badi, vadi: the bright fortnight, The lunar Bukla-paksha, is the period of the waxing moon, ending fort . at the full-moon; the dark fortnight, krishna-paksha, night. is the period of the waning moon, ending at the new- moon . In the amanta or Bukladi month, the bright fortnight pre-cedes the dark; in the purnimanta or krishnadi month, the dark fortnight comes first; and the result is that, whereas, for instance, the bright fortnight of Chaitra is the same period of time throughout India, the preceding dark fortnight is known in Northern India as the dark fortnight of Chaitra, but in Southern India as the dark fortnight of Phalguna . This, however, does not affect the period covered by the lunar year; the Chaitradi and Karttikadi years begin everywhere with the bright fortnight of Chaitra and Karttika respectively; simply, by the amanta system the dark fortnights of Chaitra and Karttika are the second fortnights, and by the purnimanta system they are the last fortnights, of the years . Like the month, the fortnight begins for religious purposes with its first lunar day, and for civil purposes with its first civil day . The lunar fortnights are divided each into fifteen tithis or lunar days.3 The tithi is the time in which the moon increases her distance from the sun round the circle by twelve degrees; and the Theluasr almanacs show each tithi by its ending-time; that is, day by the moment, expressed in ghalikas and palas, after sunrise, at which the moon completes that distance . In accordance with that. the tithi is usually used and cited with the weekday on which it ends; but there are special rules regarding certain rites, festivals, &c., which sometimes require the tithi to be used and cited with the weekday on which it begins or is current at a particular time . The first tithi of each fortnight begins immediately after the moment of new-moon and full-moon respectively; the last tithi ends at the moment of full-moon and new-moon . The tithis are primarily denoted by the numbers 1, 2, 3, &c., for each fortnight; but, while the full-moon tithi is always numbered 15, the new-moon tithi is generally numbered 30, even where the purnimanta month is used . The tithis may be cited either by their figures or by the Sanskrit ordinal words prathama, " first," dvitiiya, ' second," &c., or corruptions of them . But usually the first tithi of either fortnight is cited by the See also:term pratipad, pratipada, and the new-moon and full-moon tithis are cited by the terms amavasya and purnima; or here, again, corruptions of the Sanskrit terms are used . And special names are sometimes prefixed to the numbers of the tithis, according to the rites, festivals, &c., prescribed for them, or events or merits assigned to them: for instance, Vaisakha sukla 3 is Akshaya or Akshayya-tritiya, the third tithi which ensures permanence to acts performed on it; Bhadrapadasukla 4 is See also:Ganesa-chaturthi, the See also:fourth tithi dedicated to the See also:worship of the See also:god Ganesa, Ganapati, and the amanta Bhadrapada or purnimanta Asvina krishna 13 is Kaliyugadi-trayodasi, as being regarded (for some reason which is not apparent) as the anniversary of the beginning of the Kaliyuga, the present Age . The first tithi of the year is styled Sarhvatsara-pratipada, which term answers closely to our " New Year's Day." The civil days of the lunar month begin, like those of the solar month, at sunrise, and See also:bear in the same way the names of the weekdays . But they are numbered in a different manner; The civh fortnight by fortnight and according to the tithis . The day . general rule is that the civil day takes the number of the tithi which is current at its sunrise . And the results are as follows . As the motions of the sun and the moon vary periodically, a tithi is of variable length, ranging, according to the Hindu calculations, from 21 hrs . 34 min . 24 sec. to 26 hrs . 6 min . 24 sec.: it may, there-fore, be either shorter or longer than a civil day, the duration of which is practically 24 hours (one minute, roughly, more or less, according to the time of the year) . A tithi may end at any moment during the civil day; and ordinarily it ends on the civil day after that on which it begins, and covers only one sunrise and gives its number to the day on which it ends . It may, however, begin on 3 It is customary to render the term tithi by " lunar day:" it is, in fact, explained as such in Sanskrit works; and, as the tithis do mark the age of the moon by periods approximating to 24 hours, they are, in a sense, lunar days . But the tithi must not be confused with the lunar day of western astronomy, which is the See also:interval, with a mean duration of about 24 hrs . 