Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
law. It was based on dharma, the “right way to live” or “proper
conduct” concept that is the foundation of several South Asian
faiths. Jayasthiti Malla also is credited with having introduced
the caste system into Nepal. After 1482, Nepalese history
took several sharp turns. Sons of the last Malla ruler, Yakshya
Malla, divided the valley into three separate kingdoms and
ruled separately.
During the medieval period, people of the Khasa
jati
(tribe) had settled in the western part of Nepal. They migrated
from central Asia and settled in the Karnali region. Later, under
the leadership of Nagaraj, they established the Khasa Kingdom
there. Nagaraj rapidly expanded his territory. The Khasa also
made many contributions to Nepal's history and culture. Perﾭ
haps the greatest was their language, which served as the parent
tongue for the presentﾭday Nepali language.
MODERN NEPAL EMERGEs (1742-1816)
By 1559, the Gorkha Kingdom was established in western
Nepal by Dravya Shah. This new kingdom further enforced
the unification of small principalities. The Shah kings were
descendents of a noble family of the Chandrabansi Rajput
Dynasty of Chitor, India, who had migrated to Nepal during
the fifteenth century. Dravya Shah became king of a Magar
(ethnic group)ﾭdominated kingdom by winning a marathon.
Later, King Ram Shah (1606-1633) continued expanding the
Gorkha state by making allies of various quarrelling kingdoms
of the Kathmandu Valley. He introduced several noteworthy
reforms, and people still remember him for the saying, “Go
to Gorkha (if you are deprived of justice).” Ram Shah's major
reforms included abolishment of witchcraft customs and the
death penalty. He also introduced new measurement standards
for distance and weight, as well as irrigation technology to
many remote villages.
Following the death of Narabhupal Shah in 1742, his son
Prithvi Narayan Shah became king of the Gorkha Kingdom.
He was the first great figure in the history of “modern” Nepal.
