Maharajadom of Nepal

The Maharajadom of Nepal
Nepal Adhirajya

[[]] [[]] state flag coat of arms
[[]] map of Nepal
Cities
Capital	Kathmandu
Government	constitutional monarchy
Head of State	His Royal Majesty Maharaja Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev
Head of Government	Mr. Ram Baran Yadav
Demonym	Nepali
Founding	1642
Independence	December 21, 1768
Area	147,181 km² 56,827 mi²
Population	29,300,000
Ethnicities
Languages
Official	Nepali
Other	numerous indigenous
Religions
Official	Hinduism 81%
Other	Buddhism 11% Mundhum 4% Yuma Samyo 1%
Currency	1 Himalayan Rupee (Rs) = 20 sukaa (?) = 240 paisa (?)
Time zone	UTC +6:00
Telephone Code
Registration
Aviation	NPL
Amateur radio	NPL
Radio prefix	NPL
Organizations	Himalayan Confederacy
Sports
Official	soccer
Other	cross-country skiing archery

History

The Kirat Period

• Nepal's first recorded or discovered history began with the Kiratis, who arrived in the 7th or 8th century BCE from the west to the Kathmandu valley. Ther 29 kings ruled for about 1225 years (800 BCE-300 CE). Their first and best-remembered king was Yalambar, who is referenced in the epic Mahabharata.
• The first king, Yalambar, laid the foundation of the Kirat dynasty after defeating the last ruler of the Abhir dynasty. When the Kirats occupied the valley, they made Matatirtha their capital. During his reign the kingdom extended to the Tista River in the east and the Trisidi in the West.
• During the reign of the seventh king, Jitedasti, Gautama Buddha visited the valley with his several disciples. He visited the holy places and preached his religion. Although the Kirats welcomed the Lord Buddha and his disciples, they refused to follow his doctrine,.
• During the reign of the 14th king, Sthunko, the Indian Emperor Asoka came to the Kathmandu Valley with his daughter, princess Charumati. During his stay in the valley, he arranged for the marriage of his daughter Charumati to a local prince named Devpal. Prince Devpal and his wife Charumati lived at Chabahil near the Pashupati area. After the death of her husband in his memory, Charumati who later became a nun also built a convent where she lived and practiced the Lord Buddha's teaching.
• During the reign of the 15th king, Jinghri, the religious teaching of the Mahavira Jain was being preaching in India. Bhadrabhau, a disciple of the Mahavira Jain, came to Nepal, but Jainism never acquired the popularity of Buddhism in Nepal.
• During the reign of the 28th king, Paruka, the Sombanshi ruler attacked his kingdom many times from the west. Although these attacks were repelled, he was forced to move from Gokarna to Shankhamul.
• The 29th and last king of the Kirat dynasty was Gasti, a weak ruler who was overthrown by the Sombanshi ruler Nimisha. After their defeat, the Kirats moved to the eastern hills of Nepal and settled down, dividing into three small principalities, Wallokirat to the east of the Katmandu Valley; Majkirat, the central Kirat region; and Pallokirat to the far east of the Kathmandu Valley.

The Maurya Period

• One of the earliest confederations of South Asia was that of the Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilvastu, Nepal. Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE) who renounced his royalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as the Buddha was born to the Shakya king Sudhodhan. But by 260 BCE, most of northern India and southern Nepal were ruled by the Maurya Empire.
• Although not all of Nepal was under Maurya occupation, there is evidence of the influence at least of the Maurya Emperor Asoka, the legendary Buddhist proselytiser and ruler from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. Asoka was a visitor to Kathmandu during this period and his daughter married a local prince, further spreading the religion.

The Lichavi Dynasty

• The documented history of Nepal begins with the Changu Narayan temple inscription of King Manadeva I (c.464-505) of the Lichavi dynasty. The Lichavis are said to have migrated into Nepal from north India around 250. King Anshuverma opened trade routes to Tibet. His daughter, Bhrikuti, married Tibetan ruler Tsrong-tsong Gompo, who was instrumental in spreading the gospel of the Buddha in Tibet and China.
• King Narendradeval 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.
• Lichavi rule spanned a period of about 630 years; the last king was Jayakamadeva.

