HISTORY OF NEPAL

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B.A.LL.B 1st Year

Prepared by:
Sudip Raj Ghimire
Green Zone
2072 Batch

Kathmandu School of Law

Purbanchal University
 GOPAL DYNASTY
Fossils and evidences prove that evolution of human beings took place in this part of the world
as well. Ramapithecus Fossils were found in Butwal while east-west highway was being
constructed. Weapons made of stone have been found by archeologists in different parts of
Nepal. So, the current Political division of Nepal was not free from humanoid inhabitants.
During the course of evolution parallel human evolution may have taken place here also. Among
the other places, Kathmandu valley may have been a place of settlement.
A popular belief is that Kathmandu valley used to be a big lake. Baudhha Anushrutee states that
Manjushree slashed Chobhar hill and let go the water of the valley. However, Hindu Anushrutee
gives this credit to Lord Krishna.
The Himmat Khanda, Swayambhu Purana, Nepal Mahatmeya Grantha and Vishnu Purana all
have described the existence of Nagas in proximity to rivers. They have stated that Nagas used to
search and eat yams. Swyambhu Purana states that the Tribal head kali Naga was defeated by
Lord Krishna. Same version of story can be found in Vishnu Purana.
Most of the historians unanimously consider that the Gopal dynasty is the 1 st dynasty to rule over
Nepal. Prof. Dr. Dhundi Raj Bhandari opines that Gopala tribe who trotted India got themselves
divided into 2 groups and one entered Nepal through Gandaki while the other group headed for
western India. According to him, Gopals who used to reside on the hills of Chobar met ‘Ne
muni’ at Teku where he had been performing rituals, Ne muni then persuaded Bhuktaman to rule
Nepal.
Daniel Wright states Gwala came along with Sri Krishna from Dwarika to help his grandson
letting water out from valley. He also states that ‘Ne muni’ tried to persuade the commoner that
there should be no Chhetri king in Kaliyug. So, Muni installed son of cowherd as the king.
Some historians believe that once upon a time a cow named ‘Bahedri’ used to pour milk daily in
a place, when a goula find out the behavior of the cow then he decided to dig out what was there
in. When he started to dig he immediately turned into ashes with the bright rays of Lord
Pashupati. Later, Ne muni made Bhumi Gupta as king; the son of the Goaula who died during
digging.
Some historians believe 8 kings ruled over Nepal during the dynasty, while some claim it to be 7.
This number keeps on changing in accordance to the historians. However, no any evidence can
be found to justify their claim. Wright believes that 8 Gopals kings ruled over Nepal for 521
years while kirk Patrick states 7 kings ruled over Nepal for 499 years.
Gopals were believed to have been 1 st to establish authority and kingship. So, historians claim
that they were the ones to start civilization in Nepal. They started culture of bowing down before
Brahmins and paying them ‘Dakshina Dan’. They worshipped Cow as Goddess. It is believed
that with Krishna came Balaram who was a skilled farmer. Subsequently farming started and
flourished. They practiced joint family system.
There is not a reliable justification about the downfall of Gopals. Some Historian believes that
Yakshya Gupta; the last king of Gopal Dynasty was heirless king as he did not have son to
continue his family. Other historians believe that Yakshya Gupta lost his kingdom to Bara Singh
in a battle. Few historians even believe that Yakshya Gupta died by witnessing Pashupati
Jyotilinga.

MAHISPAL DYNASTY
It is said that Gopal and Mahispals were from the same dynasty. Difference was only that Gopals
were cow herders and Mahispal were buffalo herders. It is said that because of unrecognized
politics at that time, by being from same dynasty but different occupation, they were separated in
2 different dynasties to become the powerful and to capture the throne.
According to Krik Patrick’s ‘Chronicle of Krik Patrick’, Mahispal were the herders of the Rajput
family of India. It is also said that they used to live in between Simrangadh and Janakpur with
their own armed force.
According to Wright’s Chronology, when the last king of Gopal dynasty; Yakshya Gupta
became childless, Mahispal came and ruled over Nepal.
In Wright’s chronicle, it is said Ahir and in Gopal Royal Chronicle as Mahispal. A statement
saying “after conquering Gopal king Mahispal accordingly ruled” is found in Gopal Royal
Chronicle.
Like the origin of Mahispal is controversial, whether they existed or not and how they came into
throne, it is also unclear that how many kings ruled over Nepal for how long. However most of
the historians believe that 3 kings ruled over Nepal for more than 100 years.
According to Wright Banshawali, Vara Singh was the 1st Mahispal King, Jaya Singh and after
him Bhuwan Singh became the king. At the time of Bhuwan Singh, the Kiratis came to
Kathmandu valley from the eastern side of Kathmandu and they attacked at the valley and at last
they got victory over it.
According to Gopal Chronicle, after Gopal dynasty got collapsed kings of Mahispal ruled for
161 years.
The Shreemad Vagwat too mentions about Mahispals.
Some historians believe that Mahispals ruled over Nepal for 161 years and 2 months. Some
believe it to be 111 years and 7 months while some historians even believe it to be 200 years.
Importance of these Dynasties
 The starting of human civilization
 The name of this country is related with Gopals
 The starting of the ruling and administrative system
 Starting of the systematic settlement of the people.
 Nepal Mandal

Nepal mandala is an ancient region marked by cultural, religious and political boundaries which
lies in the present day central Nepal. It consists of the Kathmandu valley and its surrounding
areas. The rule of the indigenous Newars in Nepal mandala ended with its conquest by Gorkha
kingdom and the rise of the Shah dynasty. Bhaktapur was the capital of Nepal mandala until the
15th century when 3 capitals, including Kathmandu, and lalitpur were established. The extent of
Nepal mandala has been traditionally defined by the locations of 64 Hindu and 24 Buddhist
pilgrimage sites. The Hindu shrines consist of 64 Shiva lingas scattered from Brahmeswar in
Nuwakot district in the west to Bhimeswar in Dolakha district in the east. The 24 Buddhist
pilgrimage sites were spread from the Trishuli river in the west to Dolalghat in the east.
The term mandala also means a country and it has been used to represent traditional political
formations such as federation of kingdoms. The area comprising Kathmandu, lalitpur, Bhaktapur
and Dolakha during the Malla period is generally known as Nepal mandala.
The historians of Nepal have given different views about the origin of Nepal. Some argued on
the basis of Swyambhu Purana that the country was called Nepal mandala because it was ruled
judiciously by Dharmakar, the 1st king of Nepal. Another Buddhist text Manjushrimula Kalpa
has mentioned Manadeva as king of Nepal Mandala. The word Nepal mandala has also been
carved in a Licchavi Inscription.
In each and every Buddhist worship activity, 1st of all Nepal mandala is uttered and only after
this, Kantipur, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur are mentioned. It is thus evident that the use of Nepal
Mandala is prevalent since the ‘Pauranic Time’ to the present day.
 KIRAT DYNASTY
Origin and Arrival
Narayan Prasad Sangroula in his book An Introduction to Nepal has mentioned that Kirants were
the Mongolian people and were different from the Gopals and Mahispals in culture. It is not clear
about the original settlement of kirant. Sangroula in his book has mentioned that at the time of
Bhuvan Simha, they attacked and gained the throne. They came from eastern parts and settled
down in Kathmandu valley. Yalambar was the leader of the kirants. He became the king after
defeating Bhuwan Simha; the last king of Mahispal. He mentions that there were 29 kirant kings
who ruled over Nepal and their period was estimated to be 1118 years. However this number
varies with other historians.
Kirat or kirati is derived from 2 words ‘Kira- Lion and Ti- People’. So, Kirati means people with
Lion nature. ‘Kirata is found in Sanskrit, particularly in ‘Yajurveda’ describing the handsome
mountain people and hunters in the forests.
According to Iman Singh Chemjong; in present time, though, it is widely believed that Limbu
and Rai are only Kirant, but Gurung, Thakali, Sunuwar, Newar, Tamang, Sherpa, Lepche,
Koche, Meche, Dhimal, Tharu, Danuwar are also kirant. He in his book ‘Kirat Itihas’ states that
kirat were initially from the Mediterranean region and later they were expelled by the Hebrews.
According to Dor Bahadur Bista; Rai, Limbu, Magar, Thakali, Sunuwar, Girel, Koyu, Gurung,
Magar, Meche, Koche and old Newars of Kathmandu who have ‘Bhot-Burmeli’ mother tongue
are Kirants.
According to Kumar Pradhan, Kirants are the indigenous people of the Nepal valley.
The Kiratis were the aborigines of north eastern Himalayas. According to Baburam Acharya,
they came to Nepal in about 700 B.C. and ruled over it. They were short and had robust bodies,
broad checks, flat noses, thin whiskers, and dark eyes. They were well trained in the art of
warfare, and were very skillful archers. They were the ancestors of the present day Kiratas: -
Kulung, Thulung and Yellung. Yalamber, the first Kirati king of Nepal belonged to the Yellung
clan.
Some historians argue that the origin place of Kirat is known as Bebilon. They left this ancient
region during 2400 B.C. and went towards Mesopotamia. According to this kirat has derived
from Mowayet language which is spoken near Atlantic Ocean.
In Manusmriti, they are considered as ‘Kshetriya’ and Swami Prapanacharya has considered
them to be the people of Arya community.

Archaeological Evidence of Kirant Dyansty

 It is believed that the mask kept at the Akash Bhairav temple in Indrachowk belongs to
Yalambar.
  In one of the inscription of Hanumandhoka, the word ‘Kirant’ is used.
 The name of the central level governmental office of Licchavi era such as Mapchowk,
Ligawol, Kuther, Sulle, etc. has Kirant language origin. This revealed the fact that Kirant
Dynasty ruled in Nepal befor Licchavi Dynasty.
 Kiratis have been mentioned in various ancient manuscripts that they were brave
warriors, who were well trained in the act of warfare and were very skillful archers.

Kings of Kirat Dynasty

The Kirant dynasty according to some historian has ruled over for 1118 years in totality while
others have calculated their regime to be of 1225 years. Some of the historians believe that 28
kings ruled while some believes it to be 29 and few believe it to be 32 kings that ruled over
Nepal. Here the contradiction rises among the historian as to how long did the kirants really
ruled? However, most of the historians unanimously agree that kirats were the 3rd dynasty to
rule over Nepal and Yalambar was the 1st king of Kirat dynasty.
1. Yalambar:
The 1st king Yalambar laid the foundation of the Kirat dynasty. It is believed that Yalambar was
the leader of the Kirat people who lead them to attack and defeat Bhuvan Singh the ruler of then
Nepal. Hence by overthrowing the Mahispal, Yalambar thus became the king.
6. Humati:
He is considered as the 6th king of this dynasty. According to wright Bansawali he had fought
with famous archer Arjun of Mahabharat and they were pleased on the skill of his archery.
7. Jitedasti:
He was son of Humati and he was 7th king according to wright. Wright has not concrete idea
about it. He has mentioned that Jitedasti was involved in Mahabharat and in same he has
explained about Gautam Buddha entry into Nepal and has preached about Buddhism.
14. Stunkho Hang:
He was the 14th king of the dynasty. It is believed that the Indian King ‘Ashoka’ visited Nepal
during his period with his daughter Charumati.
29. Gasti:
He is the last king of Kirat dynasty and he was defeated by Lichcchhavi King.

Fall of Kirat dynasty

It is said that the Som dynasty or the Licchavi dynasty started attacking during the 28th king
Paruka Hang’s regime from the west. Though King Paruka repelled those attacks time and again,
these attacks did not stop. Finally, during 29th king Gasti’s regin the Som dynasty succeeded and
overthrew the Kirats ending their regime.
 CRIME AND PUNISHMENT DURING KIRAT DYNASTY
Kirats have been supposed to initiate the first step of administration and other judicial
development. They follow their holy scripture called Kirat Mundhum, which is also known as
Kirat Veda. They are true nature worshipers. At that period supreme power or the authority to
give punishment was vested upon the king and the people related to the administration. Kirati
people with the following of religious and customs prepared religious laws and customary law to
adjudicate various crimes. The Kiratis had their own laws for the kingdom
Mundum was their one of the most important source of law as well as the guideline of
governance. The religion, customary practices, traditions, conventions and certain other rules
developed by the society were the source of law then.
Five Heinous Crimes:
They had categorized the five different heinous crimes. They were:
1) Theft: The thief’s hand was either put on the boiling water or chopped off.
2) Jari (eloping others wife): The sadhu could kill the jar on the spot if he finds him , if not
then a part of his property would be given by the king to the sadhu as a marriage expense.
3) Homicide (murder): Punishment was death penalty
4) Treason (crime against king): The criminal was exiled from the country.
5) Abetment thereof: The person who betrayed the throne was exiled and if he/she had any
governmental post then they were removed from it.
Besides these five heinous crimes there were also other types of crimes in those periods. Some
crimes are: hadphora (person committing incest with the father and its relation). The criminal
was treated as a slave and the dudhphora (person committing incest with the maternal relations)
was supposed to be killed by god who would take a form of lightning. Marriage relation with the
‘mit’ was also considered as crime. In this crime the sinner was supposed to be punished by the
god and it was also said that the criminal’s life will be worse till 10 generation. There were other
crimes mentioned in the Kirat period they were- fighting, telling lies, discrimination, doing bad,
etc was considered as crimes in Kirat period.

