THE KIRAT KINGDOM

In Magadh, the Shishunaga dynasty was followed by the Nanda dynasty, and then by the Maurya dynasty. The first three Maurya emperors, Chandragupta, Bindusara, and Ashoka, were great conquerors. They extended the frontiers of the Maurya empire almost throughout the whole of India. They paid no attention of Nepal, a small Kingdom located in the midst of forests. Ashoka later gave up the campaign of military conquest and followed the policy of bringing other countries within the sphere of his influence by propagating the Buddhist religion. Accordingly, in the course of his tour of Buddhist places of pilgrimage, he visited Rumin, birthplace of Buddha, and installed a pillar there (248 B.C). His religious envoys reached different places in India, as well as Burma and the Yavana Kingdoms of the east. Thanks to their efforst, the
small Buddhist sect established by Gautama Buddha was transformed into the great Buddhist religion. However, Ashoka sent envoys of medium rank to propagate that religion in the Himalyanan region only toward the last days of his life. These envoys reached Nepal as few years before or after Ashoka was ousterd from the throne (236 B.C). the Nepars adopted the Buddhist religion with reverence, but not the neighboring Magars, Murmis, Syarpas, and Thamis.
Buddha taught the lesson of purity of mind, speech, body, and action. He made atheism and non-violence the fundamental tenets of the Buddhist religion. The Nepars were able to understand sermons on good conduct, but found it difficult to prartice them. Even the, they tried their best. It was not difficult to understand the essence of atheism, but it was a formidable effort to forget the traditional gods and remounce violence. Even then , the Nepars gradually forgot their old gods. They found it impossible to stop the practice of the slaughtering animals, and so continued doing so. Buddha died of indigestion after eating pork. For that reason, Indian Buddhists abjuredthe concumption of pork, and the Nepars too followed suit. The Kirant not have spread had it not been accepted by Kings. By the second generation, the Nepars had become stanch Buddhists. Five stupas or Chaityas were then constructed in Lalitpur, the then capital. These still survive in the form of mounds and are known as Ashoka’s stupas.

THE KIRAT KINGDOM

After assimilating the Arya civilization, the Nepars developed national unity, and established a Kingdom of their own in circa 400 B.C. This was the first Kingdom in Nepal. at that time, the Aryas of India used to describe Mongolian groups as Kisant. Because the Nepars were of Mongolian stock, they too were regarded as Kirants. For this reason, the Nepar Kingdom is known as the Kirant Kingdom. Yelam was the first of 32 Nepar Kings. We canot say that all of them were Kirant Kings, for it is not possible that there were so many kings in a single dynasty. Even in times of uninterrupted peace, a royal dynasty usually comes to an end after six or seven kings. Accordingly, it is possible that these 32 Kings belonged to five or six dynasties. In circa 100 A.D., the Nepar Kingdom came to an end. No information is available about the political condition of this Nepar Kingdom, which lasted five centuries.
4. The valley of the Bagvati river, bounded by the four passes of Shivapuri, Chandagiri, Sanga, and Bhimdhunga, was the original home of the Nepars. This region was cooler at that time than it was now, with more than half of the totoal surface area under forest. The Nepars were of Mongolian stock, hence they had a Mongolian physiognomy. They spoke a Mongolian dialect without any script. They worshipped local gods and sacrificed birds and animals to gain their ends and ward off evils. They selected a priest from among themselves. The Nepars used herbs and drugs for medical purposes and cultivated maize, millet, etc. they kept buffaloes for meat, their staple diet. After ghee began to be exported to the Tirhut region, they started using milk as well. It is possible that they did not keep cows. Sheeps and pigs were domestic animals. They spun the wook of sheep and wove blankets in crude looms. They also manufactured a black water-proof, were sold as far as Pataliputra (Patna), capital of India.

THE KIRAT KINGDOM

The Vriji republic was situated south of Sesant at a great distance from both the Mahabharat and the Chure ranges. The Videhas inhabited a part of the district of Mahottari in the outer Tarai region; the rest of that region comprised stray settlements of Tharus. The Bajis gradually pushed the Tharus toward the north. The passes of Sindhuli, as well as those along the banks of the Bagvati river, were open at that time, but were covered by forests and infested with wild animals and so inaccessible.
One group of Tharus living on the banks of the Bagvati river in the Tarai region as fishermen was known as Danuwar. The Danuwars gradually penetrated through the Chure and Mahabharat mountains and reached the valley on the upper reaches of that river. They had borrowed the Aryan civilization from Magadh and adopted the Magadhi language, forgetting their own Mongolian language. These Danuwars introduced the light of Arya civilization in the Bagvati Valley. The inhabitants of this valley began to visit the capitals of Vriji and Magadh in the company of Danuwars. They called themselves Nepar. At that time, the people of Magadh pronounced rasal, hence they began to describe the inhabitants of the valley of Nepal. the term eventually came to signify the country.

