The Cycles of Jupiter.
We come now to certain reckonings consisting of cycles, and will take
first the cycles of Guru or Brihaspati, Jupiter. This planet, a very
conspicuous object in eastern skies, requires a period of 4332.6 days, =
50.4 days less than twelve Julian years, to make a circuit of the
heavens, and has provided the Hindus with two reckonings, each in more
than one variety; a cycle of twelve years, and a cycle of sixty years.
The years of Jupiter, in all their varieties, are usually styled
_samvatsara_; and it is convenient to use this term here, in order to
preserve clearly the distinction between them and the solar and lunar
years. The _samvatsaras_ have no divisions of their own; the months,
days, &c., cited with them are those of the ordinary solar or lunar
calendar, as the case may be.
The 12-years Cycle.
The older reckoning of Jupiter appears to be that of the 12-years cycle,
which is found in two varieties; in both of them the _samvatsaras_ bear,
according to certain rules which need not be explained here, the same
names with the lunar months, Chaitra, Vaisakha, &c. In one variety, each
_samvatsara_ runs from one of the planet's heliacal risings--that is,
from the day on which it becomes visible as a morning star on the
eastern horizon--to the next such rising; and the length of such a
_samvatsara_, according to the Hindu data, is from 392 to 405 days, with
an average of 399 days. Inscriptional instances of the use of this cycle
are found in six of the Gupta records of Northern India, ranging from
A.D. 475 to 528.
In the other variety of the 12-years cycle, which is mentioned in
astronomical works from the time of Aryabhata onwards (b. A.D. 476), the
_samvatsaras_ are regulated by Jupiter's course with reference to his
mean motion and mean longitude: a _samvatsara_ of this variety commences
when Jupiter thus enters a sign of the zodiac, and lasts for the time
occupied by him in traversing that sign from the same point of view; and
the period taken by him to do that--that is, the duration of such a
_samvatsara_--is slightly in excess, according to the Hindu data, of
361.02 days, which amount is very close to the actual fact, 361.05 days.
Inscriptional instances of the use of this cycle are perhaps found in
two records of Southern India of the Kadamba series, belonging to about
A.D. 575.
The 12-years mean-sign cycle seems to be still used in some parts. And
the heliacal risings of Jupiter, as also, indeed, those of the other
planets, are shown in almanacs for astrological purposes. In either
variety, however, the 12-years cycle is now chiefly of antiquarian
interest.
The 60-years cycle.
The cycle of Jupiter now in general use is a cycle of sixty years, the
_samvatsaras_ of which bear certain special names, Prabhava, Vibhava,
Sukla, Pramoda, &c., again in accordance with certain rules which we
need not explain here. This cycle exists in three varieties.
According to the original constitution of this cycle, the _samvatsaras_
are determined as in the second or mean-sign variety of the 12-years
cycle: each _samvatsara_ commences when Jupiter enters a sign of the
zodiac with reference to his mean motion and longitude; and it lasts for
slightly more than 361.02 days. This variety is traced back in
inscriptional records to A.D. 602, and is still used in Northern India.
