1902.] S. 0. Vidyabhusana —Licchavirace of ancient India. 147 
But it is essential to state here that all the kings, succeeding Jaya-deva 
I, belonged to the Licchavi race. Jayadeva I reigned in Nepal about 
330-355 A.D. There was intermarriage existing among the Licchavi 
families of Nepal and the ruling families of Magadha, Gauda, etc. The 
inscriptions present us with several instances of double government in 
Nepal. Thus Am 9 u-varma and Vrsa-deva were simultaneously ruling 
in two different places of Nepal. Am^u-varma, who, according to the 
Chinese pilgrim, Hwen-thsang, belonged to the Licchavi race, reigned in 
Nepal 635-650 A.D. That the Licchavi tribe was one of great antiquity 
and power, in the direction of Nepal, is shown by the writings of Fa-hian 
and Hwen-thsang, which connect them with events that preceded the 
Nirvana of Buddha. The Licchavi conquest of Nepal is assigned to 
0 - c 
Newarit, whose age is unknown. Nothing need be said here about the 
Licchavi rulers of Nepal descending from the sun. All the powerful 
rulers of India have claimed their descent from either of the two myth- 
J cal personages named the Sun and the Moon. I consider Surya-vamSa 
and Candra-vamsa as terms of compliment, which were rightly bestowed 
on the ruling families of India and outside. If there is any honour 
indicated by the term Surya-vamsa, that honour was pre-eminently 
deserved by the Licchavi rulers of India and Nepal, and it is not at all 
surprising that they actually received it. 
The first king in Tibet was Nya-khri-tsan-po who, according to the 
Tibetan books, belonged to the Licchavi race. 
the Licchavi race?' ° h ° f The 27th in descent from hira was Lha-tho- 
tho-ri, and the 32nd was Sran-tsan-gam-po. 
This last King, who reigned in Tibet, in 627 A.D., had two principal 
wives—one being taken from China and the other being the daughter of 
Amsu-varma, the Licchavi king of Nepal. 
The rulers of Mongolia and Ladak do likewise claim descent from 
the Licchavi race. But so many changes have taken place iu the ruling 
families of Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, Ladak, etc., that it is at present 
impossible to trace unmixed Licchavi blood in the people of those 
countries. 
Nothing is definitely known to us of the fates of the Indian branch 
of the Licchavi race that lived in the early 
the ificchlivfrace? 11011 ° f centuries of Christ. With the revival of 
Brahmanism in India, in the 7th century 
A.D., there occurred a thorough re-organization of ancient castes. The 
Licchavi kingdom of Vaisali began probably to accept Brahmanism 
at this time, and we are not surprised to read the records of Chinese 
pilgrims (such as those of Hwen-thsang), who say that in the 7th century 
A.D., Buddhism was on its decline in VaiSali and heretical doctrines 
J. i. 20. 
