The Kingdom of Kantipur

Ratna Malla was the youngest son of Yaksha Malla. He became king of Kantipur in 1568 B.E. (1511 A.D.) He was cou rageous, had patience and was a diplomat of the first order. On his accession to the throne he found himself beset with difficul ties. First, he had to face the danger from twelve Thakuris. How to counteract their growing influence was the problem before Ratna Malla. They were, so to say, the de facto rulers of Kath mandu. They were much more powerful than the king . The king was a puppet in their hands. Ratna Malla invited them to a feast and poisoned them all to death. Now he became all in all. No sooner had he successfully encountered the internal menace, menace from outside posed itself before him. Kantipur was threatened with an invasion by the Bhotias called 'Kaku'. When Ratna Malla saw that he would not be able to face the huge armies of the enemy single-handed, he sought the help of Mukunda Sen, King of Palpa. He defeated the enemies and saved the country. Encouraged by this success, he invaded Nuwakot and conquered it. From that time, on, Nuwakot became a part of Kantipur till Prithbi Narayan Shah conquered the whole Kathmandu valley. Efforts were made to improve the economic condition of the country. For the improvement of the trade he allowed the Muslims to enter Kathmandu, Later on, 31 they were allowed to build houses and settle in Kathmandu. To facilitate trade and commerce he got coins minted out of copper found in a mine at Chitlang in Silgadhi hills. On one side of the coin was an image of a lion and words were engraved on the other. Ratna Malla ruled in Kantipur for eleven years. Du ring his reign he was able to bring about peace and prosperity in the country. Soorya Malla After the death of Ratna Malla, Soorya Malla became king. He introduced the practice of drawing the Rath (chariot) of Bajra Jogini of Shankhu. Amar Malla After him Amar Malla became king. So many jatras were started during his reign that they made his name immortal. Some of the jatras he started are as follows: Khokhana Mahankal's Jatra, Halchok Devi Jatra, Pachali Bhairab Jatra, Kankeshwari Jatra, Ghanteshwari Jatra, Hari Siddhi Jatra, Trisuli Jatra. The famous Maha Bauddha temple of Patan was built during his reign. Many villages as Bandegram, Thecho, Hari Siddhi, Lubhu, Chapagram, Pharping Machhendrapur, or Bungmati, Khokana, Panga, Kirtipur, Thankot, Balambu, Satungal, Halchok, Dharmasthali, Tokha, Chapagram, Lele, Gokama, Devpatan, Nandigram, NaxaL were annexed to his kingdom. Some of the villages were given by kings to the Brahmans' daughters as a dowry. Some were built by the rich. Some new ones were built upon the old ones when the latter were destroyed by fire or other natural agencies. Nandigram, as for example, was built over Mallagram which was gutted by fire. Some were the remains of old villages, Naxal, for example, was the remains of ancient Bishalnagar. Changu 32- Narayan which comprises 700 villages were built by Shankar Dev. Shankhu was also built under the name of Bajrajogini. Mahendra Malla Mahendra Malla ascended the throne of Kantipur in about 1610 B. E. (1553 A. D.) He wanted trade and commerce to flourish in Kathmandu. He also wanted Kathmandu to be full of activity, life and vigour. For this reason he distributed lands to the people and also allowed them to build houses of many storeys. Ratna Malla had installed an image of Tulaja Bhawani in Kantipur. Mahendra Malla, however, built a beautiful temple wth three tiers of roofs and five tiers of plinth and ins talled in it the image of Tulaja Bhawani. This- temple still stands in the precincts of Hanumandhoka. It is known as Taleju temple. Mahendra Malla also built Pashupati Nath temple with three tiers of roofs. The temple of Mahendreshwar at Makhan Tol was also built by Mahendra Malla. With a view to improving the coinage system of Nepal and fixing the par 'value of the Nepal currency with the Indian currency, Mahendra Malla went to Delhi. He presented Akbar, the then Mughal Emperor of Delhi, geese and falcons. After having arrived at an understanding with the Mughal Emperor he came back to Nepal and brought into circulation the silver