The oldest and probably the richest of the three towns: the chronicle credits a king Varadeva with founding it, the Licchavi age made it a centre of trade and religion, and its grid of Buddhist courtyard monasteries (bahals) holds the casting and carving trades, the lost-wax bronzes and gilt-copper work that Tibetan monasteries buy by the caravan load.
It lives by its guilds and trusts, with a king attached, and has no fortress. The Hiranyavarna Mahavihara (the golden courtyard, Kwa Bahal), whose building Wikipedia attributes to the twelfth century and to a king Bhaskara Varman, is its best-known bahal; the Kumbheshwar Shiva shrine and the four old stupas at the cardinal points of the town (an Ashoka tradition) stand in 1200 as shrines.
Who holds it
- Name
- The king at Bhaktapur, through the sangha and the guthi of the bahals
- Title
- Lord of the town
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Wikipedia's Patan page: a council of nobles called the Six Pradhans governed the city in a later period of political instability; the earlier forms are not documented.
What the town holds
- the bahals and their endowments
- the metal and stone workshops
- the farms of the plain round the town
How things stand that morning
No quarrel is dated; the town is rich and quiet.
Wealth
Bronze, gilt-copper and stone images, loans from the bahal endowments, the Tibetan trade.
Military
No army is recorded and no number is known.
Council
The sangha of the bahals (Vajracharya and Shakya householders) and the guthi; the Six Pradhans are a later form.
Communities
Newar Buddhist householder monks (Shakya, Vajracharya), Hindu and Shaiva households, craft castes, Tibetan visitors.
Fairs and markets
The festival of Bungadyah (Rato Machhindranath), which links the town to Bungamati, is a great valley festival; the date of its present form was not checked.
Walls and castle
No walls are known; the town is a grid of courtyards.
Trade and crafts
Lost-wax casting, repousse, wood and stone carving, painting for Tibetan houses.
Places of note
- Hiranyavarna Mahavihara: Golden courtyard monastery.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The institutions are certain; nothing dated to 1200 was found.
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.