Brief History of Nepal

Nepal’s early history is replete with legends rather than facts. There is little recorded history left after the destruction of manuscripts and other literature by succeeding conquerors over the centuries. Even the origin of the Kathmandu Valley is steeped in legend related to Gods and holy beings.

The fact is: Kathmandu Valley was once a very large lake hemmed in by mountains. Legend speaks of nagas or snake-gods that inhabited the lake. A lotus seed dropped into the placid waters of the lake, bloomed into a magnificent lotus that emanated a dazzling light. From this lotus blossom sprang Swayambhu that still stands today on a hillock. It is said that seeing this brilliant light, the Boddhisatva Manjushri arrived from Tibet and in one fell swoop of his magical sword cut open a path for the lake waters to drain out of the valley. Thus the fertile valley of Kathmandu was created and known as Nepal for centuries. The fact is: all the rivers flowing through the valley exit through a narrow gorge at Chobar.

The ealiest rulers of the valley are believed to have been a tribe of cowherds known as Gopalas. Little is known of them. The first recorded history of Nepal mentions the Kiratis, also referred to as Kiratas.

The Kiratis

The Kiratis, a Mongoloid people who arrived in the 7^th or 8^th century BCE (before the common era) ruled for more than 600 years. Not much is known about their rule apart from the names of 28 Kirati kings and that one lead an army to take part in the great war of Mahabharata. Legend has it that Lord Krishna himself decapitated this King and his head having flown all the way to Kathmandu valley is still represented by a mask kept in the Akaash Bhairav temple. Their first king was Yalambar and is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. During the reign of the Kiratis, Buddhism was introduced to Nepal and it is believed the Indian Emperor Ashoka also visited the valley as a devotee of Buddha. The last Kirati Kings to be defeated by the Shah conquerors had their kingdoms in eastern Nepal where even today a large portion of the population comprises Rais and Limbus who are descendants of the Kiratis.

The Licchavis

The Licchavis, who ruled from around 330 AD to 700 AD, ousted the Kirati rulers from the Kathmandu valley. While the Kiratis moved east, the Licchavis ruled over the valley and are responsible for much of the early art and architecture of Nepal. The famous Changu Narayan temple, one of the oldest in the country and located east of Bhaktapur was built by a Licchavi king in the forth century AD.

The Thakuris

The Thakuris ruled from 602 CE. A Thakuri princess named Bhrikuti, the daughter of Amsuvarman, was married off to the Tibetan King Srongtsen Gampo. She along with the King’s Chinese wife converted the king to Buddhism and subsequently Tibet adopted the new religion. The famous Kasthamandap of Kathmandu Durbar Square was built by Gunakamadeva, a Licchavi king. The name Kathmandu is believed to have come from Kasthamandap.

The Mallas

The Malla Dynasty ushered in the Golden era when art, architecture and music flourished in the Kathmandu valley. They ruled from around 1201to 1768.  . Much of the temples, palaces and other monuments owe their existence to the Malla kings whose statues still adorn the three Durbar Squares of the valley, which are today, World Heritage Sites. The Mallas were tolerant of all religions and their tolerance was extended to the Christian missionaries who lived and preached their faith in the valley. On the other hand they started the cult of the Living Goddess Kumari while plays an important role even to this day. The Living Goddess represents Goddess Taleju Bhawani, the tutelary deity of the ruling dynasties since the time of the Mallas. At one time under the Mallas, the Kathmandu valley was one kingdom. Unfortunately, Yakshya Malla divided his kingdom among his sons into three smaller kingdoms Kantipur, Patan and Bhaktapur. Kantipur is the former name of Kathmandu. The three kings competed, fought wars and connived against each other until the Shah conquerors overthrew them in the 18^th century.

