4 Ancient to medieval

The Licchavi period left inscriptions and a documented administrative vocabulary; the medieval period fragmented the valley into the three kingdoms of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhadgaun, while the western hills were organised under the Khas and later the Baise-Chaubise principalities. This fragmentation matters legally: different regions applied different customary rules, which is why the unification of the eighteenth century and the codification of law that followed it were a single process of making one law for one state.