Important eras in Indian history – Ancient History

There are mainly 14 important eras in Indian history. Starting from Kali era (3101 BC) to the Raj Saka Era (1673 AD). List of all important eras in Indian history is given below –

Kali Era

• Kali era began from 3101 BC, 20 years after the end of Mahabharata.

Saptarshi / Luakika Era

• Saptarishi / Luakika era started from 3076 BC, after the end of kali era.

Vikrama/ Krita/ Malawa Era

• This era was began from 58/57 BC and commenced by Vikramaditya, the king of Ujjayani (Malawa) to commemorate the victory over sakas.

Saka Era

• Saka Era is one of the most important era in Indian history because our national calendar is based on this era.
• Saka era commenced by Kushan ruler Kanishka, on the occasion of his ascendence to the throne. This era is known as Salivahana Sakabda In South India.
• The Government of India adopted Saka era along with the Gregorian Calendar (1e. Julean Calendar/Christian Calendar) as National Calendar on 22 March, 1957 (1 Chaitra 1879 Saka)

Kalchuri Era

• Kalchuri era was started from 248 AD founded by Abhir king Ishwar Sen, later on used by Traikutaka ruler and Kalchuris of Chedi.

Gupta Era

• Gupta era Began from 319-20 AD founded by Gupta king Chandragupta- I, on the occasion of his ascendence to the throne.
• After the fall of the Gupta Empire, the Maitrakas of Valabhi used this gupta era calendar with a new name Valabhi Samvata. The beginning of Gupta era was confirmed by J.F.Fleet in 1887 AD.

Harsha Era

Harsha era was founded by Harshavardhana of Kannauj, in 606 AD on the occasion of his ascendence to the throne his ascendence to the throne.

 

Hijri Era

• Hijri era (622 AD) was founded by Umar, the second Caliphate of Khilafat empire to commemorate the hijrat (shift) from Macca to Madina by Hazrat Muhammad.
• This era is used in the Islamic lunar calendar, which begins its count from the Islamic new year in 622 AD. In the West world, this era is most commonly denoted as AH.

Kollam Era

• Kollan era was started in 825 AD and this era was use in Malabar (Kerala).

Nevari / Nepali Era

• Nepali Era was founded by Jaydeo mall in 879 AD. Nepal era appeared on coins, stone and cooper plate inscriptions, royal decrees, chronicles, Hindu and Buddhist manuscripts, legal documents.

Chalukya- Vikrama Era

• Chaluka- vikrama era was founded by Vikramaditya –VI, the king of Kalyani , on the occasion of his ascedence to the throne. Vkiramaditya – VI founded this era in 1076 AD.

Lakshmana Era

• Lakshmana era was founded by Sen ruler of Bengal. Lakshmana sen founded the lakshmana era in the year 1119 AD.

Ilahi Era

• Ilahi era was founded by Mughal ruler Akbar in 1584 AD. The names of the months in this era were the same as those of the ancient Persian calendar.
• A month in ilahi era varies from 29 to 32 days. The calculations were done by Fatḥ Allāh S̲h̲īrāzī. But in 1658 AD Aurangzeb abolished the use of lahi era.

Raj Saka

• Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji founded raj saka in 1673 AD to pronounce his ascendence to the throne.