" KING ARAMUDI AND OTHER MAGAR RULERS OF NEPAL
[Rudra
Sen, one of King Jaya Sen's descendants, is said to have defeated the
Palpali King. But a bewildered reader cannot find in the books of
Nepalese history who that vanquished Palpali King really was there? This
is a case that totally matches with the history of Khadga Magar King[12]
who was also killed in 1559 by Drabya Shah to found Shah Dynasty in
Gorkha hilltop and rule Nepal until today. The vanquished King of Palpa
also should have been none other than a Magar himself or one of the King
Aramudi's descendants who was defeated by Ratna Sen.]
By
B. K. Rana
Aramudi was a ruler of
Kali Gandaki Region approximately in the later half of 8th century AD. He seems
to have ruled a strong kingdom in Kali Gandaki Region, possibly around the
present-day Palpa of west Nepal. Or Palpa may have been the Kingdom King
Aramudi ruled himself and also by his descendants in the later centuries. Some
historians write Aramudi was also known as Baradeva[1] [Barah
Dev?]. He had made Lalitpattan, present day Lalitpur, his capital. Historians
differ on whether Aramudi in fact ruled Kathmandu Valley or Kali Gandaki Region
referring to his unusual name not to be found in the list of the rulers of
ancient Nepal. Some historians write Aramudi was a Magar King. Jayapid [782-813
AD][2] whose
other name was Vinayaditta, a king of Kashmir, invaded Kali Gandaki Region, a
traditional homeland of the Magars of Nepal. Aramudi resisted the invasion and
virtually defeated Jayapid.
Kalhana’s
Rajtarangini is the oldest written authority for the history of various
dynasties that ruled Kashmir from the earliest period until Shaka Year of 1070[3]. It
reads .Atha Aramudi iti prashiddha mayabi Nepaldeshasya Raja[4].
These words describe Aramudi as a powerful king of Nepaldesh.
This line opens two avenues for discussion, either Aramudi had actually ruled
over Kathmandu valley also or the Rajatarangini writer had problem in
differentiating between Kali Gandaki Region and Nepaldesh. From the
decline of Lichhavis until the beginning of Malla rule, Nepal's history enters
a dark phase in which only Aramudi’ rule can be historically attested.
Therefore historians treat Aramudi as the only shining star of the dark phase
of Nepalese history. The Magars of Nepal as well as other historians[5] believe
Aramudi was a Magar King. Unfortunately, very little has been explored on
Aramudi’s life and achievements. Later on, different kingdoms[6] around
River Kali Gandaki like: Rishing, Ghiring, Argha, Khachhi, Gulmi, Dhor,
Satung, Paiung, Bhirkot, Gharung Mishikot, Isma seem to have emerged and
ruled by Magar Kings. In those days, such twelve small kingdoms were
collectively called .Barha Magarat[7].
a Confederation of Twelve Magar Kingdoms. There is an interesting folklore on
how the twelve Magar Kingdoms were founded, expanded and ruled by twelve Magar
sons of a powerful Magar King of the Magarat, the western part of Nepal.
This folklore is still popular also among different Magar settlements in the Athar
Magarat[8].
the Kham Magar Language speaking region[9] in west
Nepal. Each year, people celebrate a festival of Barhakune Tal[10]
in Ghorahi of Dang district to commemorate the founding of Twelve Magarats[11].
Palpa has always
remained a home of the Magars. It is densely populated by the Magars. It
appears that Palpa was a Magar kingdom, founded on the formidable strength and
valour of Magars and their majority. The Magars of Palpa are still in strong
majority today. It was a powerful kingdom in those days. The Kingdom of Palpa
and Sen Kings have also played a major role in the history of modern Nepal.
Ratna Sen was the last King of Chhitaurgarh, Rajasthan in India. When attacked
by the enemies, his oldest son, Jaya Sen fled the country and took shelter in
Prayag of Uttar Pradesh. Jaya Sen’s descendants while again chased by the
Muslims fled to Ribdikot through Butwal in western plains of Nepal. Later on
they seem to have taken shelter also in Rishing and Ghiring of Tanahu.
Rudra
Sen, one of King Jaya Sen's descendants, is said to have defeated the Palpali
King. But a bewildered reader cannot find in the books of Nepalese history who
that vanquished Palpali King really was there? This is a case that totally
matches with the history of Khadga Magar King[12] who was also killed in 1559 by Drabya Shah to
found Shah Dynasty in Gorkha hilltop and rule Nepal until today. The vanquished
King of Palpa also should have been none other than a Magar himself or one of
the King Aramudi's descendants who was defeated by Ratna Sen. One of the ...
[1] Aramudi
was also known as Baradeva. He made Lalitpattan (Patan) his capital, He was a
brave and clever king. http://www.infoclub.com.np/nepal/history/history_lichhavi.htm
[2] Lalitaditya
was a great, noble and famous king of Kashmir who made large number of
conquests and ruled over Kashmir from 724 A.D. to 760 A.D. His son was
Vajraditya and his youngest son was Jyapida alias Vinayaditta. http://ikashmir.org/snwakhlu/11.html
[3] AD
1148 or BS 1204
[4] Rajtarangini: Kasmireitihas
page 99. There are a number of stanzas
that describe how Jayapid tried to invade Nepaldesh and how Aramudi resisted
or defeated.
[5] Historian
Dilli Raman Regmi thinks Aramudi was a Magar Chief
http://www.dilliramanregmi.org/ancientnepal/content/content2.html but Prof.
Jagadish Chandra Regmi and Prof. Raja
Ram Subedi believe Aramudi as Magar King of Kali Gandaki Area.
[6] I
prefer using kingdoms to principalities
[7] Cf.
Barha Magarat and Baradeva
[8] Literally,
a confederation of eighteen Magar principalities
[9] Dang,
Salyan, Pyuthan, Rukum, Rolpa etc.
districts of present Nepal.
[10] Twelve-cornered
pond in Dang Valley
[11] Folklore
on Barha Magrat and Baisbaju.
[12] The
Gorkha Vamshavali, the genealogy of ruling
Shah Kings "
Source: https://sites.google.com/site/rana1616/king-aramudi-and-other-magar-rulers-of-nepal
No comments:
Post a Comment