Marital affairs:
Father-daughter, mother-son, brother-sister sexual relationship was considered a crime. Nobody
could violate that law in case of father but the mother’s side relationship was considerable after
passing of four generations
The child born from the illegal relation was considered (abaid) so all the marriage had to be done
in the presence of panchavaladmi. Marriage had to be done by keeping price (dam) of the female
and by the consent of the second prestigious person by giving him Re 1/- as the tax of marriage
registration. Rs 2/- had to be paid to the father of female as a consolation for taking his daughter
away from her family and Rs 2/- had to be paid to be government as the marriage tax. The child
born without this process of marriage was considered ‘Khosa’ but still the marriage could be
made legal by the Law of ‘Samyoklung thim’. Until the marriage was legalized the couple was
hated and considered criminal
According to the law of Kwajni, the child from a divorced mother was looked after by the
maternal family but if the father wants to take the child, he could do so by the Law of
‘Samyoklung thim’. If the husband had given the price of wife then he was not obliged to give
her any more property. Until he had not given the price he could not claim the children.
If husband suspects his wife’s character, and proves it then he could divorce (Khemjong). In the
same way a wife could divorce (Namjong) by keeping the Panchavaladmi. The divorced female
could marry once again. Divorce was done by breaking Stick and Wheel (sinko pangro garnu).
A child born out of illegal sexual relation was considered as a third caste (khachad) .He /she was
not allowed to touch the water of the family but later there was made the provision of taking such
child in Kirat caste and letting him to touch rice and water (bhat pani chalaune ) of the family.

Punishment:
At the time of hearing of any case, there had to be the presence of the Panchavaladmi and
punishment had to be given on the basis of free trial, evidence and witness. The fines collected
from the cases were given half to the King/ministers and next half to the Panchavaladmi.
1. Thieves were punished by burning their hands on the boiled water.
2. Those who violate the peace environment, they were supposed to go to the temple and
then regret in front of god.
3. Those who break relation or put sexual relations with father’s relatives, they were
punished by making them slaves for life time.
4. Those who make sexual relation with mother’s relatives, they were exiled.
5. Those who put sexual relation with married women, the punishment were saint can cut
the jar.
6. No person can inherit the ancestral property that is born out of illegal sexual relation.

Ordeal System:
The practice to identify the guilt and innocent was found practiced during the Kirat dynasty. The
people were highly religious, had a fear of God. In disputes the accused had to bring evidence to
prove own self innocence. Similarly the defense too had to bring proof. If in case there were no
evidences or witnesses then they had to touch dubo and tama and give an ordeal. In this system,
it was believed that an unseen force; the God, would protect the innocent. If they lied holding the
ordeals then they were supposed to be punished by the God. The concept of hell and heaven too
started from this dynasty. It was believed that a sinner would go to hell and a person free from
those offences would go to heaven.
Court System:
The establishment of judicial courts can be marked as an important achievement of this regime.
The law interpretation was done by a dharmik guru (religious priest). Kirati kings dispensed
justice through a strongly organized system of administration of justice. The king was not
allowed to cross the boundaries set by the Mundhum, which was the official code of conduct for
regulating socio-legal, political and religious affairs of the people. The king was under the code
of conduct. For the administration of justice, Kirat dynasty had set up four different types of
courts:
1) Kuther: concerned with collection of revenue, land tax and settle land disputes
2) Sulli: administration justice in crimes relating to panchapradh
3) Ligwal: looked after welfare and development affairs such as transportation, irrigation,
and drinking water etc.
4) Mapchowk: primarily a family court and thus concerned with issue relating to marriage,
divorce and property

MUNDHUM
Mundhum is an official code of conduct for regulation of socio-legal, political and religious
affairs of the state. Mundhum means “the power of great strength”. It was the chief source of
jurisdiction during the regime. The Mundhum covers many aspects of the Kirat culture, customs
and traditions.
Mundhum has two parts:
1) Thungsap and
2) Peysap
2.1. Shokshok Mundhum
2.2. Yehang Mundhum
2.3. Sajji Mundhum
2.4. Sap Mundhum
Thungsap Mundhum:
The Thungsap Mundhum is the original part and was originally passed down orally prior to the
art of writing. It is referred to as the oral Mundhum in books. The Thungsap Mundhum was
collected, preserved and passed on by word of mouth and folklore until the art of writing was
introduced. It was an epic composed and recited in the form of songs by Sambas, or religious
poets and bards. The Kirat priests in the beginning were called the Sambas where Sam means
song and Ba means the one (male) who knows the Sam.
Peysap Mundhum:
The Peysap Mundhum is a written book about religion. It is divided into four parts — the Soksok
Mundhum, Yehang Mundhum, Sapji Mundhum and Sap Mundhum.
The Soksok Mundhum contains the stories of creation of the universe, the beginning of mankind,
the cause and effects of the sins, the creation of evil spirits and the cause and effect of death in
childhood.
Yehang Mundhum contains the story of the 1st leader of mankind who made laws for the sake of
improvement of human beings from the stage of animal life to the enlightened life. In this book,
the leader has made rules for marriage, arbitration, purification and religious conducts to be
observed during events of death and birth.

2.2 Yehang Mundhum

The Yahang Mundum was created by a man named Yehang. He is considered to be a (ongis)
(mahaan purush). He created the Mundhum to increase the life standard and the quality of life of
humans. Since the world he saw was occupied by dffernet animals and humans, he was not able
to see any differences between the two. He saw life only for eating, being born, and ultimately
dying. The Yehang Mundhum was created to distinguish the right and the wrong, the do’s and
the don’ts’ and basically to outline a set of rules.
In the Kirat or Limbu society, it is believed that the first acceptable social law was made by
Yehang that includes processes (कर्मकाण्ड )of marriage, birth and death given below:

1) Marriage
 There should be no marital relationship between father-daughter, mother-son and
brother-sister.
 No marriage between step brothers-sisters.
 No marriage with uncle's son or daughter.
 No marriage within father's clan.
 In mother's side, marriage is acceptable after four lineages.
 Girl from different race should be bought and married in front of the chief of the
village by a priest.

2) Birth
 A child born of parents not married through ritual practices can't claim on the
parental property. The maternal uncle should bear the responsibility of such
children.
 A mother is purified after four days of birth of a baby-boy who should be baptized
on the same day.
  Similarly, mother is to be purified on third day after the birth of a baby-girl who
should also be baptized on that particular day.

3) Death
 In the death of a male, he should be kept in a coffin through some rites with his
face seen.
 Such corpse should be buried in a stoned box two hands deep down the earth.
Above such grave, if it's a male, stoned four stepped monument, and if it's a
female then three steps' monument should be built. In the middle of the grave, a
pole of stone should be dug. If the carcass is of highly respected personnel, the
ladder should have 8-9 steps.
 A male's जुठो remains for 4 days whereas a female's 3 days.

 One shouldn't consume salt, oil, ginger and chilly throughout those 3 or 4 days.
 On the day of purification, the relatives and friends should come at the dead
person's house and purify his/her family.
 During purification, the priest should explain about the morbid state of the dead
body to the mass and make them sign. Finally, they all should eat with the
bereaved family. Thus, purification is completed.
 The purified family should not entertain for one year.

The ancient Kirat period accounts for their commendable management in terms of administration
activities, social and cultural practices, laws and reforms. In order to know the kirati system,
reviewing their holy text mundhum is a must. Yehang Mundhum primarily concentrates on the
cultural practices later used as laws to regulate the then society. Yehang mundhum acts not only
as a religious text but also a philosophy which contributed in forming customary laws.
One of the main essences of Yahang Mundhum is the strict prohibition of “KAI” (Incest). The
Mundhum states that if there is practice of incest, the thunder will kill you. Also, one who
practices incest will die due to “Loge” (Kustharog).
 Women Position during Kirant Dynasty
After Gopal dynasty, as kirant dynasty ruled over Katmandu valley; it is believed ancient kirant
ruling was far better than modern administration. The fact regarding kirant dyanysty is moreover
drawn from mundhun. As yehang mundhunm relates with social justice system of kirant period,
it includes marriage birth and death relates to justice system of period. Some of the roles of
women in various fields are:
1. Political aspect:
 Women weren’t included in the administration.
 Though it was said that those who know religion and justice were selected as
‘mukhiya’ but women were not given priority in that selection process.
 ‘Rajsabha’ decisions lead the country, but not women’s representation.
2. Religious aspect:
 Kiranti people prayed ancient great man ‘Pruhung great women ‘Nayoma’ as a
god, goddess.
 Religiously, after the death of male, practice of funeral was for 4ays whereas
female for 3days.
 ‘Charumati’, daughter of Indian emperor Ashoka visited Nepal during kirat period
and after her stays in place of chabhail was named after her and charunmati vihar
was also constructing
3. Economic aspect:
 women were engaged in work as cloth using dhiki janto tan etc
4. Legal aspect:
 Mother properties were distributed among sons.
 In case divorce, khemjang (divorce of wife to her husband because of her immoral
character) was in practice, at the time Najong i.e. (divorce of husband by wife on
charge of immoral character) was practice.
 Women after divorce could perform another marriage.
 After divorce the right of child was given to mother firstly and even father could
claim right to child care.
 Women weren’t consider as witness
5. Social aspect:
 Both male and female were respects.
 Even women were engaged in social activities.
 During marriage ceremony bridegroom had to pay ‘samohiyang’ egual to Rs.2.
 No marital or sexual relation was allowed in paternal relation but maternally after
4 generation such relation could be kept.
 Polygamy marriage was in practice.
 Intercaste marriage was flourished and was acceptable.
 After father’s death son was to accept stepmother i.e. ‘sautani ama behorni’.
 In the kirant dynasty there was no sati system.
 The Lichhavi Dynasty

Arrival of Lichhavi
Though Lichhavis were the 4th dynasty to rule over Nepal, but still it lacks fact regarding their
arrival. Many historians have different views regarding their arrival. There are several
controversies regarding the emergence of Lichhavi in Nepal. Different Chronicles and historians
have different views regarding how they came to existence.
Narayan Prasad Sangroula, in his book, ‘An Introduction to Nepal’, has mentioned that the
Lichhavis were the Kshyatriya of Suryabanshi dynasty. They used to rule in Vaishali district of
India. They were defeated by the AjatShatru and came to Nepal and started ruling here defeating
the Kirats.
Another historian Rewati Raman Khanal, has mentioned that Lichhavi arrived in Nepal from
India and ruled for 630 years from 307 BS to 937 BS defeating the Kirats.
Another saying is that the Lichhavis ruler of Nepal were not the one from Northern India, they
were the Kirants themselves. According to Dr. Swami Prapannacharya, solar dynasty kirant king
Dharma Dutta defeated the then Kirant king Sanku (Khimbu) and he converted himself into
Lichhavi and became the first Lichhavi of Nepal. So, Lichhavi were from Kirat dynasty.

Kings of Lichhavi Dynasty

It is assumed that Lichhavi ruled Nepal for 630 years from 307 BS to 937 BS. 19 different kings
ruled over Nepal. Supuspha was the 1st king while Shankhu was the last King. However other
historian argues differently and some claims Dharma Dutta to be the 1 st king of the dynasty.
Some of the major Kings are discussed below:
1) Supuspa:
Supuspa is considered the 1 st king of Lichhavi dynasty. While some claims him to be the
4th King and Dharma Dutta as the 1st King of the dynasty. He divided society into four
Barnas and 18 castes. Some of his works are:
a) He started caste system in Nepal.
b) He put golden roof at Pashupatinath temple.
c) He binded the morality and law to Kings and public equally.

2) Mandev Pratham:
Mana Deva was the most famous king among the Lichchhavi rulers. Historians differ
about the period of his rule. However, according to the inscriptions of Changunarayan
temple, Mana Deva ruled Nepal from 464 A.D. to 505 A.D. Mana Deva was the son of
Dharma Deva. He was brave and courageous. He had acquired good skill in the art of
warfare. He was a lover of art and architecture as well. While he was a mere child
 Dharma Deva died. His mother Rajyavati was about to immolate herself on the funeral
pyre along with her dead husband (to become a satee), but at the request of Mana Deva
she lived to nurture and inculcate good qualities in him. His kingdom was extended up to
the Himalayas in the north, the other side of the Gandaki in the west, the Koshi, in the
south during his regime. He built a famous royal palace that was called 'Mangriha' at
Gokarna from where the administration of the country was conducted. He also built the
shrine of Changunarayan, and renovated the Chakra Mahavihar. He minted coins in his
name for the first time in the history of Nepal, and named them 'Mananka'.

