History

Before Nepal's emergence as a nation in the latter half of the eighteenth century, the designation 'Nepal' was applied only to the Kathmandu Valley. Thus up until the unification of the country, Nepal's history is largely the history of Kathmandu Valley.

References to Nepal in famous Hindu epics such as the Mahabharat, Puranas and also Buddhist and Jain scriptures, establish the country's antiquity as an independent political and territorial entity. The Vamshavalis or chronicles, the oldest of which was written during the fourteenth century, are the only fairly reliable basis for Nepal's ancient history. The Vamshavalis mention the rule of several dynasties-the Gopalas, the Abhiras and the Kiratas-over a stretch of centuries. However, no extant historical evidence has yet authenticated the rule of these legendary dynasties. The documented history of Nepal begins with the Changu Narayan temple inscription of King Manadeva I (c. A. D. 564) of the Lichchhavi dynasty.

The Lichchhavis

The Lichchhavis are said to have migrated into Nepal from north India in around A. D. 250. The first Lichchhavi king of historical importance was Manadeva I.

Another important Lichchhavi monarch was Amshuvarma, who opened trade routes to Tibet. One of his daughters, Bhrikuti, who was married to the Tibetan ruler Tsrong-tsen Gompo, was instrumental in spreading Buddhism in Tibet and China. Amshuvarma has been referred to as a man of many talents in the accounts of the Chinese traveller Huen Tsang, who visited India in the seventh century A. D.

Narendradeva, another Lichchhavi king, initiated friendly relations with China and his successors laid the foundations of friendship with India by entering into matrimonial alliances with the Indian royal families. For several hundred years after the fall of the Lichchhavi kingdom in A. D. 879, there are no written records. Frequently called the Transition period, this era was marked by continued refinement of stone and bronze sculpture and the early development of architecture.

The Mallas

Malla rule began with Ari Malla in the thirteenth century. Over the next two centuries a large empire was built before disintegrating into small principalities, later known as the Baisi (the twenty-two principalities) This was more or less coincidental with the emergence of the Chaubisi (twenty-four principalities) to the west of Kathmandu. The history of these principalities remains shrouded up until the time when they joined other kingdoms, both large and small, to form the unified Kingdom of Nepal.

Jayasthiti Malla, with whom commences the later Malla period in the Kathmandu Valley, reigned towards the end of the fourteenth century. Though his rule was rather short, his place among the rulers in the Valley is eminent for his various social and economic reforms such as the 'Sanskritization' of the Valley people and new methods of land measurement and allocation.

Yakshya Malla, the grandson of Jayasthiti Malla, ruled the Kathmandu Valley until almost the end of the fifteenth century. Afger his demise, the Valley was divided into three independent kingdoms Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan -- in about A.D. 1484. This division led the Malla rulers into internecine wars for territorial and commercial gain. Mutually debilitating wars gradually weakend them and by the time of Prithvi Narayan Shah's invasion of the Valley, they had by themselves reached the brink of political disintegration.

The last rulers were Jaya Prakash Malla, Tej Narsingh Malla and Ranjit Malla of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur respectively.

The Shah Dynasty: Unification of Nepal

Prithvi Narayan Shah (1769 - 1775), with whom we move into the modern period of Nepal's history, was the ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah 91559 - 1570), the founder of the ruling house of Gorkha. In 1743 Prithvi Narayan Shah succeeded his father, King Nara Bhupal Shah, to the throne of Gorkha, a small kingdom in central Nepal. Sagacious and farsighted, King Prithvi Narayan Shah was quite aware of the political situation of the Valley kingdoms as well as of the Baisi and Chaubisi principalities. He foresaw the need for unification the small principalities and set himself to the task accordingly. His assessment of the situation among the hill principalities was correct, and the principalities were subjugated fairly easily. King Prithvi Narayan Shah's victory march began with the conquest of Nuwakot, which lies between Kathmandu and Gorkha, in 1744. After Nuwakot, he occupied strategic points on the hills surrounding the Kathmandu Valley. The Valley's communications with the outside world were thus cut off. The occupation of the Kuti pass in about 1756 stopped the Valley's trade with Tibet.

Finally, King Prithvi Narayan Shah entered the Valley, after the victory over the hilltop town of Kirtipur, King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu sought help from the British, and the East India Company responded with a contingent of soldiers under Captain Kinloch in 1767. The British force was defeated at Sindhuli by King Prithvi Narayan Shah's army. This defeat of the British completely shattered the hopes of King Jaya Prakash Malla.