54 min., between two successive See also:meridian passages of the moon . one civil day and end on the next but one, and so See also:cover two sun-rises; and it is then treated as a repeated tithi, in the sense that its number is repeated: for instance, if the seventh tithi so begins and ends, the civil day on which it begins is numbered 6, from the tithi which is current at the sunrise of that day and ends on it; the day covered entirely by the seventh tithi is numbered 7, because that tithi is current at its sunrise; the next day, at the sunrise of which the seventh tithi is still current and during which it ends, is again numbered 7; and the number 8 falls to the next day after that, when the eighth tithi is current at sunrise.' On the other hand, a tithi may begin and end during one and the same civil day, so as not to See also:touch a sunrise at all: in this case, it exists for any See also:practical purposes for which it may be wanted (it is, however; to be avoided if possible, as being an unlucky occasion), but it is sup-pressed or expunged for the numbering of the civil day, in the sense that its number is omitted; for instance, if the seventh tithi begins and ends during one civil day, that day is numbered 6 from,. as before, the tithi which is current at its sunrise and ends when the seventh tithi begins; the next day is numbered 8, because the eighth tithi is current at its sunrise; and there is, in this case, no civil day bearing the number seven . In consequence of this method of numbering, it sometimes happens, as the result of the suppression of a tithi, that the day of a full-moon is numbered 14 instead of 15; that the day of a new-moon is numbered 14 instead of 3o; and that the first day of a fortnight, and even the first day of a lunar year, is numbered 2 instead of 1 . { There are, on an See also:average, thirteen suppressed tithis and seven repeated tithis in twelve lunar months; and so the lunar year averages 354 days, rising to about 384 when a month is intercalated . It occasionally happens that there are two suppressions of tithis in one and the same fortnight; and the almanacs show such a case in the bright fortnight of Jyaishtha, A.D . 1878: but this occurs only after very long intervals . The tithi is divided into two karanas; each karana being the time in which the moon increases her distance from the sun by six The degrees . But this is a detail of astrological rather than The interest . So, also, are two other details Karana. to which a prominent place is given in the lunar calendars; to yoga, or time in which the See also:joint motion in See also:longitude, the sum of the motions of the sun and the moon, is increased by 13 degrees 20 minutes; and the nakshatra, the position of the moon as referred to the ecliptic by means of the stars and groups of stars which have been mentioned above under the lunar month . Iii the Indian calendar everything depends upon exact times, which differ, of course, on every different meridian; and (to cite what is perhaps the most frequent and generally important occurrence) suppression and repetition may affect one tithi and civil day in one locality, and another tithi and civil day in another locality not very far distant . Consequently, neither for the lunar nor for the solar calendar is there any almanac which is applicable to even the whole See also:area in which any particular length of the astronomical solar year prevails; much less, for the whole of India . Different almanacs are prepared and published for places of leading importance; details for See also:minor places, when wanted, have to be worked out by the See also:local astrologer, the modern representative of an ancient See also:official known as Samvatsara, the " clerk of the year." II . EiAs As far as the available evidence goes (and we have no reason to expect to discover anything opposed to it), any use of eras, in the sense of continuous reckonings which originated in See also:historical occurrences or astronomical epochs and were employed for official and other public See also:chronological purposes, did not prevail in India before the 1st See also:century B.c . See also:Prior to that time, there existed, indeed, in connexion with the sacrificial calendar; a five-years lunisolar cycle, and possibly some extended cycles of the same nature; and there was in Buddhist circles a See also:record of the years elapsed since the See also:death of Buddha, which we shall mention again further on . But, as is gathered from books and is well illustrated by the edicts of See also:Asoka (reigned 264–227 B.C.) and the See also:inscriptions of other rulers, the years of the reign of each successive king were found sufficient for the public dating of proclamations and the record of events . There is no known case in which any Indian king, of really ancient times, deliberately applied himself to the See also:foundation of an era: and we have no reason for thinking that such a thing was ever done, or that any Hindu reckoning at all owes its existence to a recognition of historical requirements . The eras which came into existence 'We illustrate the ordinary occurrences . But there are others . Thus, a repeated tithi may occasionally be followed by a suppressed one: in this case the numbering of the civil days would be 6, 7, 7, 9, &c., instead of 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, &c . Or it may occasionally be preceded by a suppressed one: in this case the numbering would be 5, 7, 7, 8, &c., instead of 5, 6, 7, 7,8, &c.495 from the 1st century B.c. onwards mostly had their origin in the fortuitous See also:extension of regnal reckonings . The usual course has been that, under the influence of filial piety, See also:pride in ancestry, See also:loyalty to a See also:paramount See also:sovereign, or some other such See also:motive, the successor of some king continued the regnal reckoning of hi: predecessor, who was not necessarily the first king in the See also:dynasty, and perhaps did not even reign for any long time, instead of starting a new reckoning, beginning again with the year 1, according to the years of his own reign . Having thus run for two reigns, the reckoning was sufficiently well established to continue-in the same form, and to eventually develop into a generally accepted local era, which might or might not be taken over by subsequent dynasties ruling afterwards over the same territory . In these circumstances, we find the establisher of any particular era in that king who first continued his predecessor's regnal reckoning, instead of replacing it by his own; but we regard as the founder of the era that king whose regnal reckoning was so continued . We may add here that it was only in advanced stages that any of the Hindu eras assumed specific names: during the earlier period of each of them, the years were simply cited by the term sa iivatsara or varsha, " the year (bearing suchand-such a number)," or by the abbreviations samvat and stint, without any appellative designation . The Hindus have had two religious reckonings, which it will be convenient to notice first . Certain. statements in the Ceylonese See also:chronicles, the Dipavamsa and Mahavatinsa, The Bud-endorsed by an entry in a record of Asoka, show that in dhist and the 3rd century B.C. there existed among the Buddhists Jain re- a record of the time elapsed since the death of Buddha iigious in 483 B.C., from which it was known that Asoka was reckon- ings . anointed to the See also:sovereignty 218 years after the death . The reckoning, however, was confined to See also:esoteric Buddhist circles, and did not commend itself for any public use; and the only known inscriptional use of it, which also furnishes the latest known date recorded in it, is found in the Last See also:Edict of Asoka, which presents his dying speech delivered in 226 B.C., 256 years after the death of Buddha . In Ceylon, where, also the See also:original reckoning was not maintained, there was devised in the 12th century A.D. a reckoning styled Buddhavarsha, " the years of Buddha," which still exists, and which purports to run from the death of Buddha, but has set up an erroneous date for that event in 544 B.C . This later reckoning spread from Ceylon to See also:Burma and See also:Siam, where, also, it is still used . It did not obtain any general recognition in India, because, when it was devised, See also:Buddhism had practically died out there, except at Bodh-Gaya . But, as there seems to have been See also:constant intercourse between Bodh-Gaya and Ceylon as well as other See also:foreign Buddhist countries, we should not be surprised to find an occasional instance of its use at Bodh-Gaya: and it is believed that one such instance, belonging to A.D . 