Britannica AI Icon

Quick Summary

The Ilāhī era, also known as the Mughal calendar, was a chronological system devised by the Mughal emperor Akbar for land revenue purposes in northern India. The Muslim lunar calendar was inconvenient for this purpose. The term "Faṣlī" means "harvest" and was derived from an Arabic term for "division," which in India referred to groupings of seasons.1

The era dated from Akbar's accession year, which was the Muslim year 963 AH (1555–56 CE). This year also corresponded to 1612 in the Hindu Samvat era. Akbar adjusted the Samvat year to make the Faṣlī year 963. The Faṣlī era then proceeded according to the Samvat calendar. To convert Faṣlī dates to the Gregorian calendar, 592 or 593 years are added. This system was later introduced to southern India by Shah Jahān in the 1630s.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.