TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
109 
at present, no division of time into cycles, like 
their neighbours the Siamese, Kambojans, and 
others. Such however seems in remote times 
to have prevailed, as appears by the evidence of 
some ancient inscriptions. 
The Burmese have no less than four epochs: 
the first of these, called the grand epoch, cor¬ 
responds with the year 691 before Christ. This 
is alleged to have been founded by King An- 
ja-na, the grandfather of Gautama. The second 
is the sacred epoch, which dates from the death 
of Gautama, and corresponds with the year be¬ 
fore Christ 543. The alleged founder of this 
was a king named by the Burmese Ajatasat. 
The third epoch is called the era of Froine, and 
is said to have been established by a king named 
Sumundri, (of the sea). This corresponds with 
the year of Christ 79 ; and although supposed 
by the Burmese to be of native origin, there is 
no doubt but that it is the era of Salivana, or 
Saka, borrowed from the Hindus of the south¬ 
ern peninsula of India. The fourth and last 
epoch, is the vulgar and Burman one—that in 
most frequent use. It corresponds with the year 
of Christ 639, and is said to have been establish¬ 
ed by a king of Pugan, named Pup~pa-chau-ra- 
han. In a manuscript chronological table, of 
which a translation will be given in the Appen¬ 
dix, all these four epochs are included. 