The Thakuri Dynasty

• The Thakuri dynasty was a Rajput dynasty. Many Thakuri kings ruled over the country up to the middle of the 12th century.
• Raghava Dev is said to have founded a ruling dynasty in October, 869, when the Lichavi rule came to an end. To commemorate this important event, Raghava Dev started the 'Nepal Era' which began on October 20, 869.
• After the death of King Raghava Dev, many Thakuri kings ruled over Nepal up to the middle of the 12th century A.D.
• King Gunakama Dev (949-994) built a big wooden house out of a single tree which was called Kasthamandup. From Kasthamandup is derived the name Katamndu. Gunakama Dev founded the town ofKantipur, today's Kathmandu.
• Vijaykama Dev was the last king of this dynasty. After his death, the Thakuri clan of Nuwakot occupied the throne of Nepal.

The Nuwakot Thakuri Kings

• Bhasker Dev succeeded Vijayakama Dev, establishing Nuwakot-Thakuri rule in the country.
• Shanker Dev was the most illustrious ruler of this dynasty; he ruled from 1067 to 1080. During his reign, the Buddhists wreaked vengeance on the Hindu Brahmins (especially the followers of Shivism) for the harm they had received earlier from Shankaracharya III. Shaner Dev tried to pacify the Brahmins harassed by the Buddhists.

The Suryabansi Rajput Kings

• Bam Dev, a descendant of Amshuverma, defeated Shanker Dev in 1080 and suppressed the Nuwakot-Thakuris with the help of the nobles and restored the old Solar Dynasty rule in Nepal for the second time.
• Harsha Dev, the successor of Bam Dev, was a weak ruler. There was no unity among the nobles and they asserted themselves in their respective spheres of influence. Taking this opportunity, Nanya Dev, a Karnatak king, invaded Nepal from Simroungarh. He took us residence at Bhadgaon and ruled for some time.
• Mukunda Sen, the King of Palpa, was another invader of the Nepal valley. He plundered and destroyed many houses and looted a huge amount of property.

The Malla Dynasaty

• After the fall of the Thakuri dynasty in the 12th century, another dynasty's reign started in Nepal, founded by Arideva or Ari Malla. This dynasty is popularly known as the Malla Dynasty. Over the next two centuries it grew into a large empire before disintegrating into small principalities which became known as the Baise Rajya, i.e., the twenty-two principalities. This was more or less coincidental with the emergence of the Chaubisi Rajya, i.e., the 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 reigned towards the end of the 14th century. Though his rule was rather short, his place among the rulers in the Valley is eminent because of his various social and economic reforms such as the 'Sanskritization' of the Valley people and new methods of land measurement and allocation.
• Yakshya Malla, the grandson of Jayasthiti Malla, ruled the Kathmandu Valley until almost the end of the 15th century. After his death, about 1484, the Valley was divided into three independent Valley kingdoms, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan. 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 the invasion of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, they had by themselves reached the brink of political extinction. The last rulers were Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu, Tej Narsingh Malla of Patan, and Ranjit Malla of Bhaktapur.

The Shah Dynasty

• With Prithvi Narayan Shah (c.1769-1775), Nepal enters the modern period of Nepal's history. He 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 on the throne of Gorkha in 1743.
  • 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 himself to the task.
  • His assessment of the situation among the hill principalities was correct, and the principalities were subjugated fairly easily. His 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. Thus the Valley's communications with the outside world were cut off. The occupation of the Kuti Pass in about 1756 stopped the Valley's trade with Tibet.
  • Finally, he entered the Valley. At the victory of Kirtipur, King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu was defeated by King Prithvi Narayan Shah's army. The capture of Kathmandu on 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 new 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 sought 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 in 1769.
  • King Prithvi Narayan Shah was successful in bringing together diverse religious and ethnic groups in one nation. He was a true nationalist in his outlook and was in favor of adopting a closed-door policy with regard to his neighbors. His social and economic views not only guided the country's socio-economic course for a long time, but his use of the imagery, a yam between two boulders with regard to Nepal's geopolitical situation, formed the principal guideline of the country`s foreign policy for future centuries.

