History of Nepal

                                                    History of Nepal

The history of Nepal has been influenced by its position in the Himalaya and its two neighbours, modern day India and Tibet Due to the "arrival of disparate settler" groups from outside through the ages, it is now a multiethnic, multiracial, multicultural, multi religious, and multilingual country. Central Nepal (Currently Kathmandu Valley) was split into three kingdoms from the 15th century until the 18th century, when it was re-unified under the Shah rule. The most spoken language of Nepal is Nepali followed by other various national languages.

Nepal had experienced a struggle for democracy at times in the 20th century and early 21st century. During the 1990s and until 2008, the country was in a civil strife. A peace treaty was signed in 2008 and elections were held in the same year. In a historical vote for the election of the constituent assembly, Nepalese parliament voted to oust the monarchy in June 2008. Nepal became a federal republic and was formally renamed the 'Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal' ending the 200 year old Shah dynasty

Prehistory

Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 11,000 years.[citation needed] The earliest inhabitants of Nepal and adjoining areas were people from the Indus Valley Civilization. The Dravidian people whose history predates the onset of the Bronze Age in South Asia (around 3300 BCE), before the coming of other ethnic groups like the Tibeto-Burmans and Indo-Aryans from across the border.[4] Tharus, people of mixed Dravidian and Austro-Asiatic features are the forest-dwelling natives of the Cental Terai region of Nepal. The Kirat people arrived from Tibet[citation needed] some 2000 years ago and lived in northern Nepal. Other ethnic groups of Indo-Aryan origin later migrated to southern part of Nepal from India.[citation needed]According to Hogdson in 1847 the earliest inhabitants of Nepal were properly the Kusunda people and were properly of proto-Australoid origin.

Legends and Ancient times

Though very little is known about the early history of Nepal, legends and documented references reach back to the first millennium BCE:

The epic Mahabharata mentions the Kiratas among the inhabitants of Nepal. Kirati king Yalambar had the dubious honor of being slain in the battle of the Mahabharata, in which gods and mortals fought alongside each other. Legend credits him with meeting Indra, the lord of heaven, who ventured into the Valley in human guise. It is said that during the battle of Mahabharata, Yalamber went to witness the battle with a view to take the side of the losing party. Lord Krishna, knowing the intention of Yalamber and the strength and unity of the Kiratas, thought that the war would unnecessarily be prolonged if Yalamber sided with the Kauravas. So, by a clever stroke of diplomacy, Lord Krishna cut off Yalamber's head.

Also, the presence of historical sites, e.g., Valmiki ashram, indicates the presence of Sanatana (ancient) Hindu culture in parts of Nepal at that period.

According to some legendary accounts in the chronicles, the successors of Ne were the gopālavaṃśi/gopal bansa or "Cowherd family" are said to have ruled for some 491 years. They are said to have been followed by the mahaiṣapālavaṃśa or "Buffalo-herder Dynasty", established by a Rajput named Bhul Singh.[6]

In a Licchavi period inscription (found on archeological stoneworks, which list mostly the dates and commissioners of these constructions, also communicate royal edicts, religious mantras or historical notes) mention the Kirata, that through the corroboration of local myths and the Vamsavalis, identify a people prior to the Licchavi dynasty.

Before Nepal's emergence as a unified nation in the later half of the 18th century, the designation 'Nepal' was largely applied only to the Kathmandu Valley and its surroundings. Thus, up to the unification of the country, Nepal's recorded history is largely that of the Kathmandu's Valley. References to Nepal in the Mahabharata epic, in Puranas and in Buddhist and Jaina scriptures establish the country's antiquity as an independent political and territorial entity. The oldest Vamshavali or chronicle, the Gopalarajavamsavali, was copied from older manuscripts during the late 14th century, is a 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 millennia. The documented history of Nepal begins with the Changu Narayan temple inscription of King Manadeva I (c. 464–505 CE) of the Licchavi dynasty.

