Nepal

In the beginning of the Kali Yuga, the Gupta dynasty is said to' have been founded by Ne-Muni, from whom the country takes its name of Nepal. Lists are then given of the various dynasties, with the lengths of the reigns of the rajahs. The dynasties men tioned are the Gupta, Ahir, Kirati, Somavanshi, Suryavanshi, Thakuri or first Rajput, Vaishya Thakuri, second Rajput and Karnataki dynasties. The country was then invaded by Mukun dasena, and after his expulsion various Vaishya Thakuri dynasties are said to have held the throne for a period of 225 years. The chronology of the V up to this period is very confused and inaccurate; but the records begin to be clearer from the time of the invasion and conquest of the country by Harisinha-deva, the rajah of Simraun, 1324. He was driven from Simraun by Tughlak Shah of Delhi, but seems to have found little difficulty in the conquest of Nepal. There were only four rajahs of this Ayodhya dynasty, and then the throne was occupied by Jaya bhadra-Malla, a descendant of Abhaya-Malla, one of the Rajput dynasty, who reigned in the i3th century. The seventh rajah of this dynasty, Jayastithi-Malla, who reigned for 43 years (1386 14a9), instituted legal codes and introduced the caste system to the Newars. In the reign of the eighth rajah, Yaksha-Malla, the kingdom was divided into four separate states—Banepa, Bhatgaon or Bhaktapur, Kantipur or Katmandu, and Lalitapur or Patan. The Malla dynasty in the other three branches continued in power up to the conquest of the country by the Gurkhas in 1768.

(See

GURKHA.) The Gurkhas were driven out of their own country by the victorious Muslims, and took refuge in the hilly districts about Kumaon, whence they gradually pushed their way eastwards to Lamjung, Gurkha, Noakote, and ultimately to the valley of Nepal, which under Rajah Prithwi Narayana they finally captured. In the struggle which took place at Bhatgaon, Jayaprakasa (the rajah of Katmandu) was killed. Ranjit-Malla, the aged rajah of Bhatgaon, retired to Benares, where he died. Tej Narsinha, the rajah of Patan, died in confinement. During the latter years of the war Jayaprakasa applied to the British for assistance, and a small force, under Captain Kinloch, was sent into the tarai in 1765, but it was repulsed by the Gurkhas.

Prithwi Narayana died in 1774. He left two sons, Pratapasinha Sah and Bahadur Sah. The former succeeded his father, but died in 1777, leaving an infant son, Rana Bahadur Sah, and his brother, who had been in exile, returned to Nepal as regent. The mother of the infant king, however, was opposed to him, and he had again to flee to British territory, where he remained till the death of the rani, when he again became regent. In i790 the Gurk has invaded Tibet, and were at first successful; but they were brought into contact with the Chinese, who in 1791 sent a large force to invade Nepal. In 1792 the Chinese advanced as far as Noakote, and there dictated terms to the Nepalese. In 1791 the Gurkhas had entered into a commercial treaty with the British and Kirkpatrick was therefore despatched to Nepal, and reached Noa kote in the spring of 1792, after the conclusion of peace. This

embassy resulted in the ratification of another commercial treaty on March 1, 1792.

In 1795 Rana Bahadur removed his uncle, Bahadur Sah, from the regency, and two years later put him to death. From this time up to 1799 the king, who seems to have been insane, perpe trated the most barbarous outrages and his conduct became so intolerable that he was forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son, Girvan-yuddha Vikrama Sah. Rana Bahadur recovered the throne in 1804, but was assassinated in 1805.

In Oct. 1801 another treaty was signed by the British and Nepalese authorities, and a British resident was sent to the Nepalese court, but was withdrawn in 1803, from which time the Nepalese carried on a system of encroachment and outrage on the frontier, which led to a declaration of war by the British in Nov. 1814. The fortunes of war were not constant on either side, and fighting was almost continuous. A treaty was concluded in March 1816 by which the Nepalese relinquished much of their newly acquired territory and agreed to allow a British residency to be established at Katmandu. In November the rajah died and was succeeded by his infant son, Surendra Bikran Sah, General Bhimsena Thapa acting as regent.

In 1839 Bhimsena's enemies succeeded in driving him from power, and he committed suicide, or was murdered, in prison. The Kala Pandry faction then came into power, and there were frequent grave disputes with the British. In 1843 Matabar Singh, the nephew of Bhimsena, returned from exile, gained favour at court, and speedily effected the destruction of his old enemies, the Kala Pandrys, who were seized and executed in May 1843. At this time a nephew of Matabar Singh, Jung Bahadur, the eldest of a band of seven brothers, rose rapidly in the army and in favour at the court, especially with one of the ranis. On May 18, 1845, he killed his uncle, obtained, with the aid of the rani, a prominent position in the government, and soon after destroyed his enemies by what is known as the Kot massacre, on Sept. 15, 1846. From that time till the day of his death Jung Bahadur was in reality the ruler of Nepal. His old friend, the rani. was ban fished, and all posts of any consequence in the state were filled by Jung and his relations. In 185o Jung Bahadur paid a visit to England, and there proved himself to be a staunch friend of the British. On his return in 1851 he devoted himself to reforming the administration of the country, and it must be allowed that he eventually proved himself the greatest benefactor his country has ever possessed. In 1853 a treaty for the extradition of crim inals was proposed, and ratified in Feb. 1855. In 1854 the Nepalese commenced a war against Tibet, which ended with a peace very favourable to Nepal in March 1856.