Kamal P. Malla

Kamal P. Malla earned a PhD in stylistic analysis, the study of writing style, from the University of Edinburgh. He then returned to head Tribhuvan University’s Department of English. There, he went on to found Nepal’s first Department of Linguistics.

His research covered a very wide range of topics. This included medieval Newar epigraphy, the study of old inscriptions carved on stone or metal, and the sociology of Kathmandu’s intelligentsia, its educated and intellectual class. His critical essays, collected in the book The Road to Nowhere, were known for challenging nationalist orthodoxy during Nepal’s autocratic Panchayat era.

He later served as university rector. He became professor emeritus of Newar studies. He remained a towering figure in Nepali and Nepal Bhasa scholarship until his death in 2018.