Antiquity  Sanskrit language stone inscription dated 594 at Gomārhi, central Bhaktapur is the oldest one found in the city.[1]

The folklore of the Kathmandu Valley states that the entire valley and as such Bhaktapur itself was once an enormous lake.[2] Geological surveys conducted by Swiss geologist Toni Hagen proved that the Kathmandu Valley was in fact a lake which formed when the Lower Himalayan Range was being created due to the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plate.[3] The lake water started eroding the limestone hills of Chobhar and starting from around thirty thousand years ago, the lake started to drain.[4] Plain lands appeared in the valley and between 30,000 and 15,000 years, most of the valley was drained.[4] In folklore, the credit of draining the valley is given to the Bodhisattva Manjushri .[2] Believed to be a saint from Greater China, Manjushri is said to have cut a gorge from his sword in order to drain the valley so that he could worship and gain wisdom from Swayambhunath Buddha who resided in the lake.[2] Manjushri is believed to have entered the Katmandu Valley from the east and his resting place has been made into a shrine where the people of Bhaktapur make a pilgrimage to every year during late winter and before the festival of Shree Panchami.

Apart from above, much of the early history of Bhaktapur is largely unknown.[1] It is clear that people started to settle in the Kathmandu Valley after it was drained due to its fertile soil owing to it being a lakebed.[2] The Gopal Raj Vamshavali, a 14th-century Newar language manuscript states that a clan known as Gopāla first settled the Kathmandu Valley.[5] The manuscript further says that Gopāla, who were cow herders, were overthrown by the Mahispāla, who were buffalo herders.[5] Soon, the Kirata King Yalambar conquered the valley and established his own Kirānta dynasty. Although no direct proof of the existence of the first three ruling dynasties as mentioned in the Gopal Raj Vamshavali has been found, indirect proof such as place names and mentions in the inscriptions of the Licchavi period has been used to support the existence of at least the Kirānta dynasty.[5] For Bhaktapur as well, the existence of a non-Sanskrit name, Khopring, in the Sanskrit language stone inscriptions of the Licchavi dynasty supports the existence of a settlement before the arrival of the Licchavi clan from Vaishali.[1] The modern day Jyāpu community of the Newars is believed to be the descendants of the Kirānta clan and the modern day Newar language is believed to derived from the language that he Kirānta clan spoke.[1]

Licchavi dynasty  A 7th century stone sculpture believed to depict a mirror with the reflection of Tulā Rāni, a mythical queen from Bhaktpur .[6]

Three stone inscriptions from the Licchavi dynasty has been recovered so far in Bhaktapur.[1] One of them dated to 594 was recovered in Gomārhi district in the eastern part of Bhaktapur was made during the reign of Amshuverma.[1] Another similar inscription from 594, recovered from Tulāche district in the central part of Bhaktapur was also made during the reign of Amshuverma.[1] The Gomārhi inscription contains a decree from Amshuverma that "people from Mākhopring draṅga should be given more rights for a self rule."[7] Similarly, the Tulāche inscription contains a similar message but the settlement has been referred as "khōpring grāma".[1] During the Licchavi dynasty, settlements with a minimum of 100 houses and a maximum of 500 houses were classified as "grāma" and wealthy settlements were classified as "draṅga".[1] So, the settlements around the present day Gomārhi district were wealthier than the settlements around the present day Tulāche district.[1] In Nepal Bhasa, Mā is a prefix meaning "main or principal", meaning Mākhopring was a sub-division of Khopring, most likely the main part of Khopring.[7] Finally, a third inscription recovered at Tālako district in the southwestern part of Bhaktapur mention the place name as "mākhoduluṃ" which was probably a separate village from Khōpring.[7]

Bhaktapur's oldest hiti is also dated from the Licchavi dynasty.[6] It is said that the Rajkulo canals, which supplies water in hitis were built and managed by Tulā Rāni, a mythical queen who is believed to have lived in Bhaktapur during the Licchavi dynasty.[6] In folklore, Tulā Rāni made and repaired the Rajkulo canals as she is said to only weigh a single tola or 11 grams and hence float on water.[8]

Foundation  Statue of Ananda Deva, the founder of Bhaktapur recovered at the courtyard of Sulamā Māhādeo temple, Bhaktapur.[9]

