History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c22.s1.24

v1.c22.s1.24

This śloka clearly contains the names of those outlying foreign peoples whose kingly families were admitted to be Vrātya Kshatriyas. The Dravidas are the well known Chola-Pandya-Kerala kings of the south, while the Nichhavis or Lichhavis and the Khasas are well known peoples of the north. (Nata, Karana and Zalla are lost to history while the Mallas are also lost probably, though Malla kingdoms are mentioned in the Mahābhārata list). Both the Khasas and Lichhavis are historical peoples and undoubtedly belong to the Mongolian race. The Lichhavis were rulers in India also and were allied to the Sākyas in which clan Buddha was born. They were included within Aryanism in most ancient times and a Lichhavi princess was the mother of the Gupta line of emperors of India. Perhaps she was a Nepal princess. It is not therefore strange that in later history the Lichhavis were practically treated as Kshatriyas and had marriage relations with most undoubted Aryan Kshatriya families like the Maukharis. The Khasas will be noticed in the next note.