1. For geographic background, see Karan (1960), Gurung (1973), His Majesty's Government Nepal (1969), Shrestha (1968), and Hagen (1971). For Nepalese ethnic groups, see Bista (1972). For language groups, see Malla (1973) and INAS (1976). Werner Winter, director of the Nepal Research Program's Linguistic Survey in Nepal, estimates that there may turn out to be as many as one hundred languages in Nepal (personal communication). It is possible to group many of the languages and cultures into larger groups, with respect to northern (Tibeto-Burman) and southern (Indic) affinities. [BACK]

2. The major work on the foundation of the modern Nepalese state in the eighteenth century is Stiller's The Rise of the House of Gorkha (1973). See also Stiller (1968) and Gewali (1973). [BACK]

3. We will now shift to the "ethnographic present" and speak of the situation in the early and mid-1970s, when this study was done, in the present tense. [BACK]

4. These gross figures for Bhaktapur include "noncitizens" (e.g., prisoners from surrounding areas), and will be modified in our discussion of the demography of Bhaktapur in chapter 4. Patan is referred to in government census data as "Lalitpur." [BACK]

5. Census data bases ethnicity on the language spoken. There is good reason to believe that this underestimates the percentage of Newars (cf. K. P. Malla n.d., Newar Ethnicity , 96). [BACK]

6. Most of the Valley villages and towns are primarily Newar settlements, the other Valley people live in small hamlets and scattered farmsteads. There are some thirty-five Newar villages and towns in the Valley, aside from the three main centers (Slusser 1982, 12). [BACK]

7. Historical works in European languages are D. R. Regmi (1965-1966, 1969), Lévi (1905), and Slusser (1982). For materials on the Licchavi period, see Jha (1970). English translations of some of the Nepalese Chronicles are Hasrat (1970) and Wright [1877] (1972). Summaries of political and cultural history can be found in Gewali (1973), P. R. Sharma (1973), and K. P. Malla (1979 a ). Hasrat also has an extensive bibliography of source materials and works on Nepalese history. His book contains a critical "prolegomena" with a detailed summary of Kathmandu Valley history. [BACK]

8. There is some evidence for a still earlier population of Austro-Asiatic speaking people, perhaps Munda-speaking peoples from Assam. The evidence for this is noted by Malla (1979 a , 1981 a ). Malla rejects an Austro-Asiatic influence on the non-Sanskrit nominals found (among the dominant Sanskrit terms) in ancient Nepalese epigraphy, but notes that although "The Newari language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, . . . it betrays several features, particularly syntactic, which are, in all likelihood [a] Munda^{[ *]} substratum. . . . If the Newari language is any clue to the identity of [the] early settlers, the language has been definitely influenced by features which are not shared by other Tibeto-Burman languages" (1979 a ). [BACK]

9. There are various spellings, Lichchavi, Licchavi, Licchivi, Lecchavi, and others (Jha 1970, 3). We will here, and elsewhere where there are alternative spellings of historical terms, follow the usage of the Historical Atlas of South Asia (Schwartzberg 1978). According to Slusser, "as a conservative estimate it seems reasonable to assume that the beginning of the Licchavi Period in Nepal is no later than A.D. 300. Most likely it is earlier" (1982, 23). [BACK]

10. Although they were culturally North Indian, it has been suggested that the Licchavi themselves might have been of Mongoloid origin, in which case, as Slusser remarks, the "major penetration of the Valley by Caucasoid peoples took place only in late historic times" (Slusser 1982, 8). According to Majumdar, Pusalker, and Majumdar (1951, vol. II, p. 7), however, the view that the Licchavi were of "foreign origin" is not supported by evidence. [BACK]

11. References to canals using a Tibeto-Burman term in Licchavi epigraphy suggest that some canal irrigation was begun prior to the Licchavi period. [BACK]

12. Some Nepalese scholars believe that it was another Nepali king, Udayadeva (622-623 A.D. ). Other scholars believe the tradition may be legendary. [BACK]

13. "Vishnuism may have flourished in Licchavi Nepal because of its preeminence in Gupta India, where the sect received liberal patronage from the imperial Guptas. Visnu^{[ *]} seems always to have appealed to the martial caste, and particularly to conquering monarchs, for whom the heroic god has remained a symbol of regal valour" (Pal 1974, 11f.; Pal 1970). "The great popularity of Saivism [in Licchavi Nepal] was mainly because discrimination of sex or caste or birth had no place in it" (Jha 1970, 182). [BACK]

