A History of Nepal
Nestled in the heart of the Himalayas, Nepal's history is a dramatic saga of faith, conquest, and resilience. This comprehensive account journeys from the mists of prehistoric legend, when the Kathmandu Valley was said to be a great lake, through the dawn of recorded history with the Kirat dynasty. It chronicles the classical Licchavi period, a golden age of art and architecture, and explores the medieval Malla era, a time of extraordinary cultural flourishing when rival city-states competed to build the magnificent temples and palaces that still dominate the valley's landscape.
The narrative traces the forging of the modern state, detailing the rise of the small hill kingdom of Gorkha and the relentless unification campaign of its ambitious king, Prithvi Narayan Shah. The story follows the expansion of the Gorkhali empire until its fateful collision with the British East India Company in the Anglo-Nepalese War. From the bloody aftermath of that conflict emerges one of Nepal's most dramatic turning points: the 1846 Kot Massacre, a coup that established the Rana dynasty's 104-year rule of hereditary prime ministers, a period of iron-fisted autocracy and deliberate isolation from the outside world that left the Shah monarchs as mere figureheads.
The book captures the dramatic tug-of-war between autocracy and democracy that defined the 20th century. It recounts the popular Revolution of 1951 that overthrew the Ranas, the brief and chaotic experiment with parliamentary government in the 1950s, and the subsequent royal coup by King Mahendra, who imposed the partyless Panchayat system for three decades. The narrative builds to the first Jana Andolan, or People's Movement, of 1990, a popular uprising that successfully restored multiparty democracy and established a constitutional monarchy.
The final chapters chronicle the turbulent and transformative events of the contemporary era. The failures of the new democratic government give rise to a brutal, decade-long Maoist civil war that ravaged the countryside. The nation is then rocked by a shocking royal massacre in 2001 that decapitated the monarchy and brought the deeply unpopular King Gyanendra to the throne. His subsequent seizure of absolute power triggers a second People's Movement in 2006, an alliance of mainstream parties and Maoist rebels that forces the king to capitulate, leading to the historic abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy and the birth of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
Beyond the sweep of political history, this account delves into the rich social and cultural tapestry that makes Nepal unique. It explores the intricate interplay of Hinduism and Buddhism, the nation's stunning artistic and architectural heritage, and the complex social structures that have shaped life from the high mountains to the southern plains. It examines the economic shifts from a feudal agricultural system to a modern economy increasingly dependent on remittances, offering a complete and compelling story of a nation's journey from an ancient kingdom to a modern republic.
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