Malla (Nepal)

The Malla Dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Nepal c. 1201–1769.. They have claimed Kshatriya status themselves. The Mallas means "wrestlers" in Sanskrit. The first of the Malla kings came to power in Kathmandu Valley around 1200. The Malla period was a golden one that stretched over 600 years, though it was peppered with fighting over the valuable trade routes to Tibet.

The Mallas were noted for their patronisation of the Maithili language (the language of the Mithila region) which was afforded an equal status to that of Sanskrit in the Malla court.Maithil Brahmin priests were invited to Kathmandu and many Maithil families settled in Kathmandu during Malla rule.

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.) This long Malla period witnessed the continued importance of the Kathmandu Valley as a political, cultural, and economic center of Nepal. Other areas also began to emerge as significant centers in their own right, increasingly connected to the Kathmandu Valley.

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 they 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 neighbors 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 own 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.

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