Khasa Kingdom


Khasa-Malla kingdom, popularly known as Khasa Kingdom and Yatse in Tibetan, was a medieval kingdom established around the 11th century in regions that are presently in far-western Nepal and parts of Uttarakhand state in India.
The origins of the ruling family are disputed with some arguing that the kingdom was ruled by kings of Khasa tribe who bore the family name "Malla". However a growing body of evidence indicates that the ruling family were descended from the Tibetan House of Yatse and was gradually Indianised. The Khasa Malla kings ruled western parts of Nepal during 11th–14th century. The 954 AD Khajuraho Inscription of Dhaṇga states that the Khasa Kingdom were equivalent to the Gaudas of Bengal and the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty.

History

An ancient tribe named Khasa is mentioned in several ancient legendary Indian texts, including the Mahabharata. The Khasas are mentioned in several Indian inscriptions dated between 8th and 13th centuries CE. The Khasa Malla kingdom was feudatory and the principalities were independent in nature. Most of its territory was over the Karnali River basin. King Nāgarāja referred as Jāveśvara, came from Khāripradeśa and set up his capital at Semjā. The Khas dynasties were originated at 11th century or earlier period. There were two dynasties of Khas one at Guge and other at Jumla.
The widely regarded most renowned King of Khasa Malla Kingdom was Prithvi Malla. Prithvi Malla had firmly established the Kingdom around 1413 A.D. The limits of the reign of King Pṛthvīmalla reached the greatest height of the Khas Empire which included Guge, Purang and Nepalese territories up to Dullu in the southwest and Kaskikot in the east. Giuseppe Tucci contends that The Tibetan chronicles show Pṛthvīmalla as the last king of this empire. This kingdom disintegrated after the death of Abhaya Malla and formed the Baise rajya confederacy.

Inscriptions

The earliest Khasa Malla inscription was the copper plate inscription of King Krachalla dated Poush 1145 Shaka Samvat which is in the possession of Baleshwar temple in Sui, Kumaon. Furthermore, Krachalla described himself as a devout Buddhist and is mentioned to have won over "Vijayarajya" and destroyed the demolished city of Kantipura.
Ashok Challa had issued several inscriptions in modern-day Bodhgaya, Bihar dated 1255 and 1278. In the Bodhgaya copperplate inscription, he refers to himself as "Khasha-Rajadhiraja. There are inscriptions of Ripu Malla on the Ashoka Pillar of Lumbini and Nigalihawa; the Lumbini pillar bears the name of his son as Sangrama Malla. Prithvi Malla's stone pillar inscription dated 1279 Shaka Samvat at Dullu discovered by Yogi Naraharinath, contains the names of his predecessors. It further states that the Khasa Malla dynasty was founded six generations before Krachalla by Emperor Nagaraja. The inscription further states that Emperor Nagaraja founded the Khasa Malla capital at Seṃjā, near modern Jumla. A gold inscription of Prithvi Malla discovered at Jumla, dated 1278 Shaka Samvat mentions "Buddha, Dharma, Sangha" along with "Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara". The inscription of Prithvi Malla on Shitushka in Jumla is quoted as: The languages used by Prithvi Malla in his inscription belongs to 13th century form of modern Nepali.

Religion, language, and culture

The language of the Khas Kingdom was Khas language and Sanskrit. 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 between 12th and 14th century and the centre of origin of Nepali language.
File:Lumbini pillar Medieval inscription.jpg|thumb|Lumbini pillar inscription by King Ripu Malla: "Om mani padme hum May Prince Ripu Malla be long victorious"
Most of the initial Khas kings before Pṛthvīmalla were Buddhist. Hinduisation of the kingdom began when King Ripumalla commenced the southward expansion of the kingdom and contacts to India slowly increased. King Pṛthvīmalla always used Buddhist syllables in his inscription though he had a strong preference for Hinduism. The Prashasti of Dullu inscription by Pṛthvīmalla shows Buddhist syllables, mantra, and invocations, however, the latter Kanakapatra of Shitushka was fundamentally Hindu. These two inscriptions of King Pṛthvīmalla showed the transition of the state from Buddhism to Hinduism. The reign of King Punya Malla and Prithvi Malla had strict traditional Hindu ritual and customs. 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.

Rulers

Titles, ranks, and suffixes

The successors of King Nāgarāja adhered to some suffix as -illa and -challa like King Chapilla, King Krachalla. Challa and Malla were titles of kings and princes. Rāulā was the title of a high-ranking official. Personalities like Malayavarma, Medinivarma, Samsarivarma, Balirāja, etc. had title of Rāulā. 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.

List

The Dullu stone pillar inscription dated 1279 Shaka Samvat of King Prithvi Malla consists the following names of his predecessors: 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:
  • Nāgarāja ; also known as Jāveśvara or Nagadeva by Tibetan chronicles including a Chronicle of Fifth Dalai Lama
  • Chaap/Cāpa ; son of Nāgarāja
  • Chapilla/Cāpilla, son of Cāpa
  • Krashichalla, son of Cāpilla
  • Kradhichalla, son of Krāśicalla
  • Krachalla, son of Krādhicalla
  • Ashoka Challa, son of Krācalla
  • Jitari Malla, first son of Aśokacalla
  • Ananda Malla, second son of Aśokacalla
  • Ripu Malla , son of Ānandamalla
  • Sangrama Malla, son of Ripumalla
  • Aditya Malla, son of Jitārimalla
  • Kalyana Malla, son of either Ādityamalla or Saṃgrāmamalla
  • Pratapa Malla, son of Kalyāṇamalla, had no scions
  • Punya Malla of another Khas family of
  • Prithvi Malla, son of Puṇyamalla
  • Surya Malla Son of Ripu Malla, Nāgarāja clan back to rule
  • Abhaya Malla

    Tibetoloical list

The list of rulers of Khasa Kingdom established by the Tibetologists Luciano Petech, Roberto Vitali and Giuseppe Tucci are:
  • Naga lde
  • bTsan phyug lde
  • bKra shis lde
  • Grags btsan lde
  • Grags pa lde
  • A sog lde son
  • 'Ji dar sMal son
  • A nan sMal brother
  • Ri'u sMal son
  • San gha sMal son
  • A jid smal son of Jitari Malla
  • Ka lan smal
  • Par t'ab smal
  • Pu ni sMal/Puṇya rMal/bSod nams of Purang royalty
  • sPri ti sMal/Pra ti rmal son

    Decline

After the siege of Chittorgarh in 1303, large immigration of Rajputs into Nepal occurred. Before it, few small groups of Rajputs had been entering into the region from Muslim invasion of India. These immigrants were quickly absorbed into the Khas community due to larger similarities. Historian and Jesuit Ludwig Stiller considers the Rajput interference to the politics of Khas Kingdom of Jumla was responsible for its fragmentation and he explains: Francis Tucker also further states that "the Rajputs was so often guilty of base ingratitude and treachery to gratify his ambition. They were fierce, ruthless people who would stop at nothing." After the late 13th century the Khas empire collapsed and divided into Baise Rajya in Karnali-Bheri region and Chaubise rajya in Gandaki region.
The 22 principalities were
The 24 principalities were
Category:11th-century establishments in Nepal
Category:Dynasties of Nepal
Category:Former monarchies of Nepal
Category:Medieval history of Nepal
Category:States and territories disestablished in the 14th century