Khasa Kingdom

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the tribe of same name in ancient literatures and classical texts, see Khasas and Khasas (Mahabharata).
Not to be confused with Malla dynasty (Nepal).

Khasa Malla Kingdom
Nepali: खस मल्ल राज्य
11th–14th centuries
Painting of Khasa Buddhist King Ripu Malla and his son Sangrama worshiping Goddess Tara (center) c. 1312
Painting of Khasa Buddhist King Ripu Malla and his son Sangrama worshiping Goddess Tara (center) c. 1312
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Location of the Sinja Valley, heartland of the Khasa Kingdom, and location of known inscriptions.
CapitalSinja Valley
Common languages
Religion
Government
Maharajadhiraja[1]
(Sovereign King)		 
• c. 11th century
Nāgarāja
• 1207-1223
Krachalla Deva
• 1223–1287
Ashok Challa
• 
Jitari Malla
• 
Ananda Malla
• early 14th century
Ripu Malla
• 14th century
Punya Malla
• 14th century
Prithvi Malla
• 14th century
Abhaya Malla
History 
• Established
11th
• Disestablished
14th centuries
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Katyuri kings
Khasas
Chand kings
Baise Rajya
Chaubisi Rajya
Tulsipur State
Today part of

Khasa-Malla kingdom (

Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty.[4]

History

An ancient tribe named

Mayum pass of Tibet in the north.[6] King Nāgarāja also referred as Jāveśvara (Nepali: जावेश्वर), came from Khāripradeśa (present-day Ngari Province) and set up his capital at Semjā.[7] The Khas dynasties were originated at 11th century or earlier period. There were two dynasties of Khas one at Guge and other at Jumla.[8]

The widely regarded most renowned King of Khasa Malla Kingdom was Prithvi Malla.

Purang and Nepalese territories up to Dullu in the southwest and Kaskikot in the east.[10] Giuseppe Tucci contends that The Tibetan chronicles show Pṛthvīmalla as the last king of this empire.[11] This kingdom disintegrated after the death of Abhaya Malla and formed the Baise rajya confederacy.[9]

Inscriptions

Saka Era
corresponds to 1312 CE).

The earliest Khasa Malla inscription was the copper plate inscription of King Krachalla dated Poush 1145

Kumaon) and established his reign there. It was written at "Srisampannanagar" (Srinagar) in Dullu. Thus, this inscription proves that King Krachalla ascended the throne in Dullu on 1207 A.D.[1] Furthermore, Krachalla described himself as a devout Buddhist ('Parama Saugata')[14][13] and is mentioned to have won over "Vijayarajya" (realm of victory) and destroyed the demolished city of Kantipura (Kartikeyapur).[15]

Ashok Challa had issued several inscriptions in modern-day

Oṃ maṇi padme huṃ. Maṃgalama bhavatu śrīpṛthvīmalladevaḥ likhitama idaṃ puṇyaṃ jagatī sidyasyā[18]

The languages used by Prithvi Malla in his inscription belongs to 13th century form of modern Nepali.[19]

Religion, language, and culture

Sinja Valley, capital of Khas Mallas where earliest Devanagari scripts from the 13th century[20]

The language of the Khas Kingdom was

Khas language and Sanskrit.[7][21] Some of the earliest Devanagari script examples are the 13th century records from the sites in the former Khasa kingdom. These archaeological sites are located in Jumla, Surkhet and Dailekh districts. Sinja Valley was the ancient capital city and powerful town of the Khas Mallas[22] between 12th and 14th century and the centre of origin of Nepali (Khas) language.[20]

Lumbini pillar inscription by King Ripu Malla: "Om mani padme hum May Prince Ripu Malla be long victorious"[23]

Most of the initial Khas kings before Pṛthvīmalla were

Hindu. These two inscriptions of King Pṛthvīmalla showed the transition of the state from Buddhism to Hinduism.[24] The reign of King Punya Malla and Prithvi Malla had strict traditional Hindu ritual and customs.[25] A Buddhist-Hindu shrine Kakrebihar has a signboard referring it to the reign of King Ashok Challa but as per experts, it could belong to the reign of King Krachalla.[26]

