page_title: Pratap Malla
section_title: Relations with Tibet
hierarchical_section_title: Pratap Malla / Relations with Tibet
caption_attribution_description: English: Left. Dress of noble women of the Tanguth Kingdom. Center. Dress of women near Cuthi, the capital of the kingdom of Necbal. Right. Dress of the Kingdom of Necbal.
context_page_description: Pratap Malla, of Malla dynasty of Nepal, was the ninth king of Kantipur after the division of the Kathmandu Valley into three kingdoms. 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 was responsible for the construction of majority of the buildings around Durbar Square during his reign. His reign is seen as a cultural and economical 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.
context_section_description: The 16th and 17th centuries were a crucial period in the relations between Nepal and Tibet. By 1600, Tibet was in a state of near chaos as a result of the struggle between competing Buddhist sects and the more basic regional conflict between the two central Tibetan provinces, of which Lhasa and Shigatse are the political centers. The powerful figure of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the head of the Gelugpa (yellow) sect of Tibetan Buddhism, gradually gained control, both spiritual and temporal, over Tibet in the first half of the 17th century, with the valuable assistance of the Khoshote Mongols.
  During this critical period, two ambitious kings, Ram Shah of Gorkha (1606–33) and Pratap Malla of Kantipur, took advantage of Tibetan weakness to seize control of the vital border-pass areas through which most of the trans-Himalayan trade passed. Ram Shah's incursions into Tibet occurred toward the end of his reign, probably from 1625 to 1630, after he had conquered the intervening territory between Gorkha and Kirong district in Tibet. The first Gorkhali invading force was defeated, and the severed heads of the two commanders were sent to the Panchen Lama at Shigatse. Ram Shah led another army into Kerong area, defeated the Tibetans at Khinchog and advanced as far as Kukurghat. He reached an agreement with the Tibetans under which the boundary line between Gorkha and Tibet was drawn at Kukurghat, thus giving Ram Shah control over one of the main channels of communication between Nepal and Tibet.
  This posed a serious problem for Kathmandu merchant community, which normally used the route through Kirong in their trade with Tibet. Pratap malla decided against contending directly with the Gorkha ruler for control of Kerong, but sought instead to bring the second major trade route, via Kuti, under his authority. An army commanded by his brother, Bhim Malla, was sent to Kuti in the 1630s and again in the period between 1645 and 1650. On the second occasion, Bhim Malla overran the border district and advanced some distance toward Shigatse before he was met by the deputies of the Dalai Lama, with whom he negotiated a peace settlement.
  The terms of this treaty were, in summary:
  Kathmandu was granted joint authority with Tibet over the border towns of Kuti and Kerong.
  The Newari merchant community of Kathmandu valley was permitted to establish 32 trading houses at Lhasa.
  The Kathmandu court was given the right to post a representative (Nayo) at Lhasa.
  Tibet agreed not to impose any charges or customs duties on Newari merchants who were engaged in trade with Tibet.
  Tibet promised to make a token payment in gold and silver annually to Kathmandu.
  It was agreed that Nepal would mint coins for Tibet; Tibet would use these coins internally and would either provide the silver required for their minting or would pay for Nepali coins with gold.
  Tibet agreed that all trade with India, even though conducted by other than Newari merchants, would be channeled through Kathmandu valley in preference to the routes to the east (i.e., via Sikkim, Bhutan or Towang).
  Thanks to the treaty, the merchants of Kathmandu valley gained a virtual monopoly over the lucrative trade between India and Tibet, as well as the right to extend their commercial activities to Lhasa. The king of Kathmandu also profited substantially from the process under which he minted coins for the Tibetan government, for he deducted a certain percentage of the silver provided by Lhasa as his fee for this service. These Nepali coins, called "Mahendramalli," were the sole currency in circulation throughout Tibet for more than a century.
caption: Left: Dress of noble women of the Tanguth Kingdom. Center: Dress of women near Cuthi, the capital of the kingdom of Necbal. Right: Dress of the Kingdom of Necbal. From "China Illustrata".
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