The
Kingdom of Nepal, also known as the
Gorkhali Kingdom, was a landlocked state in South Asia, controlling the territory of Nepal
.
It was
founded in 1768 by Prithvi Narayan
Shah, a Gorkha king, who succeeded in
unifying the three existing smaller
kingdoms of Kathmandu
, Patan and Bhaktapur
into a single state.
The
monarchy was abolished in 2008, seven
years after the
Nepalese royal
massacre, as a culmination of a
pro-democracy movemement
against the final monarch,
Gyanendra
Bir Bikram Shah Dev.
In place of the monarchy, Nepal adopted an
interim republican
constitution and the Federal
Democratic Republic of Nepal was
established. At the point of the Kingdom of Nepal's
disestablishment, it was the world's only country to have
Hinduism as its
state
religion; the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is an
officially
secular state.
18th century
Unification
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.
Origins
The country was frequently called the
Gorkhali Kingdom. Chauhan (1996) claims
that it is a misconception that the Gurkhas took their name from
the Gorkha region of Nepal and that the region was given its name
after the Gurkhas had established their control of these areas. In
addition, he says that Gurkhas, also spelled Gorkha, are people
from Nepal who take their name from the legendary eighth-century
Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath. A more detailed description of
Chauhan's thesis is available under the first three sections in the
entry on the
Gorkha Kingdom.
It is true that the Parbate Brahmins and the ruling dynasty among
the Gorkhali people trace their ancestry to the Hindu Rajputs and
Brahmins of Northern India who entered modern Nepal from the west
following Muslim advances. However, the actual historical process
by which this migration took place and the history of the
Gorkhalis' ultimate conquest of Nepal span a couple of centuries
and are drastically different from what Chauhan proposes. More
importantly, Chauhan's overall thesis claiming the existence of a
Gurkha identity way before the Shahs came to the Nepali hills is
not supported by historical evidence available in Nepal. First, in
Nepal, the warrior people are not referred to as 'Gurkhas.' They
are called 'Gorkhalis', meaning the 'inhabitants of Gorkha.' The
Gorkhalis themselves have never called themselves 'Gorkhas' or
'Gurkhas' -- even today, they call themselves 'Gorkhali.' Their
famed battle cry is 'Ayo Gorkhali', meaning 'the Gorkhali has
come.' The appellation 'Gurkha' is most probably a British
invention.
The etymology of the geographical name 'Gorkha' is indeed related
to the Hindu mendicant-saint
Gorakhnath. In the village of Gorkha is
situated 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 2031 Bikram Era (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 Christian 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
present-day Nepal including 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 Aryan and Mongoloid ethnic groups and ruled by
the Khadkas, who were probably of Khas origin. Dravya Shah defeated
the Khadkas 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.
Consolidation
After the death of Prithvi Narayan Shah, 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
.
Tibet sought Chinese help and the Chinese emperor
Qianlong appointed
Fu
Kangan commander-in-chief of the Tibetan campaign. Heavy
damages were inflicted on both sides and the Chinese army pushed
the Gurkhas back to the inner hills close to the Nepali capital.
However, a comprehensive defeat of the Gorkhali army could not be
achieved. After a series of successful battles, the Chinese army
suffered a major setback when they tried to cross a monsoon-flooded
Betrawati, close to the Gorkhali palace in Nuwakot. A stalemate
ensued, and with their resources low and a looming uncertainty
regarding how long they would be able to hold on in addition to the
need to continue their expansion drive on the western frontier, the
Gorkhalis signed a treaty in Chinese terms that required, among
other obligations, Nepal to send tributes to the Chinese emperor
every five years.
After 1800, and particularly following the defeat of the Gorkhalis
by the British in the war of 1814-16, the heirs of Prithvi Narayan
Shah proved incapable of maintaining firm political control over
Nepal. A period of internal turmoil followed until Jung Bahadur
Rana, a scion of Kunwar nobility, consolidated power following the
Kot massacre of 1846.
19th century
Anglo-Nepalese War
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 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
, although Sikkim was annexed by India
later.
Rana dynasty rule
Factionalism among the
royal family led
to a period of instability after the war. In 1846, Queen
Rajendralakshmi plotted to overthrow
Jang
Bahadur, a fast-rising military leader of Indian
Rajput ancestry who was presenting a threat to her
power. The plot was uncovered and the queen had several hundred
princes and chieftains executed after an armed clash between
military personnel and administrators loyal
to the queen. This came to be known as the
Kot Massacre. However, Bahadur emerged
victorious eventually and founded the
Rana
dynasty; the monarch was made a titular figure, and the post of
Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary, held by a
Rana.