3) Amshuverma:
During the reign of Shivadeva, Amshuverma was the de-facto ruler. At the death of
Shivadeva in 652 BS he became the sole sovereign and adopted the title of king. He
belonged to the Thakuri clan. He built 'Kailashkut Bhavan' at Devapattan and transferred
the seat of government from Mangriha to Kailashkut. He also minted coins in his name.
Amshuverma was endowed with all the kingly qualities and virtues. According to some
inscriptions, King Shiva Deva used to say that Amshuverma was a man of universal fame
and he always destroyed his enemies by his heroic nature. Hiuen Tseng writes about him
as a man of high accomplishments and great glory. He himself was a learned man and
respected scholar. He had written a book on Grammar in Sanskrit.
For the development of economic condition of the people he paid great attention to the
improvement of trade and commerce of the country. Nepal had trade relations with India,
Tibet and China and it became the thoroughfare of India's trade with China and vice
versa. He gave equal importance to industrial advancement and agricultural prosperity.
He made every effort to help the people by providing canals to irrigate the fields. He
levied water tax, land tax, defence tax and luxury tax. He used the income from these
sources for the development works of the country.
During the reign of Amshuverma, Harshverdhana of India and Srong Tsang Gampo of
Tibet were trying to extend their territories. He gave his daughter Bhrikuti in marriage to
the Tibetan King Tsrong sang Gampo. He also gave his sister Bhoga Devi in marriage to
an Indian King Shur Sen. With all this political sagacity and far-sightedness;
Amshuverma maintained the sovereignty and independence of the country.

4) Narendra Dev:
Narendra dev was the son of Udaya Dev. After the death of King Amshuverma in 676
BS, Udaydev became the King of Nepal. In the very short period of his rule, his brother
Dhurba Dev and the feudal Jishnu Gupta dethroned him. After that Dhurba dev became
the King. The dethroned King Udaydev with his family went to Tibet to take shelter
under the Tibetan King Tsrong sang Gampo. Narendra Dev, with Tibetan aid took
revenge against the enemy of his father and restored his ancestral throne by defeating
Bishnu Gupta. He was not only a brave fighter but also lovers of people. He was anxious
to help people. He was a reformer. Nepal was developing during his time. He ruled in
Nepal for more than 36 years.
 5) Shiva Dev II:
After the death of Narendra Dev, his son Shivadeva II ruled from 684 to 705 A.D. He
married Betsa Devi, the daughter of king Bhogaverma of Magadha. Due to this
matrimonial relation, he maintained a very good relationship with the powerful Magadha
kingdom of India.

6) Jaydev II:
After Shivadeva II, Jaya Deva II ascended the throne. His Pashupati inscription gives the
genealogy of the Lichhavi dynasty. He did very well reformation in the part of social and
political aspect, art, architecture, trade and commerce. During his rule Tibet made an
unsuccessful attempt to invade Nepal, but was defeated at the hands of the Nepalese. The
Tibetan king was killed in the confrontation.

CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE OF THE LICHHAVIS

There was peace and prosperity in the kingdom of Nepal during the rule of the Lichhavi. After
the arrival of Lichhavi there were some remarkable reforms in the political condition and
economic system of the country. The Lichhavi rulers were perfect in good administration. They
built 'Man Griha' and 'Kailashkut Bhavan' as administrative centers. The Lichhavi kings
extended the boundary of Nepal and maintained good relationships with India, China and Tibet.
The important achievements of the Lichhavi can be discussed under the following heads:

a. Administration: For the efficient administration of the country the Lichhavis set up a council
of ministers headed by ‘Mahasamanta’. For administrative convenience, the kingdom was
divided into provinces, districts and villages. There were law-courts to administer justice. There
were local bodies called the 'Panchali' to settle minor disputes and to carry out the public utility
services. There were buildings like Mangriha and Kailaskut Bhawan from where the whole
kingdom was administered. The administrative power was not centralized but was passed on to
the local bodies, associations and assemblies of the People.

The Lichhavis had a well organized army. It consisted of the infantry, cavalry and elephant-
riders. Proper training was given to the army from time to time. During war, the king himself led
the army.

b. Foreign Policy: The Lichhavis maintained a good relationship with the neighboring countries.
Nepal had trade relations with India, Tibet and China. Nepal also had become the thoroughfare
between India and China. The marriage of Bhrikuti and Tsrong sang Gampo established a good
relationship between Nepal and Tibet. Nepal adopted a non-aligned foreign policy and
maintained friendship with her neighboring countries: especially India, China and Tibet.

c. Social Condition: Though the Lichhavis were Hindus and there was a caste system in the
society, other class people were not neglected. There were Ahirs, Kiratas, Thakuris and Bhutias.
There was inter-marriage among different classes of people. People gave co-operation to one
another and developed the sense of nationality. National unity was not hampered because of the
difference of caste, creed and dynasty. They had a great respect, faith and love for the king,
whose main function was to establish peace and order in the country. The king was also
responsible for the development of the kingdom. People lived simple and pious lives. Ornaments,
house decoration and entertainments formed part of the daily life of the people.

d. Economic Condition: The main source of income of the government was taxation. The
merchants had to pay custom duty for the imported and exported goods. The vanquished
countries had to pay tribute and war indemnity. The cultivators had to pay land revenue. The
main occupation of the people was trade and commerce. Nepalese art and handicraft goods and
other cottage industry products were exported to Tibet, India and China. Some roads were paved
with bricks. Horses, mules and elephants were the means of transport. In the hills, people carried
goods on their backs. People wore ornaments of gold, silver and copper. In this way, Nepal had a
sound economic condition under the Lichhavis.

e. Judicial System: There were law courts to administer justice. Learned men were consulted to
make laws. Punishments were inflicted according to the gravity of the offence. There were
different forms of punishments. But most of them were of reformative type. Thieves, robbers,
murderers and rebels were punished severely. The local bodies like the Panchali also
administered justice in the adjudication of local petty cases.

f. Literature, Art and Architecture: Sanskrit was the official language. Some of the Lichhavi
kings were scholars; Amshuverma had composed a grammar in Sanskrit and Jaya Deva had
written poems in Sanskrit. There was a great development of art and architecture as well. Fine
architectural structures like Mangriha, Kailashkut Bhavan, the temple of Pashupatinath,
Changunarayan, Bhadradivas, etc. testify this. Similarly, the images of Tribikram Narayan,
Dhumbarahi, and the metal works and crafts speak of the excellence of Nepalese art in the
Lichchhavi period.

In this way, Nepal made all-round development under the Lichhavis. The Nepalese civilization
and culture was spread over to India, Tibet and China. The Nepalese society was also influenced
to some extent by other cultures and civilizations. For the efficient administration, peace and
harmony, the development of art and architecture and friendly relations with neighboring
countries the Lichhavi period has been called the 'Golden Age' in the history of Nepal.

Judicial Administration during Lichhavi

The judicial administration system of lichhavi was very ideal. According to Black's law
Dictionary "The process of doing justice through a system of courts is known as judicial
administration." The justice system of the lichhavi was founded on the Hindu religion. The
judicial system of lichhavi period was highly influenced by kirat period but lichhavi had taken
out in the modified vision. There was the king on the top in lichhavi period. The king was
directly responsible for the centrally ruled territories. The feudal ruled territories were given
autonomy of administration. The king was considered as the chief of law maker and adjudicator.
In the matters of judicial administration, the king acted through tribunals. They were depend on
smirits in the matter of laws and applied it. The king decision was highly influenced by religion.
The cases of centre was solved by central courts, and the local cases were solved by local courts,
so from this it can be said that there was de-centralization and hierarchy of Judicial
Administration in Lichhavi period. Manusmriti was the principal source of law at that period.
Administration of justice was enforced through tribunals. The judicial administration was
divided into three parts. They are as follows;
Central Level Administation Provincial Level Local Level Administration
Administration
1) Antarasan or Paramasan 1) Drang 1) Panchali
2) Dowarik or Pratihar 2) Tala 2) Birtawala and Aryasangh
3) Adhikaran (Courts) 3) Bishaya 3) Chatbhat
i) Purbadhikaran 4) Aathkulak
ii) Pashimadhikaran 5) Sutradhar
iii) Mahadhikaran
iv) Bhattadhikaran
v) Kuther Adhikaran
vi) Sulli Adhikaran
vii) Ligwal Adhikaran
viii) Mapchowk Adhikaran

Central level administration

1) Antarasan or Paramasan
It is the supreme judicial court which is established inside royal palace. So, as to use the judicial
right of King, King himself hears and solves the cases. During the period of king Narendra one
case was not solved by Panchali so it was taken into Antrasan by Dowarik and final decision was
taken by the king. If Panchali couldn't solve the case and they couldn't get justice that could be
appeal in Antarasan through Dowarik and it should be solved within a month. Before giving the
decision by king, opinion of the central level office holder and courtyards was taken and the
meeting was called Antrasan and Parmasan. This conference was held in Mangriha before
Amshuverma and it was held in Kailashkut Bhawan at the time of Amshuverma.

2) Dowarik or Pratihar
They were the gatekeeper of the palace and their job was to guard the gate as well as to submit
all the reports related to treaties, army training and the unsatisfied cases from Adhikaran and
Panchali to Antarasan or parmesan. They were like police officer in lichhavi period, because
without their permission the case of suicide and pregnant women was also prohibited to deal
with. Their duty was also to catch the thieves and prisoners who ran away from the prison and
they also help to communicate and make good relationship between village and government..
They were like the reporter though whom the cases reached to the Antrasan.
3) Adhikaran
They have important role in the judiciary system. The main person of Adhikaran was called
Adhikrit. If they did anything out of the rule they would be punished. There are many sectors in
the Adhikaran from there the cases were looked and decided. They are as follows:
3.1.Purbadhikaran (Eastern Tribunal)
It was located in the East ward gate of the palace which was directly concerned with legal
disputes of the public in general.

3.2.Paschimadhikaran (Western Tribunal)

It was placed in the western entrance of the royal palace and its main concern was the
cases related with the issues relating to temples and religion. Its main task was to direct
the judicial and administrative system of western part and create good relationship
between public and central government. If the decision given by Pashimadhikaran was
not satisfactory then they can appeal in the Antrasan through Dowarik.

3.3.Mahadhikaran
It looks whether one is doing his occupation as prescribed to him or not (as prescribed to
his forefather) if not then it makes them to do and if someone change their occupation
against their caste then the Mahadhikaran has got right to punish them according to
dharmasastra.

3.4.Bhattadhikaran
Bhattadhikaran was the administrative department based on Barna system. There were 4
Barnas and 18 castes in Lichchhavi period. Learned Brahmin was the head of
Bhattadhikaran. It used to look the cases related to caste. If someone is not doing his
work as prescribed by his caste then he shall be punished as per Dharmasastra. It also
used to collect the fines of punishment and tax in the border. Brahmins were kept the
high ranking caste but they had to follow strict rule of food and drink, marriage, adultery
and sexual matter. The convict of this offences would be degraded to the lower caste.

3.5.Kuther Adhikaran
Kuther performed the managements of land. Kuther was concerned with the collection of
revenue, land taxes and settled land disputes. It used to collect tax from the animal
husbandry, trade and the productivity. Tax collector was known as Chatbhat which was
one of the military. Chatbahat’s main job was to collect tax and Birta was given to him as
a salary. During the period of Shivadev and Anshurverma, tax was made free on garlic
and onion crop.
 3.6.Shulli Adhikaran
Shulli provide justice in the matters of panchaprad i.e. five heinous crime that include
theft, homicide, treason, abetment and jari (eloping others wife). Later this right was
taken by royal family so as to collect the fine and increase their financial status.

3.7.Ligwal Adhikaran
Ligwal looked the cases related to the welfare and development affairs such as irrigation,
transportation and drinking water.

3.8.Mapchock Adhikaran
Mapchok is the family court. It was related to marriage, divorce and property.

Provincial level administration

The Lichhavi had managed a system of administration and officials. The central government
couldn't rule the nation directly so the central government had given authority to feudal to rule
the province which was very far from the central government. But the feudal have to live under
the central government and have to pay the tax to the central government. There are many
provincial administrations. They are as follows;
1. Drang
In Sanskrit it was used for city. But according to kalhan Birachit Rajdarangini Drang was
used when rebels took land revenue by force and used their own seal instead of the royal
seal on the goods. During the regime of king Narendradev, the authority of the central
administration was handed over to Drang. Drang had specific area and may tala was
included under it. If the decision given by the Drang were not satisfactory then issue
could be taken to Antrasan through Prathihar or Daurik. Drang had got four times right
than the Panchali. The administration office holder called Samanta or Mahasamanta used
to be the boss of the Drang.

