The first firm date in Indian history is 326 BC_the year when Alexander the Great crossed the Indus and set off a fateful chain of events recorded in that supremely entertaining travelogue `Indica'.
In the next 24 centuries, very few of the sub-continental events worthy of note have been recorded. Usually by foreigners like Fa Hien, Hiuen Tsang, Abul Fazl et al. Ethnic Indians care little for history.
This leads to farcical situations. For example, the official Indian calendar is the Saka Era with 78 AD as the base year. Some historians believe 78 AD marked Kanishka's birth, others state it was his date of coronation, and
