early age of nepal

[edit] Early ages

Prehistory
Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living there for at least 9,000 years. It appears that people who were probably of Kirant ethnicity lived in Nepal more than 2,500 years ago. The Kirant are a tribe of jungle and mountain people who migrated from various parts of Central Asia, China and the Himalayas.

[edit] Legends and Ancient times

Though very little is known about the early history of Nepal, legends and documented references reach back to the first millennium BCE:

• The epic Mahabharata mentions the Kiratas among the inhabitants of Nepal. Kirati king Yalambar had the dubious honor of being slain in the battle of the Mahabharata, in which gods and mortals fought alongside each other. Legend credits him with meeting Indra, the lord of heaven, who ventured into the Valley in human guise. It is said that during the battle of Mahabharata, Yalamber went to witness the battle with a view to take the side of the losing party. Lord Krishna, knowing the intention of Yalamber and the strength and unity of the Kiratas, thought that the war would unnecessarily be prolonged if Yalamber sided with the Kauravas. So, by a clever stroke of diplomacy, Lord Krishna cut off Yalamber's head.
• Also, the presence of historical sites, e.g., Valmiki ashram, indicates the presence of Sanatana (ancient) Hindu culture in parts of modern Nepal at that period.
• According to some legendary accounts in the chronicles, the successors of Ne were the gopālavaṃśi or "Cowherd family", whose names often end in -gupta and are said to have ruled for some 491 years. They are said to have been followed by the mahaiṣapālavaṃśa or "Buffalo-herder Dynasty", established by an Indian Rajput named Bhul Singh.^[2]
• In a Licchavi period inscription (found on archeological stoneworks, which list mostly the dates and commissioners of these constructions, also communicate royal edicts, religious mantras or historical notes) mention the Kirata, that through the corroboration of local myths and the Vamsavalis, identify a people prior to the Licchavi dynasty.

[edit] Legendary accounts of the Kirata Period

Nepal's very first recorded, though still legendary, history began with the Kiratis, who may have arrived from the west to the Kathmandu valley. Little is known about them, other than their deftness as sheep farmers and great fondness for carrying long knives. According to the Gopalavamsa chronicle, the Kiratas ruled for about 1225 years (800 BCE-300 CE), their reign had a total of 29 kings during that time. Their first king was Elam; also known as Yalambar, who is referenced in the epic Mahabharata.

• The 1st Kirata King Yalambar laid the foundation of the Kirata dynasty after defeating the last ruler of the Abhira dynasty. When Kiraats occupied the valley, they made Matatirtha their capital. The Kirat kingdom during the rule of Yalambar extended to Tista in the East and Trisidi in the West. It is said Yalambar had gone to witness the battle of Mahabharata between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was so brave and powerful that Lord Krishna beheaded him prior to the battle suspecting he might fight for the Kauravas.

• The 7th Kirata King 'Jitedasti'

During the rule of the 7th Kirat King Jitedasti, Lord Gautam Buddha is said to have come to the valley with his several disciples and to have visited holy places of Swayambhu, Guheswari, etc., and to have preached his religious teaching. The Kiratas of the valley refused to follow his doctrine but welcomed Lord Buddha and his disciples.

• The 14th Kirata King 'Sthunko'

During the rule of the 14th Kirat King Sthunko, the Indian Emperor Ashoka is said to have come to the Kathmandu Valley with his daughter, princess Charumati. During his stay in the valley, he is said to have four stupas built around Patan in the four cardinal directions and one in the centre. He is said to have arranged his daughter Charumati's marriage with a local young prince named Devapala. Prince Devapala and his consort Charumati lived at Chabahil near Pashupati area. Later Charumati had the stupas of Devapatana built after the death of her husband in his memory. Charumati later on become a nun herself and built a convent where she resided and practiced Lord Buddha's doctrine.

• The 15th Kirata king 'Jinghri'

During the rule of the 15th Kirata King Jinghri, another religious doctrine, Jainism, was being preached by Mahavir Jain in India. Bhadrabhau, a disciple of Mahavira Jaina, is said to have come to Nepal. But Jainism did not gain as much popularity as Buddhism in Nepal.

• The 28th Kirat King 'Paruka'

During the rule of the 28th Kirata King Paruka, the Sombanshi ruler attacked his regime many times from the west. Although he successfully repelled their attacks, he was forced to move to Shankhamul from Gokarna. He had a royal palace called "Patuka" built there for him. The 'Patuka' palace can no longer be seen, except its ruins in the form of a mound. Patuka changed Shankhamul into a beautiful town.