reunification of Nepal

Prithvi Narayan Shah (c. 1779–1875), with whom we move into the modern period of Nepal's history, was the ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah (1559–1570), the founder of the ruling house of Gorkha. Prithvi Narayan Shah succeeded his father Nara Bhupal Shah to the throne of Gorkha in 1743 CE. King Prithvi Narayan Shah was quite aware of the political situation of the Valley kingdoms as well as of the Baise and Chaubise principalities. He foresaw the need for reunifying the small principalities as an urgent condition for survival in the future 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 in 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 of Kirtipur. King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu sought help from the British and so the than East India Company sent 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 very dramatic. As the people of Kathmandu were celebrating the festival of Indrajatra, Prithvi Narayan Shah and his men marched into the city. A throne was put on 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 somehow managed to escape with his life and took asylum in Patan. When Patan was too captured a few weeks later, both Jaya Prakash Malla and the king of Patan;Tej Narsingh Malla took refuge in Bhaktapur, which was also captured after some time.Thus,the Kathmandu Valley was conquered by King Prithvi Narayan Shah and Kathmandu became the capital of the modern Nepal by 1769.

In 1794, troops of Prithivi Narayan Shah has made a complete conquered on Nuwakot which they were commanded by Biraj Thapa, but they were badly defeated, largely because of the following reasons:

Burial of Tulsi river

Lack of arms and ammunation

Lack of trained soldiers

Lack of detailed research and plans

King Prithvi started re-unifying parts of Baise-Rajya in the Rapti region in around 1760CE. By 1763, Tulsipur-Dang Rajya fell and by 1775 CE, Chauhan Raja Nawal Singh of House of Tulsipur was completely defeated. After losing his northern hill territories to King Prithvi, Chauhan Raja Nawal Singh was forced to move to his southern territories (currently Tulsipur/Balarampur in modern-day India) and ruled as one of the largest Taluqdar of Oudh.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah was successful in bringing together diverse religio-ethnic groups under one nation. He was a true 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, his use of the imagery, 'a yam between two boulders' in Nepal's geopolitical context, formed the principal guideline of the country's foreign policy for future centuries.But in the modern days this saying is to be modify as a 'link between two giant countries' and Nepal can be able to get benefit from both countries.

Kingdom of Nepal

 The old king's palace on a hill in Gorkha

After decades of rivalry between the medieval kingdoms, modern Nepal was reunified in the latter half of the 18th century, when Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the small principality of Gorkha, formed a unified country from a number of independent hill states. Prithvi Narayan Shah dedicated himself at an early age to the conquest of the Kathmandu Valley and the creation of a single state, which he achieved in 1768.

The country was frequently called the Gorkha Kingdom. It is a misconception that the Gorkhali took their name from the Gorkha region of Nepal; actually, the region was given its name after the Gorkhali had established their control of these areas.

After Shah's death, the Shah dynasty began to expand their kingdom into much of South Asia. Between1788 and 1791, during the Sino-Nepalese War, Nepal invaded Tibet and robbed Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse. Alarmed, the Qianlong Emperor of the Chinese Qing Dynasty appointed Fuk'anggan commander-in-chief of the Tibetan campaign; Fuk'anggan signed treaty to protect his troops thus attaining a draw.[7] The draw was later converted to victory by Nepali forces sent on commands of PM Jung Bahadur Rana.[7]

Battle of Guntagadhi where Nepali forces (in black) defeated Tibetan forces

After 1800, the heirs of Prithvi Narayan Shah proved unable to maintain firm political control over Nepal. A period of internal turmoil followed. Rivalry between Nepal and the British East India Company over the princely states bordering Nepal and British-India eventually led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–16), in which Nepal suffered a heavy defeat. The Treaty of Sugauli was signed in 1816, ceding large parts of the Nepali territories of Terai, (nearly one-third of the country), to the British.

Bhakti Thapa leading Gorkha men at Anglo-Nepalese WarIn the modern days,there are some voice arising against the Sugauli treaty must be cancelled.There are many organizations against the treaty like Gurkhaland

Royal coup by King Mahendra[edit]

Declaring parliamentary democracy a failure, King Mahendra carried out a royal coup 18 months later, in 1960. He dismissed the elected Koirala government, declared that a "partyless" Panchayat system would govern Nepal, and promulgated another new constitution on December 16, 1960.