14. See Jha (1970) and Pal and Bhattacharyya (1969) on these minor deities. [BACK]

15. There has been disagreement and confusion on the date and on the ruler who established Bhaktapur. Ananda Deva has been confused with a later king Ananda Malla (or Ananda Deva II) who reigned from 1308 to 1320. Furthermore, Wright ([1877] 1972), in a miscalculation of the Western equivalent of the various systems of dating in the chronicles, puts the founding of Bhaktapur and "Ananda Malla's" reign into the ninth century. This error is reflected in recent literature, for example, Maskay (1962) and Auer and Gutschow (1974), who give dates for the founding of Bhaktapur of 889 and 865 A.D. , respectively. [BACK]

16. According to the chronicle, Ananda Malla at the same time founded seven villages, which should be noted for their relation to the Nine Durgas cycle that will occupy us later, specifically, "Banepa, Panauti, Nala, Dhulikhel, Khad-pur, Choukot, and Sanga." [BACK]

17. For a discussion of the various chronicles, see D. R. Regmi (1965-1966, part 1, pp. 21-37). [BACK]

18. These "Navadurga" images refer to what we will call the "Mandalic^{[ *]} Goddesses" (chap. 8) and not to Bhaktapur's Nine Durgas troupe, who are also referred to in the chronicles. [BACK]

19. These earlier settlements may still be reflected in aspects of one of Bhaktapur's major festivals, Biska: (chap. 14); one of whose themes is the founding and unification of the city. [BACK]

20. Bhaktapur, in the time of the Mallas, "got in exchange [for various traded commodities] silver and gold bullion from Tibet and this placed it in a special position of advantages compared to the [other] two cities in the Valley. Minting of coins for Tibet was the crowning advantage of all, which also provide an exclusive source of income" (D. R. Regmi, 1965-1966, part 1, p. 512). [BACK]

21. It was believed that there was occasionally a paramount ruler during this period at Patan. Slusser (1982, 54 n., 87) claims this is a misconception. "It seems almost certain that Patan, the almost universally accepted site of both the capital of the Licchavis and their successors, did not enjoy this prestige. If before the seventeenth century it was a capital city at all, it may have so served the Kirata, whose associations with that city are particularly evident" (1982, 87). [BACK]

22. The area of Mithila or Tirabhukti (modern Tirhut) influenced Malla Nepal. A kingdom was founded there by Nanya Deva, who according to some chronicles "captured" Bhaktapur. He was of the Karnataka dynasty, and had been an officer under the Palas, who had had the control of Tirabhukti (see Majumdar, Pusalker, and Majumdar 1957, vol. 5, p. 47f.). "This kingdom comprised most of present day Nepal's eastern Terai and a portion of the present Indian state of Bihar. Little is known yet about the full cultural significance of this kingdon. Its sculptural art had reached a highwater mark judging from a fine group of icons found in Simraungarth and several other regions of the eastern Terai. The rise of Tirhut posed a new political threat to Nepal, but at the same time it opened fresh avenues of cultural exchanges between the two states. No other language after Sanskrit has made such a valuable contribution to the literature of the Nepal Valley as Maithili, the language of this kingdom. Many dramas were written m Maithili or Maithili and Newari by the late Malla rulers of Bhaktapur. Maithili scholars were held m great respect m Nepal. The Maithili Jha Brahmans [chap. 10] were given high positions in the hierarchy of the Nepalese priesthood. Far more important than this, the two houses of the Mallas and the Karnatakas were actually joined by blood when Rajalla Devi became the wife of Jayasthiti Malla. Thus the late Malla rulers trace their ancestry to the Karnataka dynasty. Lastly, goddess Taleju, the highly venerated goddess of the Mallas, and still a prominent deity of the Valley, is believed to have been introduced from Tirhut" (P. R. Sharma 1973, 73). The Pala and Karnataka dynasties both had important cultural and religious influences on the Valley. Pal, however, argues against the assumption of "most scholars. . . that the Pala style exerted a strong influence on [the arts] of Nepal" (1974, 164). [BACK]

23. Gewali (1973, 51) has 1350 as the date. Hasrat (1970) states that there were two invasions, one in 1346 and a second m 1349. Recent scholarship suggests that there was only one, in 1349. [BACK]

24. There had earlier been five attacks on the Valley by. the Hindu kings of Maithili between 1244 and 1311 A.D. In one raid (in 1299) the Tripura palace in Bhaktapur was reached (Slusser 1982, 56). Slusser believes that more important than the Muslim raids in the destruction of Valley monuments were "the successive raids of the Maithili and the constant natural calamities of earthquake and fire" (ibid., 58). [BACK]

