Introduction

Summary

Hemmed in between the two twenty-first century superpowers—China and India—Nepal is home to nearly 26.5 million people of different ethnicity, caste and religious groups. They inhabit an area of around 147,000 sq km, which stretches from low flatlands—an extension of the Gangetic plains of present-day India in the south, to high mountains soaring to nearly 9,000 metres in the north. The Nepalese speak over 100 languages, and have different festivals, attire and food habits. But in contrast to its cultural richness, Nepal is considered poor in economic terms. The United Nations (UN) has designated Nepal as a least developed country; over 60 per cent of its population lives on less than two dollars a day and around 35 per cent is illiterate. Unsurprisingly, Nepal is said to reflect the socio-economic and political features of troubled sub-Saharan Africa.

Nepal emerged as a modern state in the mid-eighteenth century, when a number of small warring principalities were consolidated into a united kingdom. Prithivinarayan Shah, former King of the old House of Gorkha, led the consolidation process, which was achieved by a combination of war and diplomacy. He is also credited with utilising clever political strategies to keep the British colonialists, who were sweeping through South Asia, at bay. Prithivinarayan Shah's astute state building skills institutionalised the sovereignty of the Shah King in Nepal, who wielded supreme authority and power as an absolute ruler.