Present situation

There are three major communities in Nepal's caste-oriented society -Khas, Newar and Maithil. Besides, there is a separate community consisting of tribes, the ethnic groups. There is similarity in the social structure of Khas, Newar and Maithil communities. That is to say, they all have four castes: Brahmin, Chhetri, Vaishya and Shudra. There also exists a distinction between Nepali origin and Indian origin in them, which may also be referred to as Bhumiputra community and Yayavar community, respectively. There also exist Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian religious communities in Nepal. Of these communities, Khas, Newar and Maithil have been undergoing increasing complexity of caste discrimination and oppression. The issue in the present Nepalese society lies in the classification of Brahmins, Chhetris and Vaishyas into sub-castes, defiling castes and narrowing.
From another perspective, Nepalese society is clearly split into touchables and untouchables, have no marital relation with them, and do not allow them to enter their house. In the western part of Nepal, they also practise springkling water (act of purification). The low-caste people are deprived of utilizing most of the temples, funeral places, drinking water taps and wells, restaurants, shops and other public places. The tribes of the community, though not within Hindu caste system, also practise untouchability with low-caste people.
The practice of untouchability penetrated down to the untouchables. As a result, it went to the extent of making discrimination between touchable and untouchable castes within the untouchable community itself. For instance, Kami and Sarki communities regard other communities like Damai as untouchable, while there does exist inequality even between Kamis and Sarkis. Damais treat communities like Gaines untouchable. Recently it has been found in vogue in some parts of the Remote Western Region that persons within the same untouchable community have been treated untouchable owing to their miserable economic condition. No doubt there has been launched a campaign at the organizational level by oppressed castes to oppose discrimination. However, open entry into a house and marital relation are still far from being materialized. In the hilly areas of western part of Nepal certain untouchables have their own restaurants and now all untouchable communities enter there.
People from superior castes use the non-honorific form of 'you' ('tan') for lower caste people. Conversely, lower caste people have to use the honorific form of 'you' ('tapain') to higher caste people irrespective of their age. In addition, they also need to address Brahmins as 'Baje' (Grandfather), Chhetris and Magars as 'Mukhiyas' (Head-men) and Rais and Limbus as 'Subba' (landlord/chieftain as opposed to nepali term subba-officer) and other honorific forms.
With the advent of democracy in 1950, social discriminations started breaking down not because of any legal provisions but because of the high caste people's own initiatives. However, even this change could not abolish untouchability. Though public places were opened to low caste people in some places, the situation remained unchanged to a large extent. There has been made a legal sanction in the civil code against untouchability; however, it has turned out to be meaningless since its violation is not liable to any specific penalty. According to Act 11(4) of the new constitution of Nepal (1990), however, untouchability has been made punishable. The civil code has also been amended accordingly. Despite these constitutional and legal provisions, untouchability has been still found in practice. So-called higher caste people do not allow low-caste people to have an access to temples and other public places. (See the description of events for its details).
The situation of caste-based untouchability existing in the country has been presented as follows on region-wise basis:

Caste divisions

Caste categories diverged from the four varnas of the classical Vedic model and instead had three categories to accommodate the tribal peoples between the pure and impure castes. These were further classified into five hierarchies with the following order precedence.(Harka Gurung 2005:3,Occasional Papers in Sociology and Anthropology)

• Thagadhari, (Wearer of holy cord)
• Matwali
• Namasyane Matwali (Non-enslavable alcohol-drinkers)
• Masyane Matwali (Enslavable alcohol drinkers)
• Pani nachalne choichoto halnu naparne, (Impure but touchable castes)
• Pani nachalne chiochoti halnu parne, (Impure and Untouchable castes)
  These categories imply that Thagadhari (Wearer of holy cord) remains in the highest hierarchy in the Nepali caste system followed by Matwali, (Non-enslavable alcohol-drinkers) and enslavable alcohol drinkers, touchable caste and lastly untouchable.

Legitimacy of the caste system

Muluki Ain imposes the caste system in Nepal in order to incorporate people of different origin and bring them under one umbrella of the caste system. The first categories of Thagadhari, which include Parbate Brahmin and Chhetri, are in the higher categories of hierarchy whereas Brahmins of Terai and Newari Brahmin as per Muluki Ain do not fall under these categories.
Matwali group, enslavable and non-enslavable falls under second categories, which include the people of ethnic origin and Brahmins of Terai and Newari Brahmins. It also includes those people in the non-enslavable group such as Magar, Gurung, Rai, and Limbu etc and enslavable are Tamang, Chepang, Thami etc.
Untouchable are the categories of varnas system in ancient Manu's Code but some people such as Muslims and foreigners as well fall into these categories. Untouchables are divided into Pani nachalne choichoto halnu naparne, (Impure but touchable castes) and Pani nachalne chiochoti halnu parne, (Impure and Untouchable castes).
The creation of sub-castes in Nepal is unique. For instance, the child born of a high-caste father and a low-caste mother was a case of promotion. There were unwritten practices like not defiling and sprinkling water which still exists. Children born from wandering sanyasi fathers and intercaste marital relation also belong to the same category.

History of the caste system in Nepal

The Nepalese civil code Muluki Ain (1854) was written by Jang Bahadur Rana after his European tour. It codified social codes in practice for several centuries in Nepal that was rooted in Vyavahāra (traditional Hindu legal procedure), Prāyaścitta (avoidance and removal of sin) and Ācāra (the customary law of different castes and communities). These three are collectively called Dharmaśāstra. A traditional Hindu king was duty-bound to put these precepts into practice.
Muluki Ain divided Nepalese citizens into two castes "the caste whose water is allowed to remain pure" and "the caste whose water is defiled". Chiefs of the various castes were entrusted with sorting out issues related to their own castes. The heads of Kamis (blacksmiths) and Sarkis (tanners and cobblers) were called Mijhars. Similarly the head of Damai (tailors and musicians) was called Nagarchi. Castes of the first (non-defiling) category also had their chiefs. In this way community members might not need to go to courts or government offices to settle minor legal matters. Mijhars and Nagarchis, however, added to injustice and exploitation meted out to their respective communities. They were obviously influenced by their masters' natures. Like their masters, they never hesitated to do injustice against their own communities. No appeal was heard against them.
From the medieval period onward, people could lose status through caste demotion. People considering themselves superior used caste as a pretext for exploitation. The lower castes were prevented from entering temples, receiving education, listening to high-caste people's teachings, worshipping, planting Bar or Pipal trees, digging ponds, and participating in fairs and festivals. They could be exiled from the country for looking at a high-caste woman. If they encountered someone of higher caste they would have to step aside. They had to pay jadau (obeisance) to any higher caste person. They could be put to death for rebelling against caste rules. If someone from higher caste married a woman from lower caste, he was not eligible for legal intercession against jarikhat (adultery). A sacred thread-wearing or even non-thread-wearing person would need to be ritually purified if they were touched by an 'untouchable'. Two-way conversation with upper castes was banned for them. These discriminatory provisions of the civil code were based on Hindu scriptures like Parskar Grihyasutra, Gautam Sutra, Manusmṛti and Shukra Niti. There was no provision for lower-caste participation in the economic, social, cultural and administrative spheres. They had to survive on low-paid manual work such as playing indigenous musical instruments, sawing wood, leather-work, practicing music, art and dance, cutting stone, pottery, general labor, cleaning latrines, and washing clothes. This system prevailed till by law until Muluki Ain was revised in 1962.
The present caste system derives from Shah dynasty founder Prithvi Narayan's famous saying that Nepal was a garden of four varnas and 36 castes. However this is only a rough estimate for the Hill region. The Newari community and the Terai community each has more than 36 castes.
During the Panchayat regime Nepal was referred to as a 'Hindu State' as well. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal (1990) has also retained it. In Nepal, the only Hindu state in the world, thousands of people treated as untouchables have been undergoing bitter experience legally for centuries. History is replete with evidence that because of the legal system based on the Hindu religion lower-caste victims were given more inhuman and stringent penalty than higher-caste ones in similar crimes during Lichhvi, Malla, Shaha and Rana periods (except during kirant period). For instance, there was a legal provision during Malla period to cut Shudra's penis, force him to eat it and get him butchered by chandals ('murderers') on charge of having sexual intercourse with a Brahmin woman. Similarly, during Rajendra Shaha's regime, there existed a law decreed on (1893 ASHADH SUDI 7 ROSE 4 BS), according to which "if a person from Shudra caste like Damai, Sunar(Kami), Sarki, Balami, Majhi, Danuwar, Murmi, Bhote, Chepang, and Kumal had sexual intercourse with his brother's wife deliberately, he must be put to death." Prior to the implementation of the new civil code of 1963–64, this legal provision continued. Moreover, according to it, higher caste individuals were given lesser penalty if they were charged with having sexual intercourse with lower caste women, but if lower-caste persons had sexual intercourse with higher caste women, they were sentenced to fourteen-year imprisonment. The civil code of 1963–64 has, no doubt, tried to establish legal equality between so-called high-caste and low-caste people in principle (according to recent amendment in the civil code) and untouchability is now liable to penalty. However, this community has not yet enjoyed equal accessibility to law. These unequal and inhuman practices will be discussed in detail later.

