The Kingdom of Nepal (Nepali: नेपाल अधिराज्य), also known as the Gorkha Empire (Nepali: गोरखा अधिराज्य), was a Hindu monarchy in South Asia that existed from 1768 to 2008. The kingdom was formed out of the expansion of the Gorkha Kingdom by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha monarch of the Shah dynasty who claimed to be of Thakuri origin from chaubisi.
After the invasion of Tibet and plundering of Digarcha by Nepali forces under Prince Regent Bahadur Shah in 1792, the Dalai Lama and Chinese Ambans reported to the Chinese administration for military support. The Chinese and Tibetan forces under Fuk'anggan attacked Nepal but went for negotiations after failure at Nuwakot. Mulkaji Damodar Pande, who was the most influential among the four Kajis, was appointed after the removal of Bahadur Shah. Chief Kaji (Mulkaji) Kirtiman Singh Basnyat, tried to protect king Girvan Yuddha Shah and keep former king, Rana Bahadur Shah away from Nepal. However, on 4 March 1804, the former king came back and took over as Mukhtiyar and Damodar Pande was then beheaded in Thankot. The 1806 Bhandarkhal massacre instigated upon the death of Rana Bahadur Shah, set forth the rise of the authoritative Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa, who became the de facto ruler of Nepal from 1806 to 1837. During the early nineteenth century, however, the expansion of the East India Company's rule in India led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816), which resulted in Nepal's defeat.
Under the Treaty of Sugauli, the kingdom retained its internal independence, but in exchange for territorial concessions, marking the Mechi and Sharda rivers as the boundary of Nepalese territories. The territory of the kingdom before the Sugauli treaty is sometimes nascently referred to as Greater Nepal. In the political scenario, the death of Mukhtiyar Mathbar Singh Thapa ended the Thapa hegemony and set the stage for the Kot massacre. This resulted in the ascendancy of the Rana dynasty, of Khas (Chhetri) background, whose members subsequently served as the hereditary prime minister for over a century, from 1843 to 1951. Beginning with Jung Bahadur, the first Rana ruler, the Rana dynasty reduced the Shah monarch's role to that of a figurehead and exercised absolute control. The Rana rule was marked by tyranny, debauchery, economic exploitation and religious persecution.
King Tribhuvan played a significant role in ending the autocratic Rana regime and initiating the democratic movement in Nepal. Although Tribhuvan's power was constrained by the Rana dynasty, he maintained covert support for political movements working to establish democracy, including ties with the Nepali Congress and other anti-Rana groups. In November 1950, amidst growing political unrest and demands for reform, King Tribhuvan sought asylum in the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and later went into exile in India with most of the royal family. The Rana regime briefly declared his grandson, Gyanendra, as the new king, a move that was not recognized internationally.
Unsuccessful attempts were made to implement reforms and adopt a constitution during the 1960s and 1970s. An economic crisis at the end of the 1980s led to a popular movement that brought about parliamentary elections and the adoption of a constitutional monarchy in 1990. The 1990s saw the beginning of the Nepalese Civil War (1996–2006), a conflict between government forces and the insurgent forces of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
The Nepalese monarchy was further destabilised by the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre, which resulted in Gyanendra assuming the throne again. His imposition of direct rule in 2005 provoked a protest movement unifying the Maoist insurgency and pro-democracy activists. He was eventually forced to restore the House of Representatives, which in 2007 adopted an interim constitution greatly restricting the powers of the Nepalese monarchy. Following an election held the next year, the Nepalese Constituent Assembly formally voted to declare a republic in its first session on 28 May 2008.
Contents
History
18th century
The country was expanded from that of the Chaubise principality called the Gorkha Kingdom. In Nepal, the warrior people are not referred to as 'Gurkhas', they are called 'Gorkhalis', meaning the 'inhabitants of Gorkha.' Their famed battle cry is "Jai Kali, Jai Gorakhnath, Jai Manakamana".
