Shah Period (1769 to date)
During the middle of the 18th Century, there were about 500
small states in India and about 50 states in Nepal. The situation
was completely chaotic in the sense that most of them were fighting
each other to expand their territory. And then along comes Prithvi
Narayan Shah from the state of Gorkha (home of the now famous
Gurkha soldier), about 100 km west of Kathmandu. He believed
that unless Nepal was unified, it was in danger of going into
the hands of British India. He started the process by unifying
the small states. In 1768, after ten years of preparation, siege,
and attack, Kathmandu fell to Gorkha on the day of the festival
of Indra and the Virgin Goddess. Prithvi Narayan died in 1775
and was succeeded by his son Bahadur Shah. The new Shah rulers,
transferring their seat of power to Kathmandu after its conquest,
undertook to expand and consolidate their territory. But in
1790, their troops met Chinese resistance while marching to
Tibet, then a vassal of China. The 70,000 Chinese troops pushed
the Gorkhas back into Nepal and defeat. The treaty stipulated
that Nepal send the Chinese emperor a tribute every five years.
This was done all the way up to 1912.
Down South, Nepal was expanding its territory into India.
By 1810, the kingdom extended from Kashmir to Sikkim and was
double its present size. Confrontations led to a two-year
war with the British between 1814-1816. Nepal was defeated
and the Sugauli Treaty was signed in 1816, under which Nepal
lost one-third of its territory. Another stipulation was that
a British citizen reside in Kathmandu, bringing great resentment
from the Nepalese. The borders were subsequently closed to
foreigners, not to be reopened until 1951 The British resident
and his successors were the only aliens within Nepal?s frontiers
for well over a century.
The prime minister, Bhimsen Thapa, suffered humiliation from
this defeat and was arrested and locked up and committed suicide
in 1839. The period between 1836-1846 was marked with confusion
and intrigues. Pandays, Basnyats, and Kunwars were all fighting
each other for power. In 1846, Jung Bahadur Rana had himself
designated prime minister and later "Maharajah"
with powers superior to those of the king. He established
an oligarchy which would last 104 years. The country was kept
in isolation and the people were deprived of political and
social rights. Enemies were assassinated or persecuted and
the power structure and state moneys were directed solely
to the self interest of the Ranas. The King was there but
he was kept under complete control of the Ranas. In 1850,
Jung Bahadur visited England and France bringing back ideas
with him. One prime minister reformed the forced labor system,
another started a college and started a newspaper but altogether
much more harm than good was done.
After World War II, many changes were taking place. Colonies
were gaining independence, particularly India from Great Britain.
The Communists of China invaded Tibet, forcing many refugees
to flee to Nepal and India.
A "liberal" Rana prime minister proposed a new
constitution offering a measure of people?s participation
through an administrative system known as panchayat. Village
elders would solve problems locally with leaders elected to
a national panchayat. But this new idea was soon undone by
a successor.
With the support of the Indian Congress Party, opponents
of the Rana rule - including some prominent Ranas - joined
the Nepali Congress Party under the leadership of B.P. Koirala.
The rightful sovereign of Nepal, King Tribhuvan, still powerless
in his palace, was heralded as the embodiment of the democratic
aspirations of the people.
In November 1950, the King fled to India under the pretense
of going hunting. The "freedom fighters" of Nepal
fought the Ranas, setting up bases in the Terai. As their
was no decisive victor, India presided over a compromise.
The King returned from India and soon thereafter, the Ranas
went to live in India.
The period between 1951-1959 passed with uncertainty as the
King did not comply with his promise of holding elections
for the constituent assembly. Finally, only under pressure
from the parties, King Mahendra (son of King Tribhuvan) declared
elections for the parliament in 1959.
The Nepali Congress surprisingly won a majority of the seats
in the new parliament. This led the King to fear he would
be reduced to a ceremonial role and thus, on December 15,
1960 declared foreign politics were not for him and had the
Nepali Congress put under arrest. He would have direct rule.
Two years later, he started the panchayat system. The local
five-man panchayat would send representatives to the district
which would send others to the national panchayat. But this
body had few real powers.
Under the "Panchayat Democracy"
no political parties were allowed
human rights were denied
corruption was rampant
state money was misused
economic development did not take place
"nationalist" slogans were given, but no improvement
in the day-to-day life of the people was realized
There were times of agitations against the regime of the King
but they were not successful. King Mahendra died in 1972 and
was succeeded by his son, Birendra. In 1980, there was large
scale discontent from the people with much violence. The King
called for a referendum, with the choices between the Panchayat
System and the multi-party Democracy. It was largely believed
that vote-rigging occurred in favor of the Panchayat victory.
The situation became even more suppressive afterwards.
In 1989, a trade impasse erupted with India. India blockaded
17 of the 19 entry points. This led to much discontent from
which the opposition parties capitalized. The Nepali Congress,
with support of the Communists, launched a mass movement against
the Panchayat system. It was successful in mobilizing people
from all walks of life. Two aspects were unprecedented in
this movement. One was the alliance of the Nepali Congress
with the Communists. The second was the international support
for the movement.
After the change, the interior government headed by the Nepali
Congress leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was formed. The tasks
of the government included framing the constitution and holding
a general election for Parliament.
Today, the Nepali Congress and United Marxists/Leninists
are the two main parties that make up the government. The
King, however, reserves the right to name one-fifth of the
members of the legislature and continues as a strong monarchy.
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