The History of Antiquity, Vol. 4 (of 6)Duncker, Max
History
The History of Antiquity, Vol. 4 (of 6)
Duncker, Max
History, Ancient
of 25 years before him would bring us to the year 1200 B.C. as the
beginning of the year of Parikshit. The statement of the Puranas that he
ascended the throne in the year 3102 B.C. and that the Kaliyuga began
with that year cannot therefore be maintained. And this date is
contradicted not only by the results of an examination of the lists of
the kings of Magadha, of the Koçalas and Bharatas, but also by a
statement in the Vishnu-Purana. This tells us that, from the beginning
of the Kaliyuga to the date when the first Nanda ascended the throne of
Magadha, a period of 1015 years elapsed.[133] The accession of this king
we can place with tolerable certainty in the year 403 B.C.; and thus,
even on the evidence of the Vishnu-Purana, the Kaliyuga began in the
year 1418 B.C., and Parikshit ascended the throne of the Bharatas in
that year. It is not impossible, therefore, that the 32 reigns which the
Matsya-Purana gives to the Barhadrathas may have filled up the time from
the year 1418 to the year 803 B.C. (615 years).[134] Before the first
Barhadrathas, Sahadeva, Jarasandha, and Brihadratha are said to have
reigned over Magadha. Hence the foundation of the kingdom of Magadha
would have to be placed, at the earliest, in the year 1480 B.C., and not
earlier; but rather, if we follow the comparison of the parallel reigns
as above, a century later. If the great movement towards the east and in
the east was brought to an end at the accession of Parikshit and the
commencement of the Kaliyuga in the year 1418 B.C., and thus in the
course of the fifteenth or fourteenth century the foundation could be
laid for the kingdom of Magadha, _i.e._ for a great civic community far
to the east, the migration into the regions of the Yamuna and the upper
Ganges must have commenced at the least about the year 1500 B.C. We have
already referred to the fact that the colonisation of such extensive
districts, the foundation and fortification of large kingdoms in them,
which was moreover rendered still more difficult by severe contests
among the immigrants, could not have been the work of a few decades of
years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account