1895.] E. A. Gait —Notes on some Ahom Coins . 289 
The dates of the Ahom kings is a subject which must he reserved 
for discussion on some future occasion, when the old buranjis have all 
been translated, and other sources of information have been examined. 
["Note.— The system of numbering years mentioned by Mr. Gait obtains also 
amongst other Eastern nations. For instance the following are the series of the 
Mongols and Tibetans, taken from Hue’s Travels in Tartary, Tibet, and China, Yol. II. 
pp. 212 and ff. The signs of the denary series are expressed by the names of the 
five elements repeated twice, or by the names of the five colours with their shades. 
The names of twelve animals denote the duodenary series. 
. i 
DENARY SERIES. r 
Mongol. 
Tibetan. 
1 Mod 
S’irj 
Wood. 
2 Mod 
S’ig 
Wood. 
3 Kal 
Me 
Fire. 
4 Kal 
Me 
Fire. 
5 S’o-ra 
Sa 
Earth. 
6 S’o-ra 
Sa 
Earth. 
7 T’u-led 
ZC’ags 
Iron. 
8 T’u-led 
ZC’ags 
Iron. 
9 O-su 
Ch’u 
Water. 
10 O-su 
Ch’u _ 
Water. 
DUODENARY SERIES. 
Mongol. 
Tibetan. 
1 Hul-kan 
Byi-ba (pron. ‘ Chi- 
■wa) Mouse. 
2 U-kher 
^Laq 
Ox. 
3 Par 
sTag 
Tiger. 
4 T’us-las 
Yo-s 
Hare. 
5 Lwu 
’5 Rug 
Dragon. 
6 Mo-kas 
sbRul 
Serpent. 
7 Mo-ri 
rTa 
Horse. 
8 Ho-ni 
ZC’ag 
Ram. 
9 Pe-ch’i 
spRou 
Monkey. 
10 T’a-ka 
Bya (pron. Cha) 
Fowl. 
11 No-has 
Kyi 
Dog. 
12 Ka-has 
P’ag 
Pig. 
The Tibetans do not compound these so as to form a sixty year cycle, but so 
as to form a cycle of 252 years. The twelve first years merely bear the names of 
the twelve animals. Then these same names are combined with those of the five 
elements each repeated twice up to the seventy-second year of the cycle. They 
then add to these combinations the word po (male), which carries them up to the 
132nd years: then the word mo (female), which takes it up to the 192nd year. 
Finally they alternate the words po and mo up to the end of the cycle. A fuller 
account of the Tibetan system will be found in Csoma de Koros’ Tibetan grammar, 
pp. 147 and ff. See also Dr. Waddell’s Buddhism of Tibet, pp. 451 ff. I am 
indebted to Dr. Waddell for very kindly correcting the spelling of the Mongolian 
and Tibetan words.— Ed.] 
