1. Puranic and Sanskrit literature — the Nepala-mahatmya section of the Skanda Purana; references in the Mahabharata; the Buddhist Swayambhu Purana.
2. Foreign accounts — the Chinese pilgrims Faxian (5th c.) and Xuanzang (7th c., described Nepal from report); the missions of Wang Xuance (7th c., who borrowed Nepali troops en route to India); Tibetan histories (the Blue Annals; Taranatha) recording Nepal-Tibet relations, including the marriage of Bhrikuti to Srongtsen Gampo.
3. Nepali chronicles and literature — the Gopalarajavamshavali; later vamshavalis; Malla court poetry; the Gorkhali documents, letters and the Dibya Upadesh tradition.
4. European accounts — Kirkpatrick, Hamilton (1819), Hodgson; later, Rana-period travellers and advisors.