King manu, who is said to be the first king of the world ruled nepal in the age of truth satya yuga and nepal was known as the land of truth satyawati. Based on different excavations by archaeologists, kathmandu was first spotted in between 167 bc and 1 ad. Published june 5th 2002 by miramax books first published may 7th 2002. The 1st kirata king yalambar laid the foundation of the kirata dynasty after defeating the last ruler of the abhira dynasty. In a few words, kathmandus history starts from manjushree and then continued to licchavis, mallas, shahs, and ended with rana rule. I met the author a few years ago and set in on a lecture he gave on his next book 15 ounce. The shah dynasty established the kingdom of nepal and later formed an alliance with the british empire, under its rajput rana dynasty of premiers. Aug 12, 2018 the first written records date back to the kirati people, who lived in eastern nepal, and the newars of the kathmandu valley. Economic and political turmoil over the last fifty years climaxed in the massacre of the royal family in 2001, when the country erupted into civil war.
It is possible the first people to inhabit nepal were the kusunda people. Did you mean to ask geographic or geologic history. The history mentioned that kirats ruled nepal during the 7th century bc. Gyanendra was born in the old narayanhity royal palace, kathmandu, as the second son of crown prince mahendra and his first wife, crown princess indra. Top 10 books about the himalayas books the guardian. Finally gorkha conquered kathmandu and patan, bhadgaon, eastern nepal, and western nepal between 1768 and 1790.
According to hindu belief, the history of the development of nepalese civilization and culture can be traced back to the age of truth. In the late fifth century, rulers calling themselves licchavis began to record details on politics, society, and economy in nepal. To read about the background to these events, see history of nepal. List of books and articles about nepalese history online research. The kingdom of nepal was founded on 25 september 1768 by prithvi narayan shah, a gorkha king who succeeded in unifying the kingdoms of kathmandu, patan, and bhaktapur into a single state under his shah dynasty. List of books and articles about nepalese history online. Under king gyanendra, china delivered arms to nepal after india had stopped its weapons supply once the king seized. After it was destroyed by ajatsatru, they flew away to nepal.
An account of the kingdom of nepal prepared in 1793 by an englishman william j. Science and nature books nepal south and central asia. It hold the himalayas and kailash is on its doorstep. Paving way for democracy, the thenking birendra accepted constitutional reforms and established a multiparty parliament with king as the head of state and an executive prime minister. Notes on historical studies grade 9 social studies. He then returned to the gathering and massacred his father the king, his sister, his. Selected fulltext books and articles the end of monarchy in nepal and its delicate journey towards a republic by shrestha, bal gopal contributions to nepalese studies, vol. From the south to the north, nepal can be divided into four main physical belts, each of which extends east to west across the country.
Nepali history books discover nepali history books at vedic. Discover librarianselected research resources on nepalese history from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals. Before the unification, nepal was ruled by various kirats, lichchavis, thakuris and mallas. The successful indian movement for independence 1947 stimulated democratic sentiment in nepal. Both brahmanic hindu and buddhist legends relate the tales of ancient rulers from nepal. Aug 22, 2012 forget kathmandu by manhushree thapa gives a good and succinct overview of nepal s history. Nepal experienced a struggle for democracy at times in the 20th century and early 21st century. Jul 11, 2015 i have to admit that among books i have read fromabout nepal there are much more about than from. He was brought back to the capital kathmandu by the prime minister mohan shamsher, who had him declared king on 7 november 1950.
In february 1996, the maoist parties declared peoples war against monarchy and the elected government. Nepal is a small country but it has been land of the marriange of sita and ram, the birth of the buddha and the home to so many great saints, kings and rishis. It starts with how nepal, initially a collection of small idependant kingdoms, was unified by prithvi narayan shah and brings you up to speed with events u. It is during the rule of the 7th kirat king jitedasti. Supuspa was the first lichchhavis to enter nepal and jaydev i established lichchhavi rule in nepal in around 300 a. This book almost ignores the average nepalese citizen. Wish i could have lived the exciting life of the king of nepal. He shifted his capital from yalung to thankot after conquering central nepal and his kingdom extended from river trisuli in the west to river teesta in the east. After his birth, his father was told by a court astrologer not to look at his newborn son because it would bring him bad luck, so gyanendra was sent to live with his grandmother. The king of nepal, traditionally known as the maharajadhiraja i. The language has the fourth oldest literature among the sinotibetan languages the first, second and third being chinese, tibetan and burmese respectively.
The newly formed congress party of nepal precipitated a revolt in 1950 that forced the autocratic ranas to share power in a new cabinet. It is a combination of history and geography culminating into a rich mosaic of interwoven stories of character that feel. It is said that they came from midasia, india and himalaya. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our. King mahindra malla reigned 15601574 is regarded as the first nepal bhasa poet.
