The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

340 REVIEW AH'J'JCLE
_ du!iya (second) era, which the text calls the era dating from the
Buddha's nirvana, and which in Manit's calculations would start
from 17 A.D.
- !a!iya (third) era, 622 years later, which Manit identifies with
the cula era. 38
Of course, since he omitted the second part of the text, he does not have
to account for the era which it explicitly identifies as tatiya or cula era.
In addition to this Manit goes into some detail regarding an era
which be calls the "original Thai" (hw l~lJ) era,39 and this is made
necessary by his views on the 10 and 12 year cycles which accompany
nearly all dates in the text, which are frequently wrong, and which he
attempts to rectify. For example the first date of the story, the year 17
of an era called maha .Sakaraja, is called a kat cai year. This is an error,
and Manit wished to emend it to kat mau. The only way to convey to
the reader an idea of the type of calculation involved and to justify the
further discussion which I shall pursue, is to translate Manit's passage
on this point.
"At that time it was the year 17 of the ma/la sakaraja. [The
expression] a kat cai year 17 of the maha sakaraja' is here the
ancient era equivalent to B.E. 430 (adding the figure 413). As for
kat cai year being equivalent to rat year, seventh of the decade,
this cyclical year here, so far as bas been investigated, ... is in
error by 3 years. It should be a hare year. If the cyclical year is
taken as a base, the year of the era at the beginning of the story
should be 14 which is equivalent to rat year, B.E. 427; Before
indicating whether the year of the era or the cyclical year should
be taken at the correct base, I should like to first discuss the year
in which the pora~z era started. [The words] 'it was year 17 of the
mahii sakaraja' or poralJ era mean that the time in which the era
bad been in use was 17 years and was equivalent to B.E. 430.
Thus, if we count back to find the year when it was first established,
that is maha sakaraja or poraf! era 1, it will be equivalent to B.E.
38) Manit,pp. n, ,, 12, 13.
39) Manit, pp. 8-11.