Consider the following eras in early India : 1. Shaka era 2. Kalachuri era 3. Vikrama era 4. Harsha era 5. Gupta era Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of the above eras starting with the earliest?

Correct — D, 3 - 1 - 2 - 5 - 4. Placing the five epochs on a line settles it. The Vikrama era begins in 58 BCE, the earliest of the five. The Shaka era begins in 78 CE. The Kalachuri or Chedi era begins in 248 CE. The Gupta era begins in 319-320 CE, the year Chandragupta I is taken to have been crowned. The Harsha era begins in 606 CE, the year of Harshavardhana's accession at Thanesar. That gives Vikrama, Shaka, Kalachuri, Gupta, Harsha — numbered in the paper's list as 3, 1, 2, 5, 4.

• (a)1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 — This is the order in which the paper happens to list them, with Shaka first and Vikrama third. Vikrama is the earlier of those two by 136 years.
• (b)3 - 1 - 5 - 2 - 4 — The first two are right, but this puts the Gupta era of 319-320 CE before the Kalachuri era of 248 CE.
• (c)2 - 3 - 1 - 4 - 5 — This opens with the Kalachuri era of 248 CE, three centuries after the Vikrama epoch and nearly two after the Shaka.

Indian chronology runs on several era reckonings, each fixed to a founding event and each still met in inscriptions and manuscripts. Vikrama Samvat, from 58 BCE, is traditionally linked to a king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. The Shaka era, from 78 CE, is associated with the Kushana ruler Kanishka or with the Western Kshatrapas and is India's national calendar today. The Chedi or Kalachuri era begins in 248 CE and is used across central India and the Deccan. The Gupta era begins in 319-320 CE, and the Harsha era in 606 CE.

An ordering item is safest when each epoch is converted to a single number on the Common Era scale before anything is compared: −58, +78, +248, +320, +606. The two that trip candidates are Vikrama and Shaka, because Vikrama Samvat numbers run ahead of the Common Era while Shaka years run behind it, and the arithmetic of adding 78 to one and subtracting 57 from the other pulls attention away from which epoch actually came first. The Kalachuri era is the least familiar of the five and is often misplaced next to the Gupta.

• Vikrama era: 58 BCE. Shaka era: 78 CE. Kalachuri or Chedi era: 248 CE. Gupta era: 319-320 CE. Harsha era: 606 CE.
• The Shaka era is the basis of the Indian national calendar adopted in 1957.
• The Gupta epoch is taken from the accession of Chandragupta I.
• The Harsha era dates from Harshavardhana's accession at Thanesar in 606 CE.
• To convert a Vikrama year to CE subtract 57; to convert a Shaka year, add 78.

• Assuming the paper's own numbering reflects chronological order.
• Placing the Shaka era before the Vikrama because 78 CE looks smaller than 58 BCE.
• Confusing the Kalachuri era of 248 CE with the Gupta era of 319-320 CE.

A straight chronological ordering of era epochs, where writing each as a single dated number removes all the difficulty.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Gupta era is reckoned from about

  • (a)58 BCE
  • (b)78 CE
  • (c)248 CE
  • (d)320 CE

  Answer(d) 320 CE — taken from the accession of Chandragupta I.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A record dated Shaka 400 corresponds to which year of the Common Era?

  • (a)322 CE
  • (b)400 CE
  • (c)478 CE
  • (d)522 CE

  Answer(c) 478 CE — add the epoch of 78 to the Shaka year.