Nepalese caste system

The Nepalese caste system, like the Indian caste system, is highly complex and continues the traditional system of social stratification of Nepal. The caste system defines social classes by a number of hierarchical endogamous groups often termed as Jāt. This custom is found in both the Hindu and Buddhist communities of Nepal. However, in Nepal people sometimes erroneously use word caste to mean their race or ethnicity. The ethnic groups are a different race from Khas, who are themselves distinct from Madhesi people. The caste system has traditionally existed in the latter two races (the Khas and Madhesis).

Ten Great Campaigns of Nepal(1755-1789)

The Ten Great Campaigns (Chinese: 十全武功; pinyin: shí quán wǔ gōng) were a series of wars fought during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, much celebrated in the official Qing Dynasty annals. They included three to enlarge the area of Qing control in Central Asia: two against the Dzungars (1755-1757) and the pacification of Xinjiang (1758-1759). The other seven campaigns were more in the nature of police actions on frontiers already established - two wars to suppress the Jinchuan rebels in Sichuan, another to suppress rebels in Taiwan (1787-1788), and four expeditions abroad to chastise the Burmese (1766-1788), the Vietnamese (1788-1789), and the warlike Gurkhas in Nepal on the border between Tibet and India (1790-1792), the last counting as two.

The Dzungars and pacification of Xinjiang (1755 - 1757)
Of the ten campaigns, the final destruction of the Dzungars was the most significant. It secured the northern and western boundaries of Xinjiang and eliminated rivalry for control over the Dalai Lama in Tibet, and thereby the elimination of rival influence in Mongolia. It also led to the pacification of the Islamicised, Turkic-speaking southern half of Xinjiang immediately thereafter. To commemorate this victory, Qianlong had the Puning Temple of Chengde constructed, home to the world's tallest wooden sculpture of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and hence its alternate name, the 'Big Buddha Temple'.

Suppression of the Jinchuan hill peoples (1747-1749, 1776)
The suppression of the Jinchuan hill people was the costliest and most difficult, and also the most destructive. The Jinchuan (literally "Golden Stream") was northwest of Chengdu in western Sichuan. The tribal peoples there were related to the Tibetans of the Amdo. The first campaign in 1747-1749 was a simple affair; with little use of force the Manchu general induced the native chieftains to accept a peace plan, and departed.
Interethnic conflict brought the Manchus back after twenty years. The result was the Qing expeditionary force being forced to fight a protracted war of attrition costing the Qing treasury several times the amounts expended on the earlier conquests of the Dzungars and Xinjiang. The resisting tribes retreated to their stone towers and forts in steep mountains and could only be dislodged by cannon. The Manchu generals were ruthless in annihilating the rebellious tribes, then reorganised the region in a military prefecture and repopulated it with more cooperative inhabitants.

The Burmese Campaigns (1767-1771)
The rise of Konbaung dynasty in Burma was the main reason for Qing's military expeditions to reassert its overlordship. Despite four campaigns, the Qing were unable to make any progresses. Ming Rui (明瑞), son-in-law of Qianlong, and leader of one of the expeditions, died in campaign. Nonetheless, King Hsinbyushin was faced with dealing not just against the Qing, but also a rebellion in recently occupied Siam. The Siamese found a new leader in Taksin who defeated the Konbaung occupation force. Hsinbyushin was reportedly angered when his commanders negotiated a settlement with the Qing, a fact which Qianlong chose to interprete as his victory.

The Gurkha Campaigns (1790-1792)
The Gurkha wars display the Qing court's continuing sensitivity to conditions in Tibet. The late 1760s saw the creation of a strong state in Nepal and the involvement in the region of a new foreign power, Britain, through their British East India Company. The rash Gurkha rulers of Nepal decided to invade southern Tibet in 1788.
The two Manchu resident agents in Lhasa (Ambans) made no attempt at defense or resistance. Instead they took the child Panchen Lama to safety when the Nepalese troops came through and plundered the rich monastery at Shigatse on their way to Lhasa. Upon hearing of the first Nepalese incursions, the Qianlong Emperor commanded troops from Sichuan to proceed to Lhasa and restore order. By the time they reached southern Tibet, the Gurkhas had already withdrawn. This counted as the first of two wars with the Gurkhas.
In 1791 the Gurkhas returned in force. Qianlong urgently dispatched an army of 10,000 men. It was made up of around 6,000 Manchu and Mongol forces supplemented by tribal soldiers under the able general Fu Kang'an, with Hailancha as his deputy. They entered Tibet from Xining (Qinghai) in the north, shortening the march but making it in the dead of winter 1791-1792, crossing high mountain passes in deep snow and cold. They reached central Tibet in the summer of 1792 and within two or three months could report that they had won a decisive series of encounters that pushed the Gurkha armies across the crest of the Himalaya and back into the valley of Kathmandu. Fukang'an fought on into 1793, when he forced the battered Gurkhas to accept surrender on Manchu terms.
The victory of 1793, however, did not prevent repeated Nepalese incursions thereafter.

The Campaign in Vietnam (1786-1789)
Chinese officials receiving the deposed Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống.
For most of her history, the Vietnamese rulers sometimes recognized the Chinese Emperor as their feudal lord, while ruling independently in their own land. This had been the case throughout the reign of the Later Lê Dynasty. This changed however when the brothers of Tây Sơn, leading a national uprising, defeated the feuding Trịnh and Nguyễn lords and overthrew the last Lê ruler, Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống.
Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống fled to China and appealed to Emperor Qianlong (Vietnamese: Càn Long) for help. In 1788 a large Qing army was sent south to restore Lê Mẫn Đế to the throne. They succeeded in taking Thăng Long (Hà Nội) and putting Emperor Chiêu Thống back on the throne, but many of his supporters were angered by their subservient position. Chiêu Thống was treated as a vassal king by Qianlong and all edicts had to be authorized by the Qing before becoming official. In any event, the situation did not last long as the Tây Sơn leader, Nguyễn Huệ, launched a surprise attack against the Qing forces while they were celebrating the lunar New Year festival of the year 1789. The Chinese were unprepared but fought for five days before being defeated at Battle of Đống Đa. Chiêu Thống fled back to China as Nguyễn Huệ was proclaimed Emperor Quang Trung.

The Campaigns in Perspective
In his later years, Qianlong referred to himself with the grandiose style name of "Old Man of the Ten Completed [Great Campaigns]" (十全老人). He also wrote an essay enumerating the victories in 1792 entitled "Record of Ten Completions".
The campaigns were major financial drain on Qing, costing more than 151 million taels of silver..
The tribes at Jinchuan numbered less than 30,000 households and took five years to pacify.
Nearly 1.5 million piculs (1 picul = 100 catty) were transported for the Taiwan campaigns.
Instead of restoring Emperor Lê Mẫn Đế to the throne as the Vietnam campaign was intended, Qianlong ended up settling with the new Nguyen dynasty, and even arranging for imperial marriage between Qing and Nguyen.

Gorkha recruitment

David Ochterlony and the political agent William Fraser were quick to recognise the potential of Gorkha soldiers in British service. During the war the British were keen to use defectors from the Gorkha army and employ them as irregular forces. His confidence in their loyalty was such that in April 1815 he proposed forming them into a battalion under Lieutenant Ross called the Nasiri regiment. This regiment, which later became the 1st King George’s Own Gurkha Rifles, saw action at the Malaun fort under the leadership of Lieutenant Lawtie, who reported to Ochterlony that he "had the greatest reason to be satisfied with their exertions".
About 5,000 men entered British service in 1815, most of whom were not ‘real’ Gorkhas but Kumaonis, Garhwalis and other Himalayan hill men. These groups, eventually lumped together under the term Gurkha, became the backbone of British Indian forces.
As well as Ochterlony’s Gurkha battalions, William Fraser and Lieutenant Frederick Young raised the Sirmoor battalion, later to become the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles; an additional battalion, the Kumaon battalion was also raised eventually becoming the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles. None of these men fought in the second campaign.

nepali weapon (khukuri)

Demise of the protagonists

Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa, with the support of the queen regent Tripura Sundari, remained in power despite the defeat of Nepal. Other ruling families, particularly the Pandes, decried what they saw as Bhimsen Thapa’s submissive attitude towards the British. The prime minister however had been able to retain power by maintaining a large, modernised army and politically dominating the court during the minority of King Rajendra Bikram Shah, (reigned 1816–1847). Additionally, he was able to freeze out the Pandes from power by appointing members of his own family into positions of authority.
When queen Tripura Sundari died in 1832, Bhimsen Thapa began to lose influence. In 1833, Brian Hodgson became British resident, openly favouring Bhimsen Thapa’s opponents, and in 1837 the king announced his intention to rule independently, depriving the prime minister and his nephew of their military powers. After the eldest son of the queen died, Bhimsen Thapa was falsely accused of attempting to poison the prince. Although acquitted, the Thapas were in turmoil. When the head of the Pande family, Rana Jang Pande, became prime minister, he had Bhimsen Thapa re-imprisoned; Bhimsen Thapa committed suicide in August 1839.
For his part, David Ochterlony received thanks from both Houses of Parliament and became the first officer in the British East India Company to be awarded the GCB. Lord Moira also reinstated him as Resident at Delhi and he lived in the style appropriate to a very senior figure of the Company. However, after Lord Moira left India – succeeded by Lord Amherst as Governor-General in 1823 – Ochterlony fell out of favour.
In 1825 the Raja of Bharatpur died and the six-year-old heir to the throne, whom Ochterlony supported, was usurped by his cousin Durjan Sal. When Durjan Sal failed to submit to Ochterlony’s demands to vacate the throne, the British general prepared to march on Bharatpur. He did not receive the backing of the new Governor-General however, and after Amherst countermanded his orders, Ochterlony resigned, as Amherst had anticipated. This episode badly affected the ailing general who died shortly after on 14 July 1825. A 165-foot-high memorial was later erected in Calcutta in his memory; however, Sir David Ochterlony’s greatest legacy is the continuing recruitment of Gurkhas into the British and Indian armies.
Soon after Ochterlony's resignation Amherst was himself obliged to do what Ochterlony had prepared to do, and laid siege to Bharatpur.