In legends and chronicles, Ananda Deva, who ruled Nepal Mandala from 1146 to 1167 is credited to have established the city of Bhaktapur.[10] Since there were already settlements in Bhaktapur like Mākhopring and Mākhoduluṃ during the Licchavi dynasty, it was more likely that Ananda Deva unified these smaller settlements into a single unit.[10] When Ananda Deva founded Bhaktapur, it was said to contain 12,000 houses. Because Bhaktapur lay on the trade route road took by merchants going to Tibet, its size and population continued to grow up to 12,000 houses by the 12th century.[11][12] Ananda Deva also established a royal court named Tripura Rājkula in the central part of Bhaktapur and declared it as the new capital of Nepal.[13] Bhaktapur was chosen as the new capital mostly because of its geography.[14] It is situated on top of a small hill and the hill itself is surrounded by the Hauman river in the south and the Kasan river in the north, making it easier to defend during a foreign invasion.[15] The royal court, Tripura Rājkula, according to the Gopal Raj Vamshavali was architecturally similar to Amsuverma's Kailashkut Bhawan.[16] Ananda Deva is also credited with the establishment of shrines of the eight Matrikas (known as Ajimā in Nepal Bhasa) on the edges of the city proper.[17] Because of these eight shrines surrounding the city, Bhaktapur is regarded as a sacred Mandala.[17] Similar arrangement of mother goddesses can be found in other cities of the valley such as Kathmandu and Patan, both of which were established before Bhaktapur. However, in Bhaktapur, there are nine Matrikas instead of the traditional eight and the shrine of ninth goddess, Tripura Sundari, who is considered the leaders of the Matrikas of Bhaktapur, was established in the central part of the town with the goddess acting as the focal point of the mandala.[17] The royal court of Ananda Deva, Tripura Rājkula was established next to and named after the Goddess Tripura Sundari.[15] However, the famed Tripura Rājkula has been lost to time, most likely due to various earthquakes with its decline further accelerated due to the apathy shown by future rulers towards its maintenance.[18] Some legends attribute that Ananda Deva was directed to establish Bhaktapur by the Goddess Annapurna. In the chronicles under the possession of Daniel Wright, it is written that Ananda Deva invoked the Goddess Annapurna while in Kashi and under her command established the city of Bhaktapur.[19] The chronicle further states that Ananda Deva was addressed by the Matrikas in his dream and under their command established their shrines in a particular edge of the city proper.[19] The mother goddesses are believed to protect the city and its people from evil spirits and bad omens as well as from physical dangers.[19] Within the city itself, there are also ten minor shrines of the Mahavidya, a group of Tantric goddesses believed to protect the city, which were established by Ananda Deva as well.[20]

Capital city of Nepal

As Bhaktapur became the seat of the government, it also became the target for numerous foreign invasions. The main reasons for these attacks was the internal division among the royal family of Nepal.[21] Soon after Ananda Deva's death, a new royal house emerged from within. Believed to have been started by Ari Malla, they used Malla as their surname replacing their ancestral surname, Deva.[21] When the conflictions between both houses worsened, the House of Tripura sought help from Tirhut while the House of Yuthunimam sought help from Khasa Kingdom.[21] Thus, both of these kingdoms started interfering in the internal politics of Nepal. In the 1310s, the monarch Rudra Malla in order to improve Nepal Mandal's relation with Tirhut married off his sister Devaladevi to the Tirhut king, Harisimhadeva.[22] After the marriage, the relation between the two kingdoms smoothed and Tirhut's attack on Nepal ceased.[22]

In the month of January 1326, Devaladevi along with son, Jagatsimhadeva and her court departed from Tirhut after it was invaded and captured by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate.[22] Her husband Harisimhadeva died on the way while Devaladevi and her family arrived at her birth kingdom of Nepal Mandala where she was welcomed by her brother Rudra Malla.[22][23] In July 1326, just six months after the arrival of Devaldevi, her brother Rudra Malla died.[24] Nayakdevi, Rudra Malla's daughter became the new ruler of Nepal Mandala under the regency of her grandmother Padma Lakshmi.[22] In 1326, Nayakdevi was married to Harishchandra, the prince of Kashi by her grandmother but the court rebelled against him after the death of Padma Lakshmi at the age of sixty seven in July 1332 and was eventually assassinated in May 1335.[24] After Harischandra's death, Devaladevi in a bid to gain political power married her son Jagatsimhadeva to her niece Nayakdevi.[22][23] In January 1347, Nayakdevi gave birth to a daughter who was named Rajya Laksmhi Devi (Rajaldevi in short).[24] Nayakdevi died ten days after giving birth to Rajaldevi. Her death triggered a chain of unrests in the palace during which Jagatsimha was imprisoned and he died in custody.[24] Devaldevi established her own rule in Nepal Mandala as regent for her granddaughter/grandniece, Rajaldevi.[24]

 Jayasthiti Malla was introduced to Nepal as a prince consort for Rajalldevi and established absolute rule in 1382.

