| After centuries of petty rivalry between the three kingdoms, in the mid-18th century Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha King set
out to unify the kingdoms. Seeking arms and aid from India, and buying the neutrality of bordering Indian kingdoms, he
embarked on his mission in 1765. After several bloody battles and sieges, he managed to unify Kathmandu Valley three years
later in 1768. However, an actual battle never took place to conquer the Kathmandu valley; it was taken over by Prithvi
Narayan and his troops without any effort, during Indra Jatra, a festival of Newars, when all the valley,s citizens were
celebrating the festival. This event marked the birth of the modern nation of Nepal. There is historical evidence that, at
one time, the boundary of Greater Nepal extended from Tista River on the East to Kangara, across Sutlej River, in the west. A
dispute and subsequently war with Tibet over the control of mountain passes forced the Nepalese to retreat and pay heavy
repatriations. Rivalry between Nepal and the British East India Company over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal
eventually led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1815–16). The valor displayed by the Nepalese during the war astounded their
enemies and earned them their image of fierce and ruthless "Gurkhas". The war ended with a treaty, the Treaty of Sugauli.
This treaty ceded Sikkim and lands in Terai to the Company. Some parts of Terai Region were given back to Nepal by British
East India Company as a friendly gesture to Nepal because of her role to help maintain control of their regime in India
during the so called Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. The decision to help British East India Company was taken by the Rana Regime,
then led by Jang Bahadur Rana.
Factionalism inside the royal family had led to a period of instability. In 1846 a plot was discovered, revealing that the
reigning queen had planned to overthrow Jang Bahadur, a fast-rising military leader. This 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 emerged victorious and founded the Rana lineage. 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, in which Nepal,s independence was recognised by the UK.
Nepalese royalty in the 1920sIn the late 1940s, newly emerging pro-democracy movements and political parties in Nepal were
critical of the Rana autocracy. Meanwhile, with the annexation of Tibet by the Chinese in 1950, India faced the prospect of a
military expansion of her Northern neighbour and was thus keen to avoid instability in Nepal. Forced to act, India sponsored
both King Tribhuvan as Nepal,s new ruler in 1951, and a new government, mostly comprising the Nepali Congress Party.
After years of power wrangling between the king and the government, the democratic experiment was suppressed in 1959, and a
"partyless" panchayat system was made to govern Nepal until 1989, when the "Jan Andolan" (People,s) Movement forced the
monarchy to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a multiparty parliament that took seat in May 1991.
In 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) started a bid to replace the royal parliamentary system with a people,s
socialist republic. This led to the long Nepal Civil War and more than 12,000 deaths. On June 1, 2001, there was a massacre
in the royal palace; it left the King, the Queen and the Heir Apparent Crown Prince Dipendra among the dead. Prince Dipendra
was accused of patricide and of committing suicide thereafter, alleged to be a violent response to his parents, refusal
to accept his choice of wife. However, there are lots of speculations and doubts among Nepalese citizens about the person(s)
responsible for the Royal Massacre. Following the carnage, the throne was inherited by King Birendra,s brother Gyanendra.
On February 1, 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers to quash the violent Maoist
movement. In September 2005, the Maoists declared a three-month unilateral ceasefire to negotiate their demands.
In response to the 2006 democracy movement, the king agreed to relinquish the sovereign power back to the people and
reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives on April 24, 2006. Using its newly acquired sovereign authority, on May 18,
2006, the newly resumed House of Representatives unanimously passed a motion to curtail the power of the king and declared
Nepal a secular state. On December 2007, a bill was passed in parliament which declared Nepal a "federal democratic republic"
constitutionally.[9]. The bill, however, is slated to come into force immediately after the forthcoming elections of April
2008.
Etymology
Ancient History
Modern History
Geography
Economy
Government
Culture
Religion
|