The Treaty of Sugauli

The Treaty of Sugauli was ratified on 4 March 1816. Nepal lost Sikkim, the territories of Kumaon and Garhwal, and most of the lands of the Tarai; the British East India Company would pay 200,000 rupees annually to compensate for the loss of income from the Tarai region. However, the Tarai lands had proved difficult to govern and some of them were returned to Nepal later in 1816 and the annual payments abolished.
The Mechi river became the new eastern border and the Mahakali river the western boundary of Nepal. Kathmandu was also forced to accept a British Resident – a hateful symbol of its reduction to client status in relation to the British administration in Calcutta.

The Treaty of Sugauli 4 March 1816. It suited Ochterlony to bring the campaign to a speedy conclusion because of the approach of the dreaded aul-fever season but also because a number of his European troops were suffering from dysentery.

But according to some of the representatives who attemded the treaty said that the treaty was a fake and the land occupied by the India which Nepal lost after the treaty belongs to the Nepal but not to India.So, nowadays the conflict in the name of border encrochment is going on rapidly.

War

While the Gorkhas had been expanding their empire – into Sikkim in the east, Kumaon and Garhwal in the west and into the British sphere of influence in Oudh in the south – the British East India Company had consolidated its position in India from its main bases of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. This British expansion had already been resisted in India, culminating in three Anglo-Maratha wars as well as in the Punjab where Ranjit Singh and the Sikh Empire had their own aspirations. It was therefore imperative to the British that the Gorkha War was quickly and successfully concluded.
When the Kathmandu durbar solicited Gorkha chiefs’ opinions about a possible war with the British, Amar Singh was not alone in his opposition, declaring that – "They will not rest satisfied without establishing their own power and authority, and will unite with the hill rajas, whom we have dispossessed." This contrasts sharply with the prime minister Bhimsen Thapa – " ... our hills and fastness are formed by the hand of God, and are impregnable." The Gorkha prime minister realised the Nepalese had several advantages over the British including knowledge of the region and recent experience fighting in the mountainous terrain. However, the British had numerical superiority and far more modern weapons.

First campaign:
The initial British campaign was an attack on two fronts across a frontier of more than 1,500 km (930miles). In the eastern front, Major-General Bennet Marley and Major-General John Sullivan Wood led their respective columns across the Tarai towards the heart of the valley of Kathmandu. Further east, on the Sikkim border, Captain Latter led a small force in a primarily defensive role. Major-General Rollo Gillespie and Colonel David Ochterlony commanded the two columns in the western front. These columns were pitted against the cream of the Gorkha army under the command of Amar Singh Thapa. All four columns were composed mainly of Indian troops, though Ochterlony’s was the only column without a single British infantry battalion. The Commander-in-Chief of the British forces was Lord Moira.
The campaign started badly for the British. A day before the Governor-General officially declared war on 1 November 1814, General Gillespie had been killed trying to take the weakly-defended fort at Kalanga at the Battle of Nalapani. In the interval before Gillespie’s successor Major-General Gabriel Martindell took over command, Colonel Sebright Mawby managed to take Kalanga by cutting off its water supplies. Soon after Martindell arrived however, the British suffered further setbacks at the hands of Ranjur Singh Thapa(Amar Singh Thapa’s son), at the Battle of Jaithak. Martindell eventually reduced Jaithak to rubble with his guns but, even with vastly superior numbers, he failed to occupy it for fear of counter-attack.

Major-General Sir David Ochterlony, (1758–1825) by A. W. Devis. Ochterlony was reluctant to go to war, stating "[Going to war] appears to me the most Quixotic and the most impolitic measure we have ever attempted."
The generals in the east mirrored this pusillanimity, with both Wood and Marley reluctant to face the enemy. After two attempts to advance on Butwal, Wood, with superior numbers, feebly retreated and took up a defensive posture at Gorakhpur. His compatriot, Major-General Marley, whose 8,000 strong force was supposed to provide the main striking force on Kathmandu, showed even more timidity. After his advance posts at Samanpore and Persa were wiped out due to lack of support, he was reduced to abject inactivity and, on 10 February 1815, deserted, "unable to endure the irksomeness of his situation ... took the sudden and extraordinary resolution in leaving the camp".
The company’s hopes now rested on the abilities of Colonel Ochterlony’s force of around 10,000 troops. Unlike the other generals, Ochterlony showed determination, skill and an ability to adapt to the circumstances. Although there were no initial decisive encounters, Ochterlony slowly pushed Amar Singh’s army higher and higher into the mountains until, in April 1815, the Gorkha general had been forced back into his main fort at Malaun.
The ensuing Battle of Dionthal was decisive. Attempts by Amar Singh’s most able lieutenant, Bhakti Thapa, to dislodge the British from the Dionthal ridge overlooking the Malaun fort failed. Although Bhakti Thapa was killed in the action on 16 April, the fort held out for a while. However, when news arrived announcing that Almora had fallen to Colonel Jasper Nicolls’ 2,000 strong force of regular sepoys on 26 April, Amar Singh Thapa realized the hopelessness of the situation and, threatened by the British guns, surrendered. In recognition of their heroic defences of their respective forts of Malaun and Jaithak, Ochterlony allowed Amar Singh and his son Ranjur (who had joined him at Malaun) to return home with their arms and men. During the campaign Ochterlony was promoted to major general.

Second campaign:
After Ochterlony’s successful campaign, the Kathmandu durbar failed to ratify the peace agreement signed on 28 November 1815. This reticence to sign soon led to the second campaign. Unsurprisingly, Lord Moira placed Ochterlony in command of the 20,000 strong invasion force of Nepal.
While General Ochterlony advanced towards Makwanpur, simultaneous operations by the chogyal (king) of Sikkim drove the Nepalese army from the east. Amar Singh Thapa took no part in the campaign – he had retired to a temple, and died shortly after the war ended.
After the decisive Battle of Makwanpur on 28 February 1816 and the fall of the neighbouring fort of Hariharpur (after Ranjur Singh abandoned his post), the situation became very critical for Nepal. The British threat to the capital Kathmandu compelled the Nepalis to ratify the treaty without any further delay.

Gurkha war

The Gurkha War (1814–1816), sometimes called the Gorkha War or the Anglo-Nepalese War, was fought between the Kingdom of Nepal (now Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal) and the British East India Company as a result of border tensions and ambitious expansionism. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, which ceded around a third of Nepal's territory to the British.

Historical background:

The Shah era of Nepal began with the invasion of Kathmandu valley, which consisted of the capitals of Malla confederacy that ruled Nepal during the medieval era of Nepal.
In 1767, a request to the British for help by the Nepalese Malla confederacy under threat from Gorkha invasion resulted in an ill-equipped and ill-prepared expedition numbering 2,500 led by Captain Kinloch. The expedition was a disaster; the Gorkha army easily overpowered those who had not succumbed to malaria or desertion. This ineffectual British force provided the Gorkhas with firearms and filled them with suspicion, causing some to underestimate their future opponents.
The invasion of Nepal resulted with Gorkha kingdom being renamed as Nepal and the shift of the capital of the kingdom from Gorkha to Kathmandu. Also, the invasion of economically sound medieval Nepal provided the Gurkha army economic support for furthering their martial practices throughout the region. The martial campaign in eastern region was largely a failure. After a number of defeats by the Limbuwan army, the Gurkha army finally made peace treaty with Limbuwan and incorporated the Limbuwan states into Nepal under a mutual pact. In the west, all rulers as far as the Kali River had submitted or been replaced by 1790. Farther west still, the Kumaon region and its capital Almora had also succumbed to the Gorkhas.
To the north however, aggressive raids into Tibet (concerning a long-standing dispute over trade and control of the mountain passes) forced the Chinese emperor in Peking to act. In 1792 he sent a huge army, expelling the Nepalese from Tibet to within 5 km of their capital at Kathmandu. Acting regent Bahadur Shah, (Prithvi Naryan’s son), appealed to the British Governor-General of India, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Lord Moira for help. Anxious to avoid confrontation with the Chinese, Lord Moira sent Captain Kirkpatrick as mediator, but before he arrived the war with China had finished. The Nepalese were forced into signing a humiliating treaty revoking their trading privileges in Tibet and requiring them to pay tribute to Peking every 5 years.
The Tibet affair had postponed a previously planned attack on the Garhwal Kingdom, but by 1803 Raja of Garhwal Pradyuman Shah had also been defeated. He was killed in the struggle in January 1804, and all his land annexed. Further west, general Amar Singh Thapa overran lands as far as the Kangra – the strongest fort in the hill region – and laid siege to it (although by 1809, Ranjit Singh the ruler of the Sikh state in the Punjab, had intervened and driven the Nepalese army east of the Sutlej river).
The British were also expanding their sphere of influence. The recent acquisition of the Nawab of Awadh's lands by the British East India Company brought the region of Gorakhpur into the close proximity of the raja of Palpa – the last remaining independent town within the Gorkha heartlands. Suspicion of the raja’s collusion with the British led first to his imprisonment by the Gorkhas, then to his assassination. Bhimsen Thapa, Nepalese Prime Minister from 1806 to 1837, installed his own father as governor of Palpa, leading to serious border disputes between the two powers.
These disputes arose because there was no fixed boundary separating the Gorkhas and the British. A border commission imposed on Nepal by the Governor-General failed to solve the problem. Gorkha raids into the flatlands of the Terai, a much prized strip of fertile ground separating the Nepalese hill country from India, increased tensions – the British felt their power in the region and their tenuous lines of communication between Calcutta and the northwest were under threat. Since there was no clear border, confrontation between the powers was inevitable.