2. Tala
They represented fixed boundaries which fell under administrative division. It was lower
level of Drang under which there are many villages. Tala swami was appointed as the
official to conduct administrative issues and his main duty was to take care of the villages
and manager Chakrobhoj for those travelers who return back Gosainkunda. Religious
matters were also handed to them. If the Tala swami decision was questionable then
Grampanchali looked after the case.

3. Bishayapati
It was like the district of today. The chief of the Bishayapati was appointed by the king.
Bishayapati had right to collect various taxes and appoint the officials. The community
was divided into many Bishaya to work in various work of administration.
 4. Athkulak
It was the appellate courts where serious crime was dealt. There were used eight judges
for taking the decision. It was regarded as a very powerful body which could deliver true
justice thus punishes the guilty and frees the innocent. If the Suttadhar were unable to
justify that a person would be submitted before the Athkulak.

5. Suttadhar
It was the place where all the evidences related to the crime was taken and sent to
Athkulak for further process. If Daurik could not confirm whether the person was
innocent or not after investigation then that person would be handed to the Suttadhar.

Local level administration

1) Panchali
Panchali was the village administration. The member of panchali was selected from Brahmins
and renewed person of various castes were called Panchalik. Their job was to work for the
welfare and development of villages and settle the disputes of their area and give punishment if
needed. Panchali used to listen to the views of all people for doing any national or local level
work. They fixed the tax for the agriculture, animal husbandry, and trade as well as register the
local lands. The decision of Panchali was unpartial, if any person did not agree with the decision
of panchali, he/she could appeal to Antrasan to get the decision in his/her favor.
2) Birtawal or Aryasangh
The person who can make the king happy could get Birta (land). It was used to see the cases of
land that was given by king to the government officers as a fee. In the cases of panchaaparadh,
the criminal was given punishment by the king court but that criminal's family house field were
to be looked by Birtawala or Aryasangh. If the decision taken by the Birtawala and Aryasangh
was not satisfied then she/he can go to Antrasan through Dowarik.
3) Chatbhat
Chatbhat collects the taxes of land, animal husbandry and trade from different tole. Chabhat got
Birta for his job. The government officers could not decide the case of land area the case of land
area dispatched to the royal palace to in Antrasan and Paramasan. He had right to punish those
who did not pay the tax and cheat the tax.
 CRIME & PUNISHMENT IN LICHHAVI DYNASTY
A crime is an act of an individual or a group of persons who violate the rules and regulations of a
society. In the society, there are rules and regulations for its welfare. Anybody who violates
whose rules and regulations is subject to punishment. Punishment is not an end in itself but a
means to an end. The end is the maintenance of social order and security and the protection of all
living beings.
During Lichhavi period,various types of crimes were committed in the society. The crimes
committed in those days can be divided into two categories:
a) Civil offence
b) Criminal offence
Criminal offence is brought by the state for a crime which the state specifically outlaws, whilst a
civil one is brought by an individual. Examples of civil crime include disputes for official
positions, marriage, land etc. These civil crimes do not have serious punishment like death
penalty. But for these types of crime, punishments were mainly monetary fine, banishment etc.
During the Lichhavi period, the punishment was given according to the gravity of offences. The
degree of crimes was divided into three parts:
a) Pratham sahas (mild)
b) Madhyam sahas (strong)
c) Uttam Sahas (strongest)
Pratham Sahas meant that the crime had a nominal degree of violence involved. Madhyam sahas
signified that the crime involved a mediocre degree of violence whereas Uttam sahas meant the
degree of violence was the highest.
The punishments for criminal offences these were very lethal like death penalty, banishment
from one’s country, mutilation of organs, etc. According to the gravity of the offence, the
criminal offences can be further sub-divided into two types.
a) Panchakhat or Panchhaparadh (five heinous crimes)
b) Simple criminal offences
Panchakhat or Pancha Aparadh are the five heinous crimes which are more severe in comparison
to other crimes. The punishment for these crimes were very severe and fatal e.g. death penalty,
cutting hands and limbs, mutilation of sexual organs, banishment from country with shaved
heads etc.
During those days there were also simple crimes other than the heinous crimes. Some examples
of such crimes are not obeying the rules and orders, killing cows (gobadh), remarriage by women
(polyandry), creating disturbance in the maintenance of peace in the society etc. The
punishments for these crimes were less severe as compared to the heinous crimes.
Panchhaparadh
Literally, Panchakat or Panchha Aparadh means five crimes which are very brutal. These were
grave offences which had punishments harsher than the other crimes. During the Lichhavi
period, the Panchha Aparadhs were the most odious criminal offences. The following crimes
were regarded as heinous:
a) Theft
b) Eloping others wife (Jari)
c) Homicide or Murder
d) Treason
e) Abetment thereof ( negative provocation)
Those who committed these kinds of crimes were sentenced to death penalty. The punishment
was given to the offender by the Sully Adhikaran, a court assigned to monitor these kinds of
issues.

a) Theft
Theft was one of the five heinous crimes prevalent in the Lichhavi period. It was
considered a major evil and efforts were made to get rid of thieves. In the view of
Manu,as described in the Manu smriti, robbery is an offence which is committed through
the use of violence and theft is an offence committed without the use of violence.
According to the Narad smriti, theft is an act of taking away one’s possession by the
means of deception, or when a person is either asleep, intellectually disabled or
intoxicated. Theft is further classified into two categories- to steal things without the
knowledge of the owner and to forcefully take the property of the owner with his/her
knowledge.
The punishment for the offence of theft was based on degree of severity of the theft. The
punishment was different according to the quantity and value of goods stolen. For the
theft of gold, silver and precious clothes weighing more than hundred palas, the
punishment was capital punishment i.e. death penalty. If the above mentioned stolen
goods weighed less than hundred and more than fifty palas then the punishment was
mutilation of limbs and when the weight of stolen goods was less than fifty palas, the
punishment was fine equal to eleven folds of the value of the stolen goods.
Robbery was also a type of theft but it was considered more heinous than theft because it
involves violence. The punishment for the crime of robbery was death penalty.
Pickpockets were also a type of thieves. Upon committing the offence for the first time,
two of the fingers of the pickpockets were cut off. Mutilation of hands, feet and sexual
organs was done upon commiting sexual offences.
Some of the Lichhavi inscriptions mention the punishment for theft as the confiscation of
the thief's property- land, house, and all other movable and immovable properties. The
confiscated property would then belong to the royal palace. The relatives of the accused
 were not given any punishment. This notion can be found in the inscription of Vishnu
Gupta.
According to another inscription, the whole family of the offender suffered for the
offence and the property of the entire family was confiscated. Another inscription
mentions that the thief would be enslaved in the royal palace and all members of the
thief’s family including the children along with their property would be given to the Arya
Sangh.

b) Homicide or Murder
Homicide or murder was another type of crime which was regarded as a heinous crime
during Lichhavi period. This type of crime existed from the very beginning of history of
humankind but the punishment given to the culprit differed from place to place,
community to community and time to time.
Homicide was the severest offence against the human body. According to the Manu
smriti, the murderer was considered more evil than a defamer, a thief and an assaulter.
Manu was very particular about giving capital punishment to those who killed infants,
women and Brahmins. Murder of other people was also considered a grave crime that
unquestionably deserved capital punishment. Even the physicians would be punished if
the death of patients was caused by their wrong treatment.
Some historical accounts state that the punishment given to a murderer during the
Lichhavi period was the enslavement of the murderer and his family members and
confiscation of their property.
During the time of King Narendradev, the offender who committed murder would belong
to the royal family and his/her property was given to the Arya Sangh.
During the Lichhavi period, casteism was in practice. Brahmin was the supreme caste
among all others. Brahmins enjoyed the supremacy in the society. So, the Brahmins were
not given death penalty.
One of the Lichhavi inscriptions mentions that in the case of the death of a pregnant
woman, one hundred palas had to be paid by her family so as to remove the embryo
before the cremation of the dead body. It was the social belief that a pregnant woman
should not be cremated with the embryo. The embryo had to be removed, for which the
state charged the amount.
Suicide was also one of the types of homicide. During Lichhavi period, if anyone
committed suicide that was regarded as a crime. His/her family member was liable for
fine punishment. The dead body of the person who committed suicide was not taken
away for cremation until the Dware investigated the body and gave the permission for
cremation.

c) Treason
Treason was another type of heinous crime committed during the Lichhavi period.
During the Lichhavi period, the king was described as equivalent to God. The Lichhavi
kings added the term “Dev” (meaning deity in English) to their names to signify their
divinity. The king was the head of the government, supreme commander in chief and
 considered as the ultimate giver of justice. Anyone who did not obey the rules and orders
of King and involved in wrong doing against the king and the country was regarded to
have done the crime of treason and these offenders were given capital punishment.
This offence against the king and the state was regarded as the crime of treason. The
severe punishment was given to those who committed the crime of treason. The
punishment was death penalty the family members were also punished and their property
was confiscated. Sometimes the relatives and the supporters of such convicted person
were banished from the country.
If any person disobeyed the order and rules of the King, that was also a crime and they
would be punished according to the law. One who violated royal orders, edicts and
commands etc had to pay four pannapurans. Hostility against the kings was a crime of
treason those days. King would give capital punishment to such offenders.
Conspiracy against the state and the exposure of state secrecy were also regarded as the
crime of treason. Capital punishment was enacted upon the offenders.
During those days, people who did not pay the customs or taxes levied by the king were
also considered as criminals and were punished.

d) Eloping others’ wife (Jari)

Jari was one of the most common heinous crimes often committed during the Lichhavi
period. Jari meant the act of eloping with others’ wife i.e. if a man married or had sexual
relations with another person’s wife, he would be regarded as a criminal. The actual
husband of the women was called a Sadhu and one whom she eloped with was called a
Jar. The Sadhu had the liberty of killing the Jar upon finding him. The punishment for
those who committed crime of Jari was death penalty.
According to Vishnu Gupta’s inscription, the punishment for the crime of Jari was that
the offender was given death penalty and the property of the offender would be
confiscated. The confiscated property would then belong to the royal palace. But other
inscriptions mention that the property would belong to the Arya Sangh and not the royal
palace

e) Abetment thereof (negative provocation)

Abetment was also regarded as a heinous crime during the Lichhavi period. Generally,
abetment is defined as encouraging and assisting someone to commit a crime or to do
wrong or to support a crime by active assistance. During those days, if anyone supported
or encouraged someone to commit a crime or aided in the commission of an offence the
person was considered guilty. If a person intentionally provoked a criminal it was
regarded as the crime of abetment. During the Lichhavi era, criminals who committed
abetment were sentenced to capital punishment. The punishment system for the crime of
abetment was same as the punishment for other heinous crimes.
PUNISHMENT
The penal system of lichhavi was fully based on the laws revealed in Smritis and Kautilya”s
Arthasastra. System during the Lichhavi period was very ideal. The decision was given by the
Grampanchali and if the citizen were not satisfied then they can take those cases to king who
take the final decision which is highly influenced by the religion. Therefore the king had been
considered as the chief lawgiver and the adjudicator both.
Punishments were inflicted according to the gravity of the offence. There were different forms of
punishments. But most of them were of reformative type the crime done with the full intention
was regarded as the violent crime and rest of them were regarded as a simple and the Smiritis
were taken the base for those punishments. The physical force involved in the crime was called
'Sahas'..madhayama sahas and uttama shahs were divide according to crime ,srathama sahas
The punishment was given according to thedegree of physical force the have involved in the
crime.
In this period also the limit of crime, the intention to do the crime and other condition like for
country, power, age, type of crime and the economic condition were taken major things to give
the punishmentThere is no .And also punishment varied according to the caste of the wrongdoer .
ethics or the ,ficials who disobeyed or ignored the lawmentioned of types of punishment to the of
.the punishment to them must be severer than that given to the comman people .loyal command
The punishments like imprisonment were not seen during the period so there were four diffrent
they were .cording to the crimepunishments ac

 Bak danda:
t was given by threating and scolding to espically young people when they do it by lack
. of knowledge and conscious so that the crime do not repeat again and again
 Dhik danda
perserve the social norms and values so that people This type of punishment was given to
.social norms and religion ,on the society do not go against their cast
 Artha danda
this punishment was . t was a totally new concept brought during the period of lichhavi
it .he would pay little , f the crime is not more serins .ebased on the nature of the crim
.was eyually binded among all the people where ever do they work
 Bhad danda
physical punishment ,yeath penalty .This include both capital and physical punishment
Like if a lower cast boy or girl marry higher cast boy .sand capital panish come under thi
. or girl
The Lichhavi era has systematically Hinduize the law and justice system that means the judicial
system was fully governed by Hindu Scriptures.
 Capital punishment was frequently made for grievous types of crime like treason, murder,
sexual offences, etc.
 Brahmin and female were not punished to death.
  Adulteress were punished by mutilation like cutting nose, ears, braided hair since female
could not be sentenced to death.
 Punishment to the adulteress was very much determined by the willingness and
unwillingness of woman. If a man committed adultery without will of a maid, he would
be sentenced to death. But if maid was willing, only light punishment would be made to
him.
 There was a trial system and the sole objective of the trial was to give a chance to
offender to prove innocence. If not, he was condemned to punishment.
Killing a Brahman, Drinking alcohol, stealing the gold of Brahmin, hurt, violence, prostitution,
rape, arson, false weight were also considered as crimes in this period.
Anulom and Pratilom
Anuloma can be defined as a marriage between a female and a male belonging to the lower and
higher caste respectively. Pratiloma can be defined as a marriage between a female and male
belonging to the higher and lower caste respectively.