coins. As he was the first king to bring into circulation silver coins, they are even now. known as 'Mahendra Malli'. Sada Shiva Malla , Mahendra Malla had two sons by his two wives. They were Sadashiva Malla and Shiva Singh Malla. After the death of Mahendra Malla, Sadashiva Malla sat on the throne. He was a morally depraved aristocrat. He let his horses loose in the 33 fields of the public and caused them damage the crops. He used to violate the chastity of young girls by force. The public could not put up with his debauchery and injustice. They were bid. ing time to wreck vengeance upon him. One day while he was going to Manohara all alone, he was captured and severely beaten. He was at last deposed and driven out of the country, He fled to Bhaktapur where he was made a prisoner. He, how ever, escaped from there and no trace of him was found. The courtyard in which he was imprisoned is still known as 'Sadas hiva chowk'. Shiva Singh Malla After Sadashiva Malla had been deposed, Shiva Singh Malla was made king. He was a man of good character, simple nature and of religious bent of mind. He never misused and misappropriated the public treasure. He spent on charities and religious purposes. He built many temples. They were all built after Tantric fashion. Tantricism in his time was very popular. Legend has it that a Tantric Surath Bajra by name put out the fire which gutted his house in Kathmandu by spitting the tea which he was having with the Lama of Tibet at that time. These days if we want to refer to an event which is fantastic or of the dim past it has become proverbial to say that it was of the time of 'Shimsim Raja' Shimsim' being the corrupt form of 'Shiva Singh'. Shiva Singh's wife Ganga Rani was as religious minded and wise as he himself. With the permission of the king she demolished the three tiered roofs of Pashupati Nath temple and made only two tiered roofs but of gold. She also renovated the temple of Swayambhu and of Changu Narayan. She got a gar den made which lies in the centre of Buddhaneelakantha and Kantipur and it is still famous by the name of 'Rani-ban'. 34 Shiva Singh Malla defeated Purandar Singh of Patan and Patan :was annexed to Kantipur. Of his two sons Laxmi Narsingh and Harihar Singh, the latter was made king of Patan. Shiva Singh Malla died in 1614. Laxmi Narasimha Malla After the death of his father, Laxmi Nara Singh became king of Kantipur. He was a very learned man and knew many languages. The hymns and other verses he had composed are t found here and there. The hymn he had composed in praise of Kali was written in fifteen different languages. Laxmi Nara Singh had an able and efficient chief minister named Bheem Malla. He was honest, sincere and loyal to the king. He was a great patriot who dedicated his life to the service af the country. At that time Nepal had its trade relation not only with India but also with Tibet. With a view to concluding a trade tready with the then Government of Tibet, he with the permission of King Laxmi Nara Singh, went to Tibet. He was successful in concluding a trade treaty, very favourable to Nepal with the Government of Tibet. According to the terms of the treaty the Nepalese merchants were given the right to trade freely in Tibet. Further, it was laid down in the treaty that if a Nepali merchant died issueless in Tibet, his personal effects and other property in Tibet would pass into the hands of the Nepalese Government and not to the Tibetan Government. When Bheem Malla, after successfully concluding the trade treaty with Tibet, came back to Kathmandu, he became very popular both with the king and the people, but other ministers in the palace grew jealous of the growing popularity of Bheem Malla. They poisoned the ear of the king and did every possible effort to bring about his downfall. They even went to the extent of saying that Bheem Malla had been trying to become the de jure and 35 de facto ruler of Kathmandu. At last they were successful in their evil design and the king without stopping to think whe ther Bheem Malla was really guilty or not sentenced him to death. Bheem Malla had to lose his life because of the lack' of discriminating power on the part