Etiquette

Meals are traditionally eaten seated or squatting on the floor, although urban restaurants have tables and chairs. A large mound of bhat (boiled rice or other grain such as cornmeal or barley) or a pile of roti (rounds of thin unleavened bread) is served on a thali -- a rimmed brass or stainless steel plate about 12"/30cm. diameter. The rice is surrounded by smaller mounds of prepared vegetables, fresh chutney or preserved pickles, and sometimes curd, fish or meat. Soup-like dal and vegetables cooked in sauce may be served in separate small bowls, to be poured over the rice. Food is brought to the mouth with the fingers of the right hand. The left hand -- traditionally used for certain toilet purposes -- should never touch food but may hold cups and glasses. The right hand should be rinsed before and after eating.
Traditional Hindu food etiquette is deeply concerned with caste and ritual pollution. Water and foods cooked in water -- especially grains, dal and vegetables -- are polluted by the touch of a person of lower caste than the person who consumes them, or of anyone who has become unclean by not bathing and putting on clean clothes after polluting events such as defecation or menstruation. The cook should otherwise be a housewife (who is not lower caste than her husband) or a tagadhari -- high caste male wearing a sacred thread (janai). Once someone has started eating cooked food, it becomes polluted (jutho) to others, except a wife may eat leftovers from her husband's plate and children may eat both parents' leftovers.
Water itself is highly subject to ritual pollution, rendering containers as well as water polluting. Clay or wooden containers must then be discarded while metal containers require ritual scouring. You will often find people drinking water by pouring it into their mouths rather than touching their lips to the container. This avoids polluting the container and any water remaining inside.
Dry-cooked grains -- including beaten rice and roasted soybeans or corn -- also rice pudding cooked in milk rather than water (khir) and raw fruit are less subject to ritual pollution. These foods can be accepted from any clean caste but not from untouchables.
Foreigners and members of many janajati -- indigenous ethnic groups that not formally absorbed into the orthodox caste system -- occupy an ambiguous space. They are neither fully untouchable nor fully "clean". They may not be welcome inside upper-caste homes and should not presume to enter without being invited (and not just invited to sit outside on the porch). Upper-caste Hindus may decline to eat with them at all, or may avoid eating foods that are most subject to pollution.
Breaches of dietary etiquette were made criminal offenses in Muluki Ain -- the main corpus of civil law -- in 1854 and not decriminalized until 1962. Since 1962 discriminatory customs have been falling into disuse among educated and urban Nepalis, yet they often prevail in the countryside, especially among older Brahmins and Thakuris. Guests and visitors should try to conform to traditional dietary customs until clearly instructed otherwise by their hosts.

Types

Newari cuisine - Newars are an ethnic group originally living in the Kathmandu Valley, now also in bazaar towns elsewhere in the Middle Hills (Himalayan foothills, up to about 6,500'/2,000m). Water buffalo meat is eaten by Newars but avoided by most observant Hindus as too cow-like. Nevertheless, less observant urbanized Hindus may in fact eat buffalo in the form of momo (potstickers) and other dishes in Newari restaurants. Newari cuisine has many fermented preparations. In the fertile Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys where cheap rice can be trucked in and local market farmers find produce more profitable than grain, the cuisine is much more varied than in more isolated parts of the Hills where maximizing grain production is still a matter of survival.
Khas or Pahari cuisine conforms to dietary restrictions of upper-caste Hindus in the Middle Hills. Dal-bhat-tarkari is the standard meal eaten twice daily.Hill Bahun Chettri Have traditionally eaten Goat meat(Khasi)and fish. However with land suitable for irrigated rice paddies in short supply, other grains supplement or even dominate. Wheat becomes unleavened flat wheat bread (roti or chapati). Maize (makai), buckwheat (fapar), barley (jau) or millet (kodo) become porridge-like (dhiro or ato). Tarkari can be spinach or greens (sag), fermented and dried greens (gundruk), daikon radish (mula), potatoes (alu), green beans (simi), tomatoes (golbeda), cauliflower(kauli), cabbage (bandakopi)), pumpkin (pharsi), etc. Fruit traditionally grown in the hills include mandarin orange (suntala), kaffir lime (kaguti), lemon (nibuwa), asian pear (nashpati), and bayberry (kaphal). Yoghurt (dahi) and curried meat (masu) or fish (machha) are served as side dishes when available. Chicken (Kukhura), and fish are usually acceptable to all but the highest Brahmin (Bahun) caste.Bahuns, Hill Brahmins, however eat Goat meat(Khasi).Observant Hindus never eat beef (gaiko masu), except untouchables (dalit) possibly eating animals that have died of natural causes. In Pahari communities, pork (sungurko masu) was traditionally only eaten by Magars,Kirats and Dalits.However wild boar is traditionally hunted and eaten by Chhetris.Lately,Pork( Bangur ko maasu) is becoming popular across the ethnicities and castes in Nepal except Castes in Terai.
Ethnic variations in the Middle Hills - buffalo) meat and/or pork are eaten by many janajati -- indigenous nationalities with customs departing from Hindu norms to varying degrees. In the course of the Nepalese Civil War, Magars (and perhaps other ethnicities in areas under rebel control) began eating beef to flaunt longstanding Hindu domination. More traditionally, Magars ate pork but not water buffalo while the superficially similar Gurung did the opposite. Further east, Tamang, Rai and Limbu have unique ethnic foods including fermented soybeans, yangben -- a particular type of moss, preparations of bamboo shoots, bread made from millet or buckwheat, and traditional Limbu drink tongba (millet beer).
Terai cuisine - Food in Outer Terai south of Sivalik Hills grades into cuisines of adjacent parts of India such as Maithili cuisine in the east, Bihari and Bhojpuri cuisine in the center and near west. Further west there is Uttar Pradeshi and even Mughlai-influenced Awadhi cuisine -- particularly eaten by the substantial Muslim population around Nepalganj and beyond. Terai diets can be more varied than in the Middle Hills because of greater variety of crops grown locally plus cash crops imported from cooler microclimates in nearby hill regions as well as from different parts of India. Fruit commonly grown in the Terai include mango (aap), papaya (mewa), banana (kera) and jackfruit (katahar).
Inner Terai valleys between the Sivaliks and Mahabharat Range were originally severely malarial and mainly populated by genetically-resistant Tharu who mave a distinctive (but not well documented) cuisine. Tharu certainly consume large amounts of fish from local rivers and are even said to eat rats. Control of malaria starting in the late 1950s enabled immigration by land-hungry settlers from the hills and by Indian merchant families into towns, bringing their respective native cuisines with them.

Himalayan cuisine - Eaten by culturally Tibetan and closely related ethnic groups in the Himalaya and Trans-himalaya. Buckwheat), barley and millet are important cold-tolerant grains often processed into noodles or tsampa (toasted flour), or made into alcoholic beverages (see below). Potatoes are another important staple crop and food. Subtantial amounts of rice are imported from the lowlands. The meat of yak and possibly yak-cow hybrids may be used, as well as their milk. Meat is often prepared as momo (potstickers).

Snacks include maize popped or parched called khaja (literally, "Eat and run."); beaten rice (chyura), dry-roasted soybeans (bhatmas), samosa - turnovers stuffed with meat or vegetables, biscuits (packaged cookies) and Indian sweets. Instant noodles manufactured with Indian spices are coming into widespread use.
Beverages - tea (chiya) usually taken with milk and sugar, juice of sugarcane (sarbat) and buttermilk (mahi). Alcoholic beverages include raksi -- spirits made in rustic distilleries -- and jard, -- homemade beer made from rice. At higher elevations there is millet beer (tongba or chyang).

Nepalese cuisine

Nepalese cuisine refers to the cuisines of Nepal. The cultural and geographic diversity of Nepal provide ample space for a variety of cuisines based on ethnicity, soil and climate. Nevertheless dal-bhat-tarkari (Nepali: दाल भात तरकारी ) is eaten throughout the country. Dal is a spicy/non-spicy soup made of lentils. It is served over boiled grain, bhat -- usually rice but sometimes another grain -- with vegetable curry, tarkari. Typical condiments are a small amount of extremely spicy chutney (चटनी) or Achaar made from fresh ingredients) or fermented pickle achaar (अचार), sliced lemon(nibua) or lime (kagati) and fresh chili peppers, khursani. The variety of achars is staggering, said to number in the thousands.

2007

YCL kidnap a doctor and medical college directors Dr. Gyanendra Giri, Nawaraj Pandey, Umesh Pandey, Aditya Khanal/Janak Rizal and Santosh Mani Neupane; luckily the other two partners Hari R.Acharya and Asha Bashat were saved.

2006

• 2 January: Rebels decide not to extend a four month ceasefire saying that the government had broken the ceasefire with numerous attacks on Maoist villages.
• 14 January: Maoists launch coordinated attacks of five military and paramilitary targets in the Kathmandu Valley. The first demonstration of their ability to organize violence within the Valley, prompting curfews at night for the next several days.
• 14 March: Nepali rebels extend road blockade; nationwide strike called for 3 April.
• 5 April: General strike begins with Maoist forces promising to refrain from violence.
• 6 April 7: Protesters clash with police, hundreds arrested, dozens injured.
• 8 April: A curfew is imposed in Kathmandu from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. The king orders protesters violating the curfew to be "shot on sight."
• 9 April: General strike scheduled to end. Government extends curfew, BBC reports. Three dead in two days of unrest, as thousands of demonstrators defy curfews.
• 27 April: Maoist insurgents, responding to a demand by the newly appointed Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, announce a unilateral three-month truce after weeks of pro-democracy protests in Kathmandu, and encourage the formation of a new constituent assembly tasked with rewriting the nation's constitution.
• 3 May: Nepal's new cabinet declares a ceasefire. The cabinet also announces that the Maoist rebels will no longer be considered a terrorist group. Rebels are also encouraged to open peace talks.
• 21 November: Peace talks end with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist leader Prachanda. The deal allows the Maoists to take part in government, and places their weapons under UN monitoring.

2005

• 2 January: Nepali media falsely reports two children being killed in Dailekh District by a Maoist bomb.
• 4 January: Three government security personnel and between two and twenty-four Maoist rebels reported killed in fighting.
• 8 January: Maoists detain and later release 300 passengers from six buses that defy their blockade of Kathmandu.
• 10 January: Prime Minister Deuba said he would increase defense spending to fight the Maoists unless they come forward for talks with the government.
• 11 January: Protests and blockades over the government fuel price increases of between 10% and 25%.
• 15 January: Maoists allegedly detain 14 Indian Gurkhas from Chuha village in Kailali.
• 1 February: King Gyanendra dissolves the Deuba government and bans all news reports. The army begins arresting senior political leaders, journalists, trade unionists, human rights activists and civil society leaders. All telephone and internet connections are cut.
• 6 June: Badarmude bus explosion: Some 38 civilians are killed and over 70 injured after a packed passenger bus runs over a rebel landmine in Chitwan District.
• 9 August: Maoist rebels kill 40 security men in midwestern Nepal.
• 3 September: The Maoists declare a three-month unilateral ceasefire to woo opposition political parties.
• 19 November: After negotiations, the Maoist rebels agree to work with opposition politicians in a common front against the rule of King Gyanendra of Nepal.

2004

• 5 February: An Army raid is carried out by the Bhairavnath Battalion on a village in Bhimad, Makwanpur District. Reports emerge that 45 suspected Maoist rebels and two civilians were executed after being captured. Amnesty International later wrote a letter to Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and Brigadier-General Nilendra Aryal, Head of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) human rights cell, demanding an immediate inquiry.
• 10 February: Two central committee members of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Matrika Yadav and Suresh Paswan, are reported to have been handed over by India to Nepal. They were reportedly arrested in Lucknow after Nepal provided information.
• 13 February: Ganesh Chilwal leads an anti-Maoist protest on this day, the ninth anniversary of the commencement of the revolution.
• 15 February: Ganesh Chilwal is shot dead in his Kathmandu office by two suspected Maoists.
  Fighting erupts at a Maoist jungle base in Kalikot District, 360 km west of Kathmandu. The base is said to hold 5000 Maoist troops.
• 16 february: Nepalese state radio reports that 13 Maoist rebels were killed in seven separate small clashes with security forces across the country.
• On 17 February, a security official says that a private helicopter flying troops to Kalikot was hit by Maoist fire but that it returned safely to Kathmandu.
• On 18 February 65 Maoists are reported to have been killed, though this conflicts with other reported death tolls of 35 and 48.
• 18 February: Lawmaker Khem Narayan Faujdar, a member of the parliament dissolved by King Gyanendra in 2002, is shot dead by two suspected Maoists riding a motorcycle in the Nawalparasi District, 200 km southwest of the capital, according to the police.
• 2 April: The largest rallies since 1990 begin in Kathmandu. They are variously labelled "pro-democracy" and "anti-monarchy."
• 3 April: More than 12 trucks are burnt while waiting at a western Nepal border post to pick up petrol from India. India condemns the attacks and vows to fight terrorism.
• 4 April: "Some 150 demonstrators were struck during a police baton charge" during demonstrations in Kathmandu
• 4 April "Hundreds of Maoist rebels" attack a Police outpost in Yadukuwa, Jadukhola. 13 policemen are killed, 7 wounded, and 35 are listed as missing. 8-9 Maoists are also killed. "Witnesses said more than 500 rebels attacked the Police post and began firing Assault Rifles and RPG-7 rockets. at around 9 p.m. (1515 GMT) on Sunday night. The fighting lasted two to three hours." Other reports state 400 rebels.
• 4 April: In the west of the country three Indian traders are shot and injured and have their vehicles burned.
• 5 April: A three day additional strike begins, called by CPN(M) and opposed by an "alliance of five political parties" who are protesting in Kathmandu against the monarchy and say the strike will hamper the movement of demonstrators in Kathmandu. Prachanda said, "The time has come to win a united struggle against the feudal forces as the king is trying to take the nation back to the 18th century.
• 5 April: In the morning, 3 soldiers are killed and 7 injured by a CPN(M) landmine activated by their vehicle at Dhalkhola, 50 km east of Kathmandu.
• 5 April: At least 140 people are injured in clashes in Kathmandu as "about 50,000" demonstrators confront the police. Demonstrators try to break through a police barricade close to the royal palace. The police respond with tear gas and protesters are reportedly injured by police batons. Rocks and bricks are thrown by both sides. Demonstrations also occur in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Meanwhile, king Gyanendra has reportedly been away touring villages in western Nepal.
• 5 April: The Indian government announces that it will no longer provide police escorts to Indian officials shopping in Nepal, as a means to discourage such trips. Fears are based on the CPN(M) targeting Indians. "We are worried about possible reprisals here if the Maoists continue to target Indians inside Nepal," said a senior police official.
• 16 August: The Soaltee Hotel, a popular luxury hotel in Kathmandu, is bombed, after refusing a demand from the Maoists that the hotel close.
• 18 August: A bomb explodes in a marketplace in southern Nepal. The blast kills a 12-year-old boy and wounds six others, including three policemen. In addition, Maoist rebels, demanding the release of captured guerrillas, stop all road traffic near Kathmandu by threatening to attack vehicles. Some Nepal businesses are shut down because of threats.
• 10 September: A bomb explodes at the United States Information Service office in Kathmandu.
• 13 September: U.S. Peace Corps suspends operations and non-essential U.S. Embassy personnel are evacuated from Nepal.
• 9 November: 36 people were injured when suspected Maoist rebels exploded a powerful bomb at a under-construction government office complex,the Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh Office Complex in the heart of Nepalese capital Kathmandu Tuesday.
• 15 December: Twenty government security personnel are killed in the western district of Arghakhanchi when the Maoists mount a surprise attack.
• 16 December: Sixteen Maoist rebels are killed in clashes with Nepali security forces in the western district of Dailekh.
• 23 December: Maoist forces launch blockade of Kathmandu.
• 26 December: Over 15,000 hold peace rally in Kathmandu.

