Chronology and History of Nepal

In the Nepal chronology the date of Amśuvarman is a pivot, like the date of Chandragupta Maurya, to move up and to move down for several centuries. Amśuvarman’s date is therefore an important matter. His date as 635-650 A. D. was postulated by Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji on the basis of the Harsha Era, that is, taking the dates in his inscriptions to be in the Harsha Era; and his view was accepted by Dr. Fleet and has been followed 6 subsequently by Indian writers. That view needs reconsideration. On the date of this king we have the following materials. From Tibetan sources we know that the Tibetan emperor S t r o n g-s t a n-G a m p o whose rule is dated at 629 A. D.1 (V. Smith, EH., 373, 376 n.), married Amśuvarman’s daughter between 628 and 641.2 From the account of Yuan Chwang, who began his travels in India in 629 and reached China in 645 (V. Smith, 373, 365), we gather that Amśuvarman, a reputed author, had passed away before the Chinese pilgrim left India, that he was ‘a recent king’,3 that is, he had died not long ago. His time is thus fixed as a litde before 644 or 645, from the Tibetan and Chinese sources.