Vikram Samvat - History

History

This calendar derives its name from the original king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. After the rise of the Rana oligarchs in Nepal, Vikram Sambat came into unofficial use along with the official Shaka Sambat for quite some time. They discontinued Shaka Sambat in its 1823rd year, and replaced it with Vikram Samwat for official use since then to date. Vikram Sambat came into official use in its 1958th year. The calendar is widely in use in western India, where it is known as the Vikram Samvat.

The date is supposed to mark the victory of king Vikramaditya over the Sakas, who had invaded Ujjain. Alternatively, it has been thought by some scholars to correspond to the Azes era, of the Indo-Scythian king Azes I, but this seems to be now thoroughly discredited by Falk and Bennett who place the inception of the Azes era in 47/6 BC.

The story is described in "Kalakacharya Kathanaka", a much later work by a Jain sage called Mahesara Suri (probably circa 12th century CE). The Kathanaka (meaning, "an account") tells the story of a famed Jain monk Kalakacharya. It mentions that Gardabhilla, the then-powerful king of Ujjain, abducted a nun called Sarasvati who was the sister of the monk. The enraged monk sought the help of the Saka ruler, a Sahi, in Sakasthana. Despite heavy odds (but aided by miracles) the Saka king defeated Gardabhilla and made him a captive. Sarasvati was repatriated, although Gardabhilla himself was forgiven. The defeated king retired to the forest, where he was killed by a tiger. His son, Vikramaditya, being brought up in the forest, had to rule from Pratishthana (in modern Maharashtra). Later on, Vikramaditya invaded Ujjain and drove away the Sakas. To commemorate this event, he started a new era called the Vikrama era. This story seems to be somewhat jumbled, as the original Vikramaditya began his rule from Ujjain, and not from Pratishthana. The Ujjain calendar started around 56 BCE to 58 BCE, and the subsequent Shalivahan Saka calendar was started in 78 AD at Pratishthan.