[Footnote 40]: The meaning of these inscriptions, which were formerly believed to be Buddhist, was first made clear by Dr. Bhangvânlâl's Indrâji's careful discussion in the Actes du Vlième Congrès Internat. des Orientalistes Sect. Ary. pp. 135-159. H; first recognised the true names of the King Khâravela and his predecessors and shewed that Khâravela and his wife were patrons of the Jainas. We have to thank him for the information that the inscription contains a date in the Maurya Era. I have thoroughly discussed his excellent article in the Oesterreichischen Monatsschrift, Bd. X, S. 231 ff. and have there given my reasons for differing from him on an important point, namely, the date of the beginning of the Maurya Era, which, according to his view begins with the conquest of Kalim[postvocalic]
ga by Aśoka about 255 B. C. Even yet I find it impossible to accept that the expression, "in the hundred and sixty fifth year of the era of the Maurya Kings", can mean anything else than that 164 years have passed between the thirteenth year of the rule of Khâravela and the anointing of the first Maurya King Chandrugupta. Unfortunately it is impossible to fix the year of the latter occurrence, or to say more than that it took place between the years 322 and 312 B.C. The date given in Khâravela's inscription cannot therefore be more closely fixed than that it lies between 156 and 147 B.C. I now add to my former remarks--that appeals to the Arhat and Siddha appear also in Jaina inscriptions from Mathurâ and may be taken as a certain mark of the sect. Thus it is worthy of note that even in Hiuen Tsiang's time, (Beal, Si-yu-ki, Vol. II, p. 205) Kalinga was one of the chief seats of the Jainas.
[Footnote 41]: This inscription also was first made known by Dr Bhagwanlal Indiaji, loc. cit. p. 143.
[Footnote 42]: Dr. Bühler's long note (p. 48) on these inscriptions was afterwards expanded in the Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes Bd. I, S. 165-180; Bd. II, S. 141-146. Bd. III, S. 233-240; and Bd. IV, S. 169-173. The argument of these papers is summarised in. Appendix. A, pp. 48 ff.--Ed.
[Footnote 43]: See Weber's and Barth's opinions quoted above in note I, p. 23.
[Footnote 44]: What follows is from the author's later and fuller paper in Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Bd. I, S. 170 f., but abridged.--Ed.
[Footnote 45]: The word nirvartana has the meaning of 'in obedience to the order', or 'in consequence of the request'. It occurs again in the Prakrit form nivatanam[postvocalic]
below, in No. 10 (pl. xiv) and it has stood in No. 4, and at the end of l. 2 of No. 7, where the rubbing has nirva. It is also found in the next: Arch. Sur. Rep. vol. XX, pl. v, No. 6.
[Footnote 46]: In reading the first figure as 60, I follow Sir A. Cunningham. I have never seen the sign, in another inscription. The characters of the inscription are so archaic that this date may refer to an earlier epoch than the Indo-Skythian.
[Footnote 47]: Sac. Bks. East, vol. XXII p. 292.