Licchavi dynasty

Clan that ruled the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal between the fourth and ninth centuries. Its rulers claimed descent from the Licchavis of Vaishali (present-day Bihar, India), a clan that ruled over the eastern Gangetic plain as an oligarchic republic (ganasangha) until its absorption into the kingdom of Magadha in the fifth century BCE. The circumstances of the Licchavi rise to power in Nepal and their link to the Indian clan remain unclear. Their last dated royal inscription is of 733 CE, but inscriptions continuing into the ninth century show use of the Licchavi script — a variant of Gupta Brahmi — and the Licchavi Samvat calendar, a dating system with the reference epoch, or origin year, of 575–576 CE.