The Malla dynasty (; ) also known as the Malla Confederacy, was the ruling dynasty of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding region in modern-day Nepal from 1201 to 1769. This dynasty was founded by Arideva Malla. Though the latter Mallas were regarded as belonging to the Raghuvamsha dynasty, they were also seen as continuations and descendants of the Licchavi dynasty. Later Malla kings, particularly those of Bhaktapur starting from Jagajjyoti Malla also traced one section of their lineage from Nanyadeva, the founder of the Karnat dynasty of Mithila. The term Malla means wrestler in Sanskrit. The first use of the word Malla in the Kathmandu Valley began in 1201.
The Malla period stretched over 600 years, as they presided over and flourished the Newar civilization of Nepal Mandala which developed as one of the most sophisticated urban civilisations in the Himalayan foothills and a key destination on the India-Tibet trade route. During the Malla Dynasty, Nepal Bhasa was the official language,Lienhard, Siegfried (1992). Songs of Nepal: An Anthology of Nevar Folksongs and Hymns. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. . Page 3. while Bhojpuri, Maithili and Bengali also held significant importance as literary languages during this period.
Origin Beginning in the early twelfth century, leading notables in Nepal began to appear with names ending in the term malla, ("wrestler" in Sanskrit), indicating a person of great strength and power. Arimalla (reigned 1200–16) was the first king to be so-called, and the practice of adopting such a name was followed regularly by rulers in Nepal until the eighteenth century. The names of the Malla kings were also written as, for example, Ari Malla. Another legend says that Arimalla was fond of wrestling and he added malla to his name. However, this is debated as the word malla appears frequently in the historical records before the Malla dynasty. Another possibility is that Aridev adopted the title Malla because it was popular at the time in India. It seems more convincing because Aridev belonged to the dynasty started by Vamadeva, and none of his predecessors used Malla in their names. If such is the case, it makes the Malla dynasty separate from the Malla community which originated in India.
The later Malla kings, especially from Bhaktapur and starting with Jagajjyoti Malla (r. 1614–1637) claimed descent from the Karnata dynasty of Mithila, a connection which is not corroborated in the early contemporary sources like the 14th century Gopal Raj Vamshavali. Scholars such as Brinkhaus have argued that this genealogical claim was a deliberate political construction, accompanied by the simultaneous adoption of Maithili as a courtly literary language in place of Bengali, serving to legitimize Malla rule by associating the dynasty with the prestigious Mithila tradition. Similarly, Maithil Brahmin, Kanyakubja Brahmin and Saraswat Brahmin priests were invited and settled in Kathmandu during the Malla rule. Similarly, dozens of Kshatriya-status noble and ruling clans of Mithila also came along as the nobility or as part of the Malla entourage who fled Muslim invasions. Most notable of these frequent migrations was the migration that occurred after the attack of the Mithila kingdom by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq during the reign of King Harisimhadeva in 1324 CE, which led to large-scale migration of Mithila to Nepal. The priestly classes that came during this time are the ancestors of present-day Rajopadhyaya and Maithil Brahmins of the Valley, whereas the immigrant warrior and noble classes are the ancestors of today's Chatharīya Srēṣṭha Newars. Other groups too immigrated and eventually assimilated into the Newar society, some of which are the present-day Khadgis (Nāya/Shahi), Dhobi, Kapalis/Jogis, Halwai/(Rajkarnikar) and Tamrakar of Lalitpur, Podya (Chamahar), Kulu (Dusadh), among others. These people eventually became endogamous caste units that started to be identified as Newar from the 16th century onward.
The backbone of the Malla army, particularly under Jaya Prakash Malla, was made up of Tirhutia soldiers from Northern Bihar and parts of the Terai. The military leaders and chiefs were often recruited from the Kshatriya families of the time, marked by their clan titles like Pradhan or Pradhananga or Pradhan Patravamshi (chief ministers), Amatya (ministers), Rawal, etc.
History Early Malla period
The long Malla period witnessed the continued importance of the Kathmandu Valley as a political, cultural, and economic centre of Nepal. Other areas also began to emerge as significant centres in their own right, increasingly connected to the Kathmandu Valley.Savada. History, The Malla Kings.