Now, the _samvatsaras_ are calculated by means of the astronomical solar
year commencing with the Mesha-samkranti, the entrance of the sun into
the sign Mesha (Aries). The process gives the number of the _samvatsara_
last expired before any particular Mesha-samkranti, with a remainder
denoting the portion of the current _samvatsara_ elapsed up to the same
time; and the remainder, reduced to months, &c., gives the moment of the
commencement of the current _samvatsara_, by reckoning back from the
Mesha-samkranti. As the result, apparently, of unwillingness to take the
trouble to work out the full details, at some time about A.D. 800 a
practice arose, in some quarters, according to which that _samvatsara_
of the 60-years cycle which was current at any particular
Mesha-samkranti was taken as coinciding with the astronomical solar year
beginning at that _samkranti_, and with the Chaitradi lunar year
belonging to that same solar year. And this practice set up a lunisolar
variety of the cycle, in connexion with which we have to notice the
following point. While the duration of a mean-sign _samvatsara_ is
closely about 361.02 days, the length of the Hindu astronomical solar
year is closely about 365.258 days. It consequently happens, after every
85 or 86 years, that a mean-sign _samvatsara_ begins and ends between
two successive Mesha-samkrantis. In the mean-sign cycle, such a
_samvatsara_ retains its existence unaffected; and the names Prabhava,
Vibhava, &c., run on without any interruption. According to the
lunisolar system, however, the position is different; the _samvatsara_
beginning and ending between the two Mesha-samkrantis is expunged or
suppressed, in the sense that its name is omitted and is replaced by the
next name on the list. The second variety of the 60-years cycle, thus
started, ran on alongside of the mean-sign variety, and, being
eventually transferred, with that variety, to Northern India, is now
known as the northern lunisolar variety. It preserves a connexion
between the _samvatsaras_ and the movements of Jupiter: but the
connexion is an imperfect one; and both in this variety, and still more
markedly in the remaining one still to be described, the _samvatsaras_
practically became mere appellations for the solar and lunar years.
Meanwhile, just after A.D. 900, another development occurred, and there
was started a third variety, which is now known as the southern
lunisolar variety. The precise year in which this happened depends on
the particular authority that we follow. If we take the elements adopted
in the Surya-Siddhanta as the proper data for that time and for the
locality--Western India below the Narbada--to which the early history of
the cycle belongs, the position was as follows. At the Mesha-samkranti
in A.D. 908 there was current, by the mean-sign system, the _samvatsara_
No. 2, Vibhava: but No. 4, Pramoda, was current by the same system at
the Mesha-samkranti in A.D. 909; and No. 3, Sukla, began and ended
between the two Mesha-samkrantis. Accordingly, No. 2, Vibhava, was the
lunisolar _samvatsara_ for the Meshadi solar year and the Chaitradi
lunar year commencing in A.D. 908; and by the strict lunisolar system,
which was adhered to by some people and is now known as the northern
lunisolar system, it was followed in A.D. 909 by No. 4, Pramoda, the
name of the intermediate _samvatsara_, No. 3, Sukla, being passed over.
On the other hand, whether through oversight, or whatever the reason may
have been, by other people the name of No. 3, Sukla, was not passed
over, but that _samvatsara_ was taken as the lunisolar _samvatsara_ for
the Meshadi solar year and the Chaitradi lunar year beginning in A.D.
909, and No. 4, Pramoda, followed it in A.D. 910. On subsequent similar
occasions, also, there was, in the same quarters, no passing over of
the name of any _samvatsara_. And this practice established itself in
Southern India, to the exclusion there of the mean-sign and the northern
lunisolar varieties; the discrepancy between the last-mentioned variety
and the variety thus set up continuing, of course, to increase by one
_samvatsara_ after every 85 or 86 years. In this variety, the southern
lunisolar variety, all connexion between the _samvatsaras_ and the
movements of Jupiter has now been lost.
The present position of the 60-years cycle in its three varieties may
be illustrated thus. In Northern India, by the mean-sign system the
_samvatsara_ No. 46, Paridhavin, began, according to different
authorities, in August, September or October, A.D. 1899. Consequently,
by the northern or expunging lunisolar system, that same _samvatsara_,
No. 46, Paridhavin, coincided with the Meshadi civil solar year
beginning with or just after 12th April, and with the Chaitradi lunar
year beginning with 31st March, A.D. 1900. But by the southern or
non-expunging lunisolar system those same solar and lunar years were
No. 34, Sarvarin.
The treatment of the cycles of Jupiter in the Sanskrit books shows
that it was primarily from the astrological point of view that they
appealed to the Hindus; it was only as a secondary consideration that
they acquired anything of a chronological nature. For the practical
application of any of them to historical purposes, it is, of course,
necessary that, along with the mention of a _samvatsara_, there should
always be given the year of some known era, or some other specific
guide to the exact period to which that _samvatsara_ is to be
referred. But it is fortunately the case that the _samvatsaras_ have
been but rarely cited in the inscriptional records without such a
guide, of some kind or another.
