Nepal-History

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Native People:
The large-scale migrations of Asian groups from Tibet and Indo-Aryan people from northern India, which accompanied the early settlement of Nepal, have produced a diverse linguistic, ethnic, and religious pattern (Encyclopedia Britannica).



Indo-Aryan ancestry has been a source of prestige in Nepal for centuries, and the ruling families have been of Indo-Aryan and Hindu background. Most of the Tibeto-Nepalese groups—the Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Bhutia (including the Sherpa), and Sunwar—live in the north and east, while the Magar and Gurung inhabit west-central Nepal (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Almost all Nepalese live in villages or in small market centers. Outside of Kathmandu, there are no major cities. Smaller urban centers such as Biratnagar, Nepalganj, and Birganj, are located in the Tarai along the Indian border. Pokhara, another small urban center is situated in a valley in the mid-mountain region. There are a few townships, such as Hitaura, Butwal, and Dharan, have begun to emerge in the hill areas (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Independence:
During the 18th and 19th centuries Nepal was first occupied by Great Britain and had minimal autonomy. This was also the period when Jang Bahadur Rana proclaimed himself to be prime minisiter and ruled for several decades. In 1950, a small rebel group aligned themselves with the true royal family and overthrew the Rana. The rebel group called themselves the Nepali Congress Party, and with the help of the royal family, they worked to establish a democratic government (Burbank 2002).

Significant Days in History:
April 3, 1990 - army fired and into a crowd of demonstrators killing 45 people. Started the change in Nepal towards democracy.

September 10, 1990 - Constitution established

May 1991 - Nepali Congress Party won their first free election

Nepal: Past and Present:
The first firmly established and recorded ruler of Nepal was in the 5th century with the rise of the Licchavi dynasty. Their dynasty set a precedent in Nepal that Hindu kings, claiming high-caste Indian origin, would rule over a population that was neither Indo-Aryan nor Hindu. Although the Licchavi family were Hindu, they did not impose Brahamic social codes on their subjects (Encyclopedia Britannica).

The 10th-18th centuries is considered to be the time of the rule of the Malla dynasty. The Malla dynasty differed from the Licchavi dynasty in that they established the first legal and social code in Nepal, founded on Hindu beliefs and principals. Jaya Sthiti who reigned from 1382-1395 A.D created this code. His successor, divided the kingdom among his three sons, creating independent principalities of Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktpur. There were also various other principalities in the western and eastern hills that were ruled, by distant family members or persons with political and monetary influence (Encyclopedia Britannica).

In the 18th century, one of the principalities, Gorkha, ruled by the Shah family began to assert a predominate role in the hills and pose a challenge to surrounding principalities. At this point the Mallas, were weakened by familial dissension and widespread economic and social discontent among their subjects. The Shah family conquered the other principalities in 1769 and moved the capital to Kathmandu, providing the foundation for the modern state of Nepal (Encyclopedia Britannica).

From 1775 to 1951, Nepalese politics was characterized by confrontations between the royal family and several noble families. Until 1950 and to some extent thereafter, Nepalese politics was basically conspiratorial in character, with family loyalty taking precedence over loyalty to the crown or to the nation. Since the political system was in such disarray, the principalities broke down and became weak (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Prithvi Naryan Shah (c. 1742-1775) and his successors established a unified state in the central Himalayas and then sought to expand their state from Bhutan to Kashmir. They made considerable progress, but their expedition was fraught with setbacks. Wars with China, Tibet, the Sikh kingdom, and British India sapped resources from the unified state and the expansion had to stop, which set the present boundaries of Nepal today (Encyclopedia Britannica).

During the 19th century and part of the 20th century, Nepal had an uneasy agreement with Great Britain. Great Britain was expanding and conquering parts of India. After a few skirmishes the British won, and Nepal signed a treaty with Britain. The Nepalese would allow the British representative to live in Nepal and recruit soldiers from the country, but Nepal itself would remain in some respects autonomous. The British monitored and assisted in international affairs, but for the most part left Nepal to govern itself (Encyclopedia Britannica).

During this time as well, the Nepal government was falling apart due to tensions and discontent caused by the British. After a palace scandal and fighting amongst the nobles and royal families of Nepal, many of them were wiped out. Jang Bahadur Rana, one of the leaders, appointed himself prime minister and he and his family ruled Nepal. The Rana's did nothing to improve the country or help the Nepalese people (Burbank 2002).

In 1947, the British withdrawal from Nepal, led to a weakened government and a revolution in November of 1950. The rebels aligned themselves with the Nepalese royal family to remove the Rana's from power. They reached a settlement, in which the authority of the crown was destroyed and the Nepali Congress (NC) party gained positions in administration (Encyclopedia Britannica). This marked a change in Nepal's governemt from a monarchy to a democratic system.

It was not until, September 10, 1990, after much political and social reform, that a constitution was submitted for approval by the Palace and the Cabinet. Two months later, an amended version of the constitution was agreed upon and on May 12, 1991 general elections were held. As a result of these elections the Nepali Congress party gained the majority in Parliament, but the Communist Party of Nepal emerged as a strong opponent in the political arena. The election results showed that the people of Nepal endorsed these new political changes (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Although Nepal had established a democratic government, it was fragile and continually weakened by opposing political groups. In the 1996 a group of Maoist rebels grew in number and strength. This was a guerrilla movement that began in rural Nepal with the goal of overthrowing the current government and setting up a communist government based on the ideals of China's Communist Revolution (Burbank 2002).

Elections were held in April 2008 and the Maoists won the most seats. Then on May 28, 2008 the new assembly voted to declare Nepal a democratic republic, ending two centuries of royal rule. The political government today is still marked with strife and instability, largely associated with the Maoists who still have a large amount of political influence in Nepal (Encyclopedia Britannica).

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