The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c31.s2.8

c31.s2.8

During the seventh century Nepāl occupied the position of a buffer state between Tibet on the north, then a great power in Asia, and the empire of Harsha of Kanauj on the south. King Amsuvarman, founder of the Thākuri dynasty, who died about a.d. 642, was in close touch with Tibet by reason of his daughter’s marriage to Srong-tsan-Gampo, the monarch of that country, who was strong enough to compel the emperor of China to give him the princess Wen-cheng as second consort in 641.¹ After Harsha’s death Tibetan and Nepālese troops acted together in support of Wang-hiuentse, the Chinese envoy, and against the usurper of Harsha’s throne (*ante*, p. 366). It is also certain that at the beginning of the eighth century Nepāl was still dependent on Tibet, and continued in that position until a. d. 703, when it, together with Tirhūt, shook off dependence on Tibet. The Tibetan king was killed in the course of the war.² The reason for the introduction of a new Nepālese era dating from October, a. d. 879, is not known. Chinese relations with Nepāl and India had come to an end soon after the middle of the eighth century. In recent times wars between China and Nepāl have resulted in a complimentary recognition by the smaller state of the suzerainty of the greater.