|
|
|
|
Statue of King
Bhupatindra Malla |
|
History on
Nepal
Before
Nepal's emergence as a nation in the latter half of the
18th century, the designation 'Nepal' was largely
applied only to the Kathmandu Valley. Thus up until the
unification of the country, Nepal's history is largely
the history of the Kathmandu Valley. References to Nepal
in famous Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata, 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 14th 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 464-505 A.D.) of the Lichavi
dynasty.
Lichavi
Dynasty
The Lichavis are said to have migrated into Nepal from
north India in around 250 A.D. The first Lichavi king of
historical importance was Manadeva 1. Another important
Lichavi monarch was Anshuverma who opened trade routes
to Tibet. One of his daughters, Bhrikuti, who was
married to Tibetan ruler Tsrong-tsong Gompo, was
instrumental in spreading the Gospel of the Buddha in
Tibet and China. Anshuverma has been referred to as a
man of many talents in the accounts of the Chinese
traveler Huen Tsang, who had visited India in the 7th
century AD.
Narendradeval another Lichavi 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.
The Lichchhavi rule spanned over a period of about 630
years, the last ruler being Jayakamadeva.
Malla Dynasty
After the fall of the Lichchhavis came the Malla period
during which the foundation of the city of Kantipur
(later Kathmandu) was laid. The early Malla rule started
with Ari Malla in the 12th century and over the next two
centuries grew into a large empire before disintegrating
into small principalities which later became known as
the Baisi (i.e. the twenty-two principalities). This was
more or less coincidental with the emergence of the
Chaubisi (i.e. twenty-four principalities). 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 14th century. Though his rule was rather short,
his place among the rulers in the Valley is eminent for
the various social and economic reforms such as the 'Sanskritization'
of the Valley people, new methods of land measurement
and allocation etc. Yakshya Malla, the grandson of
Jayasthiti Malla, ruled the Kathmandu Valley until
almost the end of the 15th century. After his demise,
the Valley was divided into three independent Valley
kingdoms -- Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan -- in about
1484 A.D. This division led the Malla rulers into
internecine wars for territorial and commercial gains.
Mutually debilitating wars gradually weakened them and
by the time of King Prithvi Narayan ShahÕs invasion of
the Valley, they had by themselves reached the brink of
political extinction. The last rulers were Jaya Prakash
Malla, Tej Narsingh Malla and Ranjit Malla of Kathmandu,
Patan and Bhaktapur respectively.
Shah Dynasty, Unification of Nepal
Prithvi Narayan Shah (c 1769-1775), 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 King Nara Bhupal Shah to the
throne of Gorkha in 1743 AD. King Prithvi Narayan Shah
was quite aware of the political situation of the Valley
kingdoms as well as of the Barsi and Chaubisi
principalities. He foresaw the need for unifying the
small principalities as an urgent condition for survival
in the future and set him self 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 ValleyÕs
communications with the outside world were thus cut off.
The occupation of the Kuti Pass in about 1756 stopped
the ValleyÕs 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 East India Company sent
a contingent of soldiers under Captain Kinloch in 1767.
The British force was defeated at Sindhuli by King
Prithvi Narayan ShahÕs 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 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
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 Mallal
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.
King Prithvi Narayan Shah was successful in bringing
together diverse religio-ethnic groups under one
national. 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
bouldersÕ in Nepal's geopolitical context, formed the
principal guideline of the country`s foreign policy for
future centuries.
The War with British - The Nepalese had differences of
opinion with the East India Company regarding the
ownership of the land strip of 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 western most point of Nepal's frontier at the close
of 1814. Though the Nepalese were able to inflict heavy
losses to the British army on various fronts, the larger
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 Biktram Shah was on 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 King Girvana Yuddha Bikram Shah and
his son King Rajendra Bikram Shah.
Back to Top |
Late King Prithivi
Narayan Shah |
|