T HE ME E A RA KA N E S E C ALE N D R BUR S A S . B U RM ESE A RAKAN CALE N D ARS BY . 1 . A . I C 3 x . M B IRW N , D CIV IL S E R V ICE I N IAN . R angoon PRIN T E D HANT HAWAD DY I \VO R KS AT T H E PR NTI N G , 6 S U L E G A R OAD . 4 , PA O D PR E FAC E . IN 1 0 1 ublished 9 I p The B urmese Calendar . It was written in Ireland , and in the preface I admitted that I had not had access to the best sources of . information I can claim that the book was not inaccurate , but it was i n . Pon n a s complete I have since made the acq uaintance of the chief in M andalay , and have learned a good deal more on the subject of the calendar , chiefly U Wiza a from y of Mandalay and Saya Maung M aung of Kemmendine , to whom my acknowledgments are due . I therefore contemplated issuing a second edition , but when I applied myself to the task of revision I found it was desirable re- to write a good deal of the book , and to enlarge its scope by including the Arakanese Calendar . The title of the book is therefore changed . My object has been to make the book intelligible and useful to both E uropeans and Burmans . This must be my excuse if some paragraphs seem to one class or another of readers to enter too much into elementary details . I have endeavoured firstly to describe the B urmese and Arakanese Calendars as they are . Secondly , I have shown that an erroneous estimate of the len gth of the year has introduced errors which have defeated the intentions of the designers of the calendar , and I have made suggestions for reform . Thirdly , I have compiled tables by which English dates may be translated into B urmese dates and vice versa . Table I for past years and Tables I I and I I I for future years embrace a period of 2 62 years . For any day within this period the B urmese date equivalent m a to the given English date , or vice versa , y readily be ascertained by the use . of Table IX , combined with Table I or I I or I I I as the case may be The method is described i n the notes on Table IX at page 39 . C O RRIG E N DA . Since going to press the following errors have been discovered . Page 7 . Paragraph 35 . For read 8 . Page Paragraph 39 . Line 7 . To the figures 2 9 5 30 5 83 add fouf m . 2 1 . 2 8 ore places of decimals , viz , 47 The figures will read , 9 5 305 32 1 47 . 8 8 6 S ame page and paragraph Line . For 5 4 , read 1 1 6 — -3 Page . Paragraph 5 9 . For read 25 25 2 . Page 5 Footnote . For 45 0 read 479 . 2 . 6 Page 7 Columns 5 and . The figures 9 7 1 should be Lone line lower d 1 own , opposite the B urmese year 2 9 1 . 1 00 The figures 3 should be one line lower down , opposite the B urmese 1 0 ;year 3 7 . 8 The figures 9 4 should be one line lower down , opposite [the Burmese 1 y ear 337 . I m ust also admit that i n paragraphs 8 1 and 8 2 the expression reduce to r days is not quite correct or appropriate , and may make the parag aphs some ‘ fl VVhat obscure . The subject is very brie y and incompletely dealt with in Than deikta . 8 Th kd n Also in paragraph 9 I om itted to give a rule for finding the o adei . Tha ndeikta 0m n Y I t is very si mple The rule in is T 3 , z 77: n 1 2 Y . - In the particular case considered 4 , and T 3 A . M . B . I . TA BLE O F CO NTENTS . U CHAPTE R I . I NTRO D CTIO N D E FIN IT IO N S I I . E E E S C PT T H E L E I I I . G N RA L D RI ION O F CA N DAR E H S O F C U L I V . M T OD CA L ATIO N FE C S U G G E S S E F M V . D E T , AN D S TIO N FOR R OR E S T H E L E S V I . N OT ON TAB T AB LES . 1 2 A . Elements of the B urmese Calendar for 7 years , from D 1 1 0 . E . 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 739 to 9 , B to 2 7 Elements of the B urmese Calendar calculated by Tha nde ikta 2 . D . 1 0 2 000 . E . 1 2 1 for 9 future years , from A 9 9 to , B 7 to 1 362 E O f C 2 lements the B urmese alendar for 9 future years , from . 1 0 2 0 0 0 . E . 1 2 1 1 62 A D 9 9 to , B 7 to 3 , as proposed to be ’ Chese a u x s c 1 0 0 com m n regulated by de ycle of 4 years , e c E 1 8 1 ing from B . 2 2 62 D Elements of the Arakanese Calendar for years , from A . 1 2 00 0 . E . 1 1 0 1 1 6 739 to , B to 3 2 L ab i - 2 000 Arakanese Wazo y week day for years , from A. D . 2 6 8 . E . 1 000 639 to 3 , B to 2 ’ a de in - T hokd , Week day and Moon s longitude at the end of 1 . E . the 4th didi of Second Wazo , i n watat years , from B 1 62 T ha nde ikta 1 2 1 5 to 3 , calculated by Comparison of epacts , as found by European and by M aka ranta methods L a wé V I I I . Comparison of mean new moon and Burmese Civil g , every month for 29 years English dates corresponding to the first day of each B urmese month Week-day of any given day in each B urmese month T HE BURME S E 81 ARA KA N ES E C A LE N DA RS . PT E R I C H A . I N T R O D U C T I O N . 1 . O f Of natural measures time , denoted by revolutions and rotations of - t he heavenly bodies , the best known and most i mportant are the year , the l unation or synodic month , and the day . The principal artificial measures are - O f the the solar month (one twelfth a year) , the week , the hour , the minute , and second . i 2 . For a descr ption of the di fferent measures of the year and month (tropical , sidereal and anomalistic years , synodic , sidereal , anomalistic , tropical and nodical months) the reader is referred to text books of astronomy . Such a description would be too lengthy to insert here . 3 . The tropical year , lunation and day vary slightly in length , but none of - them is ever an even multiple or sub multiple of another . Therefore the problem of con s tructing a calendar to measure time by these three units is a very com E ae plex one . I n urope , j ulius C sar simplified it enormously by abandoning the l unation altogether , and dividing the year into twelve artificial solar months without any remainder . This was not done in Asia , where lunations are still used . 4 . Other methods of Simpl ifying the problem are a T O ( ) reckon by mean or average years and lunations , instead of b y the actual revolutions of the earth and moon , the periods of wh ich vary slightly . b 0 ( ) T postpone fractions of a day , and reckon each lunar month and each year as commencing at midnight , the accumulated fractions being added to the month or year periodically w hen they amount to one day . (6 ) To add the accumulated fractions of months and days not c w exa tly hen they amount to integers , but at regularly recur O u ring intervals , the principle of averages and by the aid of cycles w hich are more or less accurate common multiples of s s . days , lunation and year These methods have been adopted to varying extents at different times and different parts of Asia , as will be seen later . a e a r 2 T he Bu rm e se a n d A r ka n e s C l e nd a s . is s 5 . The B urmese calendar e sentially a B uddhist one , but the methods of computing it are derived from H ind u books . A few word s about the Hindu calendar are therefore necessary . “ 6 . 1 D ikshi I n paragraph 7 of The I ndian Calendar , by Sewell and t, is - a list of some of the best known H indu works on astronomy . The length of the f vear is di fferently estimated in di ferent works . The principal ones which seem to have been used in B urma are the O riginal Surya Siddhanta and the present d Sur v a Si dhanta .