The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c24.79

v1.c24.79

As to the origin of the Nandas we have no certain information; but the name is probably tribal, and it may be connected with the Nandas who lived near the river Rāmgaṅgā, between the Ganges and the Kosi in the Himālayan region of the United Provinces². The countries of the Himālayan fringe at this period were occupied by innumerable clans governed by tribal constitutions which may best be described as aristocratic oligarchies. Like the Rājputs, they were conquerors ruling in the midst of subject peoples; and, as Dr Vincent Smith has suggested³, many of these clans may have been of Tibeto-Chinese origin. It is possible that the Çiçunāgas and Nandas may have been the descendants of mountain chieftains who had won the kingdom of Magadha by conquest.