Rulers

Titles, ranks, and suffixes

The successors of King Nāgarāja adhered to some suffix as -illa and -challa like King Chapilla, King Krachalla.[27] Challa and Malla were titles of kings and princes. Rāulā was the title of a high-ranking official. Personalities like Malayavarma, Medinivarma, Samsarivarma, Balirāja,[note 1] etc. had title of Rāulā.[29] Mandalesvara or Mandalik was a title conferred on powerful persons of the Kingdom. Royal princes, senior officials and defeated Kings were appointed to the post of Mandalesvara.[30]

List

The Dullu stone pillar inscription dated 1279 Shaka Samvat (1357 A.D.) of King Prithvi Malla consists the following names of his predecessors:[17] 1. Krachalla 2. Ashokachalla 3. Jitari Malla 4. Akshaya Malla 5. Ashoka Malla 6. Ananda Malla 7. Ripu Malla 8. Sangrama Malla 9. Jitari Malla 10. Aditya Malla

The list of Khas kings mentioned by Giuseppe Tucci is in the following succession up to Prithvi Malla:[31]

Tibetoloical list

The list of rulers of Khasa (

Tibetan: Ya rtse) Kingdom established by the Tibetologists Luciano Petech, Roberto Vitali[36] and Giuseppe Tucci are:[31]

Decline

Khas language using Devanagari
script

After the

Chaubise rajya (24 principalities) in Gandaki region. [5]

The 22 principalities were

The 24 principalities were

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Balirāja went on to become sovereign king of Jumla and founder of Kalyal dynasty.[28]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Gnyawali 1971, p. 266.
  2. ^ Adhikary 1997, p. 37.
  3. ISBN 978-1-4381-0523-9
    .
  4. ^ a b Thakur 1990, p. 287.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Pradhan 2012, p. 3.
  6. ^ Rahul 1978, p. 60.
  7. ^ a b c d Regmi 1965, p. 717.
  8. ^ Carassco 1959, pp. 14–19.
  9. ^ a b c Pradhan 2012, p. 21.
  10. ^ a b Tucci 1956, p. 109.
  11. ^ Tucci 1956, p. 112.
  12. ^ a b c "Ian Alsop: The Metal Sculpture of the Khasa Mallas". Archived from the original on 15 November 2021.
  13. ^ a b Regmi 1971, p. 269.
  14. ^ a b Gnyawali 1971, p. 267.
  15. ^ Regmi 1971, pp. 269–271.
  16. ^ "Nepali language | History, Grammar & Writing System | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  17. ^ a b Gnyawali 1971, p. 265.
  18. ^ Tucci 1956, p. 43.
  19. ^ Gnyawali 1971, pp. 268.
  20. ^ a b Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Sinja valley". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  21. ^ Tucci 1956, p. 11.
  22. ^ Adhikary 1997, p. 76.
  23. ^ Le Huu Phuoc, Buddhist Architecture, p.269
  24. ^ Tucci 1956, p. 110.
  25. ^ a b Adhikary 1997, p. 81.
  26. ^ "Buddhist relics in western Nepal – Nepali Times". Archived from the original on 15 November 2021.
  27. ^ Adhikary 1997, p. 35.
  28. ^ Adhikary 1997, p. 72.
  29. ^ Adhikary 1997, p. 89.
  30. ^ Adhikary 1997, p. 84.
  31. ^ a b c Tucci 1956, p. 66.
  32. ^ In Defence of Khas: Ritu Raj Subedi therisingnepal.org.np Archived 27 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ a b c d e f g Regmi 1965, p. 714.
  34. ^ Tucci 1956, pp. 54–59.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h Tucci 1956, p. 50.
  36. ^ L. Petech (1980), 'Ya-ts'e, Gu-ge, Pu-rang: A new study', The Central Asiatic Journal 24, pp. 85–111; R. Vitali (1996), The kingdoms of Gu.ge Pu.hrang. Dharamsala: Tho.ling gtsug.lag.khang.

Books

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