Kathmandu

The Kathmandu valley was the Newar heartland and a seat of the Malla dynasty. In 1337 Jayari Malla ruled in name, while noble houses and queens held power.

The Bengal sultan plundered the valley’s shrines in 1345. Jayasthiti Malla reunited its towns and codified its laws between 1382 and 1395, but in 1482 the valley split into Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Their courts built gilded pagodas and palace squares. In 1768 and 1769 Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha conquered the valley, overthrowing the Malla rulers and founding Nepal.