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