304 Proceedings of the Asiatic Socielg. j No. 3, 
San 5 Mdsa TsattiJcasa divasa Vrehi 3. 
In the year 5 on the third day of the increase of the month Xan- 
thikos. 
In all these inscriptions it is observable that the word mdsa pre¬ 
cedes the name of the month, whereas in my two Yusufzai inscrip¬ 
tions, in which the Hindu months are used, the word mdsa follows 
the name of the month. This may be a useful hint for the reading 
of other dates. 
In Court’s Manikyala inscription the name and day of the month 
are given at the end, I read them as 
KattiJcasa mdsa divas a 3. 
“ On the 3rd day of the month of Kdrttika .” 
The date of the Manikyala, Hidda, and Thomas No. 3, Plate 9, 
inscriptions, is the same, namely’ x x Q which I incline to read as 144 
from right to left, and I would refer the erection of the three topes 
to the period of Kanishka’s conversion to Buddhism, say approxi¬ 
mately 25 B. C. Then 25 plus 144 would give 169 B. C as the ini¬ 
tial year of the era, which may probably refer to the Scythian occu¬ 
pation of Bactriana and Sogdiana, which we know must have taken 
place about 170 or 160 B. C. during the time of Eukratides and 
Heliokles. The coins of the latter prince were copied by the Scy¬ 
thians, as well as those of Euthydemus. 
Vrehi , X take to be equivalent to Vriddhi “ increase.” The read¬ 
ing of Vrehi I believe to be quite correct, but we cannot be certain 
of it until we find an inscription dated during the “ decrease” of the 
month. Quintus Curtius, whose information was derived from the 
records of Alexander’s companions, states that the Indians reckoned 
time by half-months, according to the increase or decrease of the 
moon. There is every probability, therefore, that I am right in my 
reading of the Macedonian months. 
I have not time to go through the Wardak inscription just now, 
but I may note that I read the name of the hill mentioned in the 
first line, as Khdsatamri Kotala. And small hills in the Kabul val¬ 
ley are called Kotal as Haft Kotal , the seven hills, and Khdtsa is the 
name of the Takt-i-Suliman or Khasa-ghar. 
Eegarding my explorations during the past season, I can only 
give you a rapid account. I visited Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Kurkihar, 
