11 A. The empire

From the 11th–12th centuries, in the high basin of the Karnali (far-west Nepal), rose the Khasa power — the greatest "empire" the Nepali highlands produced before the Gorkhali state. Capital: Sinja (Jumla).1. Nagaraja (c. 12th century) — the shadowy founder of the line (the Dullu-Sinja tradition).2. Krachalla and the 13th-century consolidation — the dynasty's military rise, defeating local lords and building the core realm of the Karnali basin.3. Ashokachalla (13th century) — the empire's namesake in foreign records (Tibetan annals know his line); Khasa power projected toward Tibet and the Ganges plain.4. Jitari Malla (late 13th c.) — led the famed raid on the Kathmandu Valley (1288), humbling the Malla king and returning with tribute — the Khasa at their peak.5. Ripumalla (early 14th c.) — the empire's widest reach (tradition claims overlordship from the Kali to beyond the far-west and ties with the Buddhist sites); his Lumbini visit left inscriptions there.6. Punya Malla and Prithvi Malla (14th century) — the last strong kings; Prithvi Malla'sstone-pillar inscriptions at Dullu (eulogies in Sanskrit verse) are the empire's own monument — and its farewell.7. Decline (late 14th century) — succession strife, the rise of feudatories, pressure from all sides; the empire shattered into the Baise (22) and Chaubise (24) principalities (Unit 4) — the Karnali basin's "shards of empire".