The Saptarshi reckoning.
The Saptarshi reckoning is used in Kashmir, and in the Kangra district
and some of the Hill states on the south-east of Kashmir; some nine
centuries ago it was also in use in the Punjab, and apparently in Sind.
In addition to being cited by such expressions as Saptarshi-samvat, "the
year (so-and-so) of the Saptarshis," and Sastra-samvatsara, "the year
(so-and-so) of the scriptures," it is found mentioned as Lokakala, "the
time or era of the people," and by other terms which mark it as a vulgar
reckoning. And it appears that modern popular names for it are
Pahari-samvat and Kachcha-samvat, which we may render by "the Hill era"
and "the crude era." The years of this reckoning are lunar, Chaitradi;
and the months are _purnimanta_ (ending with the full-moon). As matters
stand now, the reckoning has a theoretical initial point in 3077 B.C.;
and the year 4976, more usually called simply 76, began in A.D. 1900;
but there are some indications that the initial point was originally
placed one year earlier.
The idea at the bottom of this reckoning is a belief that the
Saptarshis, "the Seven Rishis or Saints," Marichi and others, were
translated to heaven, and became the stars of the constellation Ursa
Major, in 3076 B.C. (or 3077); and that these stars possess an
independent movement of their own, which, referred to the ecliptic,
carries them round at the rate of 100 years for each _nakshatra_ or
twenty-seventh division of the circle. Theoretically, therefore, the
Saptarshi reckoning consists of cycles of 2700 years; and the
numbering of the years should run from 1 to 2700, and then commence
afresh. In practice, however, it has been treated quite differently.
According to the general custom, which has distinctly prevailed in
Kashmir from the earliest use of the reckoning for chronological
purposes, and is illustrated by Kalhana in his history of Kashmir, the
_Rajataramgini_, written in A.D. 1148-1150, the numeration of the
years has been centennial; whenever a century has been completed, the
numbering has not run on 101, 102, 103, &c., but has begun again with
1, 2, 3, &c. Almanacs, indeed, show both the figures of the century
and the full figures of the entire reckoning, which is treated as
running from 3076 B. C., not from 376 B.C. as the commencement of a
new cycle, the second; thus, an almanac for the year beginning in A.D.
1793 describes that year as "the year 4869 according to the course of
the Seven Rishis, and similarly the year 69." And elsewhere sometimes
the full. figures are found, sometimes the abbreviated ones; thus,
while a manuscript written in A.D. 1648 is dated in "the year 24" (for
4724), another, written in A.D. 1224 is dated in "the year 4300." But,
as in the _Rajataramgini_, so also in inscriptions, which range from
A.D. 1204 onwards, only the abbreviated figures have hitherto been
found. Essentially, therefore, the Saptarshi reckoning is a centennial
reckoning, by suppressed or omitted hundreds, with its earlier
centuries commencing in 3076, 2976 B.C., and so on, and its later
centuries commencing in A.D. 25, 125, 225, &c.; on precisely the same
lines with those according to which we may use, e.g. 98 to mean A.D.
1798, and 57 to mean A.D. 1857, and 9 to mean A.D. 1909. And the
practical difficulties attending the use of such a system for
chronological purposes are obvious; isolated dates recorded in such a
fashion cannot be allocated without some explicit clue to the
centuries to which they belong. Fortunately, however, as regards
Kashmir, we have the necessary guide in the facts that Kalhana
recorded his own date in the Saka era as well as in this reckoning,
and gave full historical details which enable us to determine
unmistakably the equivalent of the first date in this reckoning cited
by him, and to arrange with certainty the chronology presented by him
from that time.
