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Indo-Aryan tribes entered
the valley around 1500 BCE. Around 1000 BCE,
small kingdoms and confederations of clans
arose. One of the princes of the Shakya
(Sakas) confederation was Siddhartha Gautama
(563–483 BC), who renounced his royalty to
lead an ascetic life and came to be known as
the Buddha ("the one who has awakened"). By
250 BCE, the region came under the influence
of the Mauryan empire of northern India, and
later became a puppet state under the Gupta
Dynasty in the fourth century CE. From the
late fifth century CE, rulers called the
Licchavis governed the area. The Licchavi
dynasty went into decline in the late eighth
century CE and from 879 was followed by a
Newar era, although the extent of their
control over the entire country is
uncertain. By late eleventh century,
southern Nepal came under the influence of
the Chalukya Empire of southern India. Under
the Chalukyas, Nepal's religious
establishment changed as the kings
patronised Hinduism instead of the Buddhism
prevailing at that time.
Hindu temples in Patan, the capital of one
of the three medieval Newar kingdoms.By the
early thirteenth century, leaders were
emerging whose names ended with the Sanskrit
suffix malla ("wrestler"). Initially their
reign was marked by upheaval, but the kings
consolidated their power over the next two
hundred years. By late fourteenth century,
much of the country began to come under a
unified rule. This unity was short-lived; in
1482 the kingdom was carved into three
areas, Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhadgaon, which
engaged in petty rivalry for centuries.
In 1765, the Gorkha ruler Prithvi Narayan
Shah set out to unify the kingdoms, after
first seeking arms and aid from Indian kings
and buying the neutrality of bordering
Indian kingdoms. After several bloody
battles and sieges, he managed to unify
Nepal three years later. However, the actual
war never took place while conquering the
Kathmandu Valley. Prithivi Narayan Shah was
unable to defeat the powerful Newar kingdom
of Kathmandu. In fact, it was during the
Indra Jaatra, when all the valley citizens
were celebrating the festival, Prithvi
Narayan Shah with his troops captured the
valley, virtually without any effort. This
marked the birth of the modern nation of
Nepal. A dispute and subsequent war with
Tibet over control of mountain passes forced
Nepal to retreat and pay heavy repatriations
to China, who came to Tibet's rescue.
Rivalry with the British East India Company
over the annexation of minor states
bordering Nepal eventually led to the brief
but bloody Anglo-Nepalese War (1815–16), in
which Nepal defended its present-day borders
but lost its territories west of the Kali
River, including present day Uttarakhand
state and several Punjab Hill States of
present day Himachal Pradesh. The Treaty of
Sugauli also ceded parts of the Terai and
Sikkim to the Company in exchange for
Nepalese autonomy.
Nepalese royalty in the 1920s.Factionalism
among the royal family led to instability
after the war. In 1846, a discovered plot to
overthrow Jang Bahadur, a fast-rising
military leader, by the reigning queen, led
to the Kot Massacre. Armed clashes between
military personnel and administrators loyal
to the queen led to the execution of several
hundred princes and chieftains around the
country. Bahadur won and founded the Rana
dynasty, leading to the Rana autocracy. The
king was made a titular figure, and the post
of Prime Minister was made powerful and
hereditary. The Ranas were staunchly
pro-British, and assisted the British during
the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857, and later in
both World Wars. In 1923 the United Kingdom
and Nepal formally signed an agreement of
friendship, truth, and law, in which Nepal's
independence was recognised by the UK.
In the late 1940s, emerging pro-democracy
movements and political parties in Nepal
were critical of the Rana autocracy.
Meanwhile, China regained control of Tibet
in 1950, making India keen on stability in
Nepal. King Tribhuvan offered then Indian
Prime Minister accession of Nepal on the
condition that he be made President of
India. Nehru refused but sponsored
KingTribhuvan as Nepal's new king in 1951,
and a new government, comprising the Nepali
Congress Party. After years of power
wrangling between the king and the
government, the democratic experiment was
dissolved in 1960, and a "partyless"
panchayat system was instituted to govern
Nepal. In 1990, the "Jana Andolan"
(People's) Movement forced the monarchy to
accept constitutional reforms and establish
a multiparty parliament in May 1991.[4]
Krishna Prasad Bhattarai became the Prime
Minister, drafted a new Constitution and
carried out the democratic elections for the
parliament. The Nepali Congress Party won
the country's first democratic elections,
with Girija Prasad Koirala becoming prime
minister. |