• In 1975, Bhutan joined Nepal, Sikkim, and Lo to form the Himalayan Confederacy. The four nations agreed to be in the same time zone: UTC +6:00.
• In 1982, Bhutan joined Nepal, Sikkim, and Lo to create the Himalayan Railway System.

The Shah Maharajas of Nepal

Name	Relationship	Reign	Died	Notes
1) Prithvi Narayan		1768-1775	1775	United Nepal
2) Pratap Singh	son of 1)	1775-1777	1777
3) Rana Bahadur	son of 2)	1777-1799	1805	succeeded at age of 2; mother and uncle as regents; extended to Garhwal and Kumaon (*here's* Uttarakhand); abdicated; murdered by stepbrother Sher Bahadur
4) Gyurmed Namgyal	son of 3)	1717-1733	1733
5) Girvan Yuddha Bikram	son of 4)	1799-1816	1816	grandmother and uncle as regents
6) Rajendra	son of 5)	1816-1847	1881	succeeded at age 3; queen mother as regent; abdicated
7) Surendra Bikram	son of 6)	1847-1881	1881
8) Prithvi Bir Bikram	grandson of 7)	1881-1911	1911	installed nation's water and sanitation systems; names daughter crown princess until brother born
9) Tribhuvan Bir Bikram	son of 8)	1911-50,1951-1955	1955	succeeded at age 5; mother as regent; exiled; ended reign of Ranas as prime ministers
10) Mahendra Bir Birkram	son of 9)	1955-1972	1972	constructs Mahendra Highway across entire Terai
11) Birendra Bir Bikram	son of 10)	1972-2001	2001	murdered by crown prince in family massacre on June 1
12) Shruti	daughter of 11)	2001		survives massacre; hospitalized for two months

Toponymy

Scholars believe that the word Nepal is derived from the word Nepa, which refers to the Newar Kingdom, the present day Kathmandu Valley. With Sanskritization, the Newar word Nepa became Nepal.

Government

Provinces

Province (anchal)	Capital	Area	Population	Prefecture (jilla)
Purwanchal	Dhankuta	35,147 km²	5,338,000	Sagarnatha (Rajliraj) Koshi (Biratnagar) Mechi (Ilam)
Madhymanchal	Kathmandu	27,410 km²	8,022,000	Bagmati (Kathmandu) Narayani (Birgunj) Janakpur (Janakpur)
Paschimanchal	Pokhara	23,579 km²	4,331,000	Dhawalagiri (Baglung) Gandaki (Pokhara) Lumbini (Butwal)
Madhya Pashchimanchal	Birendranagar	21,944 km²	1,162,000	Karnali (Jumla) Bheri (Nepalgunj) Rapti (Tulsipur)
Sudur Pashchimanchal	Dipayal	18,755 km²	2,187,000	Mahakali (Mahendranagar) Setei (Dipayal-Silgadhi)
Garhwal	Pauri	32,769 km²	4,087,000	Chamoli (Chamoli) Rudraprayag (Rudraprayag) Pauri (Pauri) Uttarkashi (Uttarkashi) Tehri Garhwal (Tehri) Dehadrun (Dehardrun) Haridwar (Hardiwar)
Kumaon	Nainital	21,056 km²	3,494,000	Pithoragarh (Pithoragarh) Bageshwar (Bageshwar) Almora (Almmora) Champawat (Champawat) Nainital (Nainital)

• Thus, the total area of the maharajadom is 180,660 km², is slightly smaller than *here's* Cambodia and slightly smaller than *here's* American state of Oklahoma.

