Scattered Power and Petty Kingdoms

Abstract

Abstract This chapter deals with the scattered power and small states in a period from prehistory until the fourteenth century. This period has only few sources and thus is widely clouded in darkness. However, there are indications of shared or dual rulership in many little kingdoms and certain cults such as Shivadharma and the worship of Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath came up. The Licchavi Period became important for preserving many inscriptions, Indian and Chinese contemporary reports, and art historical relicts. It has been a culture that shows features of later periods such as the reverence for Pashupati (Shiva) and religious syncretism. Also important is the Khasa Malla dynasty in western Nepal that flourished between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries.