History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c11.125

c11.125

XXXVIII. Ni-po-lo or Nepal : This is the next important kingdom, about which the pilgrim has unhappily just a few words only to say. "The kings of Nepal were Kṣatriya Licchavis, and they were eminent scholars and believing Buddhists. A *recent king*, whose name is given as Ang-shu-fa-na or Amśuvarman . . . . . had composed a treatise on etymology."¹ It has usually been assumed on the authority of Bühler, Bhagvan Lal Indraji,² Fleet, Vincent Smith that Nepal came under the suzerainty of Harṣa; but this view has also been called to question by Sylvain Lévi, Ettinghausen and others. The problem being so controversial, we must critically examine the available evidence before coming to any conclusion. To begin with the arguments adduced in support of Harṣa's conquest of Nepal :—