Gopal Raj Vamshavali

The Gopal Raj Vamshavali (IAST: Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī, Devanagari: गोपालराजवंशावली) is a 14th-century hand-written manuscript of Nepal which is primarily a genealogical record of Nepalese monarchs.

One of the most important and popular chronicles in Nepalese history is by this name. This vamshavali was previously called Bendall Vaṃśāvalī, as Prof. Cecil Bendall found the manuscript "in the cold weather of 1898–99 in Kathmandu's Durbar Library"[1] or the Bir Library. This was later, and popularly, called the Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī by scholars as Baburam Achayra and Yogi Naraharinath to name a few, as a hand-written catalog list of the library termed the manuscript Gopālavaṃśādi prācīna rājavaṃśāvalī[2] (गोपालवंशादि प्राचीन राजवंशावली), meaning ancient royal vamshavali starting with Gopala dynasty. Pant, however, questions if this could be called a vamshavali proper, as the chronicler never mentions it thus.[3]

The original copy of Gopal Raj Vamshavali is now stored at National Archives, Kathmandu in an "unsatisfactory"[4] state, in contrast to an "excellent"[1] condition, when Prof. Cecil Bendall found it at the turn of the 19th century.

  1. ^ a b Bendall (1903). Cited from Pant, Mahes Raj. (1993). On Reading The Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī. Ādarśa. [Supplement to Pūrṇimā, the journal of Saṃśodhana Maṇḍala], No. 1. Kathmandu: Pundit Publications. pp. 17–76.
  2. ^ Nepal, Gyānmaṇi. (1988). "Itihās lekhne paramparā ra Nepālvṛtta". ["The tradition of writing history and Nepāl circle"]. Ancient Nepal. No. 107. Kathmandu: Department of Archaeology, His Majesty's Government. pp. 1–10.
  3. ^ Pant (2013, personal conversation). Cited by Rajopadhyaya, Abhas Dharananda. (2014). An Analytical Study of the Message-Contents of The Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī from the Perspective of Disseminating Heritage Information in Vaṃśāvalīs of Nepal. Biratnagar: Purbanchal University. [Thesis, unpublished].
  4. ^ Pant, Mahes Raj. (1993). On Reading The Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī. Ādarśa. [Supplement to Pūrṇimā, the journal of Saṃśodhana Maṇḍala], No. 1. Kathmandu: Pundit Publications. pp. 17–76.