2003

• January: The United States hold exercises with the Nepali army. Maoist insurgents kill the Inspector General of Armed Police, Krishna Mohan Shrestha, his wife and his bodyguard, Head Constable Subhash Bahadur Gurung of the Armed Police Force Nepal, while on their morning walk, as they used to do on Sunday mornings, intending to represent general safety to fellow citizens. The Inspector General and his wife, who was a teacher at an international school in the capital, were both unarmed. They were riddled with bullets from Type 56 Rifles and G3 rifles used by the Maoists.
• 29 January: A second ceasefire is established and peace talks begin.
• 13 May: Code of conduct jointly declared by the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) for the mutually agreed period of cease-fire
• 17 August: Nepali Military and Police forces kill 39 Maoist rebels in the Ramechhap District of central Nepal during an offensive launched jointly by the Army, Police, and Air Force of Nepal. 7 Soldiers of the Nepali Army and 5 Constables of the Armed Police are also killed in the operation.
• 24 August: The Maoists set an ultimatum, threatening to withdraw from the cease-fire if the government does not agree within 48 hours to include the question of the Maoists participating in the Constituent Assembly.
• 26 August: The Maoist ultimatum expires.
• 27 August:
  Strike: The Maoist call for a three-day strike to denounce the Army's attacks on their cadres
  The Maoists unilaterally withdraw from the 29 January cease-fire. Prachanda's statement revives the rebels' demand for an end to monarchic rule in favor of a people's republic, stating, "Since the old regime has put an end to the forward-looking solution to all existing problems through the cease-fire and peace talks, we herein declare that the rationale behind cease-fire...and peace process has ended."

• 27 September: "Fifteen people including 8 Rebels and 4 Policemen were killed on Saturday and suspected Maoists bombed five government utilities despite the guerrillas' plans for a nine day truce from 2 October, officials said. Eight Maoists were killed in a gun battle with security forces at Chhita Pokhara in the Khotang District, 340 kilometres east of Kathmandu, a police officer said. 4 Policemen were also martyred. Elsewhere in eastern Nepal, the Maoists killed two Policemen,Constable Purna Prasad Sharma and Head Constable Radha Krishna Gurung, and a woman selling beetle nuts, Kali Tamang, in the Jaljale-Gaighat area, an official said. 'A group of seven Maoists descended from a public bus when police were checking the passengers and suddenly opened fire from automatic pistols, killing the three and wounding two others,' said Sitaram Prasad Pokharel, the chief administrator for the region. In Janakpur, an industrial hub on the Indian border 260 kilometres south-east of Kathmandu, the Maoists under the direct command of Prachanda carried out five early morning bombings that disrupted telephone service and power, police said. No one was killed directly by the blasts but an elderly man died of a heart attack after hearing the explosions, Police Deputy Superintendent Bharat Chhetri said. He said the sites that were bombed included the offices of the roads department and the Nepal Electricity Authority and a telecommunications tower. Police personnel and Maoists traded fire for nearly 40 minutes after the blasts but the rebels escaped and 37 people were injured, Mr Khadka said."
• 13 October: At least 42 Police Recruits and 9 Maoists are killed when an estimated 3,000 Maoists attempt to storm a Police Training Center in Bhaluwang. "'The rebels had snapped telephone cables, set up roadblocks by felling trees or blowing up highway bridges to prevent reinforcements from coming,' a witness, Krishna Adhikary, told Reuters."
• 27 October: " Colonel Adrian Griffith and six Nepali nationals were freed last week 42 hours after being taken captive in Baglung, 300 km (190 miles) west of Kathmandu, while on a drive to recruit young Gurkha soldiers to serve in the British army." Party chief Prachanda said, "We are sorry for the incident that took place against the policy of the party."
• 11 November: The government Defence Ministry accuses the Maoists of abducting twenty-nine 9th- and 10th-grade students from Riva Secondary School in Mugu District, western Nepal during the previous week.
• 19 November: According to a Nepal army official, four people were caught at the Chinese Khasa border point, 114 kilometers northeast of Kathmandu, smuggling weapons from Tibet into Nepal. The official named Hirala Lal Shrestha and Gyaljen Sherpa and said they were taken for interrogation in the Tibetan town of Xigatse.

2002

• The United States Congress approves US$12 million to train Royal Nepal Army officers and supply 5,000 M16 rifles.
• May: Peace talks collapse.
• May: Large battle fought between Army and Maoist forces at Lisne Lekh along boundary between Pyuthan and Rolpa districts.
• 11 May: A photograph is discovered by Nepal government soldiers in western Nepal. The photograph depicts Nepal's Maoist rebel leaders Baburam Bhattarai, Hisila Yami, Ram Bahadur Thapa (alias Badal), and Pushpa Kamal Dahal (alias Prachanda).
• 22 May: King Gyanendra, acting on the advice of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, dissolves Parliament and orders new elections. The reason given for the dissolution is opposition to the state of emergency.
• 11 July: Information leaks out that the Belgian weapon manufacturer FN Herstal is allowed to deliver 5,500 M249 Minimi rifles to the Nepali monarchy, a decision made by all coalition parties. Minister of External Affairs Louis Michel speaks of "a country in a pluralistic democracy."
• 4 October: King Gyanendra deposes Prime Minister Deuba and the entire Council of Ministers, assumes executive power, and cancels the elections for the dissolved House of Representatives, which had been scheduled for 11 November.
• 11 October: King Gyanendra appoints Lokendra Bahadur Chand as Prime Minister.

2001

• January: The government creates the Armed Police Force to fight the insurgents.
• 28 May: Chairman Prachanda gives an interview with the Communist journal A World to Win.
• 1 June: Crown Prince Dipendra reportedly kills King Birendra and most of the royal family in the Nepali royal massacre. Dipendra, comatose after a failed suicide attempt or assassination attempt by palace guards, is crowned king, according to tradition. He dies on
• 4 June, Gyanendra is crowned King.
• 3 August: The first round of peace talks begin.
• 23 November: Peace talks collapse when the Maoists withdraw and launch a ferocious attack Police and Army posts in 42 districts, in which 186 Army and Police personnel and 21 Maoists are killed.
• 26 November: The government of Sher Bahadur Deuba declares a Nationwide State of Emergency and employs the Nepal Army in attacking the Maoists.

1996

• 13 February: Initiation of "the peoples war" by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
  Kathmandu: A soft-drink bottling factory owned by a multi-national company is attacked and the building torched.

Gorkha District:
A foreign liquor factory is completely destroyed.

• The office of the Small Farmer's Development Programme of the state-owned Agricultural Development Bank in Chyangli VDC (Village Development Committee) is ransacked.
  Kavre District: A moneylender's house is raided at night, properties and cash reportedly worth 1.3 million rupees seized, and loan documents worth several million rupees reportedly destroyed. 7 members of the moneylender's family are killed , all shot to death.
  Rolpa, Rukum & Sindhuli Districts: One police outpost raided in each district. The outpost at Holeri, Rolpa has its stores seized, including a substantial amount of high explosives. Athbiskot-Rari, Rukum is also raided. The Sindhuligarhi post in Sindhuli is reportedly raided without . 17 Police personnel are killed in total , and only one Maoist guerilla is killed in retaliation.

Timeline

Nepalese Civil War

The Nepali Civil War (labelled People's War by the Maoists) was a conflict between government forces and Maoist rebels in Nepal which lasted from 1996 until 2006. The war was started by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on 13 February 1996, with the aim of overthrowing the Nepalese monarchy and establishing the "People's Republic of Nepal." It ended with a Comprehensive Peace Accord signed on 21 November 2006 which is now monitored by United Nations Mission in Nepal.
timeline of war:
1 .1996
2 .2001
3 .2002
4 .2003
5 .2004
6 .2005
7 .2006
8. 2007

More than 12,800 people were killed (4,500 by Maoists and 8,200 by the government) and an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people were internally displaced as a result of the conflict. This conflict disrupted the majority of rural development activities and led to a deep and complex Left Front which, together with the Nepali Congress, was the backbone of the broadbased movement for democratic change. However, communist groups uncomfortable with the alliance between ULF and Congress formed a parallel front, the United National People's Movement. The UNPM called for elections to a Constituent Assembly, and rejected compromises made by ULF and Congress with the royal house. In November 1990 the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) was formed, including key elements of constituents of UNPM. The new party held its first convention in 1991, the adopted a line of "protracted armed struggle on the route to a new democratic revolution" and that the party would remain an underground party. The CPN(UC) set up Samyukta Jana Morcha, with Baburam Bhattarai as its head, as an open front ten contest elections. In the 1991 elections, SJM became the third force in the Nepali parliament. However, disagreements surged regarding which tactics were to be used by the party. One sector argued for immediate armed revolution whereas others (including senior leaders like Nirmal Lama) claimed that Nepal was not yet ripe for armed struggle.
In 1994 CPN(UC)/SJM was split in two. The militant sector later renamed itself the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The Maoists labeled the government forces and included in this accusation the monarchy and the mainstream political parties. The armed struggle began soon afterwards with simultaneous attacks on remote police stations and district headquarters. Initially, the Nepali government mobilized the Nepal Police to contain the insurgency. The Royal Nepal Army was not involved in direct fighting because the conflict was regarded as a matter for the police to sustain control. Furthermore, controversy grew regarding the army not assisting the police during insurgent attacks in remote areas. The popularly-elected prime minister resigned his post, due to the refusal of the Royal Army to take part in the conflict. This situation changed dramatically in 2002 when the first session of peace talks failed and the Maoists attacked an army barracks in Dang District in western Nepal. Overnight, the army was unleashed against the insurgents. At the same time, the king of Nepal maintained a puppet democratic government which depended upon him for their status to remain legitimate. Under the aegis of the global War on Terrorism and with the stated goal of averting the development of a "failed state" that could serve as a source of regional and international instability, the United States, European Union, and India, among other nations, have provided extensive military and economic aid to the Nepali government. This material support to the Nepali government dried up after King Gyanendra seized full control in February 2005 to get rid of civil war for once and all.
The government responded to the rebellion by banning provocative statements about the monarchy, imprisoning journalists, and shutting down newspapers accused of siding with the insurgents. Several rounds of negotiations, accompanied by temporary cease-fires, have been held between the insurgents and the government. The government has categorically rejected the insurgents' demand for an election to the constituent assembly; it would result in the abolition of the monarchy by a popular vote. At the same time, the Maoists have refused to recognize the installation of a constitutional monarchy. In November 2004, the government rejected the Maoists' request to negotiate directly with the King Gyanendra rather than via the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba; their request for discussions to be mediated by a third party, such as the United Nations was dismissed.
Throughout war, the government controlled the main cities and towns, whilst the Maoist dominated the rural areas. Historically, the presence of the Nepali government has been limited to town and zonal centers. The only state apparatus present in most small villages, where most of the inhabitants of Nepal live, were a health post, a government school, a village council, and a police booth. Once the insurgency began, the schools were all that remained, indicating that the Maoists had seized control of the village. The Royal government powerbase is located in the zonal headquarters and the capital Kathmandu. Unrest reached Kathmandu in 2004 when the Maoists announced a blockade of the capital city.

