CONVERSIONOFDATESFROMTHEGREGORIANCALENDARTOTHEMISRICALENDARANDVICEVERSA

Prof.MujtabaLokhandwala

TheconversionofdatesfromtheGregorianCalendartotheMisriCalendaranditsreverseis
quiteanimportantrequirementforresearchersinhistoryofDaawatHadiyah.Manyatime,even
laymenwishtheyhadaneasywaytoconvertthedatesfromonetotheother.

Withthisviewinmind,theauthorhaspreparedtablesforthisrequirement.Althoughdetailed
calendarsareavailableforrelatingtheGregorianandtheHijriLunarcalendar,theyarenotusefulto
us,becausethevariationindatesisupto2daysandthisvariationhasacomplicatedrelationtothe
dates.

TheMisricalendarissaidtohaveoriginatedfromthe5thImamMoulanaJaafarasSadiq.The
basictenetspropoundedinclude:
1. Theerastartssuchthatthe1stofMoharramofthe1styearoftheMisricalendarfallson15thJuly
622AD.
2. Thereare354daysinoneyeardividedinto12months,theoddnumberedmonthshaving30
daysandtheevennumberedmonths29days.
3. Tocompensateforthediscrepancyinthemovementofthemoonandthecalendar,anumber
ofleapyearsareincorporated.Thisisacycleof30yearsandthereare11leapyearsinthis
cycle.
4. Tofindoutifacertainyearisaleapyearornot,theyearisdividedby30.Iftheremainderisone
thesenumbers2,5,8,10,13,16,19,21,24,27or29,thenthatyearisaleapyear.
5. Inaleapyear,onedayisaddedtothelastmonth,i.e.DhulHajj,soitwillhave30daysinsteadof
29.
Thesystemofconversiongivenhereissimple.Thedaysarenumberedfromaconvenientdate
whichhereischosenasthebeginningoftheyear600AD.Thusthe1stofJanuary600ADisdaynumber
1,fromthiswegetthatthe1stofMuharram1AHasdaynumber8231.Thisnumberofthedayiscalled
theordinalnumberoftheday.
Theordinalnumberofthedatewhichistobefoundiscalculatedfromthetablesandthe
correspondingdateforthesameordinalnumberintheothersystemisfound.Thetwotables,with
threestageseachisgivenbelow,withtwoexampleswhichexplainthemethod.

Table1OrdinalnumberofdaysintheMisriCalendar
Stage1Ordinalnumbersforeveryleapcycleof30yearsThereare10631daysina30yearcycle
MisriYear
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360
390
420
450
480

OrdinalNo.
8231
18862
29493
40124
50755
61386
72017
82648
93279
103910
114541
125172
135803
146434
157065
167696
178327

MisriYear
510
540
570
600
630
660
690
720
750
780
810
840
870
900
930
960
990

OrdinalNo.
188958
199589
210220
220851
231482
242113
252744
263375
274006
284637
295268
305899
316530
327161
337792
348423
359054

MisriYear
1020
1050
1080
1110
1140
1170
1200
1230
1260
1290
1320
1350
1380
1410
1440
1470
1500

OrdinalNo.
369685
380316
390947
401578
412209
422840
433471
444102
454733
465364
475995
486626
497257
507888
518519
529150
539781

OrdinalNo.
0
354
709
1063
1417
1772
2126
2480
2835
3189

MisriYear
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

OrdinalNo.
3544
3898
4252
4607
4961
5315
5670
6024
6378
6733

MisriYear
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

OrdinalNo.
7087
7442
7796
8150
8505
8859
9213
9568
9922
10277

OrdinalNo.
0
30
59
89

Month
JumadalAwwal
JumadasSani
Rajab
Shaban

Month
Ramadan
Shawwal
DhulQada
DhulHajja

OrdinalNo.
236
266
295
325

Table1Stage2
MisriYear
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Table1Stage3
Month
Muharram
Safar
RabiulAwwal
RabiusSani