Women position during Lichhavi dynasty

 Political aspect
 Religious and cultural aspects
 Legal aspects
 Social aspects
 Sati system
 Polygamy
 Remarriage

Political aspect
 To maintain good diplomat relation with the foreign countries, women had a great
role.eg, several marriage systems between Nepal and other countries prevailed such as
daughter of Amsuverma was married with the Tibetan Prince Trsong Tsong Gyampo.
Similarly, ShivadevII to Srivastadevi, daughter of Maukhari King Bhogaverma;
JayadevII to Rajyamati, daughter of Harshadev
 Inspite of going to sati, Rajyavati, mother of King Mandev ruled the country as the
defacto ruler.
 In the inscriptions of Licchavi period, Though exact role has not been mentioned about
Kshem Sundari, Gunavati, Bhogini, wife of Amsuverma (name not mentioned) in the
political arena but the inscriptions give hint that they might have played an important role
in the then politics of the country. The imprint of Bhogini in the coin MANANKA also
can be supportive for this fact.
Religious and Cultural aspect
 Women were very active in the religious and cultural aspects. Most probably the rich
widows constructed different temples and monasteries and consecrated big plot of land
for a trustee of Chaitya.
 Women also donated wealth to Brahmins. Mandev’s mother; Rajyavati also donated
great wealth to the Brahmins.
 Mandev’s wives were engaged in different temple building works. Kshem Sundari built
a Saiva temple. Gunavati built a temple in the name of her deceased father.
 Mandev’s daughter Vijayvati built a Shiva temple and also placed Vijayswor linga.
 Besides queens and princess, a female named Vijayswami, wife of Samrat Grihapati,
had placed a diety of Goddess Vijayeswori Devi at Palanchowk.
 Later Abhiri, wife of Anuparma, a powerful person, had constructed a Saiva temple in
the name of her deceased husband.
 After Mallapur victory, through his mother, Mandev made many donations. Mandev
also had constructed a ‘Trivikrama Vamana’a bishnu statue at Lazimpat in the name of
his mother.

Legal aspects
 If pregnant lady’s dead body was burnt without permission it was considered as a crime.
 Though polygamy was legitimized during that period, polyandry was not legitimized.
 If ‘pratilom’ marriage i.e. marriage of so called high caste girl was performed with the
marriage of so called low caste boy, the boy was given punishment of death penalty
whereas girl had only punishment of mutilation of nose, ear, and the hair.
 As Mapchowk used to look after the cases of family, marriage, and divorce; it had
provision that widow marriage was considered paying certain fine.
 If a woman was found to have second marriage, she was punished but the condition was
not liable only if a woman could give birth to a child.
 No female was taken as witness during this system.

Social aspects
 Sati system
 This period is the initiative stage of the sati system
 However, the inscriptions of Mandev state that there was no compulsion for sati.
Even his mother became a very good political ruler who despite of her husband’s
death didn’t go for Sati.
 Many widows despite of going to sati constructed different temples and
monasteries.

 Polygamy:
 There was no law against polygamy and it was practiced thoroughly. Even Kings
had many wives and the one who was the most favorite to King was termed as
‘Patrani’.
  Whether there was resettled marriage system or there was practice or ‘Syayambar’
is not clear during this period.

 Remarriage
 Vishnu Gupta’s inscriptions mentions that a woman used to remarry in the
following situations: death of the husband, abscond of the husband, husband
becoming ascetic or the moral degradation.
Different kinds of ill practices as sati system were present in the Lichhavi society. However,
there were few good practices as widows were allowed to get married after certain fines. The
Lichhavi period though called golden age had many drawbacks regarding women position but
then we can’t ignore the fact that this dynasty had good women as a political leader and many
women contributed to maintain the foreign diplomacy and were active in terms of religious and
cultural aspects.

Foreign Relation of the Lichhavis

Relation with India
The Lichhavis were from Vaishali, India. So there was a family relation between Nepal and
India. The famous King of Maurya dynasty Chandra Gupta Maurya had married with Lichhavi
princess, the daughter of Lichhavi. (It is said that from the name of king Lichhavi, his dynasty
were also named as Lichhavi.) In the other hand the famous king Anshuvarma had given his
sister Bhogdevi to Surasen. Surasen was the king of India in Maukhari dynasty. King Shiva II
was married with Vaisadevi. She was grand-daughter of Adityasen, the King of Magadha. In this
way King Jayadev II was also married with Rajyamati, the daughter of Harshadev, the king of
India. In this way, the Lichhavi king of Nepal had a deep matrimonial (marital) relation with
India. When Anshuvarma was ruling in Nepal, the brave King Harshavardhan was ruling in
India. The relation between the Kings was very friendly. When King Harshvardhan had captured
the Kingdom of Kanauj, the royal family came to Nepal for shelter.

Relation with Tibet and China

Nepal-Tibet relation as started at the time of King Anshuvarma. When Anshuvarma was ruling
in Nepal, there was a brave king Tsrong sang Gampo in Tibet. So, Anshuvarma and Gampoo
were contemporary. Bhrikuti, (the daughter of Udayadev somewhere and somewhere
Anshuvarma) was married with Tibetan King Tsrong sang Gampo. So, in Lichchhavi Period the
relation between the two countries was very friendly and helpful. Nepalese princess Bhrikuti
took Buddha images with her and played a very important role to preach Buddhism in Tibet.
King Gampoo had married with the princess Venchhing. She was the daughter of China. The
princesses of Nepal and China being in the member of the same house, they had friendly relation,
so the relation with China also started in family base.
 MALLA DYNASTY
After the fall of the Lichhavis came the Malla period during which the foundation of the city of
Kantipur (later Kathmandu) was laid. Beginning in the early twelfth century, leading notables in
Nepal began to appear with names ending in the term malla, ("wrestler" in Sanskrit), indicating a
person of great strength and power. Arimalla (reigned 1200–16) was the first king to be so
called, and the practice of adopting such a name was followed regularly by rulers in Nepal until
the eighteenth century. The early Malla rule started with Ari Malla in the 12th century and over
the next two centuries grew into a large empire before disintegrating into small principalities
which later became known as the Baisi (i.e. the twenty-two principalities). This was more or less
coincidental with the emergence of the Chaubisi (i.e. twenty-four principalities). The history of
these principalities remains shrouded up until the time when they joined other kingdoms, both
large and small, to form the unified Kingdom of Nepal. Before Ari Malla, many other Mallas
were connected in administration but they were not free and powerfull kings. Mallas were very
ancient people. It was during their reign that the people living in and around the Kathmandu
Valley began to be called "Newars" (or Nepa:mi in Nepal Bhasa, meaning citizens of Nepal).
The Mallas were the ruling clan of the Malla Mahajanapada. They have claimed Kshatriya status
themselves The Mahabharat, Buddhist literatures, Manusmriti and other many sources has also
described the Malla as a Kshetriya. At the time of Lichhavi King Manadev, the Mallas were near
Gandaki and they were ruling there as feudal of the Lichhavi kingdom.
According to many sources, the Malla dynasty came in Kathmandu in the course of time; they
became more and more powerful. After Jayadev II, the Lichhavi Kings became very weak and
two different regimes of two dynasties started ruling; they were the ‘Deva’ and ‘Malla’. This
system of two regimes was called the system of alternate regime. The Deva dynasty and the
Malla dynasty ruled turned by turn and Ari malla came to the throne. He was a powerful king.
After the death of Ari malla, his son Abhaya Malla became the king of Nepal. But after him, the
alternate ruling again started and Deva and Malla dynasty ruled turn by turn. This system
continued till the rise of Jayasthiti Malla. After the rise of Jayasthiti Malla, the Malla dynasty is
said to have ruled over Nepal.
Jayasthiti Malla, with whom commences the later Malla period in the Kathmandu Valley,
reigned towards the end of the 14th century. Though his rule was rather short, his place among
the rulers in the Valley is eminent for the various social and economic reforms such as the
'Sanskritization' of the Valley people, new methods of land measurement and allocation etc.
Yakshya Malla, the grandson of Jayasthiti Malla, ruled the Kathmandu Valley until almost the
end of the 15th century. After his demise, the Valley was divided into three independent Valley
kingdoms -- Kantipur, Bhaktapur and Patan -- in about 1484 A.D. This division led the Malla
rulers into internecine wars for territorial and commercial gains. Mutually debilitating wars
gradually weakened them and by the time of King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s invasion of the Valley,
they had by themselves reached the brink of political extinction. The last rulers were Jaya
Prakash Malla, Tej Narsingh Malla and Ranjit Malla of Kantipur, Patan and Bhaktapur
respectively.
Rise of Jayasthiti Malla
In 1381 BS, the Tirahut or Doya king Harisingh Deva was defeated by Gayasuddhin Tygolak,
the emperor of Delhi. The defeated King Harisingh Deva left his kingdom and went to Northern
hillside with his family. In 1382, Magha, when he was going to Dolakha, on the way he died at
Teenpatan in Sindhuli. After that unhappy accident, the queen Deval Devi and son Jagatsingh
became helpless. At last, Rudra Malla, the king of Kathmandu valley gave them shelter.
King Rudra Malla died in Shrawan 1383 at the age of 30 and his queen went Sati. The King had
only one daughter, Nayak Devi. When she was 8 years old, she was married with Harishchandra.
In 1392 he was killed in court feuds by poison. After the death of Rudra Malla, Ari Malla
became the King. Nayak Devi remarried with Jagatsingh in 1393 BS and Rajalla Devi was born
in 1403. When she was 8 years old, she was married to Jayasthiti Malla. The king Ari Malla died
and the throne become Kingless. Raj Deva was made the king and Rajalla Devi was at the post
of Regent (Uparaj). At that time, Deval Devi was becoming more and more powerful and in
some places she fought bravely and gained some region. She was on the side of Rajalla Devi and
Jayasthiti Malla.
King Raj Dev died in 1417 BS and his son Arjun Dev of 14 years old was put on the throne. At
that time, the king was inexperienced. Being the husband of Regent Rajalla Devi, Jayasthiti
Malla got suitable situation to increase his power. When Deval Devi died in 1423, the enemies of
Jayasthiti Malla became active. The feduals of Lalitpur were against Jayasthiti Malla, but
Jayasthati malla made them to his side. Later he became powerful and was made became the
King of Bhadgaun in 1437 BS. And later on became the whole King of Kathmandu valley.

Reforms of Jayasthiti Malla

The rise of Jayasthiti Malla had put away the political instability and fixed a political system.
The reforms made by Jayasthiti Malla are:
Social Reforms:
He divided the society into 4 varnas and 36 castes on the basis of occupation. The whole society
was divided into Brahmin, Chhetri, Vaishya and Sudra with the help of Kirtinath Upadhyaya,
Raghunath Jha, Ramnath Jha, Srinath Bhatta and Mahinath Bhatta. The occupation of the people
was determined according to their caste. The occupation of Brahmin was to give religious
knowledge and perform the religious activities. The occupation of Chhetri was to fight and save
the people of the state. The work of Vaishya was to work in form and to handle the trade and
commerce. The occupation of Sudra was to serve the above varnas and caste. Sudras were
treated as untouchable. The foods and drinks, dress and ornaments were also determined
according to the caste.
 Pode was not allowed to put on cap, shoes and the golden ornaments.
 The Kansai was not allowed to put on labeda
 All the untouchable persons were forbidden to make the house of tile roof.
 The untouchable persons had to cover their head while entering the city.
 The person of lower caste had to respect the person of higher caste.
Economic Reforms:
Before Jayasthiti Malla, due to political instability the economic condition of the state was poor.
Some of the economic reforms made by him are :
 He categorized land in Abal, Doyam, Sium and Chahar. According to the productivity, he
fixed the land revenue.
 He started the evaluation of land. As his new system, 96 haat Abbal, 109 haat Doyam,
112 haat Sium and 125 haat of Chahar was equal (of same price).
 He introduced monetary punishment instead of corporeal punishment.
 People were allowed to sell and mortgage their land and houses if they need money. Even
the Birta land was also allowed to be sold and mortgaged.
 He introduced Mana, Pathi, Dhak, Taraju, Dharni, Chhatak and so on.
 He developed trade with Tibet.