THE KIRAT KINGDOM(C.400 B>C.-100A.D)

Among the three Mongolian communities inhabiting the three regins in the east of modern Nepal, only the Magars came into contact with the Arya cilvization through the Khasas of the west. The Khasas, however, followed the policy of exterminating Mongolian communities, hence the Magars did no welcome ther civilization. Around the same time, the Malla and Shakya republics became more populous, so only the Mahabharat mountains separated the Magars fom them. Because these mountains were not impregnable, there were frequent contacts between the Magars on the one hand and the Mallas and Shakyas on the other. Mallas and Shakyas were of Manvawa Arya stocks and so were liberal. But the Magars, who had been frightened by the Khasas, did not let Mallas and Shakyas visit their settlements. Nor was there any need for the Mallas and Shakyas to cross the Mahabharat mountains and fight the Magars in the Pahar region. Even then, contacts between the two groups introuduced the Magars to Arya civilization and taught them the value of unity. Strengthened by such unity, the Magars were able to check the Khasas beyond the Sakhiko-Lekh for several conturies. There may have been some petty principalities among the Magars, but documentary evidence is lacking.

Gorkha Rule

After decades of rivalry between the medieval kingdoms, modern Nepal was created in the latter half of the 18th century, when Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the small principality of Gorkha, formed a unified country from a number of independent hill states. Prithvi Narayan Shah dedicated himself at an early age to the conquest of the Kathmandu Valley and the creation of a single state, which he achieved in 1768.

The country was frequently called the Gorkha Kingdom. It is a misconception that the Gurkhas took their name from the Gorkha region of Nepal. The region was given its name after the Gurkhas had established their control of these areas. The Gurkha, also spelled Gorkha, are people from Nepal who take their name from the legendary eighth-century Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath. Gurkhas claim descent from the Hindu Rajputs and Brahmins of Northern India, who entered modern Nepal from the west.

After Shah's death, the Shah dynasty began to expand their kingdom into what is present day North India. Between 1788 and 1791, Nepal invaded Tibet and robbed Tashilhunpo Monastery of Shigatse. Alarmed, the Chinese emperor Qianlong appointed Fu Kangan commander-in-chief of the Tibetan campaign and Fu not only defeated the Gurkha army but also conquered Tibet. The Gurkhas were forced to accept surrender on China terms.

After 1800, the heirs of Prithvi Narayan Shah proved unable to maintain firm political control over Nepal. A period of internal turmoil followed.

Rivalry between Nepal and the British East India Company - over the princely states bordering Nepal and India - eventually led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–16), in which Nepal suffered a complete rout. The Treaty of Sugauli was signed in 1816, ceding large parts of the Nepali territories of Terrai and Sikkim, (nearly one third of the country), to the British, in exchange for Nepalese autonomy.

As the ceded territories were not restored to Nepal by the British when freedom was granted to the people of British India, these have become a part of the Republic of India (see Greater Nepal) even though it was mentioned that the treaties on behalf of the East India Company or British India would not be valid anymore. The Kingdom of Sikkim, which had already lost its Darjeeling region to British India in 1853, was annexed by the post-colonial Republic of India in April 1975 and, in the following month, Sikkim's people voted to join the Indian Union.

Royal coup by King Mahendra Declaring parliamentary democracy a failure, King Mahendra carried out a royal coup 18 months later, in 1960. He dismissed the elected Koirala government, declared that a "partyless" panchayat system would govern Nepal, and promulgated another new constitution on December 16, 1960.

Subsequently, the elected Prime Minister, Members of Parliament and hundreds of democratic activists were arrested. (In fact, this trend of arrest of political activists and democratic supporters continued for the entire 30 year period of partyless Panchayati System under King Mahendra and then his son, King Birendra).

The new constitution established a "partyless" system of panchayats (councils) which King Mahendra considered to be a democratic form of government, closer to Nepalese traditions. As a pyramidal structure, progressing from village assemblies to a Rastriya Panchayat (National Parliament), the panchayat system constitutionalised the absolute power of the monarchy and kept the King as head of state with sole authority over all governmental institutions, including the Cabinet (Council of Ministers) and the Parliament. One-state-one-language became the national policy in an effort to carry out state unification, uniting various ethnic and regional groups into a singular nepali nationalist bond.

King Mahendra was succeeded by his 27 year-old son, King Birendra, in 1972. Amid student demonstrations and anti-regime activities in 1979, King Birendra called for a national referendum to decide on the nature of Nepal's government: either the continuation of the panchayat system with democratic reforms or the establishment of a multiparty system. The referendum was held in May 1980, and the panchayat system won a narrow victory. The king carried out the promised reforms, including selection of the prime minister by the Rastriya Panchayat.

People in rural areas had expected that their interests would be better represented after the adoption of parliamentary democracy in 1990. The Nepali Congress with support of "Alliance of leftist parties" decided to launch a decisive agitational movement, Jana Andolan, which forced the monarchy to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a multiparty parliament. In May 1991, Nepal held its first parliamentary elections in nearly 50 years. The Nepali Congress won 110 of the 205 seats and formed the first elected government in 32 years.

In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy.

A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, gained traction and threatened to bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003. In 2001, the crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, and then took his own life.

In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. While stopping short of reestablishing parliament, the king in June 2004 reinstated the most recently elected prime minister who formed a four-party coalition government. Citing dissatisfaction with the government's lack of progress in addressing the Maoist insurgency and corruption, the king in February 2005 dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency, imprisoned party leaders, and assumed power. The king's government subsequently released party leaders and officially ended the state of emergency in May 2005, but the monarch retained absolute power until April 2006.

After nearly three weeks of mass protests organized by the seven-party opposition and the Maoists, the king allowed parliament to reconvene on 28 April 2006. Following the November 2006 peace accord between the government and the Maoists, an interim constitution was promulgated and the Maoists were allowed to enter parliament in mid-January 2007. Constituent elections are planned for June 2007.

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.