Key findings About the Book • The epoch of the Saka era (the coronation of the Saka king) The traditional Indian system of and the epoch of the Salivahana era (the end of the Saka recording the chronology of ancient era or the death of the Saka king) are not identical. The times in the Puranas was, unfortunately, Saka era commenced in 583 BCE whereas the Salivahana discontinued after the Gupta period era commenced in 78 CE. and consequently, the exact epochs of • The Karttikadi Vikrama era and the Chaitradi Vikrama certain eras faded away from the minds era are also not identical. The Karttikadi Vikrama era and lives of the people by the 10th- commenced in 719-718 BCE whereas the Chaitradi 11th century leading to a number of Vikrama era commenced in 57 BCE. inconsistencies in the chronology of • The Indian king “Sandrokottus” mentioned by the ancient ancient India. Taking advantage of these Greek historians was Samudragupta and not Chandragupta inconsistencies, Western historians and Maurya. their blind followers completely distorted About the Author the chronology and concocted many false Vedveer Arya is a civil servant; an • The Yavanas mentioned in ancient Indian literature were theories to take modern Indian historical officer of the 1997 batch of the Indian the immediate north-western neighbours of India and not research in the direction that suited their Defence Accounts Service (IDAS). the Greeks; they have been a part of Indian civilisation biased purposes. He is presently the Director (Finance) much before the date of the Mahabharata war i.e.3128 BCE. Drawing from direct readings of the for the Agni, Area Defence missile original epigraphic, numismatic and programmes and other tactical missile • The epoch of Gupta era and the epoch of Valabhi era are literary heritage of India and validating programmes in the DRDO, Ministry of not identical. The Gupta era commenced in 335 BCE the astronomical phenomena recorded in Defence, at Hyderabad. whereas the Valabhi era commenced in 319 CE. those sources with data from irrefutable Initiated into the learning of Sanskrit • The epoch of the Sri Harsha era commenced in 457 BCE sources such as the NASA data bank at a very young age, he specialised and not in 606 CE. on eclipses, the present research work in Paninian grammar including not only rediscovers the exact epochs the Mahabhashya of Patanjali. He • The epoch of the Kalachuri-Chedi era commenced in 403- of various ancient Indian eras but also completed his Master’s degree in 402 BCE and not in 248-249 CE. conclusively exposes the fallacy of Sanskrit from the University of Delhi in • Buddha attained nirvana not later than 1658 BCE; the date the chronology given in the modern 1994, winning the Dr. Radhakrishnan was very likely to have been 2134 BCE as recorded in the textbooks of Indian history. A section of and CD Deshmukh memorial Gold tradition of Tibetan Sa-skya-pa scholars. Western scholars dubbed many ancient medals in the process. inscriptions forgeries citing evidence from • Mahavira attained nirvana on 22nd Oct 1189 BCE and not their distorted palaeography; the rejection His deep interest in the ancient in 527 BCE. of certain inscriptions was inevitable heritage and history of India propelled to justify the distorted chronology him to become a researcher and reader propounded by ‘eminent historians’. This of various ancient inscriptions in the was the biggest fraud committed in the original. The present research work writing of the history of ancient India. is based on his in-depth inscriptional This book proves beyond doubt that all studies. ancient Indian inscriptions are genuine if He has also extensively worked on the we follow the exact epochs of ancient eras. scientific contributions of ancient India It establishes that the chronology given in and published his first book entitled the Puranas is not only authentic but also “Indian Contributions to Mathematics reconciles with the epigraphic and literary and Astronomy” in 2014. The author evidence. This book also concludes that can be contacted at vedveer70@gmail. Indian civilisation is the oldest continuous com. civilisation that possibly had its origin in the beginnings of the Holocene. THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA Victim of concoctions and distortions THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA Victim of concoctions and distortions VEDVEER ARYA ARYABHATA PUBLICATIONS Hyderabad Published by Aryabhata Publications Hyderabad Email: [email protected] © Vedveer Arya 2015 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in the writing from the copyright owners and publishers. First Print: July 2015 ISBN : 978-81-927170-7-4 Printed and bound in Hyderabad by Kala Jyoti Process Pvt. Ltd. 1-1-60/5, RTC ‘X’ Roads Musheerabad, Hyderabad – 500020 Ph: 040-27645536 Dedicated to My father Acharya Raghumanna THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA Published in July 2015 & Kaliyuga era (3102 BCE) 5117 Buddha nirvana era (2134 BCE) 4149 or Buddha nirvana era (1658 BCE) 