25. Different commentators on the evidence give different accounts of the establishment of Jayasthiti Malla's reign. For a summary of the recent scholarly consensus, see Slusser (1982, 58ff.). [BACK]

26. For comparison with contemporary groups in Bhaktapur, "Kasai" is Nae; "Podhe" is Po(n); Kulu is Kulu; and "Charmakara" is Halahulu. [BACK]

27. A birta is "an assignment of income from the land by the state m favor of individuals m order to provide them with a livelihood. In a society such as Nepal's, we generally find groups which, by virtue of religious tradition or their social or political function, cannot participate in economic pursuits. Their maintenance, generally at the cost of the agrarian class, is a primary responsibility of the state. Divestiture of ownership rights in the land through birta grants in favor of priests, religious teachers, soldiers, and members of the nobility and the royal family was thus the pivot on which rested the social and political framework of the state. Birta ownership not only insured a stable and secure income to the beneficiary, but also symbolized high social and economic status. Birta was m fact regarded as a form of private property with a clearly defined right vis-à-vis the state" (M. C. Regmi 1976, 16f.). [BACK]

28. Similar considerations may illuminate his new "rule that Brahmans might follow a profession" (Wright 1972, 187). These professions, judging by the later history of Newar Brahmans who pride themselves on not having to do "non-Brahmanical" work such as farming—as many non-Newar Nepalese Brahmans do—were probably limited to a narrow range of activities (scribal work, storytelling, administrative and advisory work to the court) thought to be consonant with Brahmanical status, but that gave them a wider influence in the city. [BACK]

29. The extent and placement of Bhaktapur's wall is relevant to our later discussion of the city's symbolic boundaries. Mary Slusser, who was able to trace the location of the city walls of Patan and Kathmandu, was able to discern only a few vestiges of the Bhaktapur wall as earthworks along the western perimeter, and "a fragment of the moat and several stone thresholds that mark former gateways" (1982, p. 102 and maps 7, 8, and 9). There is at least one religious painting on a cloth scroll m one of Bhaktapur's Buddhist viharas (a photograph of which is contained in the collection of Stephen Eckherd), which shows Bhaktapur as a completely walled city. Father Ippolitio Desideri, writing in 1722, after describing the three Valley cities, remarked that there were also, "a few other towns surrounded with the walls, all the rest are poor villages consisting of huts," implying that all the three Valley cities were surrounded by walls (Desideri [1932], as quoted in D. R. Regmi, [1965-1966, part II, p. 1013]). The Bhasha Vamsavali says that the Gorkhali attackers entered the city of Bhaktapur by breaking through the eastern and northern gates of the city (Stiller 1973, 129). It seems likely that Bhaktapur had a complete wall around its boundaries, but it did certainly have at least large extents of bounding wall with gates at the main roads that crossed the boundaries of the city, all dating in large part from Yaksa Malla's reign (see also D. R. Regmi [1965-1966, part I, pp. 420, 438]). [BACK]

30. According to Niels Gutschow (personal communication), this Bhairava, in fact, faces south. [BACK]

31. His estimates of numbers of households for the three cities is of interest. He was told that Kathmandu was supposed to have had 22,000 houses at the time of the last Malla king, and that it had been augmented under the Gorkhalis "not without some consequent decrease m the numbers of Patn [Patan] and Bhatgong [Bhaktapur]." He notes that the figures he was given for Kathmandu must have included an estimate of houses in Kathmandu's pre-conquest-dependent Valley villages and towns, as in his estimation the city itself could not have had more than 5,000 houses. He estimated ten persons to a house and thus a population for the city of Kathmandu of about 50,000 at the time. He estimated the population of the rest of the Malla kingdom of Kathmandu (at eight people to a household, the village house being smaller) as having consisted of about 186,000 people. These figures seem to be of the right order. For Patan "and its dependencies" under the late Mallas there were said to have been 24,000 houses; and for Bhaktapur "and its dependencies" 12,000 (Kirkpatrick 1969, 160-163). [BACK]

32. There is a large literature on the various aspects of political modernization in Nepal. For the Tribhuvan restoration, a sketch of the Rana polity that proceeded it, and the political changes that followed it, see the work of Leo Rose and his associates (Rose and Fisher 1970; Joshi and Rose 1966; Rose 1971). [BACK]