King Visvajit Malla

Introduction to Visvajit Malla

Visvajit Malla was crowned as King of Patan in 1760 at the age of 18. His reign lasted only two years, after which he was killed by one of the Sons of Minister. He was also the relative of Visnu Malla, the Last Great King of Patan.

Visvajit Malla became king due to the fall of Rajyaprakash Malla (The Previous King), who had turned mad. The influential Kazis of Patan decided to make Visvajit Malla the king because he was young and weak.

During his reign, Prithvi Narayan Shah tried to conquer Patan, but it was difficult since Patan, Kathmandu, and Bhaktapur had already united.

Visvajit Malla’s death was recorded by a contemporary of his time. He had hired a woman as a mistress, who was the wife of one of the sons of the Minister of Chabahal. The angry son managed to get his hands on the king and killed him.

After his death, several men were made King of Patan, including Jayaprakash Malla, Ranajita Malla, and Dalmardan Shah. Ultimately, Tej Narsingh Malla became the last king of Patan in 1765.

Rise of Visvajit Malla

Visvajit Malla was born in 1742 A.D. as the relative of Visnu Malla. To be specific, he was the son of the Sister of Visnu Malla making him indirectly an heir to the throne. Anyways, the Rise of Visvajit Malla is directly related to the fall of Rajyaprakash Malla.

As Rajyaprakash Malla turned Mad, the Influential Kazis of Patan decided to make Visvajit Malla the King of Patan. He was very young and also very weak making him easy to manipulate and control for the Kazis.

As Visvajit Malla was crowned the King of Patan, Prithvi Narayan Shah continued to make advances on the territory of Patan. He had tried to conquer Kirtipur but failed to do so. However, he was planning to conquer Patan from Thankot. However, Patan, Kathmandu, and Bhaktapur had already united by then making it harder for him.

Fall of Visvajit Malla

The Fall and Death of Visvajit Malla which happened in 1760 A.D. had been recorded by one of the contemporaries of his time. The Event has been described as follows:

The king was returning after a visit of Matsyendranatha. He had suddenly taken ill while he was witnessing the celebration and was complaining of giddiness, to his eye the Matsyendra appeared to look to his back.

The King fell also to his knees. while ascending the staircase of his palace. He was worried over the cause of his illness, and then his mother and wife brought him to the window overlooking the public courtyard.

As he was seated there, the one of the sons of the Minister of Chabahal threw a stone on the window and then fled. The Minister’s son had committed an unpardonable offence but the Kāzis thought that he was to be captured and not killed, and accordingly ordered some people to bring him to the palace.

The King’s men threw a cordon round the Pramāņa’s house. But the two sons of The Ministers resisted them. As there was no order to kill the offender, the men sent for their arrest retired.

But the Ministers son advanced to the palace both swords in hand. The guards in the palace tried to arrest them. But as weapons were not being used by the palace guards, the two brothers entered the king’s apartment and killed him in cold blood.

His mother unable to bear the shock threw herself into the funeral pyre and died. She cursed the people of Patan, who had failed to protect their sovereign.

Medieval Nepal Part II Page 362 by Dilli Raman Regmi

Basically, Visvajit Malla had hired a woman as a Mistress. The Woman was the wife of one of the Sons of the Minister of Chabahal who was quite angry because of the whole affair. Therefore, he managed to get his hands on the King and Killed him.

After the death of Visvajit Malla, several men were made the King of Patan. This includes King Jayaprakash Malla who was the King of Kathmandu, King Ranajita Malla who was the King of Bhaktapur, and Dalmardan Shah, one of the Brothers of Prithvi Narayan Shah.

Ultimately, Tejanarasimha Malla was placed on the Throne of Patan in 1765 A.D. He was the Last King of Patan.

Conclusion

The Reign of Visvajit Malla in the History of Patan and Nepal as a whole is best forgotten. The Strength of the Kings of Patan had decreased to that of a Puppet Ruler. The Fact that two men could easily kill the King of a Whole Kingdom speaks volumes about the security of the Kings during the time. Also, The Moral Degradation of Kings like Visvajit Malla can also be observed.

References