3673 Mahavira nirvana era (1189 BCE) 3204 Licchavi era (966-965 BCE) 2981 Krita, Malava-gana or Karttikadi Vikrama era (719-718 BCE) 2734 Gangeya era (656 BCE) 2671 Saka era (583 BCE) 2599 Sri Harsha era (458-457 BCE) 2472 Kalachuri-Chedi era (403-402 BCE) 2417 Gupta era (335 BCE) 2350 Manadeva Samvat (85-84 BCE) 2099 Chaitradi Vikrama era (57 BCE) 2072 Salivahana era (78 CE) 1937 Valabhi era (319 CE) 1696 Laksmanasena Samvat (443-444 BCE) 1571 Simha Samvat (450-451 CE) 1564 vi THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA Contents Preface xi-xiii Transliteration xiv Abbreviations xv-xvi Chapter 1 : Introduction 1-16 Chapter 2 : The epoch of the Œaka era 17-106 The Early Chalukyas of Badami 24 The Early Chalukyas of Gujarat 33 Inscriptions of the early Chalukyas prior to Pulakeœin I 37 The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi 38 The origin of the Chalukyas and the early the Chalukyas of RÀjamahendravaram 47 The Early RÀÈÇrakÂÇas 48 The Main Branch of Early RÀÈÇrakÂÇas 49 The Later RÀÈÇrakÂÇas 56 The Gaôgas of Talakad (TÀlavanapura) 57 The BÀõa Dynasty 75 The Kadamba Dynasty 76 The Pallava Dynasty 82 The Western Chalukyas of Kalyaõi 84 The YÀdava Dynasty 88 The ŒilÀhÀras of Kolhapur (Kœullakapura) 96 Miscellaneous Inscriptions dated in Œaka era 98 The originator of Œaka era 103 Chapter 3 : The literary references of the Œaka era 107-130 Yavaneœvara and Sphujidhvaja 107 Sarvanandi and SimhasÂri 113 GuõÀçhya 114 BhÀravi 114 VarÀhamihira 114 vii THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA KÀlidÀsa 119 Brahmagupta 123 LallÀchÀrya 124 Udyotana SÂri 125 Jinasena 125 Vateœvara 126 Guõabhadra and Lokasena 126 MuðjÀla 126 BhaÇÇotpala 126 Sripati 127 Bhaskaracharya 127 Chapter 4 : The Epoch of the Gupta era 131-170 The rise of Gupta Dynasty 141 Who was Sandrokottus: Chandragupta Maurya or Samudragupta? 142 The Gupta Empire after Samudragupta 150 The decline of the Gupta Empire 154 The VÀkÀÇaka Dynasty 157 The ViÈõukunçin Dynasty 162 The Vatsagulma Branch of VÀkÀÇakas 163 The feudatories of the Guptas (Maitrakas, ParivrÀjakas, UccÍakalpas, GÀrulakas and Saindhavas) 164 Chapter 5 : The Epoch of the KÃta, MÀlava-gaõa and Vikrama era 171-238 The epoch of the Mahavira-nirvÀõa era 173 The epoch of the KÀrttikÀdi Vikrama era 178 The Maukharis 181 The PÀnduvaÚœis 184 The Aulikaras 185 Yaœovarman of Kanauj 187 The PratÁhÀras 190 The ParamÀras of MÀlava 192 The Chaulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat 201 The ChÀhamÀnas of SapÀdalakœa or ŒÀkambhari 208 The ChÀhamÀnas of Marwar 216 viii THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA The ChandrÀtreyas or Chandellas 218 The KaccÍapaghÀtas 225 The YajvapÀlas 226 The epigraphic evidence of KÀrttikÀdi Vikrama era 227 The epoch of the ChaitrÀdi Vikrama era 233 Chapter 6 : The Epoch of the Sri Harsha era and Kalachuri-Chedi era 239-280 The epoch of Kalachuri-Chedi era 250 The Maharajas of ValkhÀ 259 The TraikÂÇakas 260 The Katacchuris 261 The Early Gurjaras 262 The Sendrakas 264 The Kalachuris or Chedis of Tripuri 265 The Kalachuris of KalyÀõa 275 The Kalachuris of Ratanpur or South Kosala 276 The Kalachuris of Kusinagara 278 The Kalachuris of SarayÂpÀra 279 Chapter 7 : An overview of Indian eras 281-328 The era of the MahÀbhÀrata war 282 The YudhiÈÇhira era 283 The Kaliyuga era (3102 BCE) 285 The SaptarÈi SaÚvat or Laukika era or Sastra Kala 285 The era of Buddha nirvÀõa 286 The era of Mahavira nirvÀõa 292 The KÃta or MÀlava-gaõa or KÀrttikÀdi Vikrama era 297 The Œaka era 297 The Œri Harsha era 298 The Kalachuri-Chedi era 298 The Gupta era 298 The GÀôgeya era 298 The ChaitrÀdi Vikrama era and ŒÀlivÀhana era 310 The Valabhi era 313 The Lakœmaõasena SaÚvat 313 The SiÚha SaÚvat 322 ix THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Chalukya Vikrama SaÚvat 323 The Ancient era of Nepal or LiccÍavi era 325 The MÀnadeva SaÚvat 325 Chapter 8 : Puranic chronology of Ancient India 329-362 The Chronology of Surya VaÚœi Kings 330 The Chronology of Magadha empire 333 The Chronology of Ancient Kashmir 340 The Chronology of Ancient Nepal 358 Chapter 9 : The antiquity of Vedic civilisation 363-378 Chapter 10 : An outline of the chronology of ancient India 379-398 Proto Vedic Period (10000-8000 BCE) 379 Early Vedic Period (8000-5500 BCE) 380 Mid Vedic Period (5500-3500 BCE) 381 Post Vedic Period (3500-1650 BCE) 382 The Imperial or Early Classical Period (1650-200 BCE) 386 Classical Period (200 BCE – 650 CE) 390 Early Medieval Period (650-1200 CE) 396 References 399-426 Appendix I 427-434 Appendix II 435-437 Appendix III 438-440 Appendix IV 441-444 Appendix V 445-451 Appendix VI 452-454 Appendix VII 455-460 Appendix VIII 461-466 Appendix IX 467-485 Appendix X 486-488 Appendix XI 489-494 Bibliography 495-500 x THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT INDIA Preface Extensive study of Sanskrit inscriptions and literature in the original always throws up a few historical or factual inconsistencies; the puzzlement led me to further reading and research to unravel these obvious mismatches.