History of Nepal

History

The Aheer

The first rulers of the Kathmandu valley were Gopals, the cattle-herder. According to Wright, an English historian, eight rulers of Gopal dynasty; Bhuktaman, Jaya Gupta, Param Gupta, Bhim Gupta I, Bhim Gupta II, Mani Gupta, Bihsnu Gupta and Yakchhya Gupta together ruled over Nepal for 520 years. As Yakchhya Gupta, the eighth and the last King of the dynasty, had no heir, with his death, ended the rule of Gopal dynasty and begun the rule of the Mahishpal, buffalo-herder, who came form India. Kirkpatrick has mentioned that three Kings of this dynasty, namely, Mul Singh, Jay Singh and Bhuwan Singh, ruled for 111 years.

The Kirants

According to the Kiranti genealogy, collected by Wright, twenty-nine Kings of the Kirant dynasty ruled over Nepal for 1,118 years. Some historians claim, the number of Kirati rulers was not twenty-nine but thirty-two. Irrespective of the number, the fact is that Yalambar was the first and Gasti was the last king of this dynasty.

The Lichhavis

The Lichvis pushed out the Kirats and established their rule in Nepal. Jaya Dev was the first king of this dynasty, however, the recorded history of the country starts with Manadeva, 790 Vikram Sambat, which is 57 years ahead of Anno Domini (A. D.). The Lichvis introduced two-tier system of governance: central and local, which was based on religious textbooks. Hence, the rule of law was the cornerstone of the Lichvi administration. In a Handigaun (Kathmandu) inscription, Amshubarma is said to have stated: 'I highly enjoy when I legislate laws after studying different shastras (religions texts)'. The king used to assume a divine status in the eyes of the people. Despite this, he functioned as a benevolent ruler, who took responsibility of protecting life and property of the people. The Lichvis ruled for about 800 years. This period is known as 'Golden Period' in the Nepali history. It is stated, the medieval history of Nepal began with the introduction of Vikram Sambat (V. S.) in 937 and the start of the rule of King Jaya Dev II. He was a weak king, who could not rule effectively. Consequently, the country, which was strongly integrated during the previous Lichvis rulers started to fall apart during his time.

The Mallas

Ari Malla established the Malla rule in Nepal at early thirteenth century. As it was based on Kingship, the Mallas placed the King at the apex of politico-administrative affairs. Nevertheless, the sovereign authority of the King was exercised in different styles. During the Malla-period multiple power centers sprang up. As a result, the king, his brothers, sons, nephews, uncles and even father used to exercise state power as co-partners. This multiplicity of power centers means de facto division of the power without its formal fragmentation.

Weak rules emanating from the conflict within the clan and family were great inducement for repeated external attacks. The Muslim rule of India attacked on Nepal, including Kathmandu valley, time-and-again, and destroyed temples and shrines in 1406 V. S. (1349 A. D.) However, King Jayasthiti Malla was able to establish order in the valley. The Medieval Nepal, which did not spread beyond Kathmandu valley, remained unified until the 15th century. In other words, Jayasthithi Malla was able to maintain the integrity and cohesiveness of the state, which unfortunately Yakshya Mall divided the Kingdom into three states and allotted to his three sons. However, Kings like Narendra Malla, Mahendra Malla and Pratap Malla contributed towards the strengthening and beautifying the Kingdom. The last Kings of the Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur were Jaya Prakash Malla, Tej Narsingh Malla and Ranjeet Malla respectively before Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah unified them into Gorkha Kingdom in 1831 V. S.

The Shahs

In the west of Kathmandu, Narabhupal Shah was the King of Gorkha. After his death, his eldest son Prithvi Narayan Shah became the King of Gorkha in 1742. Present Nepal was divided into 45 small principalities and Kingdoms. Most of these Kingdoms were tiny, weak and non-visible. As Prithvi Narayan Shah was very young, energetic, highly driven, he decided to conquer all these states in the east-west, north-south. He begun and continued the process of unification for many years, defeated one after another and at last, he defeated Kathmandu in 1767, and crowned himself as the King of Nepal. The present-day Nepal is his creation, to a great extent.

Between 1767 to 1846, several Shah Kings ruled over Nepal. However, after the death of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, family-feuds emerged in the Royal family which imparted the governance, led to confusions, and culminated into a big massacre of 1846, which is known as Kot Massacre. Almost all civil and military officers of any importance were done to death. Out of this turmoil emerged Jung Bahadur Rana, who was appointed Prime Minister in September 15, 1846. He established his family oligarchy that-lasted for 104 years. Under the Rana polity, Prime Ministership was made hereditary, with the prime Minister to be succeeded automatically by the most senior of the brothers of Jung Bahadur Rana. The King became titular head of the country. All the executive, legislative and judicial powers were vested in the Rana Prime Ministers. People were deprived of political rights. Laws were applicable only to the ordinary citizens. The revenue of the nation was the property of the Prime Minister and his family.

The anti-Rana policy of the independent India, increasing awareness among the Nepalese people, the brutal incident of the execution of the four martyrdom Dasharath Chand, Ganga Lal Shrestha, Dharma Bhakta Mathema and Sukra Raj Shastri in 1941, the internal dispute and misunderstanding within the Rana families, the secret support of the then King Tribhuvan and especially the nation-wide armed revolution launched by the Nepali Congress Party all contributed in bringing to an end the Rana rule in February, 1951.

After the Ranas, the power shifted into the hands of the Shahs. Between 1951-59, King Tribhuvan and King Mahendra, over a period of less than 10 years, experimented with several forms of representative and direct rules. Ultimately, King Mahendra gave a constitution in 1959 and in the general elections the Nepali Congress emerged victorious with the two-thirds majority, its leader B. P. Koirala became the first ever elected Prime Minister of Nepal. But his government lasted only eighteen months as the then King dissolved parliament on 15 December 1960 and subsequently banned political parties. The King introduced party less Panchayat System.