The obscure centuries
After the Licchavi inscriptions cease in the eighth century, the Kathmandu valley's documentary record thins sharply, and the dynasty or dynasties that ruled until the Malla ascendancy are known largely from later chronicles. The label Thakuri is a convenience rather than a well-attested dynastic name.
Tradition assigns to Gunakamadeva the founding of Kathmandu proper, and to this period the establishment of the Nepal Sambat era in 879 CE — the calendar still used by the Newar community for its festivals, and briefly the national era of Nepal.
The valley's Buddhist institutions changed in this period, moving from monastic celibacy toward the householder Vajrayana sangha of the Newar bahas that persists today — a development without close parallel anywhere else in the Buddhist world.
The Malla name appears in the valley from the twelfth century, and the record becomes abundant again.
Further reading
- Coedes, George. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press, 1968
- Hawley, John Stratton. A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement. Harvard University Press, 2015
- Samuel, Geoffrey. The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Cambridge University Press, 2008
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. University of Hawaii Press, 2003
- Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1954
See also
This entry was last revised on 1 August 2026.