In 1349, Nepal suffered one of the most devastating attack in its history.[25] Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, the Sultan of Bengal and his armies plundered the Nepal Valley for a week in the winter of 1349.[26] Bhaktapur suffered the most from this attack as not only it was the capital at that time, the city was also in the eastern part of the valley, the same direction the 20,000 forces came from.[25] According to the Gopal Raj Vamshavali, Bhaktapur was ransacked and set on fire by the invaders which lasted for seven days and the populace were either killed or escaped in the mountains.[25][27] Some historians cite this invasion as the reason for the disappearance of monuments from the Licchavi and the early Malla dynasty.[26] After the invasion, which destroyed much of the city, Bhaktapur was entirely rebuilt under Devaldevi, who like Ananda Deva, did so on the basis of Sanskrit treatises in architecture.[18] The layout of the old part of the city has remained mostly the same since then.[28]

In September 1354, a nine year old Jayasthiti, a Danwar noble from Mithila was brought into Bhaktapur and was eventually married to Rajalladevi Malla in January 1355.[29] After Devaladevi died in 1366, Rajalladevi and her king consort Jayasthiti Malla took control of Nepal Mandala and under their reign Nepal experienced a period of stability and cultural as well as economic growth.[29] Jayasthiti Malla defeated warring nobles and unified Nepal Mandala under a singular monarch.[29] It is said that Jayasthiti Malla brought Brahmins from Mithila and South India and under their recommendation, revived and improved the already present Hindu caste system based on occupation.[29] Jayasthiti Malla is also credited for making the Newar language as the language of administration, literature and religion.[29] The influential Gopal Raj Vamshavali, a Newar language manuscript about the history of Nepal, was commissioned by Jayasthiti Malla.[5] Jayasthiti Malla was also the first monarch of Nepal to claim a divine heritage as the Gopal Raj Vamshavali states him as the one blessed by Swayambhunath and the incarnation of the Buddha, a claim inherited by all future monarchs.[30]

 Ruins of the medieval city gate, Mākachva Dhvākhā in southern Bhaktapur is the only remaining infrastructure from the fortification of Bhaktapur done by Yaksha Malla in the 15th century.[31]

His grandson, Yakshya Malla was the last king of a unified Nepal Mandala who ruled from Bhaktapur from 1428 to 1481.[32] Yaksha Malla had nuemrous wives and concubines including Sarupādevī, Karpuradevī, Udayādevī, Jīvalakṣmī, Jayatanā, Kṛtilakṣmī, Sarasvatidevī (among which Sarupādevī and Karpuradevī were the most influential) and therefore numerous issue.[33] He is also known to have fortified his capital, Bhaktapur with moats, defensive walls and eight city gates which correspond with the shrines of the Eight Matrikas.[31] He also made it mandatory for all citizens of Bhaktapur regardless of caste or wealth, to repair and maintain the defensive walls and moats during the annual festival of Sithi Nakha.[31] Yaksha Malla's numerous children caused a huge issue in the kingdom after his death in 1481. His eldest son was Raya Malla and because of his age, he was crowned as the new king of the country. But his two step-brothers Ratna and Ari Malla and his step-sister Ratnādevī, all three of whom shared the same biological mother protested against the coronation and as a result broke off from the capital and established a new one in Kathmandu where Ratna Malla declared himself the king.[33] Similarly, Raṇa Malla shared a same biological mother Rana Malla broke off from the capital to Banepa where he declared himself as its new king.[33] In this way, the kingdom of Yaksha Malla was divided among his sons among which Raya Malla, the eldest became the king of the former capital city, Bhaktapur.[34]

