Lichchhavi Period The Establishment of Lichchhavi Rule The kings of Lichchhavi dynasty are found to have ruled in Nepal after the Kirat kings. It has been mentioned in genealogies and Nepal Parichaya/69 Purans that the Suryabamshi Khshetriyas established their rule after defeating the Kirats. 'Then, the influence of Suryabamsha defeated the Kirat king and the rule of Lichchhavi dynasty began in Nepal' has been written in the Gopal royal genealogy whereas the Pashuapti Puran has mentioned, 'Taking the Kirats into confidence by words and by defeating them in the war, the lords or masters of Vaishali established their rule.' The similar reference is also found in Himbatkhanda which has stated that the lords of Vaishali began their rule after defeating the Kirats. This way, the rule of Lichchhavi began immediately after the rule of Kirati in Nepal. The last Kirati king 'Khigu' according to the Gopal genealogy, the king 'Gaalij' according to Bhasha genealogy and the Kirat king 'Gasti' according to Right genealogy were either defeated or driven away and the Lichchhavi royal dynasty are found to have started their rule. It is not certain when actually the Lichchhavi royal dynasty began. According to the historian, Baburam Acharya, Lichchhavi royal dynasty dismantled the Kirat state here and they had been able to establish their own independent Lichchhavi state around 250 AD. Before Lichchhavis came to Nepal, they used to Changunarayan, Bhaktapur 70/Nepal Parichaya rule over Vaishali being called Bashadh of Mujaphpharpur city in India as an independent republican system. The monarchy was getting strengthened there and the Lichchhavis lost with the King Ajatsatru and entered Nepal as refugees around the first century BC. The Lichchhavis, who had ruled over Vaishali, demonstrated their ambition to seize the state power by taking over the kings of the fiefdoms and petty states here. But Lichchhavis' took over was not simple and easy, it had been possible only after a great struggle and a blood shading incident. Lichchhavis had led the people's movement as per their interest at the time when people were very unsatisfied with the then rulers. The Kiratis being defeated in the war were compelled to be displaced to the eastern part and the Lichchhavis' rule got established. The Lichchhavi period in Nepal has been considered the golden age in the history of Nepal because the ruling system gave much space to people's interests, and there were well-organized lifestyle, advanced economic system, better standard of education and attractive arts etc. In reality too, the period has comparatively remained as the period of all round development in reality too. The first proven record of the Lichchhavi period is Mandev's Changu inscription of 464 AD in which the details of the three generations prior to Mandev is given. Besides this, the Pashupati inscription of Jayadev, the King of Lichchhavi dynasty of around 8th century, has recorded the genealogy of the kings of the Lichchhavi dynasty from the beginning. But the genealogy has recorded only the serial numbers instead of the names of the kings. Based on the genealogy, Mandev, who established the Changu inscription in 464 AD, appears to have been the 39th king of the Lichchhavi dynasty. When assumed that each king before Mandev ruled for 20 years in average, the Lichchhavi rule in Nepal appears to have been started 760 years before Mandev, i.e. in 296 BC. Famous Rulers of Lichchhavi Period The Lichchhavis are basically considered Suryabamshi. It is believed that there was a person named Lichchhavi in the 8th generation of the Suryabamshi king of Aayodhya. There was a king Supushpa who is taken as the founder and the first man of the Lichchhavi royal dynasty. Nepal Parichaya/71 Supushpa The Pashupati inscription of Jayadev II in the lapidary genealogy has mentioned that there was a handsome king like Kamdev named Supushpa after the king Lichchhavi in the 13th generation. Some regard king Supushpa as the first Lichchhavi king of Nepal. The genealogies have portrayed Supushpa as the fourth Lichchhavi king. He has been named Supushpadev in Gopal royal genealogy, Pashupushpabarna in Bhasha genealogy and Pasuprekhdev in the Right Genealogy. According to Gopal royal genealogy, he established the caste system in Nepal, built the Dewal of