Land, Lineage and State

This study of medieval Nepal (Kathmandu Valley) aims to demonstrate how the interaction between land, lineage, and state over a period of 600 years significantly shaped Newar society, including some of its key institutions like kinship, guthi, religion, and caste as well as their settlement patterns. The author explores the progressive evolution of the Newari language and culture from the Licchavi era to the 1980s with a concentration on the medieval period and utilizing both historical and anthropological methodologies. He looks at the similarities and differences in their rites and festivals, the connections between land and lineage, the dynamics sparked by the rivalry between Buddhism and Hinduism, and the relationship between the state and society. Understanding the Newar, who founded possibly the most sophisticated Himalayan society of the Middle Ages, will benefit greatly from Land, Lineage, and State.

In 2002, Prayag Raj Sharma left his position as professor of ancient history at the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS) at Tribhuvan University. He had been involved with CNAS since its beginnings and had been the Institute of Nepal and Asian Studies' first dean from 1972 to 1978. He also served as the magazine Contributions to Nepalese Studies' inaugural editor. He is the author of numerous essays on state and society in Nepal as well as the books A Preliminary Study of the Art and Architecture of the Karnali Basin (Paris, 1972) and The State and Society in Nepal: Historical Foundations and Contemporary Trends (Lalitpur, 2004).