• The 29th Kirat King 'Gasti'

The last King of the Kirat dynasty was Gasti, a weak ruler, who is said to have been overthrown by the Somavanshi ruler Nimisha. This ended the powerful Kirata dynasty that had lasted for about 1225 years. After their defeat, the Kiratas moved to the Eastern hills of Nepal and settled down, divided into small principalities. Their settlements were divided into three regions, i.e., 'Wallokirat' that lay to the East of the Kathmandu Valley, 'Majkirat' or Central Kirat region and 'Pallokirat' that lay to the far East of the Kathmandu valley . These regions are still heavily populated by Kiratas (Rai and Limbu).

tourism year 2011

This is suraj again,

Nepal is celebrating tourism year 2011 and all are welcome to view and visit the beautiful himilayan kingdom. During visit never forget to land once to the pashupati area as it is the one of the world heritage site. it is also the place of Lord Shiva the National God. And most assuring is that the National Festival The MAHASHIVARATRI is near and is on the 18th of this month(Bikram Sambat)(March 2nd 2011 AD).
Legend is that one who sets foot on this day in Pashupati area will be free from worldly desires and after death receives the utmost blessings of Lord Shiva.
Especially the Hindus from round the GLOBE gather in this Pashupati area on this day to celebrate the Mahashivaratri.

So, I welcome you all on this occasion.

kathmandu:The City

Kathmandu

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is a buzzling city at 1336 meters above sealevel. Kathmandu expanded enormously in the last 60 years.
In Palpasa Café, the popular book by Narayan Wagle, a english traveler visiting Katmandu Valley in 1957 is quoted:
"The airport existed here even before roads were built. In this place, people got on planes before anyone boarded a bus. I'm beginning to believe there are more temples here than houses and more gods than people. At night, hymns being sung faraway while the rest of Kathmandu is completely silent. I feel like i'm in a peaceful temple where worshippers sing hymns through the night, lighting oil lamps."

Kathmandu Valley in Nepal that once was no less than the true garden of dreams of our planet. Now the Kathmandu Valley is rapidly changing into a big construction area with high appartment flats and black toxic rivers. Where not only is less room for traditional Newari and Tamang cultures but also less place for endangered animals. 
In Palpasa Café, a popular Nepali book by Narayan Wagle, an english traveler who visiting Katmandu Valley in 1957 is quoted:
"I saw the green valley surrounded by hills. In the middle of the valley was a dense settlement. The rest of the valley was covered by greenery. It was like a peaceful dream."
At the moment the Kathmandu Valley is housing more than 3,5 million people. Though rapidly changing there is still a lot to see and to tell about the sacred Valley. Where 3 kings tried to outbeat eachother in arts and architecture resulting in 3 king squares that nowadays have a UNESCO world heritage status. And a valley scattered with beautiful temples.