The etymology of the geographical name 'Gorkha' is indeed related to the Hindu mendicant-saint Gorakhnath. In the village of Gorkha, there is a temple dedicated to Gorakhnath as well as another dedicated to Gorakhkali, a corresponding female deity. The Nepali geographical encyclopedia 'Mechi dekhi Mahakali' (From Mechi to Mahakali) published in B.S. 2013 (1974–75 AD) by the authoritarian Panchayat government to mark the coronation of King Birendra Shah agrees with the association of the name of the place with the saint but does not add any further detail. The facts regarding when the temples were built and the place named after the saint are lost in the sweeping winds of time. We may guess that these developments took place in the early part of the second millennium of the Common Era following the rise of the Nath sect. In fact, the pilgrimage circuit of the sect across the northern Indian sub-continent also spans a major part of Nepal including the Kathmandu Valley. The Newars of Medieval Nepal have a couple of important temples and festivals dedicated to the major Nath teachers. Immediately before the rule of Gorkha by the Shahs, Gorkha was inhabited by both aboriginee Aryan and Tibetan Mongoloid ethnic groups Magars the largest among the ethnic groups, and the area was historially part of the Magarat region and was ruled by the Magars King Khadka Magar and Ghale Magar. Khadka Magar sub-clan of Rana-Magar and Ghale Magar sub-clan of Thapa-Magar clan, who were probably of Magar origin. At first, Dravya Shah captured Liglig-kot kingdom from Magar King Dalsur Ghale Magar. Gangaram Rana Magar also helped Dravya Shah to defeat a Magar King. After captured Ligligkot, (now Gorkha) Dravya Shah defeated the King Mansingh Khadka Magar in 1559 AD and commenced Shah rule over the principality. Prithvi Narayan Shah belonged to the ninth generation of the Shahs in Gorkha. He took the reins of power in 1742 AD.
King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the small principality of Gorkha, initially drafted the Gorkhali Army. The Chief of the Gorkhali Army were drawn from Chhetri as well as Magar noble families who were a powerful group of Gorkha, alongside the influential Pande family, Basnyat family and Thapa dynasty before the rule of the Rana dynasty. Gorkha Bhardar Kaji Biraj Thapa Magar was the first Chief of Gorkhali Army in the 18th century, however, the first civilian army chief was Kaji Kalu Pande who had significant role in the campaign of Nepal. He was considered as an army head due to the undertaking of duties and responsibilities of the army but not by the formalization of the title.
19th century
Damodar Pande was appointed as one of the four Kajis by King Rana Bahadur Shah after the removal of Chautariya Bahadur Shah in 1794. Pande was the most influential and dominant amongst the court factions in spite of the post of Mulkaji being held by Kirtiman Singh Basnyat. Pandes were the most dominant noble family. Later due to the continuous irrational behaviour of King Rana Bahadur Shah, a situation of civil war arose where Damodar was the main opposition to the King. He was forced to flee to the British-controlled city of Varanasi in May 1800 after the military parted with influential Kaji Damodar Pande. After Queen Rajrajeshwari finally managed to assume the regency on 17 December 1802, later in February she appointed Damodar Pande as the Mulkaji.
After Rana Bahadur's reinstatement to power, he ordered Damodar Pande, along with his two eldest sons, who were completely innocent, to be executed on 13 March 1804; similarly, some members of his faction were tortured and executed without any due trial, while many others managed to escape to India. Among those who managed to escape to India were Damodar Pande's sons Karbir Pande and Rana Jang Pande. After Damodar Pande's execution, Ranajit Pande who was his paternal cousin, was appointed Mulkaji along with Bhimsen Thapa as second Kaji, Sher Bahadur Shah as Mul Chautariya and Ranganath Paudel as Raj Guru (Royal Preceptor).
Thapa courtiers, who were Kshatriya, rose to power when the King Rana Bahadur Shah was murdered by his half brother Sher Bahadur Shah in 1806. Bhimsen Thapa (1775–1839), the leading Thapa Kaji, taking opportunity of the occasion massacred nearly 55 military and civil officers and catapulting the Thapas into the power. He took the title of Mukhtiyar succeeding Rana Bahadur as the chief authority and his niece Queen Tripurasundari as Queen Regent of junior King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah.
Rivalry between Nepal and the East India Company—over the princely states bordering Nepal and India—eventually led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–16). The Treaty of Sugauli was signed in 1816, ceding large parts of the Nepali territories of the Terai and Sikkim, which accounted to nearly one-third of the country, to the East India Company in exchange for Nepalese autonomy. As the territories were not restored to Nepal by the British government when India became independent from British rule, most of these lands later became a part of the Republic of India. Sikkim remained independent until annexed into India in 1975 when it becomes the 22nd state of the Republic of India. However, in 1860 the British returned the authority over some of Nepal's land in the Terai back to Nepal (known as Naya Muluk, new country) as an act of gratitude for Nepalese support to Britain during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
20th century
The Rana regime, a tightly centralized autocracy, pursued a policy of isolating Nepal from external influences. This policy helped Nepal maintain its national independence during the British colonial era, but it also impeded the country's economic development and modernisation. The Ranas were staunchly pro-British and assisted the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and later in both World Wars. At the same time, despite Chinese claims, the British supported Nepalese independence at the beginning of the twentieth century.