Three maoist rebels are waiting on top of a hill in the Rolpa district to get orders to relocate to another location.
Intense fighting and civic unrest continued well into 2005, with the death toll rising to 200 in December 2004. On 1 February 2005, in response to the inability of the relatively democratic government to restore order, King Gyanendra assumed total control of the government. He proclaimed, "Democracy and progress contradict one another… In pursuit of liberalism, we should never overlook an important aspect of our conduct, namely discipline."
On 22 November 2005, the joint CPN(M)-United People's Front conference in Delhi issued a 12-point resolution, stating that they "…completely agree that autocratic monarchy is the main hurdle" hindering the realisation of "democracy, peace, prosperity, social advancement and a free and sovereign Nepal." In addition, "It is our clear view that without establishing absolute democracy by ending autocratic monarchy, there is no possibility of peace, progress, and prosperity in the country."
An understanding had been reached to establish absolute democracy by ending monarchy with the respective forces centralizing their assault against monarchy thereby creating a nationwide storm of democratic protests. This marked a departure from the previous stance of the CPN(M), which had so far vehemently opposed the gradual process of democratization advocated by the UPF.
As a result of the civil war, Nepal's greatest source of foreign exchange, its tourism industry, suffered considerably. iExplore, a travel company, published rankings of the popularity of tourist destinations, based on their sales, which indicated that Nepal had gone from being the tenth most popular destination among adventure travelers, to the twenty-seventh.
The conflict has forced the young and able to seek work abroad in order to avoid the Human Rights Violations committed by the Government forces and the crimes committed by the Maoists. These labourers work predominantly in the Gulf (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc.) and Southeast Asia (Malaysia etc.). The regular flow of remittances from these labourers has permitted the country to avoid serious economic crisis or economic bankruptcy. The economy of Nepal is heavily dependent on the infusion of foreign income from the labouring class (similar to the Lebanese economy during its civil war).

Use of child soldiers

To achieve their goals of removing the king and establishing a secular communist republic, the Maoists resorted to underage recruitment, particularly of young students, usually between 12 and 16 years old. At the conclusion of the war, an estimated 12,000 Maoist soldiers were below 18 years of age, and Human Rights Estimates that the majority of the current militia joined as minors. The United Nation Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has verified nine thousand child soldiers currently in Maoist cantonment training camps.
Maoists used children as soldiers, messengers, cooks, porters and suppliers. Regardless of role, all children received rudimentary military training concerning explosives, so they would be able to recognize and avoid land mines. The Maoists, however, continue to deny that any soldiers were less than 18 years of age. They claim that they have cared for orphans of adult soldiers killed in the war, and that these children were not placed in danger.
Children, including girls, were deployed in combat situations, often to help provide ammunition or assist with evacuating or caring for the wounded. A 16-year-old boy from Dang district in Western Nepal reported that he was forced to carry wounded Maoist combatants to India for treatment. He revealed how he and six others of the same age managed to run away. A 14-year-old girl explained how arms training took place by torchlight during the night.

Culture

A typical Nepalese meal is dal-bhat-tarkari. Dal is a spicy lentil soup, served over bhat (boiled rice), served with tarkari (curried vegetables) together with achar (pickles) or chutni (spicy condiment made from fresh ingredients).. The Newar community, however, has its own unique cuisine. It consists of non-vegetarian as well as vegetarian items served with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Mustard oil is the cooking medium and a host of spices, such as cumin, coriander, black peppers, sesame seeds, turmeric, garlic, ginger, methi (fenugreek), bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, chillies, mustard seeds, etc., are used in the cooking. The cuisine served on festivals is generally the best.

Costumed Hindu-girls in Nepal. The two small children represent the god Krishna and his consort Radha. Sitting behind are the god Vishnu and his consort Laxmi.
Main article: Music of Nepal
The Newari Music orchestra consists mainly of percussion instruments, though wind instruments, such as flutes and other similar instruments, are also used. String instruments are very rare. There are songs pertaining to particular seasons and festivals. Paahan chare music is probably the fastest played music whereas the Dapa the slowest. There are certain musical instruments such as Dhimay and Bhusya which are played as instrumental only and are not accompanied with songs. The dhimay music is the loudest one. In the hills, people enjoy their own kind of music, playing saarangi (a string instrument), madal and flute. They also have many popular folk songs known as lok geet and lok dohari.
The Newar dances can be broadly classified into masked dances and non-masked dances. The most representative of Newari dances is Lakhey dance. Almost all the settlements of Newaris organise Lakhey dance at least once a year, mostly in the Goonlaa month. So, they are called Goonlaa Lakhey. However, the most famous Lakhey dance is the Majipa Lakhey dance; it is performed by the Ranjitkars of Kathmandu and the celebration continues for the entire week that contains the full moon of Yenlaa month. The Lakhey are considered to be the saviors of children.
Folklore is an integral part of Nepalese society. Traditional stories are rooted in the reality of day-to-day life, tales of love, affection and battles as well as demons and ghosts and thus reflect local lifestyles, cultures and beliefs. Many Nepalese folktales are enacted through the medium of dance and music.
The Nepali year begins in mid-April and is divided into 12 months. Saturday is the official weekly holiday. Main annual holidays include the National Day, celebrated on the birthday of the king (December 28), Prithvi Jayanti (January 11), Martyr's Day (February 18), and a mix of Hindu and Buddhist festivals such as dashain in autumn, and tihar in late autumn. During tihar, the Newar community also celebrates its New Year as per their local calendar Nepal Sambat.
Most houses in rural lowland of Nepal are made up of a tight bamboo framework and walls of a mud and cow-dung mix. These dwellings remain cool in summer and retain warmth in winter. Houses in the hills are usually made of unbaked bricks with thatch or tile roofing. At high elevations construction changes to stone masonry and slate may be used on roofs.
Nepal's flag is the only national flag in the world that is non-quadrilateral in shape, and one of only two non-rectangular flags in use (the other being the flag of the U.S. state of Ohio). According to its official description, the red in the flag stands for victory in war or courage, and is also color of the rhododendron, the national flower of Nepal. Red also stands for aggression. The flag's blue border signifies peace. The curved moon on the flag is a symbol of the peaceful and calm nature of Nepalese, while the sun represents the aggressiveness of Nepalese warriors.

Economy

Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2008 was estimated at over US$12 billion (adjusted to Nominal GDP), making it the 115th-largest economy in the world. Agriculture accounts for about 40% of Nepal's GDP, services comprise 41% and industry 22%. Agriculture employs 76% of the workforce, services 18% and manufacturing/craft-based industry 6%. Agricultural produce — mostly grown in the Terai region bordering India — includes tea, rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops, milk, and water buffalo meat. Industry mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce, including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain.
Its workforce of about 10 million suffers from a severe shortage of skilled labour. The spectacular landscape and diverse, exotic cultures of Nepal represent considerable potential for tourism, but growth in this hospitality industry has been stifled by recent political events. The rate of unemployment and underemployment approaches half of the working-age population. Thus many Nepali citizens move to India in search of work; the Gulf countries and Malaysia being new sources of work. Nepal receives US$50 million a year through the Gurkha soldiers who serve in the Indian and British armies and are highly esteemed for their skill and bravery. The total remittance value is worth around US$1 billion, including money sent from the Persian Gulf and Malaysia, who combined employ around 700,000 Nepali citizens.