Subsequently, the elected Prime Minister, Members of Parliament and hundreds of democratic activists were arrested. (In fact, this trend of arrest of political activists and democratic supporters continued for the entire 30-year period of partyless Panchayati System under King Mahendra and then his son, King Birendra).

The new constitution established a "partyless" system of panchayats (councils) which King Mahendra considered to be a democratic form of government, closer to Nepalese traditions. As a pyramidal structure, progressing from village assemblies to a Rastriya Panchayat (National Parliament), the Panchayat system constitutionalized the absolute power of the monarchy and kept the King as head of state with sole authority over all governmental institutions, including the Cabinet (Council of Ministers) and the Parliament. One-state-one-language became the national policy in an effort to carry out state unification, uniting various ethnic and regional groups into a singular Nepali nationalist bond. The 'Gaun Farka Aviyan' launched in 1967, was one of the main rural development programs of the Panchayat system.

King Mahendra was succeeded by his 27-year-old son, King Birendra, in 1972. Amid student demonstrations and anti-regime activities in 1979, King Birendra called for a national referendum to decide on the nature of Nepal's government: either the continuation of the panchayat system along with democratic reforms or the establishment of a multiparty system. The referendum was held in May 1980, and the panchayat system won a narrow victory. The king carried out the promised reforms, including selection of the prime minister by the Rastriya Panchayat.

Multiparty parliament

People in rural areas had expected that their interests would be better represented after the adoption of parliamentary democracy in 1990. The Nepali Congress with the support of "Alliance of leftist parties" decided to launch a decisive agitational movement, Jana Andolan, which forced the monarchy to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a multiparty parliament. In May 1991, Nepal held its first parliamentary elections in nearly 50 years. The Nepali Congress won 110 of the 205 seats and formed the first elected government in 32 years

Nepalese Civil War

In February 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) started a bid to replace the parliamentary monarchy with a people's new democratic republic, through a Maoist revolutionary strategy known as the people's war, which led to the Nepalese Civil War. Led by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known as "Prachanda"), the insurgency began in five districts in Nepal: Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Gorkha, and Sindhuli. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) established a provisional "people's government" at the district level in several locations.

On June 1, 2001, Prince Dipendra went on a shooting-spree, assassinating 9 members of the royal family, including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, before shooting himself. Due to his survival he temporarily became king before dying of his wounds, after which Prince Gyanendra (Birendra's brother) inherited the throne, according to tradition. Meanwhile, the rebellion escalated, and in October 2002 the king temporarily deposed the government and took complete control of it. A week later he reappointed another government, but the country was still very unstable.

A family in a Maoist-controlled valley, 2005

In the face of unstable governments and a siege on the Kathmandu Valley in August 2004, popular support for the monarchy began to wane. On February 1, 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers, declaring a "state of emergency" to quash the revolution. Politicians were placed under house arrest, phone and internet lines were cut, and freedom of the press was severely curtailed.

The king's new regime made little progress in his stated aim to suppress the insurgents. Municipal elections in February 2006 were described by the European Union as "a backward step for democracy", as the major parties boycotted the election and some candidates were forced to run for office by the army.[11] In April 2006 strikes and street protests in Kathmandu forced the king to reinstate the parliament. A seven-party coalition resumed control of the government and stripped the king of most of his powers. As of 15 January 2007, Nepal was governed by a unicameral legislature under an interim constitution. On December 24, 2007, seven parties, including the former Maoist rebels and the ruling party, agreed to abolish the monarchy and declare Nepal a Federal Republic.[12] In the elections held on 10 April 2008, the Maoists secured a simple majority, with the prospect of forming a government to rule the proposed 'Republic of Nepal'.

Protests over Constitution of 2015

The ethnic groups like Madhesi and Tharu have protested vigorously as they point out that their concerns have not been addressed in the new constitution which came into effect on September 20, 2015.[15] At least 56 people have been killed along with 11 police in clashes at protests over the draft constitution.[16] at the mean time of Madheshi protest, India started to stop supplies to Nepal showing insecurity and violence in border areas. By unavailability of Petroleum and Medicine violation of human rights is occurred in Nepal.

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