Race war and the known facts

In east Nepal in 1997, activists of a small political party called the Mongol National Organization (MNO) held a rally on a windy village hilltop. Seated on the ground was an audience of about 50 children and adults from many of the ethnic groups who live in this part of Nepal: Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar, Magar, and Gurung. Among the first speakers of the day was the president of the MNO's district committee, a stout Rai man in his thirties. Broadcasting over a loudspeaker rigged to a car battery, he explained to the crowd what it meant for them to be Mongol:
We are a Mongol community, we are not a caste either; we are Mongol. For example, in this world there are three types of people. One is white with white skin like Americans, for example like sister here [referring to me].... The other has black skin and is called Negro. The other is called the red race like us: short like us; stocky like us; with small eyes and flat noses like us. Altogether you find these three types of people in the world. So from these three groups, we call one group Mongol. Mongol, meaning, we are this country's Mongols. People called Mongols are found in many places in the world. One [group of] Mongols is also found in China and other Mongols are found in Malaysia. There are Mongols in the world but we are not those foreign Mongols. We are the Mongols of Nepal. We are Nepal's Mongols and our fight is with the Hindu rulers here.
By asserting that these peoples were Mongols, this MNO leader defined them as a race. He argued that they are members of one of the major biological groups of people in the world, and that Mongols in Nepal could be identified by a specific set of physical features that they shared with Mongols in other parts of Asia.
The idea that this heterogeneous group of people belonged to a Mongol race was a recurring theme in MNO communications during my research in the mid-1990s. These frequent references to the racial identity of Mongols were necessary because it was an uncommon way for people to identify themselves in Nepal. Many of the people that the MNO sought to mobilize in east Nepal had never thought of themselves as Mongols prior to the arrival of the MNO. One young Magar man expressed what many other party supporters would say in conversation: "We didn't know that we were Mongols until the MNO came here." Previously, the peoples that the MNO began to call Mongols had thought of themselves as belonging to a jati, a caste or ethnic group; in this framework, it was not biological differences but cultural practices, language, religion, and their social ranking below high-caste Hindus that were the key attributes of identity.
By a process of racialization (see Barot and Bird 2001), this group of people came to be represented and categorized in racial terms as part of the mobilization of the MNO (Omi and Winant 1986; Winant 1994). This essay analyzes why the MNO asserted a racial identity for this diverse group of people, and the meanings of the MNO's invoking race in this political and historical context. In addition, it deepens anthropological understanding of uses of race by people who are subaltern; i.e., economically and politically subordinate within a society.
It was not inevitable that the MNO would define the population it sought to mobilize as a race. Race is not the primary framework of identity circulating in Nepal, and it was not used by most other organizations working on behalf of the same group of people. Rather, the MNO's adoption of a racial identity was selected from a range of options, which must be understood in light of the political objectives of this organization. The MNO began to mobilize support in rural eastern Nepal after a multiparty system was established in 1990 as part of a larger social movement aimed to increase the social, economic, and political power of the country's numerous ethnic groups. The MNO seeks to end the dominance of high-caste Hindus from the hill regions, who have controlled the state since the unification of Nepal in the late eighteenth century under a Hindu king. The state promoted the language and religion of these high-caste Hindus as the national culture of Nepal, pursuing policies that aimed to create a homogeneous nation of Nepali speakers who followed Hinduism, the state religion. In response to the negative effects of these policies on Nepal's ethnic groups, one of the central goals of the movement is to revitalize their cultural practices. As a result, there has been a resurgence of interest in Buddhism and other non-Hindu religions, Tibeto-Burman languages, dances, dress, and the histories of these ethnic groups.
The Mongol National Organization (MNO) is one of the few political parties in the movement, and it seeks to unite these ethnic groups, whom they call Mongols. The MNO argues that Nepal's population is composed of two distinct racial groups: Mongols, who make up 80 per cent of the population, and Aryans, referring to Hindus, who make up 20 per cent of Nepal's population. (2) Insisting that gaining political power is a prerequisite to improving the position of Mongols in all sectors of society, the party aims to gain control of the state, through elections if possible, by armed revolution if not. The party's ultimate goal is to enact fundamental changes in state policies and institutions that will benefit Mongols, such as restructuring Nepal as a federation of states where Tibeto-Burman languages are used, and abolishing the monarchy, a buttress of Hindu political dominance.
As Nepal's 1990 Constitution forbids the Election Commission from registering political parties that are explicitly community or region based, the MNO is illegal. Although the MNO was denied registration on this basis, throughout the 1990s it continued to put up candidates for elections, although they had to run as independents. The party became popular in rural eastern Nepal, particularly in the Ilam district, where it was able to gain control of several village governments.
Asserting a racial identity was a means of furthering these political goals, as it was a powerful discourse, backed by the authority of social science and British colonial rulers in India; yet it also enabled the MNO to break with the state's hegemonic frameworks of identity that emphasized caste, language, religion, and ethnicity rather than race. Not least, the MNO's assertion of a racial identity was part of their strategy to differentiate their party from other organizations working for ethnic groups in Nepal.

nepalese civil war

Nepalese Civil War

Main article: Nepalese Civil War

This article uses an unsuitable grammatical tense for an encyclopedia. Please consider copy editing to past tense if historic, present tense if not time-based (e.g. fiction), or future tense if upcoming.

In February 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) started a bid to replace the parliamentary monarchy with a people's new democratic republic, through a Maoist revolutionary strategy known as the people's war, which led to the Nepalese Civil War. Led by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known as "Prachanda"), the insurgency began in five districts in Nepal: Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Gorkha, and Sindhuli. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)established a provisional "people's government" at the district level in several locations.
On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra went on a shooting-spree, assassinating 9 members of the royal family, including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, before shooting himself. Due to his survival he temporarily became king before dying of his wounds, after which Prince Gyanendra (Birendra's brother) inherited the throne, according to tradition. Meanwhile, the rebellion escalated, and in October 2001 the king temporarily deposed the government and took complete control of it. A week later he reappointed another government, but the country was still very unstable.
In the face of unstable governments and a siege on the Kathmandu Valley in August 2004, popular support for the monarchy began to wane. On February 1, 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers, declaring a "state of emergency" to quash the revolution. Politicians were placed under house arrest, phone and internet lines were cut, and freedom of the press was severely curtailed.
The king's new regime made little progress in his stated aim to suppress the insurgents. Municipal elections in February 2006 were described by the European Union as "a backward step for democracy", as the major parties boycotted the election and some candidates were forced to run for office by the army.^[6] In April 2006 strikes and street protests in Kathmandu forced the king to reinstate the parliament. A seven-party coalition resumed control of the government and stripped the king of most of his powers. As of 15 January 2007 Nepal was governed by an unicameral legislature under an interim constitution. On December 24, 2007, seven parties, including the former Maoist rebels and the ruling party, agreed to abolish monarchy and declare Nepal a Federal Republic.^[7] In the elections held on April 10, 2008, the Maoists secured a simple majority, with the prospect of forming a government to rule the proposed 'Republic of Nepal'.

