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NepalMEDIEVAL NEPAL, 750-1750
Transition to the Medieval Kingdom, 750-1000
The period following the decline of the Licchavi
Dynasty
witnessed little growth in the geographical or
administrative power
of the Nepalese state. In fact, it is the least understood
time in
Nepal's history, with only a very few inscriptional
sources
supplemented by some dated religious manuscripts. It
appears that
the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding valleys officially
remained
part of a single political unit, although there were
struggles for
the throne among different royal lineages and notable
families.
Donations to religious foundations were dated by a new
Newari era
beginning in 879, a development suggesting the founding of
a new
dynasty. Surviving records show a movement away from
Sanskrit and
admixtures of early Newari, the language of the Newar
people in the
valley.
The main influences on Nepal continued to come from
Mithila or
Tirhut to the south. This area came intermittently under
the
domination of warriors allied to the Chalukya Dynasty from
Karnataka in southern India. One of their lieutenants
proclaimed
himself king in 1097 and founded a capital at Simraongarh
in the
Tarai. From there he launched raids that allowed the
Chalukyas to
later claim domination over Nepal without exerting a
perceptible
impact on Nepalese history. By the late twelfth century,
however,
the king in Nepal was called Somesvaradeva (or
Someswaradeva,
reigned ca. 1178-85), a name of Chalukya kings, indicating
some
degree of political contact with Indian rulers. By the end
of
Somesvaradeva's reign, there was evidence of mounting
political
chaos and fighting for the throne.
Profound changes were occurring in the religious system
of
Nepal. The early patronage of Buddhism by the kings gave
way to a
more strictly Hindu devotion, based on the worship of a
variety of
deities but ultimately relying on Pashupatinath, the site
of one of
Hinduism's most sacred Shiva shrines. Within the Buddhist
community, the role of the monks and monasteries changed
slowly but
radically. Early Buddhism had rested on the celibacy and
meditation
of monks and nuns who had withdrawn from the world in
their own
living complexes (vihara). As a more ritualistic
vajrayana Buddhism expanded, a division grew up
between the
"teachers of the thunderbolt" (vajracharya) and
ordinary
monks (bhikshu), leading to caste-like divisions
and the
marriage of religious teachers. The higher-ranking
teachers
monopolized the worship in the monasteries and controlled
the
revenues brought in from monastic estates. Monasteries
became
social and economic centers, serving as workshops and
apartments as
well as shrines. These roles were kept intact well into
the
twentieth century.
Data as of September 1991
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