The famous outpost of Naamche Bazaar in the Khumbu region close to Mount Everest. The town is built on terraces in what resembles a giant Greek theatre.
A long-standing economic agreement underpins a close relationship with India. The country receives foreign aid from India, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, China, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries. Poverty is acute; per-capita income is less than US$470. The distribution of wealth among the Nepalis is consistent with that in many developed and developing countries: the highest 10% of households control 39.1% of the national wealth and the lowest 10% control only 2.6%.
The government's budget is about US$1.153 billion, with expenditures of $1.789 billion (FY05/06). The Nepalese rupee has been tied to the Indian Rupee at an exchange rate of 1.6 for many years. Since the loosening of exchange rate controls in the early 1990s, the black market for foreign exchange has all but disappeared. The inflation rate has dropped to 2.9% after a period of higher inflation during the 1990s.
Nepal's exports of mainly carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods and grain total $822 million. Import commodities of mainly gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products and fertilizer total US$2 bn. India (53.7%), the US (17.4%), and Germany (7.1%) are its main export partners. Nepal's import partners include India (47.5%), the United Arab Emirates (11.2%), China (10.7%), Saudi Arabia (4.9%), and Singapore (4%).

A Rs.500 banknote of The Republic of Nepal. For economical reasons, the watermark on the right still contains a picture of King Gyanendra, obscured by printing a rhododendron, the national flower of Nepal.
Nepal remains isolated from the world's major land, air and sea transport routes although, within the country, aviation is in a better state, with 48 airports, ten of them with paved runways; flights are frequent and support a sizable traffic. The hilly and mountainous terrain in the northern two-thirds of the country has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. There were just over 8,500 km (5,282 mi) of paved roads, and one 59-km railway line in the south in 2003. There is only one reliable road route from India to the Kathmandu Valley. The only practical seaport of entry for goods bound for Kathmandu is Calcutta in India. Internally, the poor state of development of the road system (22 of 75 administrative districts lack road links) makes volume distribution unrealistic. Besides having landlocked, rugged geography, few tangible natural resources and poor infrastructure, the long-running civil war is also a factor in stunting the economic growth.
There is less than one telephone per 19 people. Landline telephone services are not adequate nationwide but are concentrated in cities and district headquarters. Mobile telephony is in a reasonable state in most parts of the country with increased accessibility and affordability; there were around 175,000 Internet connections in 2005. After the imposition of the "state of emergency", intermittent losses of service-signals were reported, but uninterrupted Internet connections have resumed after Nepal's second major people's revolution to overthrow the King's absolute power.

Military and foreign affairs

Nepal's military consists of the Nepalese Army, which includes the Nepalese Army Air Service (the air force unit under it.) Nepalese Police Force is the civilian police and the Armed Police Force Nepalis the paramilitary force. Service is voluntary and the minimum age for enlistment is 18 years. Nepal spends $99.2 million (2004) on its military—1.5% of its GDP. Many of the equipment and arms are imported from India. Consequently, the USA provided M16s M4s and other Colt weapons to combat communist (Maoist) insurgents. As of now, the standard-issue battle rifle of the Nepalese army is the Colt M16.
Nepal has close ties with both of its neighbours, India and China. In accordance with a long-standing treaty, Indian and Nepalese citizens may travel to each others' countries without a passport or visa. Nepalese citizens may work in India without legal restriction. Although Nepal and India typically have close ties, from time to time Nepal becomes caught up in the problematic Sino-Indian relationship. Recently, China has been asking Nepal to curb protests in Nepal against China's Policy on Tibet, and on April 17, 2008, police arrested over 500 Tibetan protestors citing a need to maintain positive relations with China.

Environment

The dramatic differences in elevation found in Nepal result in a variety of biomes, from tropical savannas along the Indian border, to subtropical broadleaf and coniferous forests in the Hill Region, to temperate broadleaf and coniferous forests on the slopes of the Himalaya, to montane grasslands and shrublands and rock and ice at the highest elevations.
At the lowest elevations we find the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion. These form a mosaic with the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, which occur from 500 to 1,000 metres (1,600 to 3,300 ft) and include the Inner Terai Valleys. Himalayan subtropical pine forests occur between 1,000 and 2,000 metres (3,300 and 6,600 ft).
Above these elevations, the biogeography of Nepal is generally divided from east to west by the Gandaki River. Ecoregions to the east tend to receive more precipitation and to be more species-rich. Those to the west are drier with fewer species.
From 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,900 to 9,800 ft), we find temperate broadleaf forests: the eastern and western Himalayan broadleaf forests. From 3,000 to 4,000 metres (9,800 to 13,000 ft) are the eastern and western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests. To 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) are the eastern and western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows

Regions, zones and districts of Nepal

Nepal is divided into 14 zones and 75 districts, grouped into 5 development regions. Each district is headed by a permanent chief district officer responsible for maintaining law and order and coordinating the work of field agencies of the various government ministries.

The 5 regions and 14 zones are:

1. Eastern Region (Purwanchal)
Koshi
Mechi
Sagarmatha
2. Central Region (Madhyamanchal)
Bagmati
Janakpur
Narayani
3. Western Region (Pashchimanchal)
Dhawalagiri
Gandaki
Lumbini
4. Mid-Western Region (Madhya Pashchimanchal)
Bheri
Karnali
Rapti
5. Far-Western Region (Sudur Pashchimanchal)
Mahakali
Seti

LARGEST CITIES:

The 10 largest cities (by population) in Nepal are as follows (information can be found here):
1. Kathmandu (Pop.: 1,442,271)
2. Pokhara (Pop.: 200,000)
3. Patan (Pop.: 183,310)
4. Biratnagar (Pop.: 182,324)
5. Birgunj (Pop.: 133,238)
6. Dharan Bazar (Pop.: 108,600)
7. Bharatpur (Pop.: 107,157)
8. Janakpur (Pop.: 93,767)
9. Dhangarhi (Pop.: 92,294)
10. Butwal (Pop.: 91,733)

Neotectonics

The collision between the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian continent, which started in Paleogene time and continues today, produced the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau, a spectacular modern example of the effects of plate tectonics. Nepal lies completely within this collision zone, occupying the central sector of the Himalayan arc, nearly one third of the 2,400 km (1,500 mi)-long Himalayas.
The Indian plate continues to move north relative to Asia at the rate of approximately 50 mm (2.0 in) per year. Given the great magnitudes of the blocks of the Earth's crust involved, this is remarkably fast, about twice the speed at which human fingernails grow. As the strong Indian continental crust subducts beneath the relatively weak Tibetan crust, it pushes up the Himalayan mountains. This collision zone has accommodated huge amounts of crustal shortening as the rock sequences slide one over another.
Erosion of the Himalayas is a very important source of sediment, which flows via several great rivers (the Indus to the Indian Ocean, and the Ganges and Brahmaputra river system) to the Bay of Bengal.

Geography of Nepal

Geography of Nepal is uncommonly diverse. Nepal is of roughly trapezoidal shape, 800 kilometres (497 mi) long and 200 kilometres (124 mi) wide, with an area of 147,181 km2 (56,827 sq mi). See List of territories by size for the comparative size of Nepal.
Nepal is commonly divided into three physiographic areas: the Mountain, Hill, Siwalik region and Terai Regions. These ecological belts run east-west and are vertically intersected by Nepal's major, north to south flowing river systems.
The southern lowland plains or Terai bordering India are part of the northern rim of the Indo-Gangetic plains. They were formed and are fed by three major Himalayan rivers: the Kosi, the Narayani, and the Karnali as well as smaller rivers rising below the permanent snowline. This region has a subtropical to tropical climate. The outermost range of foothills called Shiwalik or Churia Range cresting at 700 to 1,000 metres (2,297 to 3,281 ft) marks the limit of the Gangetic Plain, however broad, low valleys called Inner Tarai (Bhitri Tarai Uptyaka) lie north of these foothills in several places.
Gosainkunda Lake in Langtang.
The Hill Region (Pahad) abuts the mountains and varies from 800 to 4,000 metres (2,625 to 13,123 ft) in altitude with progression from subtropical climates below 1,200 metres (3,937 ft) to alpine climates above 3,600 metres (11,811 ft). The Mahabharat Lekh reaching 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,921 to 9,843 ft) is the southern limit of this region, with subtropical river valleys and "hills" alternating to the north of this range. Population density is high in valleys but notably less above 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) and very low above 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) where snow occasionally falls in winter.
The Mountain Region (Parbat), situated in the Great Himalayan Range, makes up the northern part of Nepal. It contains the highest elevations in the world including 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) height Mount Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepali) on the border with China. Seven other of the world's eight thousand metre peaks are in Nepal or on its border with China: Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Kanchenjunga, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu.
The arid and barren Himalayan landscape.
Nepal has five climatic zones, broadly corresponding to the altitudes. The tropical and subtropical zones lie below 1,200 metres (3,937 ft), the temperate zone 1,200 to 2,400 metres (3,937 to 7,874 ft), the cold zone 2,400 to 3,600 metres (7,874 to 11,811 ft), the subarctic zone 3,600 to 4,400 metres (11,811 to 14,436 ft), and the Arctic zone above 4,400 metres (14,436 ft).

Mount Everest - The highest peak of the world which is situated in Nepal. It lies in solukhumbu district, which is nearly 4000m farther from the Kathmandu valley.

Barun Valley - There are many such valleys in the Himalaya created by the glacier flow.