Pratap Malla

Pratap Malla (1624–1674 A.D.) was a Malla king and the eighth King of Kantipur from 1641 until his death in 1674. He attempted to unify Kathmandu Valley by conquering Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, but failed in the effort. He was successful in extending and securing the borders of Kantipur and was responsible for the monopoly over trade with Tibet. The resulting prosperity led to the construction of the majority of the buildings around Durbar Square during his reign. His reign is seen as a cultural and economic high point of the Malla dynasty.

A statue of Pratap Malla is found standing on a column facing the palace in the square. His image can also be seen in the niche above the Hanuman Dhoka Palace gate. The niche above the gate is Krishna in his ferocious tantric aspect, flanked by more gentle, amorous Krishna surrounded by gopinis, and by King Pratap Malla playing a lute, and his queen.

He was born to his Maithali origin mother and a Malla origin father Lakshmi Narasinha Malla. Even when his father was alive, Pratap Malla had the experience of administration. He imprisoned his father on the grounds of insanity and sat on the throne in 1641 A.D. He was a very ambitious king.

Pratap Malla had two queens: the first being a Maithali lady of Southern Nepal and the second being a sister of Zil-gnon dbang-rgyal rdo-rje, a prominent Tibetan Buddhist guru, who had served as an advisor to him. Some modern historians have given him the reputation for being lewd and maintaining a harem. He is also alleged to have raped a virgin girl, which ultimately resulted in her death. Pratap Malla is said to have repented this act so much so that he wanted to absolve himself of his sins and consulted the wise and learned men on the matter. Acting on their suggestions, he set up hundreds of Lingas at Pashupati and installed a statue of his own with his two queens. He also performed Koti Hom, weighed gold on one scale and himself on the other and gave it away in charity. In order to commemorate the occasion, he also raised a pillar on the southern gate of Pashupati, and established a grazing ground near the area.

Pratap Malla had five sons: Bhupendra Malla, Chakrabartendra, Nripendra, Mahipatendra, and Parthibendra. He wanted his sons to have experience in the administration of the country even during his own lifetime. With this aim in view, he made them rule over the country for one year in turn. But unfortunately, his second son Chakrabartendra Malla died the day after he took over the administration of the country.

He often fought with Lalitpur and Bhaktapur to annex them to his kingdom but could not succeed. He tried to play the kings of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur against each other. Sometimes he sided with Bhaktapur and posed a menace to Lalitpur. Sometimes he sided with Lalitpur and fell upon Bhaktapur. His main aim was to annex Lalitpur to Kathmandu. But his aim was not fulfilled as the king of Lalitpur had the king of Gorkha, Ram Shah, as his ally. Moreover, Shree Nivas, son of Siddhi Nara Singha was no less inferior to Pratap Malla in courage and diplomacy. In 1634 A.D., when Siddhi Nara Singha Malla was engaged in performing Koti Hom, Pratap Malla availing himself of the opportunity, made a surprise attack on Patan and conquered some of the places important from the strategic point of view. Dambar Shah, son of Ram Shah had come with a contingent to help Siddhi Nara Singh Malla, but his troops were waylaid and put to rout. Pratap Malla gave a lot of trouble to Narendra Malla, King of Bhaktapur. He made Narendra Malla pay tribute to him in the form of elephants. Later, again he sided with Shree Niwas Malla and laid a siege on Bhaktapur. He plundered Bhaktapur and carried away many valuables. But when Lalitpur sided with Bhaktapur, Pratap Malla signed a treaty with Bhaktapur.

Pratap Malla was a lover of literature. He himself was a poet. He gave himself the title of "Kavindra." Kavindra means "the King of poets". He was tolerant of all religions. He was fond of building temples. He set up an image of Hanuman beside his palace. Since then, the palace is called "Hanuman Dhoka". Besides this, he built a temple of Krishna with the image of Kala Bhairav in front of Hanuman Dhoka and a temple of Guheshwari. He offered a gold umbrella to Pashupatinath temple. He had great respect for Buddhism. He introduced Seto Machchhindranath Jatra.

Pratap Malla died a sudden death. While he was watching the religious dance of Harisiddhi, he fell down unconscious and died. After ruling for 33 years, he died in 1674. During his reign for thirty-three years (1641 A.D. to 1674 A.D.) there was peace and prosperity at home and no danger from outside. Trade with India and China made Nepal prosperous. Art and literature flourished. Kings of Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and other neighbouring kingdoms did not dare to invade Kantipur. Just as Muslim culture reached its height in the time of Shah Jahan, so did Nepalese culture reached its height in the time of Pratap Malla.