The Gopals kept cows; the Mahispals kept buffaloes. Mahisha (महिष) means buffalo, pāla (पाल) means herdsman — and the chronicle treats the title as a royal office: "the Mahishapāla kings ruled Nepal by conquering the Gopalas." Together the two dynasties are called the Abhiras (अभीर), an ancient pastoral people of India's northwest, mentioned in the Mahabharata and Puranas and traditionally linked to the clan of Krishna.गोपालले गाई पाले; महिष्पालले भैंसी। दुवैलाई अभीर भनिन्छ — प्राचीन पशुपालक जाति, जसलाई परम्पराले कृष्णको कुलसँग जोड्छ।
Three Kingsतीन राजाहरू
Two versions of the transfer of power survive. The Bhasa Vamshavali says the childless last Gopala king consecrated the Mahispala leader Bar Singh as his heir — a peaceful succession. The Gopalarajavamshavali and Kirkpatrick's chronicles record a defeat "in encounter" — a violent one. History's earliest dynasty change in Nepal is already contested at its source.सत्ता हस्तान्तरणको दुई कथा छन् — एक भने अन्तिम गोपाल राजाले बरसिंहलाई उत्तराधिकारी बनाए, अर्को भने युद्धमा जितिए। नेपालको पहिलो राजवंश-परिवर्तन पनि विवादित छ।
Their kingdom is said to have stretched from the Dudh Koshi in the east to the Trishuli in the west, from Gosaikunda in the north to Chitlang in the south. They ruled, the chronicle totals, 161 years and 2 months — until Bhuvan Singh, the last Mahispala king, was defeated by the first Kirat king, Yalambar, and Nepal's second dynasty fell to its third.उनीहरूको राज्य दूधकोशीदेखि त्रिशूलीसम्म, गोसाइकुण्डदेखि चित्लाङसम्म फैलिएको भनिन्छ। अन्त्यमा अन्तिम महिष्पाल राजा भुवनसिंह किरात राजा यलम्बरसामु पराजित भए।