What's in a Name? Reflections on the Tibetan Yatse Dynasty and Nepal's Role in Its Transition to the Indic ('Khas') Malla Dynasty

This paper examines three allegedly Sanskrit names that appear on a fourteenth-century kirtistambha inscription at Dullu in the Jumla region of west Nepal. The inscription records the matrilineage and patrilineage of the king Prthivimalla. These three names, all with the dynastic name calla attached, are Krasicalla, Kradhicalla and Kracalla. A fourth calla name that also appears in the regnal list, Asokacalla, is plainly Sanskritic. These figures feature in several Tibetan annals, but they are given Tibetan names, rather than phonetic renderings or Tibetan translation of these 'Sanskrit' names, with the exception of Asokacalla (Tib. a sog lde). I consider the possibility that the three linguistically obscure names appearing on the Dullu inscription are actually Indic renderings of Tibetan names and that the calla dynasty members themselves were Tibetan stranger kings, with Asokacalla representing a shift towards a more Indic representation of their dynasty. Furthermore, I argue that this dynasty adopted the dynastic names of the contemporaneous kings of Nepal, Malla, in an effort to further situate themselves in the Indosphere. This effort was most vigorously pursued by Ripumalla, whom I argue made a pilgrimage in Nepal during the same legitimacy campaign that involved similar pilgrimages to Kapilavastu and Lumbini.

Automated summary

This paper examines three allegedly Sanskrit names that appear on a fourteenth-century kirtistambha inscription. The author suggests that these names are actually Indic renderings of Tibetan names and that the dynasty members themselves were Tibetan stranger kings. Furthermore, the author argues that this dynasty adopted the dynastic names of the contemporaneous kings of Nepal to situate themselves in the Indosphere.