A BRIEF HISTORTY OF NEPAL

The first firm historical records about Nepal begin in around the 7 th to 8 th century BC when the Kiratis, a mongoloid people, migrated westwards from China into the Kathmandu Valley. Yalambar was the first of a line of 28 Kirati kings to rule the Kathmandu Valley lasting up until the 4 th century AD. During the Kirati reign Buddhism was first introduced into Nepal and it is believed that the Buddha himself visited the valley, residing for a time in Patan. Ashoka, the legendary India emperor, also visited the Kathmandu Valley sometime around the 2 nd century BC, evidence of which can be seen today in the four stupas he erected around Patan.

By the beginning of the 4 th century AD the conquering Licchavis, an Indo-Aryan people who invaded from northern India, had overthrown the last Kirati king. This shift in the power base brought with it a decline in Buddhism to be replaced by Hinduism. It also signified the start of the caste system, which still remains in Nepal today. The Licchavis dynasty lasted for 300 years and was a great time of architectural and artistic development.

Taking power from his father-in-law at the start of the 7 th century, Amsuvarman founded the first of three Thakuri dynasties, which ruled in the Kathmandu Valley. Consolidating power through his family connections and marriage - his daughter married a Tibetan prince - Amsuvarman laid a firm enough power base in the Kathmandu Valley for this kingdom to survive and grow, even through the following centuries of turmoil and strife. During the 10 th century Thakuri king Gunakamadeva founded the city of Kantipur, today’s Kathmandu.

Around 1200, legend has it that King Arideva was wrestling when news of his son’s birth arrived. He thus bestowed the title malla ‘wrestler’ on his son and so founded the Malla dynasty, which brought with it a golden age in Nepalese history. It’s strategic location along the trade routes between China, Tibet and India led to a great flow of wealth into the valley, and with it a subsequent flourishing of the arts and architecture in the shape of may wonderful buildings, many of which still stand today. The Hindu Mallas religious tolerance allowed Buddhism to flourish in Nepal, however the emergence of an aristocracy under the Mallas served to strengthen and develop the strict Hindu caste system. From the mid 14 th century Nepal began to break apart into numerous feudal city-states. Agricultural techniques improved and populations grew, spreading more and more into the hilly and mountainous areas. Around this time a Muslim invasion from India swept across the Kathmandu Valley causing great destruction. Though short lived in the Kathmandu Valley, the Muslim driven destruction in India caused many Hindus to flee north and establish small Rajput principalities in the hills and mountains of Nepal.

At this time the Kathmandu Valley was dominated by three major cities - Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur. Each walled city was the centre of an independent kingdom ruled by its own king and with its own army. However, starting in 1372 Jayasthiti Malla, founder of the third Malla dynasty, conquered first Patan and then 10 years later Bhaktapur to unite the whole Kathmandu Valley under one ruler. By the 15 th century Malla rule had reach its zenith and under Yaksha Malla (1428-82) art and culture flourished, and the kingdom stretched from Tibet in the north to the Ganges River in the south, and from the Kali Gandaki River in the west to Sikkim in the east. After his death the kingdom split apart again into small warring kingdoms and, although trade and agriculture continued to expand, Nepal remained fragmented and disparate for the next 200 years or so.