Kingdom of Bhaktapur

Raya Malla is considered a weak figure in the History of Nepal.[34] Many historians blame Raya Malla's reluctancy to give up the throne for the division of Nepal Mandala.[33] The newly formed Kantipur kingdom and its king barred him from taking any oaths and Diksha from their tutelary goddess, Taleju whose shrine was located in the palace of Bhaktapur while at the same Ratna Malla would repeatedly take oaths from the Taleju shrine of the Bhaktapur palace.[34] Yaksha Malla's large number of descendants meant that even during his great grandson – Praṇa Malla's reign there were several other members of the Malla family were still in Bhaktapur. Two such Mallas, Vira and Gosain Malla, both of whom were older than the monarch sought help from Kantipur and the king of Kantipur, Narendra Malla in a bid to weaken Bhaktapur, claimed Vira Malla to be the legitimate ruler.[33] Likely fueled by Narendra Malla, both Vira and Gosain Malla divided the city of Bhaktapur between themselves and Prana Malla and established a border at Inācho, Bhaktapur.[35] In October 1558 Ganga Devi, the queen consort of Vishva Malla seized control of the kingdom and started a joint rule with her two sons Trailokya and Tribhuvan Malla.[34] Ganga Devi, who was also popularly called as "Ganga Maharani", was the only queen regnant who ruled the kingdom.[35] During her reign, Bhaktapur would reach its territorial zenith. She is regarded as the first strong ruler of Bhaktapur and is widely known for her military conquest and construction works.[34] She is also credited with unifying the city by appointing many of Yaksha Malla's descendants who were living in the palace as fort captains, chiefs of other cities and villages within the kingdom which effectively ended their claims to the throne.[35] She was the first ruler of Bhaktapur to take Diksha from Taleju along with her two sons, the tutelary goddess of the Mallas in 9 April 1567 as previous rulers were barred to do so by Kantipur, which provoked Kantipur and launched an attack Bhaktapur in retaliation.[34] Her reign saw numerous cultural changes in the form of festivals as she is credited to have improved the numerous festivals celebrated within the kingdom. The locals of Bhaktapur credit her as the builder of many of the hitis and public rest houses within Bhaktapur as well as numerous Narayana temples of the city but no any inscriptional evidence of it has been found.[36][37]

 Detail of a mural at the royal palace which depicts Bhupatindra Malla and his queen Vishva Lakshmi as a divine couple. Bhupatindra Malla reigned from 1696 to 1722 and his reign is considered the cultural highpoint of Bhaktapur.[38]

Ganga Devi's death has not been properly studied yet. It is possible that she died in 1602 as after 1602, her eldest son Trailokya Malla is the only one addressed as the king in inscriptions and legal documents.[33] Her youngest son, Tribhvana Malla who arguably was more powerful under her disappeared from historical records since 1602. Trailokya Malla ruled alone till his death in 1613 after which his son, Jagajjyoti Malla became the ruler.[39] Jagajjyoti Malla is especially remembered for his contributions in Maithili literature.[13] His work, Haragaurīvivāha, a play about the wedding of Shiva to Parvati, is considered one of the greatest works in the Maithili language.[39] Jagajjyoti Malla died in 1642 Naresha Malla's short rule began.[40] Naresha Malla proved to be a weak king and it was during his reign that Pratap Malla, the king of Kantipur, in his attempt to unify the Kathmandu Valley, attacked Bhaktapur.[40] Naresha Malla died at an early age, leaving behind a four year old Jagat Prakasha Malla as the successor to the throne.[40] His aunt, Annapurṇalaksmi served as regent for him till he turned 16.[40] Meanwhile, Pratap Malla made an alliance with Srinivasa Malla, the king of Patan and both joined forces to start a siege of Bhaktapur.[41] By 1660, the coalition conquered all the hamlets and villages, north of Bhaktapur and managed to reach the northern city gate.[31] The coalition tried to break the gate open for months before being forced to retreat.[31] During their siege, Pratap Malla installed a stone inscription on a hiti in the shrine of Mahakali near the northern gate.[31] During April 1662, Pratap Malla had gathered a massive army in the eastern part of Bhaktapur, in the site outside the city proper where the annual Biska Jatra festival was held demanding the festival will only be held if the kingdom surrendered.[42] Jagat Prakasha Malla released decree cancelling the festival that year, a first time where the festival was cancelled.[42] Eventually, the sieges proved unsuccessful and the coalition were forced to retreat.[41]

Jagat Prakasha Malla died on 8 December 1672 because of smallpox after which the reign of Jitamitra Malla began.[43] He is fondly remembered for the construction of a canal which brought water to the city from the hills of Nagarkot.[33] His son, Bhupatindra Malla, who succeeded him in 1696 is likely the most popular ruler from Bhaktapur because of the numerous construction works that took place during his reign. The Nyatapola, today a symbol of the city was commissioned by him.[44] His son Ranajit Malla was the last ruler of the Kingdom of Bhaktapur and is remembered today for his musical contributions. The Newar language devotional songs he wrote are still sung in Bhaktapur today.[45]