Religious Reforms:
 He set up the images of various Gods and Goddess and many temples and managed the
Guthi to arrange the worship.
 He made his statue in front of Pashupatinath temple and set up the Bhairab near it.
 He repaired the Chaitya of Swayambhu and made many other Chaityas.
 He built many temples in the valley.

Literary Reforms
 Jayasthiti Malla himself was a learned person in Sanskrit language and tried to improve
Sanskrit and Nepali Bhasa.
 He managed to translate the various important Sanskrit scriptures.

Judicial Reforms:
 Jayasthati Malla organized a constitutional committee and made a code according to
religious books which was given the title of ‘Manabnyaya Sastra’. It is the 1 st written or
codified law in Nepalese history.
 He started monetary punishment instead of Corporeal.
 He arranged a new system of Justice in giving and taking of things, wages, theft, slavery,
gambling and various other codes.
 Kings of Malla Dynasty
King Yakshya Malla
After the death of King Jayasthiti Malla in 1452 BS, his sons Dharma Malla, Jyoti Malla and
Kirti Malla ruled over Nepal for 13 years. After that second son Jyoti Malla ruled with
monopoly. After the death of Jyoti Malla in 1485, his sons Yakshya Malla and Jeev Malla ruled
jointly for some time and after that Yakshya Malla ruled with monopoly. Yakshya Malla made
the administration stronger and systematic. He got the title ‘Nepal Mandaleshwor’ and ruled for
53 years. He was the last king of united Nepal.
King Yakshya Malla was brave and diplomat. He extended the kingdom. So, he became famous
in the history of Nepal. He was the last king of Nepal mandala. Yakshya Malla was a brave
warrior and a very far sighted king. He managed to save his capital from the enemies. He
managed to surround the capital, Bhaktapur, with a big wall. King Yakshya Malla made the
feudal of different place in his side, especially the feudal of Kantipur, Patan, Pharping, Sankhu,
Nuwakot and Dolakha by a treaty in 1510 BS. Yakshya Malla extended his territory up to Bengal
in East and Gorkha and Palpa in the west. Likewise his territory was extended up to Tibet in
North and Magadha and Gaya in the South. But the historians are skeptical about his southern
extentions.
After the death of Yakshya Malla his eldest son Raya Malla became the King and his younger
brothers Ratna Malla, Rana malla, Ari Malla and nephew helped him. In the flow of time Ratna
Malla became the King of Kantipur making Kantipur a new state. Rana Malla was made the king
of Banepa. Ratna Malla started dominating the feudal of Lalitpur. King Raya Malla did not
support the work of his brother Ratna Malla. So there arose a dispute between the two brothers,
the kings of Bhaktapur and Kantipur. People of one state were not allowed to enter another state.
In 1556, the King Raya Malla died and the dead body was brought to Aryaghat which was under
Kantipur. So, king Ratna Malla did not permit to do his brother’s funeral ceremony there and
hence the body was returned back.
The Kings of Bhaktapur
 Raya Malla (1538-66 BS)
Raya Malla became the king of great Malla kingdom and at the time of his death, the
kingdom was limited to Bhaktapur, a small state. Raya Malla opposed the work of his
brother Ratna Malla but he could not control him so the great Malla kingdom broke
down.
After the death of Raya Malla, Suvarna Malla, Vishow Malla, Trailokya Malla, Jagatjyoti
Malla, Narendra Malla, Jagat Prakash Malla, Jitamitra Malla became the king step by
step in Bhaktapur.

 Bhupatindra Malla:
Bhupatindra Malla was born in 1731 BS. After the death of his father Jitamitra Malla, in
1753, Bhupatindra Malla became the king of Bhaktapur at the age of 22. At his time,
there was quarrel among the 3 kings of Bhaktapur, Patan and Kantipur. After the death of
 Yognarendra Malla, king of Patan, in 1762 Bhupatindra Malla became the most powerful
king.
Bhupatindra Malla was a famous and religious king. He did many religious work and
made many temples. He was famous for the development of art and architecture. The
Pachpanna Jhyale Durbar and Nyatpole Dewal are the most famous work of his time. At
his time the Kingdom was developed from every prespective.

 Ranajit Malla
King Ranjit Malla was the son of king Bhupatindra Malla. He was born in 1759. He was
the last king of Bhaktapur. During his regime, Gorkhali King Prithvinarayan Shah
attacked the Malla kingdom of Kathmandu valley and conquered the kingdom of kantipur
and Bhaktapur in 1825 BS, and Bhaktapur was conquered in 1826 BS. After the fall of
his country, King Ranjit Malla went to Kashi to pass his remaining life.

The Kings of Kantipur:

 Ratna Malla:
Ratna Malla, 2nd son of Yakshya Malla, was the founder of Kantipur state. At 1 st he
helped his brother Raya Malla inadministration and in 1541, he killed the 12 mahaputra
of Kantipur and became the king. He ruled in Kantipur for about 36 years and died in
1577 BS.

 Mahendra Malla:
After the death of Ratna Malla, his son Narendra Malla ruled in Nepal. After the death
of Narendra Malla, Mahendra Malla became the king of Kantipur in 1617 BS. He is
considered as the most famous king in the history of Kantipur. He minted the coins
called ‘Mahendra Malli’. He managed to fix the exchange rate of Mahendra Malli with
the coins of Emperor of Delhi in which one Indian coins would be equal to two
Mahendramalli.
At the time of King Mahendra Malla, he imported gold and silver from Tibet and
exported coins. This exchange system helped Nepal become economically sound. He
promoted cottage industry. He was a lover of the people. He ate only after all the people
had eaten. He was a diplomatic king. He managed to send his people outside the country
to learn skill and to work as a spy. He died in 1631 BS.

 Pratap Malla: (1698-1731 BS)

Pratap Malla was the most famous king of of Kantipur. At his time, the political relation
among the three kingdoms was not good. Although King Siddhi Narsimha Malla was the
uncle of Pratap Malla, he did not like to free Patan.
Pratap Malla was a religious king. He made ‘Ranipokhari’ in the month of kartik 1727
BS. and managed to keep water of various Holly places. He made a temple in the middle
of the pond and a statue of his family in Southern side of the pond. He established the
 statue of Hanuman in front of Gunpo Durbar and the Durbar later came to be called
‘Hanuman Dhoka Durbar’. He established Nrhimsh statue and kept Panchamukhi
Hanuman in Nasalchowk, constructed Dakshinkali and Guheshwori Temple, set up
Kotilinga in Pashupati and Kalbhairab.He built the bridge to join Kantipur and
Swyambhu. He was a great poet and called himself ‘Kabindra’.
At his time there was development in trade with India and Tibet. He attacked Bhaktapur
many times. Pratap Malla ruled near about 35 years. He died in 1731 BS at the age of
51.He was succeeded by his eldest son Nripendra Malla.

 Jayaprakash Malla:
Jayaprakash Malla was the last king of Kantipur. He became the king of Kantipur in the
last of 1792 at the death of his father Jagajaya Malla.
Jayaprakash Malla was a very brave king but the political condition of his period was
not good, the internal politics inside the royal family was not favouring him. Dayawoti,
the queen of Jayaprakash Malla was also on the side of his opponents. At last in 1803
BS. King Jayaprakash Malla was dethroned and his son Jyoti Prakash was made the
king. At that time Jyotiprakash was only 8 years old. So, his mother Dayawoti became a
regent and Kaji Taudhik became the Chief Minister. He was all in all.
At that time the Gorkhalis were extending the Gorkha kingdom. In 1801, they conquest
Nuwakot which was under Kantipur and after that they conquered Changu, Sankhu,
Nala, Kavrepalanchowk, Sindupalchowk, Dolakha and other places.
After four years of his dethronement, Jayaprakash malla came into capital with the help
of Royal army and his followers. He imprisoned queen. At 1 st, Jayaprakash Malla helped
his son and after somehimes he ruled directly.
After conquering Makawanpur in 1819 BS. the Gorkhali blocked the kantipur valley. At
last they attacked on Kantipur on 13th Aswin, 1925. Jayaprakash Malla ran away to
Patan with his 300 faithful soldiers. When Gorkhali captured Lalitpur (Patan), the king
of Patan, Tejnarsimha Malla and Jayaprakash Malla went to Bhaktapur and asked King
Ranajit Malla for shelter and Bhaktapur was conquered in 1826.

Kings of Lalitpur (Patan):

 Siddhinarsimha Malla
Siddhinarsimha malla was the 1 st king of Patan. He was only 12 years old when he
became the king in 1675 BS. He built Krishna Mandir. During his time the relation
between Lalitpur and Gorkha was very good. He made good relation with king Ram Shah
and improved the economic condition of the country. Because of this Kantipur did not
attack Patan. After the death of Ram Shah, Pratap malla attacked Patan but the people of
Patan chased the attackers back.
He established Taleju, constructed ponds and gardens, set up Siddhivinayak, renovated
the ancient Vihars of Patan and arranged for the worship of Gods and Goddess.
  Sriniwas Malla:
King Siddhinarsimha Malla made his son Shriniwas active in politics. So, Shriniwas
became very ambitious and he himself wanted to be the king. He made parallel
government in Kirtipur against his father. So, in 1717 BS. Siddhinarsimha Malla gave up
the throne and made his son legal king and went to Kashi. After 50 years of this,
Siddhinarsimha malla died in Kashi at the age of 104.

 Yognarendra Malla:
Yognarendra was born on 1724 BS. He was very ambitious and wanted to become king.
Some Bhardars were on his side. He had kept enmity with his father. Yognarendra, same
as his father, made a parallel government in Kirtipur. So on 1741 Shriniwas Malla gave
up the throne and made his son Yognarendra Malla the legal King of Patan. He died in
1762 due to consumptiom of poisonous tobacco.
After the death of king Yognarendra Malla, the political instability started in patan. The
six pradhans of patan began to throne and dethrone the kings in their own favour
Division of Nepal mandal in tiny states, internal conflicts between the Malla kings of the
Kathmandu valley, unrest created by the pradhans of Patan, diplomacy of King Prithvi Narayan
Shah, Short sightedness of Ranajit Malla and the role of his kept sons, Jaya Prakash Malla’s
growing apathy in politics and economic blockade of king Prithvi Narayan Shah were some
important causes of the down fall of Malla kingdom of Kathmandu valley.

Ordeal system in Malla Dynasty

Ordeal system is the most ancient species of trial for criminal offences founded upon the belief
of the ancients that if a man is innocent, God would save him from death or injury when he was
subjected to an ordeal.
The ordeal system during Malla regime was governed by the Human Justice Code
“Manabnayashastra”. Pratap Malla had made the law to test a person innocent or guilty by
touching the statue of Kotirlingeswor Mahadev and take an oath and if that person is guilt then
he is taken to the statue of Kalbhairab and out the hot lighted peuri in the guilt’s ear. And it is
believed that if after putting the hot peuri in the ear of the person if he shook his head or move
then he is giving the permission to cut his head and kill him. And it is also believed that while
taking oath by touching the statue of Kalbhairab and Kotilingeshwor if the person takes the false
oath then it is believed that he will vomit the blood immediately and die.
According to Manabnayashastra, the ordeal is performed when parties to a law suit have no
witnesses. The divine ordeals were performed to examine the accused by the king in the serious
violent crimes (theft, murder, to attack other man’s wife). The five kinds of divine ordeals:
balance, fire, water, poison and kosa have been prescribed in Manabnayashastra. But the ordeal
has to be performed with the consent of both the plaintiff and the rejoinder. Before every ordeal
the offender had to take bath and perform fasting for a day and during ordeal he was supposed to
say or hear the oaths. This ordeal was only for male. The different ordeals have been described
below:
A. Balance
This was the ordeal performed by the help of balance to find out the person accused
or guilt. The weight was taken two times and if the weight increase for the second
time than the person is consider as innocent.
The beam balance was used for weighing which was fixed in two pillars whose
supporting bamboo should be of 6/6 hands, height of 4/4 hands. The distance
between two pillars should be an 11/2 hands. On one side, the accused person was
kept where as on the other side stone was kept which was done in the presence of
different people who had knowledge about weighing for the accuracy.
Firstly, the weight of accused one was measured and when the weight of both person
and stone come at the equal point then the person was took off the beam balance and
again was kept in the same beam balance by making him to take oath. And if his
weight increases then he was considered as innocent and if the weight decreases or
remains same then he was considered as guilty. The result was written on the wood
of Sal, sisso or khayer. Those woods were kept in front of temple, assembly. The
accused one has to fast one day before giving the ordeal.