The time of the earlier Malla kings was not one of consolidation but was instead a period of upheaval in and around Nepal. In the twelfth century, Muslim Turks set up a powerful kingdom in India at Delhi, and in the thirteenth century, Turko Afghan khaljis expanded their control over most of northern India. During this process, all of the regional kingdoms in India underwent a major reshuffling and considerable fighting before they eventually fell under Delhi's control. This process resulted in an increasing militarization of Nepal's neighbours and sections of Nepal as well. For example, in western Nepal, around Dullu in the Jumla Valley, an alternative seat of political and military power grew up around a separate dynasty of Mallas (who were not related to the Mallas of the Kathmandu Valley), who reigned until the fourteenth century. These Khas kings expanded into parts of western Tibet and sent raiding expeditions into the Kathmandu Valley between 1275 and 1335. In 1312 the Khas king, Ripumalla, visited Lumbini and had his inscription carved on Ashoka's pillar. He then entered the Kathmandu Valley to worship publicly at Matsyendranath, Pashupatinath, and Swayambhunath. These acts were all public announcements of his overlordship in Nepal and signified the temporary breakdown of royal power within the valley. The first Malla rulers had to cope with several disasters. In 1255, one-third of the population of Kathmandu (30,000 people, including King Abhaya Malla) was killed when the valley suffered an earthquake with the epicentre right below the city.Newar. A devastating Muslim invasion by the Sultan of Bengal Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah in 1345–46, during the reign of Jayaraja Deva (r. 1347–1361), left plundered Hindu and Buddhist shrines in its wake. The invasion, however, did not leave a lasting cultural effect. In India, the damage was more widespread and many Hindus were driven into the hills and mountains of Nepal, where they established small Rajbanshi principalities.Bindloss et al. p34. None of the existing buildings in the valley proper dates from before this raid. He is said to have destroyed the Lichchhavi palaces of Managriha and Kailashkuta. He also damaged all the temples in the Kathmandu valley except the Changu Narayan Temple, which he could not locate as it lies some hills away from Kathmandu. He returned after 3 days of looting and burning.
Apart from this, the earlier Malla years (1220–1482) were largely stable. During the reign of Jayabhimdev Malla in 1260, eighty artisans were sent to Tibet. Among them was Araniko (1245–1306) who later rose to become a high-ranking official in the court of Mongol leader Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty.Jing Araniko is the only person from this early Malla era whose biography is known to us in some detail, thanks to the Chinese historical records.
This period reached a high point under the third Malla dynasty of Jayasthiti Malla (r. 1382–1395), who united the valley and codified its laws, including the caste system. The early Malla period, a time of continuing trade and the reintroduction of Nepalese coinage saw the steady growth of the small towns that became Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhadgaon. Royal pretenders in Patan and Bhadgaon struggled with their main rivals, the lords of Banepa in the East, relying on the populations of their towns as their power bases. The citizens of Bhadgaon viewed Devaladevi as the legitimate, independent queen. The betrothal in 1354 of her granddaughter to Jayasthiti Malla, a man of obscure but high birth, eventually led to the reunification of the land and a lessening of strife among the towns. By 1370 Jayasthiti Malla controlled Patan, and in 1374 his forces defeated those in Banepa and Pharping. He then took full control of the country from 1382 until 1395, reigning in Bhadgaon as the husband of the queen and in Patan with full regal titles. His authority was not absolute because the lords of Banepa were able to pass themselves off as kings to ambassadors of the Chinese Ming emperor who travelled to Nepal during this time. Nevertheless, Jayasthiti Malla united the entire valley and its environs under his sole rule, an accomplishment still remembered with pride by Nepalese, particularly Newars. The first comprehensive codification of law in Nepal, based on the dharma of ancient religious textbooks, is ascribed to Jayasthiti Malla. This legendary compilation of traditions was seen as the source of legal reforms during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
After the death of Jayasthiti Malla, his sons divided the kingdom and ruled collegially, until Jayajyotir Malla, the last surviving son, ruled on his own from 1408 to 1428. His son, Yaksha Malla (reigned ca. 1428–82), represented the high point of the Mallas as rulers of a united Nepal. Under his rule, a military raid was launched against the plains to the south, a very rare event in Nepalese history. Yaksha Malla built the Mul Chok in 1455, which remains the oldest palace section in Bhadgaon. The struggles among the landed aristocracy and leading town families (Pradhans), especially acute in Patan, were controlled during his reign. Outlying areas such as Banepa and Pharping were semi-independent but acknowledged the leadership of the king. Newari appeared more often as the language of choice in official documents. The royal family began to accept Manesvari (also known as Taleju), a manifestation of Shiva's consort, as their deity.
After the death of Jayasthiti Malla's grandson Yaksha Malla in 1482, the Kathmandu Valley was divided up among his sons into three kingdoms of Bhaktapur (Khwopa), Kantipur (Yen) and Lalitpur (Yala). The rest of what we today call Nepal consisted of a fragmented patchwork of almost 50 independent states, stretching from Palpa and Jumla in the west to the semi-independent states of Banepa and Pharping, most of them minting their own coins and maintaining standing armies. The most notable Malla kings of this later era were: Pratap Malla of Kantipur, Siddhi Narasimha Malla of Lalitpur, and Bhupatindra Malla of Bhaktapur.
Period of three kingdoms