Introduction
If you are to look at a map of the year 867, you would barely notice the various Himalayan kingdoms. One such kingdom hidden by the great mountains is that of the Licchavis. This clan originated in Vaishali (located in the Bihar state of modern-day India), a city which was also the capital of the Vajji Mahajanapada (c. 700 BCE - c. 400 BCE). They are mentioned in various Buddhist and Jain texts. Licchavi power declined after their confederacy lost the Magadha-Vajji War (484 BCE - 468 BCE). It has been theorized that Chandragupta I was able to transform his kingdom into the Gupta Empire through his marriages to the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi. The son born from this union, Emperor Samudragupta (b. 335 CE - d. 375 CE), even called himself Licchavidauhitra and was supported in his early military campaigns by his mother's family.
Nevertheless, the Licchavis had lost their political power in Bihar and a branch of this ancient clan migrated north to the Himalayas. The exact date is not known but most likely around late 4th or early 5th Century, the Licchavis arrived in Kathmandu Valley and defeated Gasti, the last ruler of the Kirat Kingdom. The Kiratis, a Tibeto-Burman people, returned back to their traditional homelands in Eastern Nepal. And thus began what is generally referred to as the Golden Period of Nepal.
The Licchavis, like many other dynasties before and after them, called themselves rulers of "Nepal" but only ruled the Kathmandu Valley (and surrounding areas) since the term historically referred only to this particular place before its conquest by the Gorkha Kingdom whose kings adopted the name for their entire country. Though represented much better than in Crusader Kings 2, the Kingdom of Nepal is still much larger than it historically ever was in Crusader Kings 3. To the north, beyond the great mountains, lie various Bon and Buddhist kingdoms that have emerged from the ashes of the Tibetan Empire. To the east is the Kingdom of the Kirats now led by the Lasahang dynasty and follow their own traditional beliefs. To the west is the Katyuri Kingdom of the Indo-Aryan Khas people (the Khas language, Khaskura, is what eventually became known as Nepali...BTW "Nepali" culture should definitely not exist in the year 867). And finally, to the south is the grand realm of the Buddhist Palas; one of the three powers in the Indian subcontinent in the year 867 alongside the Hindu Pratiharas and the Jain Rashtrakutas.
In 867, the Licchavi king is Manadeva IV. A 57 years old man, he is the last living Licchavi (and he was in Real Life...though there were many Nepali rulers later on who claimed they were descendants of the Licchavis or whatever) and he had spent most of his life expanding his kingdom (by attempts to handwave why his kingdom is much bigger than it actually was) and trying to create a new religion. The Licchavis had long been patrons of Vajrayana Buddhism and though debatable; some even claim that the Licchavi princess Bhrikuti (or Green Tara as she is known by the Tibetans), married to the first Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo, had played key role in promoting Buddhism in Tibet. However, despite the royalty and most of the nobility being Buddhists, the realm ruled by the Licchavis always had large number of Hindus (I really like this minor detail of Manadeva and his ancestors in CK3 being Buddhists who rule over Shaivite or Vaishnavite provinces), the afore-mentioned Kiratis and various other local tribes that practiced their own traditional beliefs.
To unite the realm, Manadeva IV decided to create a new religion of his own called Licchavi Dharma (and I have tried to make it as OP as possible). He even took a vow to not marry until he achieved that mission. Finally, he was able to gather various Hindu pujaris, Buddhist monks and local shamans to legitimize the new Dharmic religion and used his great diplomatic skills to convince all of his vassals and courtiers to convert.
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