B. Fire
The accused has to cross seven circles in seven steps keeping a red hot iron ball upon
his palm keeping seven leafs of Pipala tied by a thread under it. If he cross that
circles and his hands remain the same as before, then he is innocent, else guilty. If he
drops the ball out of fear or does not notice that he has been burnt, then the process
is performed once again.
In this system of ordeal, firstly iron is prepared. Any person who knows statistics
should first choose a land of 224 Angulas and then inscribe 7 circles in it. The circles
must be orderly first small and larger and larger. There should be 32 angula
differences between each circle so that the circle covers the area of 224 Angulas.
Now the accused man should fast for a day and bath. Then he was kept in the middle
of the circle i.e. the smallest circle, along with the wet clothes. Then 7 leaves of
 pipalas were tied in the hand and finally the iron ball prepared by heating in the fire
and made red hot should be kept in their hand. Now the provision according to the
Manabnyayasastra is that purified person with iron ball in the hand should take
seven steps in seven circles. The accused should not step over any circles or between
them. He should be made cross only the prescribed area of land. One who calmly
crosses the land and remain unhurt should be considered as innocent. A man who
drops the iron ball or doesn’t feel that they are getting burnt must carry the ball
again. Even after the person crosses the seven circles calmly, their hand should be
checked after 3 hours and if the hand is similar to the other hand, the person wins the
case or is convicted.
C. Water
An ordeal in which guilt or innocence depended on whether the accused person
floated or sank after being submerged in cold water. Those who sank were declared
innocent while those who floated were adjudged guilty because floating revealed the
water’s rejection of the accused.
A Torana is made in front of the bow user. The bow user shoots three arrows by
Natikurra (bow which can shoot 6 arrows at a time) in the water below the area of
Torana. The accused has to find out the middle arrow being under the water
completely, grasping the thighs of a strong youth who runs fast. When he catches the
middle arrow then another strong youth brings the accused back to the previous
place. Then five or six arrows are shot around the accused. If he remains under the
water safely then he is innocent, else guilty.
D. Poison
Once the Brahmans give the permission, this ordeal is performed. Shangra poison,
found in Himalaya which has proper aroma, color and flavor is used. Poison is
administered at the quantity about seven couples of millet keeping inside in clarified
butter to the man to whom poison is to be administered. After a day of fast the
accused had to swallow the poison in front of the Brahmans. If the poison gets
peacefully digested without making any pain, then he is innocent, else guilty. Poison
should not be administered to the child, the sick, the elderly and nor to those accused
of minor offences, a drunk, a victim, a deformed and the mediator.
 E. Kosa (Holy Water)
In this ordeal, the accused had to stand for two hours for the fire test named
Kosapan. Earlier, the accused has to have a day fasting. Also he should stand in wet
cloths. The accused with long beard and having no addiction is eligible for this
ordeal. After two hours his tongue is examined by the king in front of the ministers
and assembly members. Then only if he is liable to punishment, punishment should
be given, else release him with full respect.

These are the five types of ordeal practice during malla period which was performed specially to
male. For female there was another type of ordeal but the name is not given in manab naya
sastra. For the ordeal one vessel is prepared for boiling butter a pot should be made up of gold,
silver, copper, iron or clay and the vessel should be circular in shape with diameter of 16 anguls
and 4 anguls depth 20. Pala of butter of cow and oil should be heated vigorously and piece of
gold or ring of gold , silver , copper ,iron should be dropped into the butter then the accused
should take out the ring with the thumbs and others fingers, then the fingers of the accused was
checked. If any deforms was seen then the accused was considered guilt otherwise innocent.

Manab Nyaya Sastra

Manavnyaya Shastra is significant for laying down a unified system of criminal justice in Nepal
for the first time. King Jayasthiti Malla of Kathmandu Valley,in order to end the increasing
anarchy created by multiplicity of laws founded on various Smritis, took efforts to promulgate a
comprehensive code of law namely, ‘the laws on house’, ‘the laws on area’, ‘the laws on caste’
and ‘legal rules for human justice’ i.e. Manabnyaya Shastra. The code was introduced in order to
address the lack of a common and easily attainable law.
The rules of ethics and morality were subjected to degeneration in lack of a precise law to
control such affairs. In the meantime, a huge amount of property was stolen from the store of
Pashupatinath Temple. This incident particularly instigated his desire to have a strict and precise
code of criminal and penal laws and a well-established judicial system in the country. For him,
the burglary of Pashupatinath Temple was an indicator of the deteriorating social order in the
state.
He therefore, decided to set up code of law and for this purpose a committee was formed
Kritinath Upadhyaya, Kanyakunja Raghunath Jha Maithil, Shrinath Bhatta, Mahinath Bhatta and
Ramnath Jha were appointed as members. This law is primarily based on the concept of law
expounded by the Narada Smritis. Manabnyaya Shastra I divided into 17 parts, which inter alia
include law on money lending, security, partition of ancestral property, partnership, gift, wage,
theft, marriage, husband and wife, defamation and violent crimes.
The Manab Nyaya Shastra was consequently written after the study of Manu Smriti,
Yagyawalkya Smriti, Mitachhyara Tika, Brihaspati Smriti, Narad Smriti and other holy texts. It
was written concentrating on the practices that prevailed in the society then. The Manab Nyaya
Shastra has introduced many legal provisions regarding houses, lands, castes, dead bodies etc. It
was the major source of rendering justice during the medieval period. Much influence of religion
can be found in the laws then.
Main Provision of NYAYAVIKASINI (Manavnayayasastra):
 Determination of land management/division of land.
 Division of caste system with their jobs description.
 Sale and purchase of land.
 Punishment according to gravity of crime.
 Life style of people.
 Women right such as marriage and divorce.
 Discretionary power.
 House making procedure in three categories.
 Provision of collection of evidence, investigation and identification of evidence as well as
style of statement.
Stratification of the society
Jayasthiti Malla had stratified the society mainly into four categogies: Brahmin, Kshyeti, Vaisya,
Sudra and 64 jats on the basis of work. Brahmins were supposed to be the upper class and Sudras
were the lowest. Assuming the apex position in the social hierarchy, the Brahmins were the
spiritual guide of the monarch. They were given the posts of Dharmadhikar of the state, the chief
royal priests and royal advisors in religious as well as political affairs. Kshetriyas were just
below the Brahmins. Kshetriyahood carried with it an enormous weight and influence as no one
could become a king without it. Besides it, the ministers, feudal lords, court aristocrats and high
level officials were drawn from the Kshetriyas. In another words, almost all important political
and administrative jobs were assigned to them with jobs of military commanders and officials.
Thus on the whole, the whole society was entirely captained by Brahmins socially and politically
and administratively by Kshyetriyas. Vaisya had to work in farm and handle trade and
commerce. Sudras were supposed to be the untouchables being the lowest caste and their
occupation was to serve all the above castes.
Provisions of punishments on the basis of caste
1. King should not give death penalty to Brahmin no matter how heinous the crime is. Instead of
death penalty, his all property is seized or 1/4th can be left for him or he is exiled from the state.
2. Except Brahmin, there are 10 places where Kshyetriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras can be punished.
They are stomach, sexual organs, tongue, hands and legs, eyes, nose, ears, property and whole
body.
3. If Brahmin is verbally abused by Kshyetriya, Vaisya and Sudra then they are fined with 100
‘niska’, 150 or 200 ‘niska’ and death penalty respectively.
4. If Brahmin verbally abuses Kshyetriya, Vaishya and Sudra then he is fined with 50 ‘niska’, 25
‘niska’ and 12 ‘niska’ respectively.
5. If a lower caste person wants to have same position like Brahmin or higher caste persons then
either he is exiled from the state or two pieces of flesh from his body was taken out
6. The part of the body of lower caste person is cut from which he damages or commits crime
against Brahmin.
7. If a lower caste person splits on higher caste person then his lips were cut, if he urinates then
his penis is pierced and if he excretes then his anus is cut.
8. If a lower caste person beats Brahmin until blood comes then he is fined with Rs. 100. If he
snatches the flesh then fined with 6 ‘niska’ and if he breaks the bone then he is exiled from the
country.
9. If a Sudra starts preaching or teaching religion then hot oil is poured on his mouth and ears.
10. Brahmins are responsible for priesthood; if they do not perform their daily duty of
worshiping God then they are fined with Rs. 1000.
11. Son of Brahmin father and Kshyetri mother is not allowed to put on ‘Janai’ used by
ancestors. If he does so then he is damned by hot rod in the shape of ‘Janai’.
12. Son of Brahmin father and Rajput mother is called ‘Jaise’. If he performs the task of
priesthood then he is fined with Rs. 12.
13. If a Brahmin marries ‘Chitrakarini’ and ‘Bhatyani’ who are of lower caste, then he is fined
with Rs. 24.
14. If a Brahmin has sexual relation with ‘Laharani’ and ‘Majhini’ then he is fined with Rs. 480
and in case of those women whose husbands are gone Lhasa then double fine is taken. If
Kshyatri commits the same crime then he is fined with half the amount.
15. If a married Brahmin womwn has sexual intercourse with a Brahmin then she is outcasted
‘Jatpatan’ and the man is exiled from the state after cutting his penis.
16. If a Kshyetri has sexual intercourse with a married Brahmin woman then he is given death
penalty. But if the woman is widow then she is outcasted and the man is fined with Rs. 30 and
his penis is cut.
17. If a Vaishya has sexual intercourse with a married Brahmin woman then his penis is cut and
fined with Rs. 120 and if the woman is a widow then he is fined with Rs. 60 as well as his penis
is also cut.
18. If a Sudra has sexual intercourse with either married or widow Brahmin woman his penis is
cut and after that he is made to eat it then finally he is killed.
Jayasthiti Malla had an extensive legal provision for his kingdom. He reorganized Nepalese
society according to Hindu class system. He made widespread social code. There were rules for
each tribe to be followed from birth to the death. He fixed the measurement of land and classified
the land according to its fertility. Likewise, he set a standard of building of house by the subjects.
Historians have appreciated King Jayasthiti Malla for his legal and social arrangements.
According to Jagadish Chandra Regmi, Manavnyayashastra of Jayasthiti Malla is famous for his
legal code. It provides method of judicial administration and remedies. For Rewati Raman
Khanal, Jayasthiti Malla undertook comprehensive and massive judicial and legal reform. Late
king Prithivi Narayena Shah is in his Divya Upadesh also had mentioned about the legal order of
Jayasthiti Malla and appreciated it.
Nyayavikashini was made on the basic of those legal provisions which were mentioned in Hindu
Dharma Shastra (Hindu Mythology). So, it is existing as a direct source of Nepalese legal
system. Some of the legal provisions included in Nyayavikashini were adopted by Civil Code of
1910 BS. These legal provisions were followed by New Civil Code 2020 BS also. Due to this, it
has been playing a significant role to develop the Nepalese legal system.
Although, King Jayasthisti Malla has always been appreciated for his legal arrangements, the
judicial system and organization of court made by Jayasthiti Malla is unknown. Likewise, while
dealing with negative part, cruel type of punishment, differences in punishment according to
caste, unscientific method of investigation are the major defects of that codified law.

Situation of Women during Malla Dynasty

Crime and punishment
There are many provisions related to crime and punishment during Malla Regime.

 Related to maternity and ceremonies observed after it.

 Sudeni had to be called during delivery of a woman. If she refused to come when
called she had to pay 12 rupees as fine.
 The Pichhini was to be called to cut the umbilical cord of the baby; if she refused
to attend call, she would be fined 12 rupees.
 On chudakarma (tonsuring ceremony), phupu had to be called. If she didn’t turn
up when invited, she had to pay 8 rupees as fine.

 Offence against human body

 Strihatya was taken as crime during Malla regime. So if a woman committed
murder intentionally, she was not given death penalty. More she was shaven and
made to parade through the street on buffalo. Thus she was degraded to the status
of Sudras. Sometimes, she was also expelled from the county
  Punishment related to marriage
 If there was Anolom Vivah(boy from high caste married a girl from low caste)
there was no harsh punishment. But the food from the girls hand was not
compelled to be eaten.
 If the marriage was Pratilom (girl from high caste and boy from low caste) the
punishment was very harsh. The boy was killed and the girl’s nose was mutilated.

