The first town outside the valley on the eastern road, in its own small basin, and the staging point for everything going to Dolakha and the Kuti pass.
Its later independence under its own line of chiefs shows how loosely the rim is held; in 1200 it answers to Bhaktapur, fifteen kilometres away and downhill. The Bhonta house that grows out of it is of the 1240s and after.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not known by name; the town answers to Bhaktapur
- Title
- Thakkura lord of Banepa
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Wikipedia's Abhaya Malla page: Jayabhimadeva of Banepa starts gathering power from around 1249; his descendants are the Bhonta. Nothing earlier for Banepa.
What the town holds
- the basin of Banepa
- the road to Dhulikhel, Dolalghat and the Bhote Kosi
- Nala and Panauti on its edge
How things stand that morning
A rim town under a thakkura; nothing dated.
Military
No army is recorded and no number is known.
Communities
Newar households.
Trade and crafts
Caravan staging.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Inference from the later Bhonta.
On the map: Approximate.
Primary sources for Nepal valley
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Gopala Raja Chronicle, and the Nepalese colophons, Anonymous (chronicle); various scribes (colophons) (the chronicle about 1389; the colophons are contemporary notes of the 11th to 14th centuries). The Nepal valley in 1200 is known chiefly from dated manuscript colophons and short inscriptions, which name the reigning king with the Nepal era year, and from the Gopalarajavamsavali, a chronicle written about 1389 that lists the kings with regnal years.
- History of Buddhism in India and Tibet, Buton Rinchen Drub (Bu ston Rin chen grub) (1322). Optional background. Read online
- The Blue Annals, Go Lotsawa Zhonnu Pal ('Gos lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal) (1476 to 1478). The fullest Tibetan account of who mattered around 1200, written three centuries later from earlier biographies and lineage records, many now lost. Read online
- The Sakya genealogy, and the works of the Sakya hierarch of 1200, Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) and Sakya Pandita; the genealogy by Ngawang Kunga Sonam (the hierarchs' writings about 1170 to 1250; the genealogy 1629). Sakya in 1200 was ruled by Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen, the third of the five founders, with his nephew Kunga Gyaltsen (later Sakya Pandita, born 1182) under his teaching. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.