Bikram Sambat calendar is named after King Vikramaditya of Rajasthan, an independent country in the Indian subcontinent. Bikram Sambat, like the official Shaka Sambat, was discontinued for a long time after the rise of the Rana oligarchy in Nepal. They stopped using Shaka Sambat in the 1823rd year and replaced it with Bikram Sambat for functionary purposes; Bikram Sambat became the official Nepali calendar in 1958.