The belief underlying this reckoning according to the course of the
Seven Rishis is traced back in India, as an astrological detail, to at
least the 6th century A.D. But the reckoning was first adopted for
chronological purposes in Kashmir and at some time about A.D. 800; the
first recorded date in it is one of "the year 89," meaning 3889, =
A.D. 813-814, given by Kalhana. It was introduced into India between
A.D. 925 and 1025.
The Grahaparivritti cycle.
The Grahaparivritti is a reckoning which is used in the southernmost
parts of Madras, particularly in the Madura district. It consists of
cycles of 90 Meshadi solar years, and is said, in conformity with its
name, which means "the revolution of planets," to be made up by the sum
of the days in 1 revolution of the sun, 22 of Mercury, 5 of Venus, 15 of
Mars, 11 of Jupiter, and 29 of Saturn. The first cycle is held to have
commenced in 24 B.C., the second in A.D. 67, and so on; and, in
accordance with that view, the year 34, which began in A.D. 1900, was
the 34th year of the 22nd cycle.
No inscriptional use of this cycle has come to notice. There seems no
substantial reason for believing that the reckoning was really started
in 24 B.C. The alleged constitution of the cycle, which appears to be
correct within about twelve days, and might possibly be made
apparently exact, suggests an astrological origin. And, if a guess may
be hazarded, we would conjecture that the reckoning is an offshoot of
the southern lunisolar variety of the 60-years cycle of Jupiter, and
had its real origin in some year in which a Prabhava _samvatsara_ of
that variety commenced, and to which the first year of a
Grahaparivritti cycle can be referred: that was the case in A.D. 967
and at each subsequent 180th year.
The Onko cycle.
In part of the Ganjam district, Madras, there is a reckoning, known as
the Onko or Anka, i.e. literally "the number or numbers," consisting of
lunar years, each commencing with Bhadrapada sukla 12, which run
theoretically in cycles of 59 years. But the reckoning has the
peculiarity that, whether the explanation is to be found in a
superstition about certain numbers or in some other reason, the year 6,
and any year the number of which ends with 6 or 0 (except the year 10),
is omitted from the numbering; so that, for instance, the year 7 follows
next after the year 5. The origin of the reckoning is not known. But the
use of it seems to be traceable in records of the Ganga kings who
reigned in that part of the country and in Orissa in the 12th and
following centuries. And the initial day, Bhadrapada sukla 12, which
figures again in the Vilayati and Amli reckoning of Orissa (see farther
on), is perhaps to be accounted for on the view that this day was the
day of the anointment, in the 7th century, of the first Ganga king,
Rajasimha-Indravarman I.
The Maghi reckoning.
In the Chittagong district, Bengal, there is a solar reckoning, known by
the name Maghi, of which the year 1262 either began or ended in A.D.
1900; so that it has an initial point in A.D. 639 or 638. It appears
that Chittagong was conquered by the king of Arakan in the 9th century,
and remained usually in the possession of the Maghs--the Arakanese or a
class of them--till A.D. 1666, when it was finally annexed to the Mogul
empire. In these circumstances it is plain that the Magh reckoning took
its name from the Maghs; its year, which is Meshadi, from Bengal; and
its numbering from the Sakkaraj, the ordinary era of Arakan and Burma,
which has its initial point in A.D. 638.
Hinduized offshoots of the Hijra era.
The Hijra (Hegira) era, the reckoning from the flight of Mahomet, which
dates from the 16th of July, A.D. 662, is, of course, used by the
Mahommedans in India, and is customarily shown, with the details of its
calendar, in the Hindu almanacs. An account of it does not fall within
the scope of this article. But we have to mention it because we come now
to certain Hinduized reckonings which are hybrid offshoots of it. We
need only say, however, in explanation of some of the following figures,
that the years of the Hijra era are purely lunar, consisting of twelve
lunar months and no more; with the result that the initial day of the
year is always travelling backwards through the Julian year, and makes a
complete circuit in thirty-four years. The reckonings derived from it,
which we have to describe, have apparent initial points in A.D. 591,
593, 594, and 600. They had their real origin, however, in the 14th,
16th, and 17th centuries.