In November 1769, Bhaktapur was attacked by and after suffering a heavy loss eventually surrendered to the expanding Gorkha kingdom which became the Kingdom of Nepal.[33]

Rana Regime

After its defeat in 1769, Bhaktapur lost most of its political and cultural importance to Kathmandu and Lalitpur, the capital of the newly formed Kingdom of Nepal.[46][47] Bhaktapur was visited by Colonel Kirkpatrick of East India Company in 1792 and in his book described the city as being in a better state than Kathmandu or Lalitpur.[48] Bhaktapur played a small role during the rise of Jung Bahadur Rana as its former palace was where King Rajendra Bikram Shah was imprisoned in 1847. After the establishment of the Rana dynasty in 1846, Rana's brother Dhir Shumsher Rana was appointed as the magistrate of the city.[49] Dhir Shumsher oversaw the demolition of many of the old palaces of Bhaktapur and its replacement with British style inspired buildings.[49]

 A general view of Bhaktapur Durbar Square before the 1934 earthquake which destroyed almost all the buildings in the square.[50][51][52]

The great earthquake of 1833 and 1934 damaged most of the city including the palace and temples.[49][53][54] In the earthquake of 1833, Bhaktapur suffered the most damage in the Kathmandu Valley. Out of 500 total casualties of the earthquake, at least 200 of them were in Bhaktapur.[55][56] Around 25% to 70% of the town suffered major destruction, including at least 2,000 homes and six to eight temples.[55]

When the 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck in 1934, Bhaktapur was one of the most affected towns of Nepal.[57][58] Around 40-100% of residential buildings were directly affected while 6224 buildings were completely destroyed by the earthquake.[58] Many of the old palaces and temples which were already weakened by the earthquake of 1833 were also completely destroyed. Almost all the buildings in Bhaktapur Durbar Square were heavily damaged.[59] Around 177 heritages were completely destroyed during the earthquake.[58]

Many of the Malla era temples and palaces of the city like the Basantapur Lyākū, Chaukot Lyākū and Thanthu Lyākū were completely destroyed in the earthquakes and many of them were never restored and the few that were, were reconstructed in a Mughal style stucco dome by the Ranas.[59][60]

The economy of Bhaktapur which had already been struggling after losing the flow of Tibetan traders was greatly crippled by the earthquakes of 1833 and 1934.[61] The 1934 earthquake also damaged the physical infrastructure of the town and most of the inhabitants were unable to rebuild their houses properly.[61] The earthquake permanently damaged the Rajkulo canals that had been providing fresh water to the city since the time of the Mallas.[62] An economically struggling Bhaktapur was unable to repair these canals and as a result fresh water became scarce in the city. The sanitation level of Bhaktapur became severely low and poverty and diseases became rampant.[61]

20th century  Aerial view of Bhaktapur in 1962 with the Nyatapola Temple on the far right and the Langtang mountains in the background

In the 1950s, when the tyrannical Rana dynasty ended and Nepal was open up to the outside world, Kathmandu and the other cities around it like Patan saw a big rise in urbanization and population. However, Bhaktapur was farther away from the capital and was left out from the development that occurred in the other cities of the Kathmandu Valley.[53][63] Bhaktapur was also greatly isolated and ignored by the central powers. When a new highway was built, it completely bypassed the city and instead ran through the outskirts.[53][64] Bhaktapur was the poorest city of Nepal in the 20th century.[53] The Rajkulo canals that provided fresh water was never repaired and sanitation level was very low.[63] Due to extremely high population density and low sanitation, the city became extremely unhygienic as feces and litter filled the roads.[61] Diseases were rampant and greatly affected the farmer majority population of Bhaktapur couldn't afford modern medicine.[65] Just like the inhabitants, the heritages of Bhaktapur also suffered greatly during this period as many arts and artifacts were stolen.[66]

Under the Bhaktapur Development Project which was funded by West Germany, the city's physical infrastructure and heritage sites were all revitalized.[11] Tourism started to became a major source for Bhaktapur's economy. A political party named Nepal Workers Peasants Party was started in the city and it gained the support of majority farmer population of the city.