The capture of Kathmandu (September 25, 1768) was dramatic. As the people of Kathmandu were celebrating the festival Indrajatra, Prithvi Narayan Shah and his men marched into the city. A throne was put in the palace courtyard for the king of Kathmandu. Prithvi Narayan Shah sat on the throne and was hailed by the people as the king of Kathmandu. Jaya Prakash Malla managed to escape with his life and took asylum in Patan. When Patan was captured a few weeks later, both Jaya Prakash Malla and the King of Patan, Tej Narsingh Malla, took refugee in Bhaktapur, which was also captured after some time. Thus Kathmandu became the capital of modern Nepal in 1769.

Once the foundation of the Kingdom of Nepal was laid, Prithvi Narayan Shah turned his attention towards the east. The Sena kingdom of Chaudandi was acquired in 1773 and Vijayapur, another Sena kingdom, was annexed shortly after.

Prithvi Narayan Shah died in January, 1775, at the age of 52. The Kingdom of Nepal then extended to the Marsyangdi river in the west and to the Mechi and Kankai rivers in the east and comprised more than one third of the present territory of the Kingdom of Nepal.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah was successful in bringing together diverse religio-ethnic groups under one national banner and inculcating in them a sense of national pride and belonging. He was a nationalist in his outlook and was in favor of adopting a closed-door policy with regard to the British. Not only his social and economic views guided the country's socio-economic course for a long time, but his use of the image, 'a yam between two boulders' in Nepal's geo-political context, formed the principal guideline of the country's foreign policy for future centuries.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah was succeeded by his eldest son Pratap Singh Shah (1775 - 1777) who had a quite brief rule.

King Pratap Singh Shah was succeeded by his infant son Rana Bahadur Shah (1777 - 1799). The guardianship of the infant King was at first given to Bahadur Shah, the King's uncle. But later, Rajendra Laxmi, the widowed queen mother, took over the regency herself and forced Bahadur Shah into exile. Most of the Chaubisi principalities were annexed to the Kingdom of Nepal during her regency.

Bahadur Shah came back from exile a few days before the queen mother's death and took up the regency in 1785. The rest of the Baisi and Chaubisi principalities were annexed to the Kingdom of Nepal during his regency (1785 - 1749).

Nepal's boundary in the west was extended as far as Kumaon (Almorah) in 1792, when the country become entangled in a war with China following Nepal's armed attacks on Tibet in 1788 and 1791 over a trade dispute. The war was concluded with the signing of a peace treaty between Nepal and China. After this war, the extension of territory to the west was resumed and the areas up to Kangra were occupied by Nepalese forces by the first decades of the nineteenth century.

The War with the British

The Nepalese had differences of opinion with the East India Company regarding the ownership of land in the western Terai, particularly Butwal and Seoraj. The outcome of the conflict was a war with the British. The British launched their attack on the Nepali forces at Nalapani, the westernmost point of Nepal's frontier, at the close of 1814. Though the Nepalese were able to inflict heavy losses on the British army on various fronts, the large army and the superior weapons of the British proved too strong. The Nepali army evacuated the areas west of the Mahakali river and ultimately the treaty of Sugauli was signed with the British in 1816. Among other things, this treaty took away a large chunk of the Terai from Nepal, and the rivers Mahakali and Mechi were fixed as the country's western and eastern boundaries.

At this time, King Girvana Yuddha Bikram Shah occupied the throne of Nepal, and the power of state was in the hands of Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa, who wielded enormous power during the rule of this King and his son King Rajendra Bikram Shah.

The Rana Century (1846 - 1951)

Bhimsen Thapa's death in 1839, combined with the loss of the hold on state affairs by King Rajendra Bikram Shah, ultimately led to a power struggle among the nobles in the court. In this power struggle, Jung Bahadur, the founder of the Rana oligarchy in Nepal, emerged as the most powerful leader. The notorious Kot Massacre of 1846, in which Jung Bahadur put a large number of his rivals to death, was the most sanguine step on his rise to power. He dethroned King Rajendra Bikram Shah, and his son Surendra Bikram Shah (1847 - 1881) was made king. He appointed all his brothers to the key posts of the country. Later on, through a royal edict, the Prime Ministership was institutionalized in the Rana family.