of the king who fell an easy prey to the intrigues, jealousy and treachery of the ministers. Bheem Malla's Wife burnt herself along wih the dead body of her husband. Before ascending the funeral pyre of her husband, she pronounced a solemn curse which purported that there should be no correct judgement in the court of Nepal. When one is not rewarded for his sincere service or when* one's sincere service is not recognised, it has now become proverbial to saythat Nepal is a cursed land-cursed by a 'Satee', meaning there by that no one should expect to receive fair judgement in Ne pal. Later on, 'the king realized his mistake. He saw how he had been duped by the ministers and led to commit that foul cri me. In a mad fury he wrecked vengeance upon the guilty minis ters. He was relentless in his revenge on the ministers. Laxmi Nara Singh could not compose himself and some time later, he went completely mad, though he had a touch of insanity before. Laxmi Nara Singh had to pass the rest of his life as a prisoner In the hands of his son Pratap Malla. Later on, a temple of Shiva was built in memory of Kazi Bheem Malla. The temple still stands at Yatkha Tble. Pratap Malla Even when his father was alive, Pratap Malla had the experience of administration. When his father Laxmi Nara Singh's insanity grew worse, he imprisoned his father and he himself ruled as. a regent of his father in Kantipur. He was one of the most famous Malla Kings of Nepal. He was vastly learned, a great poet and an able administrator. Kantipur was highly de- 36 Pratap Malla veloped during his reign. Trade with Lhasa (Tibet) was also going on well. By his superior diplomacy he was making the kings of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur play against each other. Some times he sided with Bhaktapur and posed a menace to Lalitpur. Sometimes he sided with Lalitpur and fell upon Bhaktapur. His main aim was to annex Lalitpur to Kathmandu. But his aim was not fulfilled as the king of Lalitpur had the king of Gorkha, Ram Shah as his ally. Moreover, Shree Nivas, son of Siddhi Na ra Singha was no less inferior to Pratap Malla in bravery and diplomacy. In 1691 B.E. (1634 A.D.), when Siddhi Nara Singha Malla was engaged in performing Koti Home, Pratap Malla availing himself of the opportunity, made a surprise at- 37 tack on Patan and conquered some of the places important from the strategic point' of view. Dambar Shah, son of Ram Shah had come with a contingent to help Siddhi Nara Singh Malla, but his troops were waylaid and put to rout. Pratap Malla gave a lot of trouble to Narendra Malla, King of Bhaktapur. He made Na rendra Malla pay tribute to him in the form of elephants. Later, again he sided with Shree Niwas Malla and laid a siege on Bhaktapur. He plundered Bhaktapur and carried away many valuables. But when Lalitpur sided with Bhaktapur, Pratap Malla signed a treaty with Bhaktapur. Pratap Malla was married to the Indian princesses of Kuch Bihar and Tirhut. As he was lewd, he had maintained a harem. Once he raped a virgin girl. As a result, she died. Pratap Malla repented very much. He wanted to absolve of his sin. He consulted the wise and learned men on the matter and acting on their advice and suggestions, set up hundreds and thousands of 'Lingas' at Pashupati and installed a statue of his own with his two queens, performed 'Koti Horn', weighed gold on one scale and himself on the other and gave it away in cha rity and to commemorate the occasion raised a pillar on the southern gate and a grazing ground was also built. Though he was licentious, he was religious minded. He built a beautiful temple at Guhyeshwari and fenced it. He re novated the temple of Pashupati Nath and raised a pinnacle over it. At Swayambhu he built Pratappur, Kabeendrapur and many other temples and also set up a copper gilt 'Bajra'. He renovated the temples of Basuki Bheemsen, Taleju, and Degutale. With a view, to warding off evils he erected an image of Hanuman, the monkey-god, by the side of his palace gate and called the palace Hanumandhoka after Hanuman. He erected the gol den gate of the palace, installed an image of Nri Simha, Kal 38 : ,>^-v^w^.;t-yi^-*ww-*'Kfe ' J Hanuman Dhoka