The emperor Akbar succeeded to the throne in February, A.D. 1556, in the
Hijra year 963, which ran from 16th November 1555 to 3rd November 1556.
Amongst the reforms aimed at by him and his officials, one was to
abolish, or at least minimize, by introducing uniformity of numbering,
the confusion due to the existence of various reckonings, both
Mahommedan and Hindu. And one step taken in that direction was to assign
to the Hindu year the same number with the Hijra year. It is believed
that this was first done by the Persian clerks of the revenue and
financial offices at an early time in Akbar's reign, and that it
received authoritative sanction in the Hijra year 971 (21st August 1563
to 8th August 1564). At any rate, the innovation was certainly first
made in Upper India; and the numbering started there was introduced into
Bengal and those parts as Akbar extended his dominions, but without
interfering with local customs as to the commencement of the Hindu year.
The result is that we now have the following reckonings, the years of
which are used as revenue years:--
The Fasli reckoning of Upper India.
In the United Provinces and the Punjab, there is an Asvinadi lunar
reckoning, known as the Fasli, according to which the year 1308 began
in A.D. 1900; so that the reckoning has an apparent initial point in
A.D. 593. The name of this reckoning is derived from _fasl_, "a
harvest," of which there are two; the _fasl-i-rabi_ or "spring
harvest," commencing in February, and the _fasl-i-kharif_, or "autumn
harvest" commencing in October. The years of this reckoning begin with
the _purnimanta_ Asvina krishna 1, which now falls in September. A
peculiar feature of it is that, though the months are lunar, they are
not divided into fortnights, and the numbering of the days runs on, as
in the Mahommedan month, from the first to the end of the month
without being affected by any expunction and repetition of _tithis_;
and, for this and other reasons, it seems that in this case a new form
of Hindu year was devised, of such a kind as to enable the
agriculturists to realize their produce and pay their assessments
comfortably within the year. The Hijra era has, of course, now drawn
somewhat widely away from this and the other reckonings derived from
it; the Hijra year commencing in A.D. 1900 was 1318, ten years in
advance of the Fasli year.
The Vilayati-san and Amli-san of Orissa.
In Orissa and some other parts of Bengal, there is a reckoning, or two
almost identical reckonings, the facts of which are not quite clear.
According to one account, the term Amli-san, "the official year," is
only another name of the Vilayati-san, "the year received from the
_vilayat_ or province of Hindustan." But we are also told that the
Vilayati-san is a Kanyadi solar year, whereas the Amli-san, though it
too has solar months, changes its number on the lunar day Bhadrapada
sukla 12 (mentioned above in connexion with the Onko cycle of Orissa),
which comes sometimes in Kanya, but sometimes in the preceding month,
Simha. Elsewhere, again, it is the Vilayati-san which is shown as
changing its number on Bhadrapada sukla 12. In either case, the year
1308 of this reckoning, also, began in A.D. 1900; and so, like the
Fasli of Upper India, this reckoning, too, has an apparent initial
point in A.D. 593. The day Bhadrapada sukla 12 now usually falls in
September, but may come during the last three days of August. The
first day of the solar month Kanya now falls on 15th or 16th
September.
The Bengali-san.
In Bengal there is in more general use a Meshadi solar reckoning,
known as the Bengali-san or "Bengal year," according to which the year
1307 began in A.D. 1900; so that this reckoning has an apparent
initial point in A.D. 594. The initial day of the year is the first
day of the solar month Mesha, now falling on 12th or 13th April.
The Fasli of Bombay and Madras.