OrdinalNo.
118
148
177
207

Table2OrdinalNumberofdaysintheGregorianCalendar
Stage1Century
Year
600
700
800
900

OrdinalNo
0
36525
73050
109575

Year
1000
1100
1200
1300

OrdinalNo
146100
182625
219150
255675

Year
1400
1500
1582*
1600

OrdinalNo
292200
328725
358665
365240

Year
1700
1800
1900
2000

OrdinalNo
401764
438288
474812
511337

Table2Stage2
Year
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
32

OrdinalNo
1461
2922
4383
5844
7305
8766
10227
11688

Year
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64

OrdinalNo
13149
14610
16071
17532
18993
20454
21915
23376

Year
68
72
76
80
84
88
92
96

OrdinalNo
24837
26298
27759
29220
30681
32142
33603
35064

Table2Stage3
Year
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June

0
31
60
91
121
152

366
397
425
456
486
517

731
762
790
821
851
882

1096
1127
1155
1186
1216
1247

Year
Month
July
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

182
213
244
274
305
335

547
578
609
639
670
700

912
943
974
1004
1035
1065

1277
1308
1339
1369
1400
1430

*Intheyear1582theJulianCalendarwasreplacedbytheGregorianCalendarinOctober.Thusafter4th
Octoberthenextdaywas15thOctoberinsteadof5thOctober.

Thefollowingexamplesgivethemethodofusingthesetables:
Example1:HowtofindtheMisridatefor31stDecember1958
WebeginwiththecenturyinTable2,Stage1.Theordinalnumbercorrespondingtotheyear1900is
474812.Thenwelookforthenextlowernumberto58inTable2,Stage2andthatis56.Theordinal
numbercorrespondingto56is20454.NextseetheordinalnumbercorrespondingtoDecofyear2in
Table2,Stage3.Thisisbecause5856=2.Thisordinalnumberis1065.Tofindtheordinalnumberof
31stDecemberwetake31.
Addallthesenumberthus:474812+20454+1065+31=496362.Thustheordinalnumberfor31stDec
1958is496362.
NowweusetheTable1forfindingtheMisridate.First,findthenearestsmallernumberwithrespectto
496362inStage1,itis486626correspondingto1350Hijri.Thedifferencebetween496362and486626
is496362486626=9736
Nowsimilarlyfindthenearestsmallernumberwithrespectto9736instage2,itis9568,corresponding
totheyear28.Thustheyearis1350+28=1378Hijri
Thedifferencebetween97369568=168
Thenearestsmallernumberwithrespectto168instage3is148correspondingtoJumadassani.Thus
themonthisJumadassani.Thedifferencebetweenthesetwonumbersis168148=20,whichgives
thedate.
Thus31stDec1958ADcorrespondsto20thJumadassani1378HijriaspertheMisriCalendar.
Example2:HowtofindtheGregoriandatefor18thShaban1375Hijri
Firstlythesmallestyearnearestto1375inTable1Stage1is1350,andtheordinalnumber
correspondingtoitis486626.
Secondly,13751350=25years.Theordinalnumbercorrespondingto25instage2is8505andthirdly
instage3theordinalnumberforShabanis207.Addingalltheseordinalnumbersandthedatedweget
486626+8505+207+18=495356
Thustheordinalnumberfor18thShaban,1375is495356.
TofindthecorrespondingGregoriandate,welookforthenearestsmallerordinalnumberinTable2
Stage1.Itis474812andcorrespondsto1900AD.Thedifferenceis495356474812=20544
ThenearestsmallerordinalnumberinTable2Stage2is20454,whichcorrespondstotheyear56.The
differenceis2054420454=90days.
So,theyearis1956.ThelowernearestordinalnumberinTable2Stage3is60forMarchsothemonthis
March.9060=30,sothedateis30thMarch1956.