________________ 232 Homage to Vaisal: the days of Bimbisara, a contemporary of Buddha. But the tables were turned in the reign of Ajatasatru, son and successor of Bimbisara, who destroyed the Vajjin confederacy and annexed North Bibar to the expanding empire of Magadha. The next time we hear of the Licchavis we find them ruling in Nepal. Licchavi Kings are known to have ruled over parts or the whole of Nepal upto 879 A.D. when Raghavadeva conquered the country and founded the Nepalese era. But the date of the foundation of Licchavi power in Nepal cannot be determined with any amount of precision. The earlier inscriptions of the Nepalese Licchavis are dated in the years ranging between 386 and 535 of an unspecified era. Indraji refers the years to the Vikrama era of 58 B.C., Fleet to the Gupta era of 320 A.D. and Levi to an unknown era starting from 110 A.D. We are however in favour of referring them to the Saka era of 78 A.D. so that the dates in our opinion range between 464 and 613 A.D, But the Licchavis must have established themselves in Nepal long before the middle of the fifth century A. D., because the earliest inscription dated in the year 386 (=464 A. D.) not only refers to the Licchavi King Manadeva, but also to his three predecessors Dharmadeva, Sankaradeva and Vtsadeva who must have ruled for about a century. It is well known to students of history that Candragupta I ( c. 320-35 A. D.), the first imperial ruler of the Gupta dynasty of Magadha, married a Liccbavi princess named Kumaradevi and that the illustrious Samudragupta (c. 335-76 A. D.), the first Vikramaditya of Indian history, was an issue of this union. It is not impossible to suggest that Kumaradevi was the daughter of an early Licchavi King of Nepal. But certain Gupta coins bearing the figures and names of Candragupta I and Queen Kumaradevi on the obverse and the word "Licchavayah" (i. e., the Licchavis) in the plural on the reverse probably suggest that the Liccbavi relatives of the Guptas represented a republican clan holding away over some parts of Bibar. The importance given to the Licchavis in the epigraphic and numismatic records of the Guptas may further suggest that the imperial position of Candragupta I was largely due to his Licchavi marriage. In the seventh century A. D., the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang mentions Fie-she-li (Vaigali) which he distinguished from Fo-li-shi or the Vtji country. We have indicated above, in outlines, the importance of the Licchavis in the history of India. But the question is: who the Licchavis were. According to some scholars, the Licchavis were of Tebetan origin,