[edit] Federal Democratic Republic

On May 14, 2008 the newly elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic, abolishing the 240-year-old monarchy. The motion for abolition of monarchy was carried by a huge majority; out of 564 members present in the assembly, 560 voted for the motion while 4 members voted against it.^[8] Finally, on June 11, 2008 ex-king Gyanendra left the palace.^[9] Ram Baran Yadav of the Nepali Congress became the first president of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on July 23, 2008. Similarly, Pushpa Kamal Danka, popularly known as Prachanda, of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was elected as the first Prime Minister on August 15, 2008, defeating Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress Party.

history part 3

The Principalities of Early Nepal

Age of Principalities
Three city-states

Main article: Malla

After the 15th century, the Kathmandu Valley lost its central control and was ruled as three city-states: Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhadgaon. Many Nepalese architectural heritages, such as temples, palaces, including many UNESCO world heritage sites, were built during the rule of the Newar Kings. These include the Kathmandu Old Palace (Kathmandu Durbar Square), Patan Palace (Patan Durbar Square), Bhaktapur Palace (Bhaktapur Durbar Square) etc. By this time, people living in and around Kathmandu Valley (irrespective of their ethnic origins) were called "Newars" (or "Nepa:mi" in "Newari" language meaning, the citizens of Nepal).

Hindu and Buddhist temples in Patan, the capital of one of the three medieval Newar kingdoms

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Magar Principalities
Magars are martial people that first established their kingdom in present day western Nepal. They were animistic and shamanic in their religious practices. The Kham Magar of the upper Karnali basin and their brethren of the mid-hills of Nepal had a flourishing and empirical kingdom. Much archaeological proof of their existence can be found in the western mid-hills of Nepal.
The Magar have a strong military and warrior tradition. However, their hospitality and concern for their fellow human beings is also legendary. Two waves of immigrants became the undoing of the Magar empire.
Firstly, the Khasas were welcomed and assimilated within Magar empire. Secondly, due to the advance of Muslim forces into the Gangetic plains of India, the Brahmins entered the Magar empire as refugees.
These two groups were given sanctuary in the Magar empire. The latter group of refugees started to impose their view of Hinduism upon the Magars, while the former group were given the status of Chettri by the latter group in accordance with their view of Hinduism.
This left the Magar people boxed into the third tier in their own kingdom (the first being the Brahmins, the second being the newly elevated Chettri, previously the Khasas).
This meant that the one-time rulers of the Nepali mid-hills became the ruled upon. This was the start of the degradation of the Magar empire. The introduction of Hinduism in itself became the cataclysmic event in the undoing of the Magar empire.

 History of Kirat

In the meantime, the History of Kirat covers much of the history and achievements of the Kirant people of Eastern Nepal/Kiratdesh from ancient period until the Gorkha conquest in the eastern Nepal.

History of Limbuwan

History of Limbuwan shows the history and political development of the people of Limbuwan until their unification with the Kingdom of Gorkha in 1774 AD. During King Prithivi Narayan Shah's unification of Nepal, the present-day Nepal east of Arun and Koshi River was known as Pallo Kirant Limbuwan. It was divided into ten Limbu Kingdoms of which the Morang Kingdom was the most powerful and had the central government. The capital of the Morang Kingdom of Limbuwan was Bijaypur, now Dharan. After the Limbuwan-Gorkha War and seeing the threat of the rising power of the British East India Company, kings and ministers of all the ten Limbu Kingdoms of Limbuwan gathered in Bijaypur, present day Dharan, to agree upon the Limbuwan-Gorkha treaty. This Treaty formally united ten Limbu Kingdoms into the Gorkha Kingdom, but it also gave Limbuwan full autonomy under Limbuwan Kipat System.