In December 1923, Britain and Nepal formally signed a treaty of perpetual peace and friendship superseding the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 and upgrading the British resident in Kathmandu to an envoy. Slavery was abolished in Nepal in 1924.
Popular dissatisfaction against the family rule of the Ranas had started emerging from among the few educated people, who had studied in various Indian schools and colleges, and also from within the Ranas, many of whom were marginalised within the ruling Rana hierarchy. Many of these Nepalese in exile had actively taken part in the Indian Independence struggle and wanted to liberate Nepal as well from the internal autocratic Rana occupation. The political parties such as the Praja Parishad and Nepali Congress were already formed in exile by leaders such as B.P. Koirala, Ganesh Man Singh, Subarna Shamsher Rana, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Girija Prasad Koirala and many other patriotic-minded Nepalis who urged the military and popular political movement in Nepal to overthrow the autocratic Rana Regime. Among the prominent martyrs to die for the cause, executed at the hands of the Ranas, were Dharma Bhakta Mathema, Shukraraj Shastri, Gangalal Shrestha and Dasharath Chand. This turmoil culminated in King Tribhuvan, a direct descendant of Prithvi Narayan Shah, fleeing from his 'palace prison' in 1950, to the newly independent India, touching off an armed revolt against the Rana administration. This eventually ended in the return of the Shah family to power and the appointment of a non-Rana as prime minister. A period of the quasi-constitutional rule followed, during which the monarch, assisted by the leaders of fledgling political parties, governed the country. During the 1950s, efforts were made to frame a constitution for Nepal that would establish a representative form of government, based on a British model.
In early 1959, Tribhuvan's son King Mahendra issued a new constitution, and the first democratic elections for a national assembly were held. The Nepali Congress, a moderate socialist group, gained a substantial victory in the election. Its leader, B.P. Koirala, formed a government and served as prime minister. After a period of power wrangling between the king and the elected government, Mahendra dissolved the democratic experiment in 1960.
End of Panchayat system
There was resentment against the authoritarian regime and the curbs on the freedom of the political parties. There was a widespread feeling of the palace being non-representative of the masses, especially when the Marich Man Singh government faced political scandals on charges of misappropriation of funds allotted for the victims of the earthquake in August 1988 or when it reshuffled the cabinet instead of investigating the death of people in a stampede in the national sports complex during a hailstorm. The souring of the India-Nepal trade relations during this period also affected the popularity of the Singh government.
In April 1987, Nepal had introduced the work permit for Indian workers in three of its districts, and in early 1989, Nepal provided 40% duty concession to Chinese goods and later withdrew duty concessions from Indian goods in such a manner that the Chinese goods became cheaper than the Indian goods. This led to the souring of relations which were already strained over the purchase of Chinese arms by Nepal in 1988. India refused to renew two separate Treaties of Trade and Transit and insisted on a single treaty dealing with the two issues, which was not acceptable to Nepal. A deadlock ensued and the Treaties of Trade and Transit expired on 23 March 1989. The brunt of the closure of the trade and transit points was mainly faced by the lower classes in Nepal due to the restricted supply of consumer goods and petroleum products such as petrol, aviation fuel and kerosene. The industries suffered because of their dependence on India for resources, trade and transit. The Government of Nepal tried to deal with the situation by depending on foreign aid from the US, UK, Australia and China. However, the government's strategy to manage the crisis could not satisfy those people who desired negotiations with India rather than dependence on foreign aid as a solution.
Taking advantage of the uneasiness created against the government and the strained India-Nepal relations for their mishandling of the crisis, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the left-wing parties blamed the government for perpetuating the crisis and not taking any serious measures to solve it. In December 1989, the NC tried to utilise B.P. Koirala's anniversary by launching a people's awareness program. The left-wing alliance known as the United Left Front (ULF) extended its support to the NC in its campaign for a party system. On 18–19 January 1990, the NC held a conference in which leaders from various countries and members of the foreign Press were invited. Leaders from India attended the conference; Germany, Japan, Spain, Finland supported the movement; and the Embassies of the US and West Germany were present on the occasion. Inspired by the international support and the democratic movements occurring throughout the world after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1989, the NC and the ULF launched a mass movement on 18 February to end the Panchayat regime and the installation of an interim government represented by various parties and people.
1990 People's Movement
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 the 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 1992, in a situation of economic crisis and chaos, with spiraling prices as a result of the implementation of changes in the policy of the new Congress government, the radical left stepped up their political agitation. A Joint People's Agitation Committee was set up by the various groups. A general strike was called for 6 April.
