History of Nepal

The Kingdom of Nepal was, for hundreds of years, split into many principalities. The east was ruled by the Kirats (Rais and Limbus), the Kathmandu Valley was the domain of the Newars, while the mid-west was occupied by Gurungs and Magars.

The Kirats ruled from 300 BC and, during their sovereignty, the Emperor Ashok came from India to Nepal to build a shrine, in the form of a pillar, to Lord Buddha at his birthplace in Lumbini. The Lichhavis followed the Kirats (their descendants are believed to be the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley) and during their period of rule, art blossomed in Nepal. Many examples of the fine woodcarving and sculpture of the time can still be enjoyed and admired in the Valley and in  museums.

The decline of the Lichhavi dynasty saw the advent of the Malla kings at the beginning of the thirteenth century, and their rule saw the continuance and advancement of Nepal’s art and culture. However, disagreements among the Malla kings culminated in the conquest of Kathmandu by Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king of Gorkha, in the late eighteenth century.

The King united Nepal into one kingdom, and dismissed all European missionaries from Nepal, fearing the threat of the British  Raj in India. For more than a century, Nepal was isolated from the rest of the world until, in the middle of the nineteenth century, Jung Bahadur Rana became Nepal’s first Prime Minister to wield absolute power, after a bloody massacre, following which the Shah kings remained as mere figureheads. The Ranas themselves were overthrown in a democracy movement of the early 1950’s

At present there are political problems between the Maoists and the Government. There has been another bloody massacre of the Nepalese royal family which has so far eluded satisfactory explanations regarding the perpetrator, the newly ascended king has dissolved the elected parliament, replacing it with ministers of his own choice, allowing him ultimate power. Talks are in progress to break the deadlock and hopefully will develop into a genuine democracy, with changes in Nepal’s seriously flawed constitution.