The Indian calendar, with tables for the conversion of Hindu and Muhammadan into A.D. dates, and vice versa

^ kTHE INDIAN CALENDARTHE INDIAN CALENDAR CONVERSIONWITH TABLES FOR THE OF HINDU AND MUHAMMADAN INTO A.D. DATES, AND VICE VERSA ROBERT SEWELL Late Her Majesty's Indian Civil Service,of SANKARA BALKRISHNA DIKSHIT Traitiing College, Poona. INDIAWITH TABLES OF ECLIPSES VISIBLE IN BY Dr. ROBERT SCHRAM Vienna.Of LONDON Ltd.SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & Co., SquarePaternoster^ENTlt.'X Printed al the Motley J^ess, Amsterdam.; PREFACE. for the use, only of those engagedThis Volume is designed not in the decypherment of Indian inscriptions the compilation of Indian history, but also ofand Judicial Courts and Government Ofifices in India. Documents bearing dates prior to those given in any existing almanack are often produced before Courts of Justice as evidence of title ; and since forgeries, many of them of great antiquity, abound, it is necessary to have at hand means for testing and verifying the authenticity of these exhibits. Within the last ten years much light has been thrown on the subject of the Indian methods of time-reckoning by the pubHcations of Professor Dr. Schram, Professor Kielhorn, Dr. Fleet, Pandit SahkaraJacobi, Balkrishna Dikshit, and others but these, having only in scientific periodicals, are not readily accessible officialsappeared to in India. The Government of Madras, therefore, desiring to have a summary of the subject with Tables for ready reference, requested me to undertake the work. In process of time the scheme was widened, and in its present shape it embraces the whole of British India, receiving in that capacity the recognition of the Secretary of State for India. Besides containing a full explanation of the Indian chronological system, with the necessary tables, the volume is enriched by a set of Tables of Eclipses most kindly sent to me by Dr. Robert Schram of Vienna. In the earher stages of my labours I had the advantage of receiving much support and assistance from Dr. Burgess (late Director-General of the Arch.-eological Survey of India) to J. whom I desire to express my sincere thanks. After completing a large part of the calculations necessary for determining the elements of Table I., and drawing up the draft of an introductory treatise, I entered into correspondence with Mr. Sankara Balkrishna Dikshit, with the result that, after^a short interval, we agreed to complete the work as joint authors. The introductory treatise is mainly his, but I have added to it several explanatory paragraphs, amongst others those relating to astronomical phenomena. Tables XIV. and Madras.XV. were prepared by Mr. T. Lakshmiah Naidu of It is impossible over-estimate value Dr. Schram, which rendersto the of the work done by it now for the first time easy for anyone to ascertain the incidence, in time and place, of every solar eclipse occurring in India during the past 1600 years, but while thus briefly noting his services in the cause of science, I cannot neglect this opportunity ofexpressing to him my gratitude for his kindness to myself. S38499I must also tender my warm thanks for much invaluable help Mr.to 11. 11. Turner, Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, to Professor Kiclhorn, CLE., of Gottingen, and to Professor Jacobi. The Tables have been tested and re-tested, and we believe that they may be safely relied on for accuracy. No pains have been spared to secure this object. R. SEWELL. II. was onlyIt in September, 1893, that I became acquainted with Mr. R. Sewell, after he alreadyhad made much progress in the calculations necessary for the principal articles of Table I. of this work, and had almost finished a large portion of them. The idea then occurred to me that by inserting the a, h, c figures (cols. and23, 24, 25 of Table I.) which Mr. Sewell had already worked out for the initial days ofthe luni-solar years, but had not proposed to print in full, and by adding some of ProfessorJacobi's Tables published in the Indian Antiquary, not only could the exact moment of the beginning and end of all luni- solar tithis be calculated, but also the beginning and ending moments of the nakshatra, yoga, and karana for any day of any year; and again, that by giving the exact moment of the Mesha sankranti for each solar year the exact European equivalent for every solar date could also be determined. I therefore proceeded to work out the details for the Mesha sankrantis, and then framed rules and examples for the exact calculation of the required dates, for this purpose extending and modifying Professor Jacobi's Tables to suit my methods. Full explanation of the mode of calculation is given in the Text. The general scheme was originally propounded by M. Largeteau, but we have to thank Professor Jacobi for his publications which have formed the foundation on which we have built. My calculation for the moments of Mesha sankrantis, of mean intercalations of months (Mr. Sewell worked out the true intercalations), and of the samvatsaras of the cycle of Jupiter were carried out by simple methods of my own. Mr. Sewell had prepared the rough draft of a treatise giving an account of the Hindu and Muhammadan systems of reckoning, and collecting much of the information now embodied in the Text. But I found it necessary to re-write this, and to add a quantity of new matter. I am responsible for all information given in this work which is either new to European scholars, or which differs from that generally received by them. All points regarding which any difference of opinion seems possible are printed in footnotes, and not in the Text. They are not, of course, fully discussed as this is not a controversial work. Every precaution has been taken to avoid error, but all corrections of mistakes which may have crept in, as well as all suggestions for improvement in the future, will be gladly and thankfully received. BALKRISHNA DIKSHIT.S.