Legends and ancient times though very little is known about the early history of nepal, legends and documented references reach back to the first millennium bce. History of nepal ancient, medieval and modern hopnepal. On the evening of june 1, 2001, during an intimate gathering of nepals royal family. Feb 17, 2018 according to the history of nepal, the kirats ruled for about 1225 years 800 bce300 ce, their reign had a total of 29 kings during that time. Northeastern states like assam, tripura, manipur, meghalaya and sikkim has historical, linguistical and cultural ties with the rest of india. He traces the history of the shah dynasty, from its first warlord king to its. Kirat people started living in nepal almost 2500 years ago. While john whelptons history focuses on the period since the overthrow of the rana family autocracy in 19501, the early chapters are devoted to. Yadav, a madhesi and member of the congress party, defeated the maoistbacked candidate when madhesi janaadhikar forum switched its support to yadav. From 400 ad to 750ad, lichhavi kings ruled in kathmandu, the current capital of nepal. The history of nepal is intertwined with the history of the broader indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of south asia and east asia. Yalambar is known as the first king of the kirat dynasty.
From the halcyon days of easily accessible drugs to years of government intervention and a surging black market, this tale chronicles a former drug smugglers 50year career in the drug trade, its evolution into a multibilliondollar business, and the characters he met along the way. However, only two longer chronicles have so far been translated into english and thus remained, in a way, the major sources of nepalese history and legends. His book describes the 18thcentury legend surrounding prithvi narayan shah, the first leader to rule nepal as a unified kingdom. History of indianepal relations south asia program at. Are there any good books about the history of northeast india.
History of kings of nepal is a new translation of a buddhist chronicle. Ancient history of kathmandu nepal dynasty, origins. May 07, 2002 the first 120ish pages gives a thorough history of nepal s royal lineage in a tedious and unexciting manner. Kirati king yalambar had the dubious honor of being slain in the battle of the mahabharata, in which gods and. In july, nepals first president, ram baran yadav, was elected by the assembly with the support of nepals major nonmaoist parties. History of nepal ministry of foreign affairs nepal mofa. In november 1950, during a political plot, both his father and his grandfather king tribhuvan, along with other royals, fled to india, leaving the young prince gyanendra as the only male member of the royal family in nepal. Nepal bhasa literature refers to literature in the nepal bhasa language. Nepal contains some of the most rugged and difficult mountain terrain in the world. Most of the history has no relation to the massacre and any backstory related to massacre could have been explained in no more than 20 pages. Prithvi narayan shah, the first king of united nepal died in 1775. The so called padmagiri chronicle included in bikram jit hasrats history of nepal 1970, and especially the history of nepal, translated and edited by daniel wright, a physician who. The most spoken language of nepal is nepali followed by several other ethnic languages. In this collection of political essays, manjushree thapa documents the dramatic and turbulent history of nepal from 1990 until 2009.
The name nepal is first recorded in texts from the vedic period of the indian subcontinent, the era in ancient india when hinduism was founded, the predominant religion of the country. In may 1991, nepal held its first parliamentary elections. The 2000s would see the monarchy getting restored under king gyanendra, only to be overthrown in 2006 and abolished in 2008, when prime minister dahal also known as prachanda started his first tenure as prime minister of nepal. The monarchy was abolished on 28 may 2008 by the 1st constituent. The king of nepal was nepals head of state and monarch from 1768 to 2008. He was the eldest son of prithvi narayan shah, the king who first unified nepal. He served as the head of the nepalese monarchyshah dynasty. Roughly 75 percent of the country is covered by mountains. The epic mahabharata mentions the kiratas among the inhabitants of nepal. King prithvi narayan shah of gorkha in1786 had invaded the kathmandu valley and unified nepal. By 1769 enabled prithvi narayan shah, the king of gorkha, to conquer the valley, forming the foundations for the modern kingdom of nepal. The author is able to provide a brief analysis of most events and aspects of the history without taking sides, even when discussing the foreign actors and influences. He is also mentioned in the epic tale of mahabharata. Pratap singh shah, king of nepal 17511777 was the second king of nepal.
If jonathan gregsons account of nepal s turbulent history is to be believed. Kirkpatrick is considered in the first book of nepalese history while ambika prasad upadhaya wrote the first history book in nepali in 1929. Jay dev first the first king of lichhiwi dynesty vaisalia was the lichchhavis homeland. The early history of nepal is quite vague, though pieces of it can be picked up here and there from various historical treasures. Arideva malla seemed to be the first malla ruler in nepal.
From discussions of corruption in the maoist insurgency to the brutal counterinsurgency, to the controversial and still unresolved episode of king gyanendra shahs military coup and subsequent overthrow, this collection is essential for anybody wishing to. Recorded history of nepal begins later with mandevs initiative for recording events in various inscriptions. According to the history of nepal, the kirats ruled for about 1225 years 800 bce300 ce, their reign had a total of 29 kings during that time. The history of nepal is intertwined with the history of the broader indian subcontinent and the. During the mid19th century jung bahadur rana rose to power as nepals first prime minister, becoming more powerful than the shah king he was supposed to. This is a timeline of nepalese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in nepal and its predecessor states. By defeating the last king of avir dynasty bhuwansingh in a battle, kirati king yalung or yalamber had taken the regime of the valley. History of kings of nepal a buddhist chronicle 3 volume set. Although there is archaeological evidence to suggest that nepal was already home to quite a few groups of people by the first century bc, very little is known of the early peoples who first inhabited the valley. The licchavis were known from early buddhist legends as a ruling family during the buddhas time in india, and the founder of the gupta dynasty claimed that he had married a licchavi princess. It is a multiethnic, multiracial, multicultural, multireligious, and multilingual country. During the 1990s and until 2008, the country was in a ci.
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