Geography

• For a small territory, the Nepali landscape is uncommonly diverse, ranging from the humid Terai in the south to the lofty Himalayas in the north. Eight of the world's ten highest mountains are in Nepal.
  • Chomolangma (Saint Mother) (Everest) (8,848 m)
  • K2 (8,611 m)
  • Kangchenjunga (8,586 m)
  • Lhotse (8,511 m)
  • Makalu (8,463 m)
  • Cho Oyu (Turquoise Goddess) (8,201 m)
  • Dhaulagiri (White Mountain) (8,167 m)
  • Manaslu (Mountain of the Spirit) (8,163 m)
  • Nanga Parbat (8,125 m)
  • Annapurna (Full of Food) (8,091 m)
• Nepal lies in the Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows, an area of 121,300 square kilometres (46,800 sq mi), extending along the north and south faces of the Himalaya Range from the Kali Gandaki Gorge in Lo eastwards through Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan, and on into India's Arunachal Pradesh state, and northernmost Myanmar.
• The alpine shrub and meadows lie between approximately 4,000 and 5,500 metres (13,000 and 18,000 ft) elevation. Permanent ice and snow lie above 5,500 metres (18,000 ft). The Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests lie below 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) along the southern slopes of the range, from Lo to Bhutan.

Borders

Nepal is bordered by on the:

North: Tibet, Lo
East: Sikkim
South: Bengal, Oudh
Southwest: Samraj
West: Samraj
Northwest: Jammu

The Maharajadom of Nepal is contiguous with *here's* Republic of Nepal (minus the districts of Dolpa, Mustang, and Manang) and the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Economy

• The chief occupations, which employ more than 60% of the workforce, are small-scale subsistence farming (rice, corn, root crops, citrus fruit, barley, wheat, potatoes) and the raising of yaks, cattle, sheep, pigs, and tanguns, a sturdy breed of pony valued in mountain transportation.
• Wood and leather products, processed foods, alcoholic beverages, calcium carbide, textiles, and handicrafts are also important.
• Fuels, grain, machinery, vehicles, and fabrics are the major imports.
• Cardamom and other spices, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, fruit, and precious stones are the primary exports.
• Hydroelectric power is a most important resource, with some electricity being exported to India.
• Tourism is a significant though restricted activity, and it is the country's largest source of foreign exchange.

Culture

National symbols

• National mammal: cow
• National bird: Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejans)
• National fish: golden mahseer (sahar) (Tor putatoria)
• National reptile: gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)
• National flower: rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum)
• National language: Nepali
• National dish: Dal Bhat
• National emblem:
  • Gules, within a bordure azure, in chief a stylized crescent moon with eight rays visible out of sixteen and in base a stylized twelve-rayed sun white bearing human faces.
  • As supporters, on the dexter a cow and on the sinister a snow leopard proper guardant.
  • For a crest, out of a coronet a monal proper standing on a snow-capped mountain.
• National dress: daura suruwal for men; sari for women
• National anthem: Shri man gambhira; May glory crown our illustrious sovereign
• National sport: kapardi
• National dance: mahakali, lakhev
• National instrument: sarangi

Nepali holidays

(Dates in italics are postponed)

Date	Name	Notes
20 January	Saraswati Puja	(2010 only)
31 January	The King's Coronation
1 March	Holi	(2010 only)
14 April	Navavarsha	Nepali New Year (2010 only)
31 June	The King's Coronation
25 August	Gaijatra	(2010 only)
1 September	Krishna Janmashtami	(2010 only)
11 September	Dar Khani Din	(2010 only)
25 September	Unification Day	The Capture of Kathmandu in 1768
1 October	Lakshmi Puja	(2010 only)
4 November	Tihar	(2010 only)
7 November	The Queen's Birthday	Mothers' Day
28 December	The King's Birthday	Fathers' Day

Infrastructure

Nepal remains isolated from the world's major land and air routes although, within the country, aviation is in a better state, with 48 airports, ten of them with paved runways. Flights are frequent and support a sizable traffic. The hilly and mountainous terrain in the northern two-thirds of the country has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. There were just over 8,500 km (5,282 mi) of paved roads, and one 59-km railway line in the south in 2003. There is only one reliable road route from India to Kathmandu.

Internally, the poor state of development of the road system (22 of 75 administrative districts lack road links) makes volume distribution unrealistic. Landlocked, rugged geography, few tangible natural resources and poor infrastructure are all factors in stunting the economic growth.

There is less than one telephone per 19 people. Landline telephone services are not adequate nationwide but are concentrated in cities and district headquarters. Mobile telephony is in a reasonable state in most parts of the country with increased accessibility and affordability. There were around 175,000 internet connections in 2005.