Dear colleagues,

Has anyone come across the use of the word 'saīka' (saIkA) in the sense of 'one hundred' in the context of dates, colophons, or other numeric records?

The term comes up in the context of the following verse (in Brajbhasha) which records the date of death of the saint Haridas of Rajasthan:

samvata solaha sai ju saīkā ṛtu vasanta ānandamaīkā
phagaṇa sudi ṣaṣṭamī jānāṃ jana haridāsa hari māṃhi samānā

In samvat sixteen hundred "saīka" in the blissful season of spring

Know that on the sixth of the bright half of Phalgun, Haridas became absorbed in Hari.

(The ju here appears to be simply a verse-filler, which is very common in poetry from this place and time.)

Neha Baid argues has argued that the term saīkā means 'one hundred' in this context, and therefore the date should be read as VS 1700, not 1600. I have yet to find such a used attested in any other text. Has anyone else?

With thanks in anticipation of any suggestions or advice,

Tyler Williams

Columbia University