The volume explores the fascinating culture of the central Himalayas, focusing on its rich bardic tradition and its highly institutionalized forms of spirit possession. It offers a unique set of contributions on the role of mediumism in the social and political organizations of various kingdoms in Nepal and India’s western Himalayas. The history of the Malla Empire (12th – 14th centuries), and of its capital, Dullu, is explored through different forms of History : oral history through the recitation of genealogies and epics in their context of performance; ethno-history through the first investigation on the religious complex of Dullu; finally epigraphy through the studies of a large corpus of Malla inscriptions from Nepal and Uttarakhand.