The Shahs

The present Shah dynasty hailed from the mountainous region called Gorkha, a tiny independent kingdom north west of Kathmandu. Taking advantage of the friction between the three Malla kings of the valley, an ambitious Prithvinarayan Shah invaded the three kingdoms and never went back to Gorkha. He overthrew the Malla king from Kathmandu. It was the birth of unified Nepal. From a tiny valley named Nepal the descendants of Prithvinaryan extended the border even into India capturing Gardwal in the south-west and parts of Sikkim in the east. The extended territories were later lost to British India when the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 was signed soon after the Angle-Nepal war. Some lost territory was however restored to Nepal as a reward for aiding the British in subduing the Indian uprising. Subsequently the British inducted Nepalese citizens into their own army giving them the common name “Gurkha”. Gorkha in fact was only one of the hundreds of tiny kingdoms that existed before unification. The Gurkhas are renowned as the best fighting force in the world and still serve in the British Armed Forces, the Indian Army as well as the elite security force of the Sultan of Brunei.

The Ranas

The Rana oligarchy came to power when Jung Bahadur Rana (nee Kunwar) took advantage of the mistrust between an ambitious queen and an incompetent king. He supposedly murdered the Prime Minister, who was his own uncle and then took his place. He is notorious for master minding the Kot Massacre of 1846, in which most of the influential and powerful courtiers in the kingdom were put to death inside a courtyard in a single night. He then used trickery to send the Queen on exile and became the virtual ruler when the King decided to accompany his Queen to Benaras, leaving behind a young helpless crown prince to sit on the throne. Grabbing the opportunity he was soon to take the title of Maharaja although technically he was still the Prime Minister and the King was the head of state. Changing his name from Kunwar to Rana, he also declared the post of Maharaja hereditary thus ensuring a Rana lineage that would go on to rule Nepal for 104 years.

Throughout the Rana period, the Shah kings sat on the throne but enjoyed no power.  The Ranas ruled Nepal with an iron fist keeping their subjects poor and uneducated while they indulged in debauchery, intrigue and generally treated the kingdom as private property. The only visitors allowed into the kingdom entered on special invitation of the Ranas. The only mountaineering expedition allowed within Nepal during Rana rule was the successful French expedition of Annapurna I in 1950.

The Shahs of modern Nepal

In 1951 King Tribhuwan finally overthrew the Ranas with popular support from his subjects, many of whom were killed and are still revered as martyrs to this day. Soon after he regained power, the King opened the doors to the outside world and aid poured in while simultaneously he invited the Jesuits to open schools to educate his people.

Modernization began with King Tribhuwan’s reign and he opened the country to tourism.

King Tribhuvan died in 1955 and was succeeded by King Mahendra who experimented with democracy encouraging political parties to form a government. But in 1959, he declared a state of emergency, dissolved parliament and jailed most leading politicians and banned political parties. For the next thirty years Nepal was under the Panchayat system in which local panchayats (councils), elected representatives to district Panchayats. The king still held absolute power over the appointed Prime Minister and his cabinet. The population was left with little say in political matters. After King Mahendra’s death, crown prince Birendra ascended the throne in 1972. During King Birendra’s reign, for the first time the citizens showed decent in 1979, when violent protests erupted and there were several deaths in Kathmandu. It all began as a protest march denouncing the hanging of ex-Prime Minister Bhutto of Pakistan. But it turned into a protest against the partyless Panchayat System and a demand for the restoration of democracy. Soon after, King Birendra announced a referendum to choose between Panchayat system and Multiparty System. The referendum of 1980 however, resulted in the Panchayat System remaining in favour.

Democracy

King Birendra was to remain an absolute monarch for 18 years since his coronation. In April 1990, he gave in to the demands of the Nepalese people and declared Nepal a democracy with himself heading the government as a constitutional monarch. Today Nepal has a government elected by the people, with the king as head of state. Several political parties contest the polls for a seat in the upper and lower houses of parliament. The major political parties are the Congress and several factions of Communists. The present Prime Minister is Sher Bahadur Deuba, a member of the Congress party.

Tragedy struck the Nepalese Royal family on the 1^st of June 2001. Nepal lost the entire Royal family in the infamous royal massacre at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace. King Birendra, Queen Aishwaria, crown Prince Dipendra, Princess Shruti and prince Nirajan all lost their lives in a shootout along with other relatives of the King and Queen. The present King Gyanendra ascended the throne on 4^th June 2001. He is the only surviving brother of King Birendra as Dhirendra, the youngest, who had formally given up his princely status also died in the massacre.