Pashupati and the roof, beautified the city, maintained honor in the state and reared people with justice. Besides, the Right genealogy has mentioned that the king built the golden roof over the Pashupati temple and also added a pinnacle and made the temple taller and majestic. Similarly, the Gopal genealogy has mentioned that King Supushpa established land related principles. Mandev Nepal became more organized, developed and powerful during the reign of Mandev I, who was very good at the governance. The king endowed with the royal qualities like knowledgeable on scriptures, treating people like own family, maintained the stability of his rule for 41 years (521-562 BS/464-505 AD) through economic prosperity and peace building. In addition to establishing a monetary system in the state, he developed arts and education sector too. It was in his rule when the first coin of Nepal printed with the gorgeous buildings like the first royal palace Mangriha; 'Shree Managka' and 'Shree Bhogini'. The ancient history of Nepal has been clearer and reliable since his time so he is regarded as the first authentic king Jaya Barma's Inscription 72/Nepal Parichaya of Nepal. His kingdom extended to the Koshi in the east, to the Gandaki in the west (the other side of Kaligandaki, Mallapuri) and to the Himalaya in the north. Recorded independent coin etc. has been found from the time of Mandev. The inscription of Jayabarma of 163 AD (107 BS) found in Maligaun is regarded as the most ancient authentic than the inscription of Mandev Nrip of Chagunarayan of 521 BS (464 AD). This way the authentic history is found to have started since 6th Century of Bikram Sambat. Mahidev, Basantadev etc. became kings after Mandev. Since Basantadev was a child, the ministers; Rabigupta and Kramlil became powerful. The joint rule and the frequent change of rulers resulted in the political instability from 536 AD to 545 AD. After that, there occurred power struggle among the nobles like Bhoumgupta, Gandev, Gangadev and Shivadev. Although Shivadev saved himself from the influence by Gupta with the help of his nephew, Amsuvarma, as Amsuvarma's supremacy kept growing and Shivadev became powerless. As a result of this, Amsuvarma became the king. This was the first incident of taking over the state power by a minister. Amsuvarma It was during the rule of Amsuvarma (605-621 AD) that all round development of not only agriculture, animal husbandry, trade but also of international relations and defense management occurred. It was him who got a palace named Kailashkut Bhawan built in a very artistic and praiseworthy manner. During his rule, foreign policy (Tibet and China) was implemented successfully. During his time Harshabardhan in India and Shrongchangampo in Tibet had Jaya Barma Nepal Parichaya/73 established powerful empire so he aligned with Tibet. It's popular that he got his daughter, princess Bhrikuti (Chiju) married to the Tibetan king Shrongchangampo. During his rule, people had enjoyed religious liberalism and autonomous governance. People's lives were becoming well-organized and improved with the development of arts and education. As a result of all this progress and development, he happened to be the first ruler with the title 'his majesty'. The practice of formal declaration of the crown princee began from his time. As a Hindu king, he had also held the title 'Pashupatipadanugrihit (blessed by the holy feet of Lord Pashupatinath)'. Amshuvarma who was from the Thakuri clan with the characteristics like 'ready to address for the welfare of people' and 'making people happy' is believed to have prepared 'word knowledge' (grammar). He died around 678 BS. Narendradev During the tenure of Narendradev, who was skillful in governance, Nepal became a international trade centre for some time around as the business settlements (Drang) started in the eastern and western Nepal besides the establishment of trade relationship with Bhot (Tibet and China) around the middle of 7th century AD (645- 679 AD). Narendradev took the title his majesty and he became popular as 'Param Bhattarak'. He built Bhadradhibas palace too. Since the lion was portrayed in his throne (seat), Simhasan (Lion seat) is believed to have come into use. Jayadev II Besides being a poet, Jaydev II (713-723 AD) was an ambitious person having