The system of Fasli reckonings was introduced into Southern India
under the emperor Shah Jahan, at some time in the Hijra year 1046,
which ran from 26th May, A.D. 1636, to 15th May, A.D. 1637. But the
numbering which was current in Northern India was not taken over. A
new start was made; and, as the year of the Hijra had gone back,
during the intervening seventy-three Julian years, by two years and a
quarter (less by only five days) from the date of its commencement in
the year 971, the Fasli reckoning of Southern India began with a
nominal year 1046 (instead of 971 + 73 = 1044), commencing in A.D.
1636. The Fasli reckoning of Southern India exists in two varieties.
The years of the Bombay Fasli are popularly known as Mrigasal years,
because they commence when the sun enters the _nakshatra_ Mrigasiras,
which occurs now on 6th or 7th June: the reckoning seems to have taken
over this initial day from the Maratha Sur-san (see below). The Fasli
years of Madras originally began at the Karka-samkranti, the nominal
summer solstice: under the British government, the commencement of
them was first fixed to 12th July, on which day the _samkranti_ was
then usually occurring; but it was afterwards changed to 1st July as a
more convenient date. The years of the Bombay and Madras Fasli have no
division of their own into months, fortnights, &c.; the year is always
used along with one or other of the real Hindu reckonings, and the
details are cited according to that reckoning.
The Maratha Sur-san or Arabi-san.
Another offshoot of the Hijra era, but one of earlier date and not
belonging to the class of Fasli reckonings, is found, in the Maratha
country, in the Sur-san or Shahur-san, "the year of months," also
known as Arabi-san, "the Arab year." This reckoning, which is met with
chiefly in old _sanads_ or charters, appears to have branched off in
or closely about the Hijra year 745, which ran from 15th May, A.D.
1344, to 3rd May, A.D. 1345; but the exact circumstance in which it
originated is not known. The years of this reckoning begin, like those
of the Bombay Fasli, with the entrance of the sun into the _nakshatra_
Mrigasiras, which now occurs on 6th or 7th June; but the months and
days are those of the Hijra year. The Sur-san year 1301 began in A.D.
1900; and so the reckoning has an apparent initial point in A.D. 600.
A peculiarity attending this reckoning is that, whatever may be the
vernacular of a clerk, he uses the Arabic numeral words in reading out
the year; and the same words are given alongside of the figures in the
Hindu almanacs.
AUTHORITIES.--The Hindu astronomy had already begun to attract
attention before the close of the 18th century. The investigation,
however, of the calendar and the eras, along with the verification of
dates, was started by Warren, whose _Kala Sankalita_ was published in
1825. The inquiry was carried on by Prinsep in his _Useful Tables_
(1834-1836), by Cowasjee Patell in his _Chronology_ (1866), and by
Cunningham in his _Book of Indian Eras_ (1883). But Warren's
processes, though mostly giving accurate results, were lengthy and
troublesome; and calculations made on the lines laid down by his
successors gave results which might or might not be correct, and could
only be cited as approximate results. The exact calculation of Hindu
dates by easy processes was started by Shankar Balkrishna Dikshit, in
an article published in the _Indian Antiquary_, vol. 16 (1887). This
was succeeded by methods and tables devised by Jacobi, which were
published in the next volume of the same journal. There then followed
several contributions in the same line by other scholars, some for
exact, others for closely approximate, results, and some valuable
articles by Kielhorn on some of the principal Hindu eras and other
reckonings, which were published in the same journal, vols. 17 (1888)
to 26 (1897). And the treatment of the matter culminated for the time
being in the publication, in 1896, of Sewell and Dikshit's _Indian
Calendar_, which contains an appendix by Schram on eclipses of the sun
in India, and was supplemented in 1898 by Sewell's _Eclipses of the
Moon in India_. The present article is based on the above-mentioned
and various detached writings, supplemented by original research. For
the exact calculation of Hindu dates and the determination of the
European equivalents of them, use may be made either of Sewell and
Dikshit's works mentioned above, or of the improved tables by Jacobi
which were published in the _Epigraphia Indica_, vols. 1 and 2
(1892-1894). (J. F. F.)