BCE and CE
Also called: BC and AD, Before Common Era and Common Era · Topic: Studying Indian History: Sources, Dating and Historiography · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 4 "Timeline and Sources of History"; Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"
Meaning
BCE and CE are labels for dating years. CE (Common Era, earlier called AD) counts years forward from the year usually taken as Jesus' birth. BCE (Before Common Era, earlier called BC) counts years backward from that point, so bigger BCE numbers are further in the past. There is no year zero, so 1 CE comes straight after 1 BCE. The letter c. (circa) before a date means "about", for a date that is not exact.
Example
The Buddha was born in c. 560 BCE, and India became independent in 1947 CE. Because there is no year zero, 2 BCE to 2 CE is only 3 years. To find "years ago" from a BCE date, add the BCE date to the current CE year and subtract 1. In 2024, the Buddha's birth was 560 + 2024 − 1 = 2,583 years ago.
Don't confuse with
- BP (Before Present): counts years back from the present day, not from 1 CE. Scientists use it for very old dates.
- Century numbering: the 3rd century BCE means 300–201 BCE, not the 200s BCE.