Why the Financial Year Begins from 1st April?

The Christian calendar begins on 1st January, yet the financial year starts from 1st April, why? What is the history behind this?

To know this, we would need to go back a few hundred years. Before the year 1582, Hindu Solar New Year day or Panjaabee Baisaakhee day or Tamil New Year day or Malayaalam Vishu Day or Bangaalee New Year day used to fall on 1st April. This is an important day for the Hindu and they celebrated this day as the day of harvests. Children wore new clothes, men and women visited temples and many acts of charity were performed. A special paste was prepared with crushed Neem (Margos) leaves and sweet jaggery. Neem leaves being bitter, this paste was a mixture of sweetness and bitterness. This was served in the meals and it signified that life is full of both happiness and bitterness and one should take success and failure, gain and loss, happy and gloomy days, praise and insult with equanimity and poise. Social functions included picnics, outings, village games and competitions. This was an ideal day for starting ones financial year.

East India Company Adopts 1st April

400 years before from now, during 15th and 16th centuries, India was the World Trade Centre. Bharat share in world trade was 23%, that of Britain was 2% and US was a mere 0.2%. Bharat's wealth attracted many nations of the world. England formed British East India Company in 1600 AD to get a large slice of India's trade. Dutch East India Company in 1602 and French East India Company in 1664 were subsequently formed with the same intentions. When British East India Company landed in Kerala, Tamil Naadu and Bangaal they saw that the Hindu celebrated their New Year day or Vishu or Baisaakhee on 1st April. Hence the British also adopted the April 1st as the beginning of New Year for their commercial activities.

It may also be recalled that 400 years ago, Emperor Akbar identified Baisaakhee Day as Fasalee year and it marked the beginning of his financial year and he used it for his administration. It is interesting to note that Akbar did not use the Islamic calendar. Why? It is because the Muslim calendar has only 354 days in a year which is 11 days short of the solar year.

Note
In fact, Raajaa Todarmal, of Akbar times, started with the year on Baisaakhee. This was rightly called as the Fasalee year as this time of the year the Fasal (produce) is harvested and money is in the hands of farmers, especially from the areas where Akbar reigned. So it was the right time to collect the taxes and grains. Having noticed this advantage of the time, the British also continued with the same system. There was no utility of using 354-day year as administrative year where the majority of people were Hindu. Makar Sankraanti originally was on December 21, when the Sun would start its Northward journey. All the measurements of time in all cultures are based on the Sun and the Moon and there is no wonder that they more or less coincide and that celestial events and seasons of the area are the landmarks of measurement of time. It has no religious favor or fervor to it .

14th April Due to Gregorian Calendar Reforms

The Hindu Solar New Year Day or Vishu or Baisaakhee day which used to coincide on 1st April became the International Financial Year Day. But today our Vishu or Baisaakhee day falls on 13th or 14th April. Why so? We will now see how this difference of 12 or 13 days occurred over these four centuries. To understand this we need to consider the changes that have taken place in the Christian Calendar during this period.

In the Julian and modified Julian calendar that existed before 1582 AD, the 1st January and the 1st April fell on Hindu festivals namely Makar Sankranti and Baisaakhee, the Hindu solar New Year, respectively. The influence of Hinduism was so much that these days were declared holidays even in Europe.

On 24th February 1582 Pope Gregory issued a Papal bull, Inter Gravissimas, establishing what is now called the Gregorian calendar reform. The Gregorian calendar is the calendar which is currently in use in all Western and Westernized countries. One of the Gregorian reforms was the shifting of New Year Day from 25th March to 1st January. The other was to delete 10 days in 1582. Accordingly October 4, 1582 was followed not by October 5 but by October 15th. Thus the Christian calendar was advanced by 10 days in 1582. Until 1582 the 1st April fell on the Baisaakhee day which was also the solar new year as per the Indian calendar. In 1583 however, the 1st April preceded Baisaakhee by 10 days and hence it was 11th April on the Baisaakhee day. Also as per the calendar reform, the century years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not counted as leap years as these numbers are not divisible by 400. As a result the Christian Calendar further gained another 3 days, thus adding up to 13 days as the difference between 1st of April and the Baisaakhee day. That explains why Baisaakhee falls on the 13th or 14th of April now.

The above explanation is also valid for Makar Sankraanti which falls on January 13/14 today. Originally, January 1st coincided with Makar Sankraanti. Initially most countries in Europe continued to observe March 25 as their New Year which was very close to Hindu lunar New Year day or Varsh Pratipadaa.

Only Catholic countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland readily adopted the Gregorian calendar upon the promulgation of Pope Gregory decree in 1582. France and Luxembourg followed shortly. During the next two years most Catholic regions of Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands came on board. Hungary followed in 1587. The rest of the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland made the change during 1699 to 1701. The Gregorian calendar was adopted in Britain (and in the British colonies) in 1752, with September 2, 1752, being followed immediately by September 14, 1752. Sweden adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1753, Japan in 1873, Egypt in 1875, Russia and Eastern Europe during 1912 to 1919 and Turkey in 1927.

In Europe April 1, therefore coincided with Baisaakhee till the year 1582, and in case of Britain till the year 1752 and in case of Russia this continued till 1918. This day of 1st April was the day of merriment not only in Bharat but all over Europe. Many hoaxes and pranks were played to make the day memorable.

1st April Celebrations in Other Countries

Since Bhaarat had a wide contact and influence in the ancient world, this 1st April was also a day of celebrations in the ancient civilizations. It was the last day of Assyrian New Year Celebrations. Roman Empire celebrated Veneralia Festival to honor Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. The worship of the goddess Fortuna Virilis (old fortune) was also the part of this festival. In Rome, women removed jewelry from the statue of the goddess, washed her, and adorned her with flowers, and similarly bathed themselves in the public baths wearing wreaths of myrtle on their heads. It was generally a day for women to seek divine help in their relations with men. Hindu empires in South East Asia had developed great civilizations through synchronization and not through bloodshed. Hence the 13th or 14th April is celebrated as New Year Day in Baalee Island, Thailand and Nepal. In Baalee, the entire island of 3 million people observe silence and fast from sunrise to sunset.

In Japan, it is the official start of school years in most universities and schools. It is also, the official first day of work at companies and offices for new university graduates hires, marked by welcoming ceremonies and speeches. Canadian government too begins its fiscal year on 1st April. In England and Wales, local government reorganizations traditionally happen on April 1st. Some of universities in Russia (eg Omsk State University) celebrate mathematician day on April 1.

Home | Miscellanea | Misc