a desire of extending the territory of the country and thus his conducts are also worth-mentioning among the Lichchhavi rulers. Besides being a poetic king, he was honored with the nickname 'Parachakrakam' (ambition about winning other's country). His poem has been engraved on the Pashupati inscription. The major kings of the Lichchhavi period were as follows: Supushpa, Jayadev I, Haridatta Barma, Brishdev, Shankardev, Dharmadev, Mandev I, Mahidev, Santadev, Basantadev, Udayadev, Mandev II, Shivadev I, Amshuvarma, Narendradev, Jayadev II, Shibadev II, jayadev III. 74/Nepal Parichaya 2.4.5 Pre-Medieval Period After Jayadev II's rule, his heir to the throne (stated as the successor in the record), Bijayadev is also found to have ruled in Nepal. According to the record kept by general public, hand-written corpus and genealogy, Gunakamdev, Mandev III, Baliraj, Baldev, Mandev IV (877 AD) and Raghavdev (879 AD) were the rulers after Bijayadev. Gunakamdev In two inscriptions from 987 to 990 AD, it has been mentioned that Gunakamdev ruled in Kathmandu valley. According to the historian, Karkpatrick, he reigned for 18 years. He established the statue of Umamaheshwor, and he built the copper roof on the Ishaneshwor temple located in the premise of Pashupatinath temple, rest house for pilgrims and the golden water spout. He also built Kasthamandap, Marusattal (rest house for pilgrims) and Maruhiti (stone spout). 2.4.6 The Karnatak State of Simraungadh Simraungadh lies in Bara district of state number 2. Its ancient name was Simara-Bangadh. During that time all the large settlement areas were transformed as forts from security point of view. Such forts used to be in the middle of the forests too. The forts built inside the forest used to be called 'Bangadh' or 'Bandurga'. Wherever the forest fort used to be built, the same name used to come into use for the place. There was a settlement in Gadrup in the forest of Simara and the place has thus been called 'Simara-Bangadh'. The same word later on became Simraungadh. The whole area around Simraungadh at that time was popular by the name Tirhut. The areas has been found to be called 'Doyarajya' in the then evidences of Kathmandu valley. The Dop (Tirhute) state of Karnatak dynasty covering the southern and eastern Terai is found to have been established at around the time when the Khas state of the west was established. It's capital was in Simraungadh (Simara Bangadh) i.e. Simara. The Karnatak state established in Tirhut was founded by Nanyadev in 1154 BS (1097 AD). This stood as an independent state for around 229 years and got dissolved in 1326 AD. The major ruler of the state were; Nanyadev and Harisinghdev. Nanyadev was an inhabitant of Karnatak of south India. He had Nepal Parichaya/75 been the chief of army of the ruler, Chalukya of the south India. When Chalukya was on his victory campaign towards the northern India, Nanyadev came here. Later on, he himself made Simraungadh the center and established the state in the area. After Nanyadev, the rulers Gangadev, Narsinghdev, Ramsinghdev, Shaktisinghdev, Bhupalsinghdev and Harisinghdev consecutively ruled over Simraungadh. Hariharsingdev is the last ruler of the Karnatak dynasty. During his time, the Muslim emperor of Delhi, Gayasuddin Tuglak attacked and destroyed the state. Worshipped as the family goddess of the Malla kings of the valley, Tulaja Bhawani is actually the family goddess of the Karnatak kings. The queen of Hariharsingdev, Dewaldevi while coming to valley as a refugee brought the sacred water jar of Tulaja Bhawani with her. There had been the influence of Karnatak when Dewaldevi and her son, Jagatsingh came to valley which was natural. During the time when Hariharsinghdev died, the joint rule by Rudra Malla and Ari Malla was going on in the valley. Ari Malla was just a nominal ruler. Following the death of Hariharsinghdev, his queen Dewaldevi and his son Jagatsingh had been granted asylum by Ari Malla in his palace. Dewaldevi established sacred water jar she had brought with her in the palace. Later, the rulers of Nepal also became the devotees of Taleju. The son of Dewaldevi, Prince Jagatsingh got married to Malla princess Nayakdevi and Rajalladevi was born to them. Jayasthiti Malla got married to her.
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