History of FDR Nepal
The recorded history of Nepal is centered on the Kathmandu valley
and begins with the Kirantis who are said to have ruled for many
centuries beginning from the 7th or 8th Century B.C. with their famous
King Yalumber who is even mentioned in the epic, ‘Mahabharata’. The
Gopalas who were herdsmen are believed to have ruled before the
Kirantis but little is known about them. Their descendants are said to
still live at the edge of the valley. Around 300 A.D. the Lichavis
arrived from northern India and overthrew the Kirantis. The descendants
of the Kirantis are the Rais and Limbus who predominate in eastern
Nepal. One of the legacies of the Lichavis is the fabulous Changu
Narayan Temple near Bhaktapur which dates back to the 5th Century. In
early 7th Century, Amshuvarman, the first Thakuri king took over the
throne from his father-in-law who was a Lichavi. He married off his
daughter Bhrikuti to the famous Tibetan King Tsong Tsen Gampo thus
establishing good relations with Tibet. Bhrikuti went on to convert the
king to Buddhism. The Lichavis brought art and architecture to the
valley but the golden age of creativity arrived with the Mallas who
came to power around 1200 A.D.
During their
550 year rule, the Mallas built an amazing number of temples and
splendid palaces with picturesque squares that are lined with
architecturally beautiful temples. It was also during their rule that
society and the cities became well organized, religious festivals were
introduced and literature, music and art were encouraged. Sadly after
the death of Yaksha Malla, the valley was divided into three kingdoms:
Kathmandu (Kantipur), Bhaktapur (Bhadgaon) and Patan (Lalitpur). The
rivalry among these kingdoms led to the building of grand palaces and
the uplifting of the arts and culture. Around this time, the Nepal as
we know it today was divided into about 46 independent principalities.
One among these was the kingdom of Gorkha with a Shah king in power.
Much of Kathmandu valley’s history around this time was recorded by
Capuchin friars who lived here on their way in and out of Tibet.
Nepal,
as a state, was established when an ambitious Gorkha king named Prithvi
Narayan Shah embarked on a conquering mission that led to the defeat of
all the kingdoms in the valley (including Kirtipur which was an
independent state) by 1769. Instead of annexing the newly acquired
states to his kingdom of Gorkha, Prithvi Narayan decided to move his
capital to Kathmandu establishing the Shah dynasty which ruled unified
Nepal from 1769 to 2008 when the last Shah ruler, Gyanendra
relinquished his power to make way for total democracy under the rule
of a Prime Minister.
The history of the
Gorkha state goes back to 1559 when Dravya Shah established a kingdom
in an area chiefly inhabited by Magars. At this time the Kathmandu
valley was ruled by the Malla kings. During the 17th and early 18th
centuries, Gorkha continued a slow expansion, conquering various states
while forging alliances with others. Prithvi Narayan dedicated himself
at an early age to the conquest of the Kathmandu valley. Recognizing
the threat of the British Raj in India, he dismissed European
missionaries from the country and for more than a century, Nepal
remained in isolation.
During the mid-19th
century Jung Bahadur Rana became Nepal's first prime minister to wield
absolute power relegating the Shah king to a mere figurehead. He
started a hereditary reign of the Ranas that lasted for 104 years
during which time the Shah kings had no real power. The Ranas were
overthrown in a democracy movement of the early 1950s with support from
an unlikely person, the monarch of Nepal, King Tribhuvan. Soon after
the overthrow of the Ranas, King Tribhuvan was reinstated as the head
of the state. In early 1959, Tribhuvan's son King Mahendra issued a new
constitution, and the first democratic elections for a national
assembly were held. The Nepali Congress Party was victorious and their
leader, Bisheshwar Prasad Koirala formed a government and served as
prime minister. But by 1960, King Mahendra had changed his mind and
dissolved Parliament, dismissing the first democratic government.
After
many years of struggle when the political parties were banned, they
finally mustered enough courage to start a people's movement in 1990.
With the public rising up against absolute monarchy and demanding
democracy, the then ruler King Birendra accepted constitutional reforms
and established a multiparty parliament with himself as head of state
and the prime minister heading the government. In May 1991, Nepal held
its first parliamentary elections. In February 1996, one of the
Communist parties (Maoist wing) went underground to wage a people's war
against monarchy and the elected government.
Then
on June 1, 2001, a horrific tragedy wiped out the entire royal family
along with many of their close relatives. With only King Birendra’s
brother, Gyanendra and his family surviving, he was crowned the king.
King Gyanendra tolerated the elected government for only a short while
and then dismissed Parliament to grab absolute power. In April 2006,
strikes and street protests in Kathmandu led to a 19-day curfew and the
political parties joined forces with the Maoist rebels to bring
pressure on the monarch. Eventually, King Gyanendra realized it was
futile holding on to power and relented. He agreed to reinstate
parliament. But the political parties and a majority of the general
public had had enough of dynastic rule and their abuse of power. On
May 28, 2008, a newly elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a
Federal Democratic Republic, abolishing the 240 year-old monarchy.
Nepal today has a President as Head of State and a Prime Minister
heading the Nepal Government.
Source: http://welcomenepal.com