When did the Mahabharata war take place?

Question

Has anyone made a thorough research of the Mahabharata and figured out when this war actually took place with exact astronomical evidence? Are there dates in any other text for the Mahabharata war?

Answer 1

According to the Surya Siddhanta of astronomer Aryabhata, Kali Yug started in approx. 3102 B.C. This is start date used by Panchang (traditional Indian almanac)

Kali Yug started when Dwapar Yug ended.
Dwapar Yug ended when Sri Krishna left Bhuloka.

Krishna left ~36 years after the war in Kurukshetra, based on Gandhari's curse on Yadava clan, as described in Mausala Parva

This puts approx. date of Mahabharat war ~3140 B.C thereabouts.

Ved Vyas composed Mahabharat Itihaas as a contemporary (he takes part in the events).

Any 'modern' dating by Indologists suggesting dates of 5000 BC, 1000 BC, 1947 AD etc. are bogus and not accepted by Veda/Jyotish scholars (nor the general public).

Answer 2

According to Wikipedia on Kurukshetra War, 22 November 3067 BCE.

K. Sadananda, based on translation work, states that the Kurukshetra War started on 22 November 3067 BCE.

B. N. Achar used planetarium software to argue that the Mahabharata War took place in 3067 BCE.

- Singh 2010, p. Chapter 7, Pp. 202-252, 302

Answer 3

The exact year for the Mahabharata War was given by Pandit Kota Venkatachelam in his book titled The Plot In Indian Chronology. It is 3138 B.C. or 36 years before the start of Kali.

The book contains extensive information on inferring the exact time for different events in Indian history based on the verses in the scriptures. Kota Venkatachelam is also called 'Bharata Charitra Bhaskara' for his knowledge and works on the history of India.

I presented below the first 15 entries from the list in Appendix III, in which the first entry contains the year of the Mahabharata war.

Appendix III starts with the banner We have sufficiently proved in our works the following important dates in the History of Bharat.

Event	B.K (Before Kali) or Kali	Number of years	B.C.
Mahabharata War	B.K	36	3138
Coronation of Yudhistira and Yudhistira era begins	B.K	36	3138
Birth of Parikshit	B.K	36	3138
Coronation of Somadhi in Magadha (Barhadradha Dynasty)	B.K	36	3138
Coronation of Brihadbala in Ayodhya (lkshwaku Dynasty)	B.K	36	3138
Coronation of 'Gall' in Nepal (Kirata Dynasty who are Kshatriyas by caste)	B.K	36	3138
Coronation of Gonanda II in Kashmir (Gonanda Dynasty, Kshatriya,)	B.K	37.5	3138
Krishna Niryana	---	---	3102
Kali Era begins	---	---	3102
Coronation of Parikshit	Kali	1	3101
Jayabhyudaya Yudhistira era begins	Kali	1	3101
Yudhistirakala era or the Saptarshi era or Loukikabda which is still used in Kashmir	Kali	26	3076
Death of Parikshit	Kali	60	3042
Janamejaya's gift-deed	Kali	89	3013
Aryabhat (The Great Astronomer)	Kali	360	2742

Answer 4

I have made my own estimate based on Bhishma Nirvana.

Bhishma Nirvana

6 sa niryayau gajapurād yājakaiḥ parivāritaḥ dṛṣṭvā nivṛttam ādityaṃ pravṛttaṃ cottarāyaṇam

Accompanied by a number of priests he then set out of the city named after the elephant, having seen that the sun ceasing to go southwards had begun to proceed in his northward course.

28 māgho 'yaṃ samanuprāpto māsaḥ puṇyo yudhiṣṭhira tribhāgaśeṣaḥ pakṣo 'yaṃ śuklo bhavitum arhati

O Yudhishthira, the lunar month of Magha has come. This is, again, the lighted fortnight and a fourth part of it ought by this (according to my calculations) be over.

Anushasana Parva, CE 153: 6,28 (Translation)

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Now, we see that Magha Shukla Ashtami waa happening on Winter Solstice. This happens to be around 1738 BCE. Give or take 1484 years. So anywhere between 274 BC to 3202 BC.