Violent incidents began to occur on the evening before the strike. The Joint People's Agitation Committee had called for a 30-minute 'lights out' in the capital, and violence erupted outside Bir Hospital when activists tried to enforce the 'lights out'. At dawn on 6 April, clashes between strike activists and police, outside a police station in Pulchok (Patan), left two activists dead.
Later in the day, a mass rally of the Agitation Committee at Tundikhel in the capital Kathmandu was attacked by police forces. As a result, riots broke out and the Nepal Telecommunications building was set on fire; police opened fire at the crowd, killing several people. The Human Rights Organization of Nepal estimated that 14 people, including several onlookers, had been killed in police firing.
When promised land reforms failed to appear, people in some districts started to organize to enact their own land reform and to gain some power over their lives in the face of usurious landlords. However, this movement was repressed by the Nepali government, in Operation Romeo and Operation Kilo Sera II, which took the lives of many of the leading activists of the struggle. As a result, many witnesses to this repression became radicalized.
In February 1996, one of the Maoist parties started a bid to replace the parliamentary monarchy with a people's new democratic republic, through a Maoist revolutionary strategy known as the people's war, which led to the Nepalese Civil War. Led by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Pushpa Kamal Dahal (better known by his nom de guerre "Prachanda"), the insurgency began in five districts in Nepal: Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Gorkha, and Sindhuli. The Maoists declared the existence of a provisional "people's government" at the district level in several locations.
21st century
On June 1, 2001, the Members of the royal families were killed by gunshots including King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah, Queen Aishwarya, Prince Nirajan and Crown Prince Dipendra. Dipendra Shah was blamed. Gyanendra Shah was crowned as the king three days later after the massacre.
Meanwhile, the Maoist rebellion escalated, and in October 2002 the king temporarily deposed the government and took complete control of it. A week later he reappointed another government, but the country was still unstable because of the civil war with the Maoists, the various clamouring political factions, the king's attempts to take more control of the government, and worries about the competence of Gyanendra's son and heir, Prince Paras.
In the face of unstable governments and a Maoist siege on the Kathmandu Valley in August 2004, popular support for the monarchy began to wane. On 1 February 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and took to exercising his executive powers without ministerial advice, declaring a "state of emergency" to quash the Maoist movement. Politicians were placed under house arrest, phone and internet lines were cut, and freedom of the press was severely curtailed.
The king's new regime made little progress in his stated aim of suppressing the insurgents. The European Union described the municipal elections of February 2006 as "a backward step for democracy", as the major parties boycotted the election and the army forced some candidates to run for office. In April 2006 strikes and street protests in Kathmandu forced the king to reinstate the parliament. A seven-party coalition resumed control of the government and stripped the king of most of his powers. As of 15 January 2007, a unicameral legislature under an interim constitution governed Nepal.
The Constituent Assembly came to fruition on 24 December 2007 when it was announced that the monarchy would be abolished in 2008 after the Constituent Assembly elections; and on 28 May 2008, Nepal was declared a Federal Democratic Republic.
Zones, districts, and regions
Nepal was divided into 14 zones and 75 districts, grouped into 5 development regions:
The five development regions of Nepal were (from east to west):
Each district was headed by a fixed chief district officer responsible for maintaining law and order and coordinating the work of field agencies of the various government ministries. The 14 zones were:
Government and politics
Until 1990, Nepal was an absolute monarchy running under the executive control of the king. Faced with a people's movement against the absolute monarchy, King Birendra, in 1990, agreed to large-scale political reforms by creating a parliamentary monarchy with the king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of the government.
Nepal's legislature was bicameral consisting of a House of Representatives and a National Council. The House of Representatives consists of 205 members directly elected by the people. The National Council had sixty members, ten nominated by the king, thirty-five elected by the House of Representatives and the remaining fifteen elected by an electoral college made up of chairs of villages and towns. The legislature had a five-year term but was dissolvable by the king before its term could end. All Nepali citizens 18 years and older became eligible to vote.
The executive comprised the King and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet). The leader of the coalition or party securing the maximum seats in an election was appointed as the Prime Minister. The Cabinet was appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Governments in Nepal have tended to be highly unstable; no government has survived for more than two years since 1991, either through internal collapse or parliamentary dissolution by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister according to the constitution.
The movement in April 2006 brought about a change in the nation. The autocratic King was forced to give up power. The dissolved House of Representatives was restored. The House of Representatives formed a government that had successful peace talks with the Maoist Rebels. An interim constitution was promulgated and an interim House of Representatives was formed with Maoist members. The number of seats was also increased to 330. The peace process in Nepal made a giant leap in April 2007, when the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) joined the interim government of Nepal.