Catalog
1 Mohar - Vishnu Malla
| Issuer | Patan Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1729 |
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| Value | 1 Mohar |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field features a stylized flaming trident (trishula) or sword motif enclosed within a circular inner border, surrounded by a lobed quatrefoil frame with Ranjana script legends occupying each of the four lobes. The design is executed in the traditional hammered style of the Newar kingdoms, with a pronounced beaded outer border encircling the entire composition. The royal legend identifying King Vishnu Malla and the Nepal Sambat regnal year 849 is distributed across the lobes in Ranjana script characters. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field displays a deity figure — identified as the god Vishnu — depicted in frontal stance with multiple arms, seated or standing upon a decorative throne or lotus base, rendered in the bold relief characteristic of Newar hammered coinage. The figure is framed within a rectangular or square inner border flanked by foliate and floral ornamental devices on either side. A horizontal bar divides the field, with the devotional legend in Ranjana script appearing above and below the central image. The outer border consists of a continuous beaded ring, consistent with the broader Patan Mohar series of this period. |
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| Additional information |
Patan (Lalitpur) was one of three rival Malla kingdoms occupying the Kathmandu Valley, each minting its own coinage in deliberate competition with Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. By 1729, that rivalry was increasingly precarious — the valley kingdoms were already under sustained pressure from Prithvi Narayan Shah's expanding Gorkha confederacy, which would ultimately conquer all three within decades. Vishnu Malla's reign produced mohars that circulated primarily within the valley's dense trade networks connecting Tibet to the Gangetic plains.
Nepal's silver coinage was routinely debased across this period, and the purity of individual issues varied considerably between reigns.