Manadeva I is the first historically verified ruler of the Kathmandu Valley — his existence confirmed not through later chronicle tradition but by a stone inscription at Changu Narayan dated to roughly 464 AD, the oldest surviving inscription in Nepal. The Licchavi dynasty that issued this copper tetradrachm was heavily influenced by Gupta coinage conventions filtering down through the Himalayan trade corridors connecting the subcontinent to Tibet and Central Asia. RGV#8 places this among the earlier attributable Licchavi types, a series that remains poorly die-studied compared to its Gupta contemporaries.
Manadeva I is the first historically verified ruler of the Kathmandu Valley — his existence confirmed not through later chronicle tradition but by a stone inscription at Changu Narayan dated to roughly 464 AD, the oldest surviving inscription in Nepal. The Licchavi dynasty that issued this copper tetradrachm was heavily influenced by Gupta coinage conventions filtering down through the Himalayan trade corridors connecting the subcontinent to Tibet and Central Asia. RGV#8 places this among the earlier attributable Licchavi types, a series that remains poorly die-studied compared to its Gupta contemporaries.