been the head of the Málavas who under the new constitution became the first Málava sovereign and his reign-dates be those of the new Málava era? Against this we know from a Násik inscription of Ushavadáta [79] that Nahapána was not a Málava himself but an opponent of the Málavas as he sent Ushavadáta to help a tribe of Kshatriyas called Uttamabhadras whom the Málavas had attacked. Further a chronological examination of the early ruling dynasties of Gujarát does not favour the identification of the Kshatrapa era with the Málava era. The available information regarding the three dynasties the Kshatrapas the Guptas and the Valabhis, is universally admitted to prove that they followed one another in chronological succession. The latest known Kshatrapa date is 310. Even after this we find the name of a later Kshatrapa king whose date is unknown but may be estimated at about 320. If we take this Kshatrapa 320 to be in the Vikrama Samvat, its equivalent is A.D. 264. In consequence of several new discoveries the epoch of the Gupta era has been finally settled to be A.D. 319. It is further settled that the first Gupta conqueror of Málwa and Gujarát was Chandragupta II. [80] the date of his conquest of Málwa being Gupta 80 (A.D. 399). Counting the Kshatrapa dates in the Samvat era this gives a blank of (399 - 264 = ) 135 years between the latest Kshatrapa date and the date of Chandragupta's conquest of Gujarát to fill which we have absolutely no historical information. On the other hand in support of the view that the Kshatrapa era is the Saka era the Káthiáváda coins of the Gupta king Kumáragupta son of Chandragupta dated 100 Gupta closely resemble the coins of the latest Kshatrapa kings, the workmanship proving that the two styles of coin are close in point of time. Thus taking the Kshatrapa era to be the Saka era the latest Kshatrapa date is 320 + 78 = A.D. 398, which is just the date (A.D. 399) of Chandragupta's conquest of Málwa and Gujarát. For these reasons, and in the absence of reasons to the contrary, it seems proper to take the dates in Ushavadáta's and Ayáma's inscriptions as in the era which began with Nahapána's conquest of Gujarát, namely the Saka era whose initial date is A.D. 78.