Summary: | Dhanavajra Vajracharya was a great historian of Nepal. This article is dedicated to his memory by an anthropologist who could only marvel at Dhanavajra's scholarship and epigraphical skills. In so far as it presents historical materials, this paper is a humble synthesis based entirely on secondary sources, and by no means exhausts these. I had the good fortune to meet briefly with Dhanavajra in his home in September 1992 and receive his guidance on a small aspect of the present text. In a larger sense, all those who work on the culture and history of Nepal are in Dhanavajra's debt. In particular, those who work on the Kathmandu Valley must hope that his Mallakālin Abhilekh, so long unpublished, will finally see the light of day. The interpretations and suggestions offered below will certainly need revision when it does, as well as in the light of further study of both published and unpublished primary materials from the Malla period.
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