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.
20th century
In 1923 Britain and Nepal formally signed an agreement of
friendship, in which Nepal and India (which was under British Rule
at that time) negotiated and ended up exchanging some cities.
Slavery was abolished in Nepal in 1924.
Democratic Reform
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 Prajaparishad and
Nepali Congress were
already formed in exile by leaders such as B.P. Koirala, Ganesh Man
Singh, Subarna Sumsher 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 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
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 Party, a moderate
socialist group, gained a substantial victory in the election. Its
leader,
Bishweshwar Prasad
Koirala, formed a government and served as prime minister.
After years of power wrangling between the kings (Tribhuvan and
Mahendra) and the government, Mahendra dissolved the democratic
experiment in 1960.
Royal Coup by King Mahendra
Declaring parliamentary democracy a failure, King Mahendra carried
out a royal coup 18 months later, in 1962. He dismissed the elected
Koirala government, declared that a "partyless"
panchayat system would govern Nepal, and
promulgated another new constitution on December 16, 1962.
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, and all other languages suffered at the cost of
the official language, "Nepali", which was the king's
language.
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.
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
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.
Civil Strife
In 1992, in a situation of economic crisis and chaos, with
spiralling prices as a result of implementation of changes in
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
April 6.
Violent incidents began to occur on the evening before of 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 April 6,
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 persons. The
Human Rights Organisation of
Nepal estimated that 14 persons, 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 radicalised.
Nepalese Civil War
In February 1996, one of the
Maoist parties
started a bid to replace the
parliamentary monarchy with a so-called
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 (also known as
"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
Palace Massacre
On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince
Dipendra went on a
shooting-spree, assassinating 9
members of the royal family, including King
Birendra and Queen
Aishwarya, before shooting himself. Due to
his survival he temporarily became king before dying of his wounds,
after which Prince
Gyanendra (Birendra's
brother) inherited the throne, according to tradition. The massacre
shattered the aura of mythology that still surrounded the Royal
Family, exposing their far too human intrigues.Meanwhile, the
Maoist rebellion escalated, and in October 2001 the king
temporarily deposed the government and took complete control of it.
A week later he reappointed another government, but the country was
still very 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.
Royal Coup by King Gyanendra
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 February 1, 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire
government and assumed full executive powers, 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.
2006 democracy movement in Nepal
The king's new regime made little progress in his stated aim to
suppress the insurgents. Municipal elections in February 2006 were
described by the European Union as "a backward step for democracy",
as the major parties
boycotted the
election and some candidates were forced to run for office by
the army. 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
Nepal was governed by an
unicameral
legislature under an interim constitution.
Abolition of the monarchy
The
Nepalese Constituent
Assembly came to fruition on December 24, 2007 when it was
announced that the monarchy would be abolished in 2008 after the
Constituent
Assembly election; and on May 28, 2008, Nepal was declared a
Federal Democratic Republic.
See also
References
-
http://www.theindiapost.com/2009/10/28/why-monarchy-is-necessary-in-nepal/
- Religious Intelligence - News - Nepal moves to become a
secular republic
- 'Mechi-dekhi Mahakali, Vol. 3, Paschimanchal Bikas Kshetra' p.
70
- Sharma, Devi Prasad, 'Adhunik Nepal-ko Itihas (1742-1961 AD).'
Ratna Pustak Bhandar. Kathmandu. 1995.
- Stiller, L.F.,"The Rise of the House of Gorkha." Patna Jesuit
Society. Patna. 1975.
- Tucci, Giuseppe. (1952). Journey to Mustang, 1952.
Trans. by Diana Fussell. 1st Italian edition, 1953; 1st English
edition, 1977. 2nd edition revised, 2003, p. 22. Bibliotheca
Himalayica. ISBN 99933-0-378-X (South Asia); 974-524-024-9 (Outside
of South Asia).
- The organisers of the Committee were the Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal, the
Communist Party of
Nepal , Communist Party of Nepal ,
the Nepal Communist League and the
Communist
Party of Nepal .
- Hoftun, Martin, William Raeper and John Whelpton. People,
politics and ideology: Democracy and Social Change in Nepal.
Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 1999. p. 189
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1699935,00.html
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