King Bhaskaradeva

Introduction to King Bhaskaradeva

King Bhaskaradeva was the King of Nepal during the Dark Ages from 1039 A.D. to 1048 A.D. for 9 years. Gopal Raja Bansawali states that he only ruled for 3 years. Anyways, he has an infamous reputation for being the King who sold his Father’s Crown.

King Bhaskaradeva was ruled from the Capital City established by King Gunakamadeva as a hereditary ruler. He was the De-Jure Successor of Lakshmikamadeva over the Whole Kathmandu Valley. The Conflict between the Two Kingdoms of Kathmandu also continued during the Period with Dual Reign being a normal Practice.

Reign of King Bhaskaradeva

The Chronicles of Daniel Wright and Bhagwanlal Indraji mention that Bhasakradeva belonged to a new lineage of Nuwakot Thakuri’s and practically started a New Dynasty in Nepal.

Bhaskaradeva was a Governor of Patan and represented King Jayadeva who ruled after Lakshmikamadeva. However, he increasingly amassed Power until he became King after which he retired and lived a Private Life in the Palpa Kingdom.

Later Historians denied that King Bhaskaradeva belonged to a new lineage of Thakuri Kings or that he usurped the Throne of Nepal. Also, Gopal Raja Bansawali doesn’t mention any significant change in the dynasty or the heir.

Even the Chronicle of William Kirkpatrick mentions Bhasakaradeva as the immediate successor of Jayadeva and Lakshmikamadeva. Therefore, the claims made by Daniel Wright and Sylvain Levi have been omitted.

There are two Manuscripts available from the reign of King Bhaskaradeva that date back to 1044 A.D. and 1046 A.D. The First Manuscript doesn’t provide any title to him whereas the second Manuscript honors him with the title of “Parambhattaraka Maharajdhiraja Paramesvara”.

The Total Regnal Years of King Bhaskaradeva is a matter of Conflict among Historians in contrast to his Origin and Dynasty. Dilli Raman Regmi restates the regnal years stated by Gopal Raja Bansawali as three years whereas Rishikesh Shah has increased the length of his reign to Nine Years making it more practical to comprehend.

The Controversy of King Bhaskaradeva’s reign is mixed with that of Jayadeva who is predicted to have ruled Nepal from 1030 A.D. to 1061 A.D. in Patan while Bhaskaradeva was ruling Bhadgaon. He was succeeded by Baladeva who ruled for 12 years and then by Nagarjunadeva who ruled for three years according to Historian Petech.

Gopal Raja Bansawali

Gopal Raja Bansawali has provided a negative evaluation of the reign of this King. The Exact Translation is:

“Bhaskaradeva had sold the crown of his father and destroyed the gold image of the goddess, Manesvai (God Manohara ), and in consequence had become blind and got into great troubles.”

Gopal Raja Bansawali which was written during the reign of Jayastithi Malla clearly shows their belief in Religion and Religious Anarchy. Bhaskaradeva is said to have sold his own Father’s Crown which can be for the necessity of Money and/or Power.

Also, he is said to have destroyed the Golden Statue of Maneshwori which speaks volumes about the character of King Bhaskaradeva. These forms of Anarchy were condemned during the Medieval Period which could have limited his reign to just 3 years.

Following the Actions of King Bhaskaradeva, it seems that he was punished by the Gods themselves as per Gopal Raja Bansawali. He is said to have turned out Blind because of the Blindness of his Actions and gotten into quite a trouble with his reign as well as the Crown.

Conclusion

To Conclude, although only two Inscriptions exist to validate the reign of King Bhaskaradeva, no event or progression of Significant consequence happened during his reign. In fact, he has been granted a negative reputation for being a Greedy King who sold his only Father’s Crown and consequently turned out Blind because of it.

References