There are bodies of texts that reflect distinct classical narrative in the

Indian sub-continent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakis ...

are called the vamsavali (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: ''vaṃśāvalī'',

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...

: वंशावली). They bear special significance in the study of Nepalese history and its historical tradition. In continuation to the ''itihāsa''-''purāṇa'' tradition as prevalent in the

, these writings have mostly been referred to, where there is an absence of other historical sources. As a distinct historical narrative, they have a lot to reflect about the past in a broader sense. In

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, such chronicles are abundant and historically important, but yet least researched. This sector is yet to be explored fully and is probable to mirror interesting and near-to-credible (or sometimes highly credible) information about the past. The ''vaṃśāvalī''s, etymologically, refer only to the list of people of certain ''vaṃśa''s (''

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...

'' or clan, ancestry in general).

Popular chronicles (vamsavalis) of Nepal

{, class="wikitable" , +List of some popular chronicles (''vamsavali''s) of

!Name of Chronicle !Date of last compilation !Place of compilation !Paper Size !Folios !Script !Language , - , Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī , c. 1349 AD ,

Kathmandu valley The Kathmandu Valley (), also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley (, Newar language, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः), National Capital Area, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayas, Hima ...

(

Bhaktapur Bhaktapur (Nepali language, Nepali and Sanskrit: भक्तपुर, ; "City of Devotees"), known locally as Khwopa (Nepal Bhasa: , ) and historically called Bhadgaon, is a city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal located abou ...

) , 28 cm x 5 cm , 48 , Bhujimola ,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

Nepal Bhasa Newar (; , ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The language is known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhas ...

, - , Bhāṣā Vaṃśāvalī , after 1768 AD ,

, - , - ,

and Nepali , - , Nepālavaṃśāvalī , after 1790 AD ,

, 22.5 cm x 9 cm , 13 ,

, - , Wright's Chronicle , after 1847 AD ,

, - , - ,

and

, - , Kirkpatrick's Chronicle , c. 1800 AD ,

, - , - , - , - , - , Gorkhā Vaṃśāvalī , after 1774 AD ,

Gorkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

, - , - ,

, Nepali , - , Śrīpālī Vaṃśāvalī , 1831 AD ,

Dailekh Dailekh (), locally known as Dailekh Bazar Narayan is a town and the headquarters of Dailekh District located in Karnali Province of Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia ...

, - , - ,

, Nepali , - , Kāṭhmāṇḍu Upatyakākā Ek Rājavaṃśāvalī , c. 1885 AD ,

, - , - ,

and

, - , The Vaṃśāvalī of the Malla Rājās of Jājarkoṭ , NA ,

Jajarkot Jajarkot District () a part of Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Khalanga as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population of 171,304 in 2011 Nepal census. Introduction Ja ...

, - , 4 ,

, Nepali , - , Devatāharuko vaṃśāvalī , 1988 AD ,

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, 33 cm x 22.5 cm , 145 ,

and Nepali Alongside the list in the table, in the collection of Hodgson are following vaṃśāvalīs as specified by Hasrat: he no./vol. refers to the codes in Hodgson collection.# No. 27 (19): Bamshavalis, 5 books: Vol. 17. Fol. 1-117; Vol. 52, Fol. 180-1. # No. 28 (7): Chronology of Nepal, Vol. 17. Fol. 220-27. # No. 29 (8): Bamsavali, Newari, 2 Vols: Vol. 9, 16, 17 and 19. # No. 29 (16): Bamsavali, Newari, Vol. 52. Fol. 7-52; Vol. 102, Fol. 9-16. # No. 29 (1-6): Gorkha Bamsavali, Vol. 51. Fol. 49-1, 92-107; Vol. 55, Fol. 1-4. # No. 30 (1): Gorkha Bamsavali, Nepali and History of Nepal, Vol. 52, Fol. 57- # Vol. 74, Fol. 21-23; Vol. 101, Fol. 140-150. # No. 32 (1): Vamsavali etc. Vols. 50, 54, 56, 93, 95 and 104. # No. 32 (2): Vamsavali, Vol. 93. Fol. 89 ff; Vol. 101, Fol. 158-167. # No. 32 (5): Early Gorkha Vamsavalis, Vol. 51. Fol. 111-120. # No. 33(6): Gorkha Bamsavali, Roll No. 45. # No. 36 (1): Vamsavali Statistics etc., Vols. 26, 51, 54, 74, 99, 100 and 101. # No. 37 (5): Vamsavali, Vol. 51, Fol. 181-2. # No. 39 (6): Nepal Chronology, Vol. 7. Fol. 152-170. # No. 39 (1): Vamsavalis, Vols. 50 and 55. Shreṣṭha (2012) Shrestha, Rajit Bahadur. (2012). Abhilekha. Lalitpur: Nhū Hisu Pucaḥ. p. 45. mentions of 101 different vaṃśāvalī manuscripts preserved at National Archives, some of which are named after kings, gods, particular caste groups or places. Following is the list he provides: # Rājavogamālāvaṃśāvalī # Mukundasenanṛpavaṃśāvalī # Makavānapurīyananṛpavaṃśāvalī # Rājopādhyāyavaṃśāvalī # Maithilavaṃśāvalī # Maithilabrāhmaṇavaṃśāvalī # Macchendravaṃśāvalī # Nepālavaṃśāvalī # Nepālarājavaṃśāvalī # Gorkhāko Vaṃśāvalī # Rājaguruvaṃśāvalī # Munasigharānako Vaṃśāvalī # Rāmaśāhavaṃśāvalī # Bhāṣā Vaṃśāvalī # Sūryavaṃśāvalī # Harivaṃśāvalī # Śāhavaṃśāvalī He also gives the main text of another vamsavali, viz. Harsiddhivaṃśāvalī. In the microfilm collections at Nepāl Archives under Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project, are also the vamsavalis collection, as published in a catalog (Part 2) under the subjects Itihāsa 1-5 Lagat (pp. 1–41) and Itihas Tādapatra (pp. 42–46), collected with the code, name of the vamsavali, film number, condition, script, number of folios, size, language and others.

References

Nepal history-related lists Nepalese chronicles