1270, has been obtained . The, See also:Jains have had, and still maintain, a reckoning from the death of the founder of their faith, Vira, Mahavira, Vardhalnana, which event is placed by them in 528 B.C . This reckoning figures largely in the Jain books, which put forward dates in it for very early times . But the earliest known synchronous date in it—by which we mean a date given by a writer who recorded the year in which he himself was See also:writing—is one of the year 980, or, according to a different view mentioned in the passage itself, of the year 993 . This reckoning, again, did not commend itself for any official or other public use . And the only known inscriptional instances of the use of it are modern ones, of the 19th century . While it is certain that the Jain reckoning, as it exists, has its initial point in 528 B.C. it has not yet been determined whether that is actually the year in which Vira died . All that can be said on this point is that the date is not inconsistent with certain statements in Buddhist books, which mention, by a See also:Prakrit name of which the Sanskrit form is Nirgrantha-Jnataputra, a contemporary of Buddha, in whom there is recognized the original of the Jain Vira, Mahavira, or Vardhamana, and who, the same books say, died while Buddha was still alive . But there are some indications that Nirgrantha-Jnataputra may have died only a See also:short time before Buddha himself; and the evert may easily have been set back to 528 B.C. in circumstances, attending a determination of the reckoning long after the occurrence, analogous to those in which the Ceylonese Buddhavarsha set up the erroneous date of 544 B.C. for the death of Buddha . In the class of eras of royal origin, brought into existence in the manner indicated above, the Hindus have had various reckonings which have now mostly fallen into disuse . We may Bygone mention them, without giving them the detailed treat- Eras of ment which the more important of the still existing royal reckonings demand . origin . The Kalachuri or Chedi era, commencing in A.D . 248 or 249, is known best from inscriptional records, bearing dates which range from the loth to the 13th century A.D., of the Kalachuri See also:kings of the Chedi country in Central India; and it is from them that it derived the name under which it passes . In earlier times, however, we find this era well established, without any appellation, in Western India, in Gujarat and the See also:Thana district of Bombay, where it was used by kings and princes of the See also:Chalukya, Gurjara, Sendraka, Katachchuri and Traikutaka families . It is traced back there to A.D . 457, at which time there was reigning a Traiketaka king named Dahrasena . Beyond that point, we have at present no certain knowledge about it . But it seems probable that the founder of it may be recognized in an Abhira king Isvarasena, or else in his See also:father Sivadatta, who was reigning at See also:Nasik in or closely about A . D . 248-49 . The See also:Gupta era, commencing in A.D . 320, was founded by Chandragupta I., the first paramount king in the great Gupta dynasty of Northern India . When the Guptas passed away, their reckoning was taken over by the Maitraka kings of Valabhi, who succeeded them in See also:Kathiawar and some of the neighbouring territories; and so it became also known as the Valabhi era . From Halsi in the See also:Belgaum district, Bombay, we have a record of the Kadamba king Kakusthavarman, which was framed during the time when he was the Yuvaraja or anointed successor to the sovereignty, and may be referred to about A.D . 500 . It is dated in " the eightieth victorious year," and thus indicates the preservation of a reckoning See also:running from the foundation of the Kadamba dynasty by Mayuravarman, the great-grandfather of Kakusthavarman . But no other evidence of the existence of this era has been obtained . The records of the Gahga kings of Kalinganagara, which is the modern Mukhalingam-Nagarikatakam in the See also:Ganjam district, Madras, show the existence of a Gainga era which ran for at any See also:rate 254 years . And various details in the inscriptions enable us to trace the origin of the Gailga kings to Western India, and to place the initial point of their reckoning in A.D . 590, when a certain Satyasraya-Dhruvaraja-Indravarman, an ancestor and probably the grandfather of the first Ganga king Rajasirnha-Indravarman I., commenced to govern a large See also:province in the Kofikan under the Chalukya king Kirtivarman I . An era commencing in A.D . 605 or 606 was founded in Northern India by the great king Harshavardhana, who reigned first at See also:Thanesar and then at See also:Kanauj, and who was the third sovereign in a dynasty which traced its origin to a See also:prince named Naravardhana . A peculiarity about this era is that it continued in use for apparently four centuries after Harshavardhana, in spite of the fact that his See also:line ended with him . The inscriptions assert that the Western Chalukya king Vikrama or See also:Vikramaditya VI. of Kaly |