The "Avaca" Inscription and the Origin of the Vikrama Era

Abstract

A Kharosthi inscription on a Buddhist relic casket of uncertain provenance, first published by Bailey in 1978, is here re-edited. The re-interpretation of this inscription enables us to more fully reconstruct the previously obscure dynasty of kings who ruled Apraca or Avaca (modern Bajaur in north-western Pakistan) in the Ist centuries B.C. and A.D. Moreover, the date of the inscription samvatsarae tresathimae 20 20 20 3 maharayasa ayasa atidasa ('in the year 63 of the late King Azes [I]') provides the long-awaited explicit evidence that the Indo-Scythian king Azes I was the founder of the Vikrama era of 58-7 B.C.