 Sexual Offences
 If a woman willingly performed sexual relation with any person then she was out
caste.
 If a Brahmin man had sexual relation with a woman of lower caste then he could
be admitted to his own caste after performing Prajapatya Chadrayana. But, same
privilege was not given to Brahmin women if she performed sexual relation with
other man, she was out caste and she had no claim to the ancestral property of her
married husband.

Situation of women with reference to Manavnyanasastra

Nyayabikashini (also known as Manav nyaya shastra) promulgated by Jayasthiti Malla in 1436
BS, which is also attested as the first legal document in the history of Nepal, has many gender
biased regulations. It declares that one should not take pleasure in a wife who is barren, gives
birth only to female children and is of ill-repute. If a man does so, he will not be guilty.
This code also contains the rule for addressing the property of the widow when she marriage
with the second man. If a widow having a son abandons him and goes for second marriage with
another man, the property of first husband shall got to the son from the first husband; it shall not
go to the second husband.
A transaction done by a wife with the consent of her husband is valid. In the absence of
husband, it shall be valid if there is consent of the son. In the absence of both the husband and
son, the king must have granted consent, only then transaction done by a woman is proved valid.
In Manavnyanasastra it has been mentioned that property of women and state (king) is never
given to other even if it is possessed without evidence for hundreds of years. So, if property of
male is possessed by others it could be transferred to them but if property of female is possessed
by others it couldn’t be others.
Likewise a woman (girl) should have married before her menstruation. She should inform her
relatives and her father must get her daughter married otherwise it was believed he would carry a
great sin.
Similarly women were not taken as witness in any kinds of offences because they were not
considered trustworthy.
Women in Politics
There was a better situation of women than in Kirat and Licchhavi period especially in political
sector. The women had more freedom in Malla period than Kirat and Licchhavi period. Only the
son of king could be king of their state. Although there was that system, women also used to
participate in governance system as a ‘Mukhiya’. Nayakdevi, Lalmati, Yogmati, Ridilaxmi etc
are the examples of this.
In Malla period they classified the status of women in two types:
 Royal and kulin Group
 Ordinary Group
Only the women of royal family could participate in political activities. If the king was getting
weak or if there was the baby king, women of royal family used to participate in governance
system as a ‘Rajmata’.

Social aspect
 Unmarried women, above 35 years, had equal right to the property.
 The property given to a daughter from her family was her marriage expenses.
 Widow marriage was prevailed. For instance; Nayakdevi, the widow of Harishchandra,
was married to Jagatpratap Sing who was the king of Trihut.
Sati system was common although it was not compulsory. When Yogendra Malla died his 33
wives went sati. Similarly king Parthivendra had 24 wives and after he died they all went sati. In
certain condition women were not compelled to perform sati. For instance, if the son of the
women was small and if a woman was pregnant she was prohibited to observe sati.
At that time also the woman were allowed to remarry but there was certain conditions. Impotent
husband, if the husband marries other wife without the consent of his wife, if the husband
couldn’t feed his wife, if the husband is involved in theft, treason, or if he is away from home for
three years or more without telling others. If the husband became Bhuchhu, Sadhu, Sanyashi,
mad or handicapped.
Dolaji Pratha: In this custom the bridegroom was to be brought to palace to marry the princess.
Nayakdevi was married to Harischandra who was brought from the royal family of Kashi.
Similarly, at that time Kamadevi was married to Gopalchandra the brother of Harischandra.
Later, Rajalladevi was married to JayaSthiti Malla.
ADMINISTRATION DURING MALLA DYNASTY
There were 3 levels of administration during Malla
1) Central level administration
 KING
1) Judicial Administration (Court): a) Kotling
b) Itachapali
2) Judicial + General Administration
a) Raj-Rajsavha
b) Chautara and Mahamatya
c) Amatya, Praman or Mulmi
d) Dharmadhikar (Rajguru)
e) Ditha and Bista
2) Regional level administration
 Judicial + General Administration
a) Mahasamanta or Samanta
b) Mahapatra or Patra
c) Mahamandalik or Pramukh
3) Local level admininstration
 Judicial + General Administration
a) Praman
b) Dware
c) Chharidware
d) Nayak
e) Pancha praman or Pancha samuchchaya

The smallest bodies for justice in the Malla dynasty were local panchayats. Conflicts between
community and villages were looked after by Panchali but in order to deal on the civil and
criminal cases at the central level there was the provision of the two courts named; "Kotling" and
"Itachapali" respectively which were the first ever courts in Nepal. They solely concerned with
the matters of legal nature only. The main official of these courts was called as
"karmadhyakshya" or "nyayakari". These courts were relatively independent, though they were
under the king.
1. Kotling:
The fact regarding the courts establishment in particular king's regime is still unknown. It
is situated in the eastern part of the sadra police station which is situated in front of the
hanumandhoka.
 In the beginning the jurisdiction of Kotling was not clear. But later it had the authority to
handle the civil cases related to the capital, to the state itself and cases of public interest
including the marital affairs. It had also the jurisdiction to give punishment
(imprisonment or fine) according to the crime. There was the provision of filing a writ in
the Kotling court by any party if any decisions given in the lower courts were
unacceptable. Thus it can be observed that this court is powerful. The guidelines by
which this court gave justice were the sanad, rajagya and dharmashastra. However if the
party is not satisfied again with the decision led by Kotling then s/he can appeal to the
king. Thus the king was supreme.
2. Itachapali:
When was it established is also unknown. Crimes against royals, homicide, killing of
cow, dacoit and other heinous crimes were dealt by this court. It had the jurisdiction to
hear the criminal cases and writ within the valley and the cases outside the valley which
has already been heard by the responsible offices and officials. It had the authority to
initiate procedures and solve the cases and give punishment as allowed. If the verdict
given by the lower courts was unacceptable, then it could be reviewed by aware and still
if the dware's verdict was unacceptable then, the case could be further taken to Itachapali.
Further if the decision of the Itachapali was unacceptable then it could be taken to the
king for final hearing.
Besides hearing the criminal cases it keeps the legal document safely, giving and taking
the legal documents and keeping records of the document. For this purpose different
officials were appointed at different level so as to carry out these activities.
Except Kotling and Itachapali other courts such as rajpra, dhansar and taksar also existed
in the central level but the enough information on their work, information about them is
not well discovered.

Mahamandalik and Pramukh:

In Malla period, the different area of the state has been differentiated as Mandal. Mahamandalik
were appointed to run the administration. Mahamandalik could exercise all the judicial and
administrative rights with the Mandal. It was said to be the powerful position. Similarly as the
head of the administrative body, "Pramukh" used to be appointed. Pramukh was also involved in
the decision making of small cases and also was involved in the development works. Pramukh
and Mahamandalik were appointed by king and were directly involved with Judiciary and
administrative subjects.

Local judiciary officers:

To solve the local problems at local levels, different officers were appointed in different small
geographical regions to work in judicial and general administration activities through authority
delegations in the perspectives of power decentralization.
a) Praman:
Pramans were also appointed as local administrator. Pramans were appointed as
administrator of each Desh and Vishaya. The Vishaya and Desh were sometimes called
as autocratic places as well since they were obliged to follow the laws made by central
administration and King. The general people were informed about different government
plans by this local administration. The small cases of local level were looked after by this
administration. If the decision made by Praman was not agreed then the case could be
filed at Kotiling, Itachapali and Rajshava. The Pramans were chosen by king. Desh was
after capital. Desh was smaller community than Capital. Desh was also divided into
different toles and in each Tole; there was the system of Panchayat. The decision made
by local Pancha Valadmi through Dware was reapealed in Praman and it could be
reappealed to central level after that only. The legal system of this kind was only outside
Kathmandu Valley that is in Vishaya and Desh only. In central level the administration
rights were used in Kotling and Itachapali only.

b) Dware:
The Dawarik in Lichchhavi period was named as Dware in Malla period. But their work
was found to be different. In the Malla period the renowned person in the village was
named as Dware. If some kind of cases were discussed in Local Pancha Sava then it was
decided thorough Dware's . If the decision made by Dware was not satisfied by anyone
then the case could be reappealed in Praman. Dware used to look after the case by being
within the limitation of central provisional level, Vishay and Desh. This system was
found to be prevailed since 1726 B.S. when the Shree Nibash Malla the king of Lalitpur
made laws about the protection of the state during Malla period.

c) Chharidware:
If any kind of injustice and illegal work was found to be done within the country then, the
king choose some of the persons to find out the fact and those persons were known as
Chharidware. Chharidware used to collect tax and also make decisions in the case related
to land. The system of Chharidware was initiated by the king Jagat Jaya Malla for
looking after whether the different persons in different posts were doing the work in right
way or not. They used to find out the different facts by carrying the Chhari which was the
symbol of punishment so their name remained Chharidware. The local administration
should help in the work of Chharidware. If any illegal work was done by taking the helps
of Praman then the Chharidware could help in giving decision to make such work legal.
 d) Deshnayak:
Deshnayak which was appointed as Dware was in local Praman had great importance.
The main work of Deshnayak was to solve the small disputes within the country. They
were ordered and controlled by Praman. They were ordered to solve small disputes
related to water, pastures etc. Deshnayak was appointed as the head of the local area. It is
also found to be said that the administrator of 'Desh area' was also known as
'DeshPraman'. But still Deshnayak was under Praman. In this way, King Bhim Malla
provided the authority to the head of Nepalese businessman who were at vote to solve
their cases in Lahsa.

e) Pancha Praman or Pancha Samuchchaya:

As in Lichchhavi period, there were Panchayat in Gram in Malla period as well. Local
Pancha used to organize the Gram administration. To keep the mutual relationship
between King and the people, Panchayat used to be established in Tole and small village
areas. In Malla period, Pancha were classified into three classes ' Ek Pancha', 'Pancha
Samuchchaya' and 'Pancha Praman'. The cases related to village area and toles in urban
areas were solved by 'Pancha Praman' or 'Pancha Samuchchaya'. To decide in special
cases of village areas, all five members or Pancha Sadashya used to be called and the
decision was made by their discussion and the majority of decision. The decisions of
subjects of public and government level used to be given by the collective decision of
different heads of the state. The main work of Pancha was to give decision of the cases
related to their area and to involve in the development work. In Pancha Kachari, five
main Panchas were appointed. They were called Pancha Praman. Different employees
were appointed for their help. During the decision making process of different cases,
Pancha Samuchchaya should take the advice from local Bhaladmis. If then also, the case
could not be solved then the case would be submitted towards the Pancha Praman.
Pancha Samuchchaya would look after every case related to local toles or village and if
the case would not be solved then the five Panchas appointed as judiciary persons would
solve the case or the case would be solved by submitting towards Pancha Praman court.
The initial stage of the case which could not be solved by Pancha Praman used to be
solved by local Praman.

Different judicial administrator or offices:

a. Dhalpa: Dhalpa used to look after cases related to canals and he/she also has the
authority to punish those who did not assist to make canals by making them pay '3 dam' .
King Jitamitra Malla had given him right to punish by collecting 6 paisa from each
person who does the illegal works.

b. Thakali, Guthi Naike, Bhardar: Since Kathmandu valley was divided in three states,
Thakali, Guthi Naike and Bhardar used to give decision over the disputes occurred in
their respective area.
 c. Chhebandel: The disputes related to building houses, the investigation of the case and
decision making on the same case used to be looked after by Chhebhandel.

d. Kot: Kot was the administrative system to look after the locality for its protection from
external forces and also to punish those with 12 dam who doesn't keep cleans their
houses, roofs, boundary etc.

e. Thana: This administration system was made for keeping those who break down peace
in the society.

f. Birtawala: The right of hearing of all kinds of cases was granted to Birtawala which was
related to the Birta.

g. Thari: King Jayaprakash Malla appointed certain person to take the filed case to king, let
people meet with king and to reveal the decision of respective cases given by the king.

h. Umara and Bogati: Umara and Bogati were given right to arrest those who destroy peace
in the society.

Mallas in the Khas region

In the later of the Lichhavi period, the Kings were not powerful and they could not control the
great Nepal. So in 1154, the Torahut state came in existence in Terai and in 1207 BS, the Khas
Malla state came in existence in the west. Nagraj was the founder of Khas Malla Kingdom.
Before he came in this region, Nagraj was the King of Khari region, which was situated in
western Terai. He made his capital Sinja and extended the Kingdom. They ruled near about 300
years. Abhya Malla was the last king of Khas Malla kingdom. After him, the great Khas Malla
kingdom falls. In the course of time, the feudal of the Khas kingdom captured the area, which
was under their control, and many states were in existence.
 Shah Dynasty

Arrival of the Shah

The origin place of the Shah dynasty was Chitaudagadha of Rajasthan, India. During the time of
Bhupati Ranaji, the Musalman attacked at his country and destroy Chitaudagadha. The kings and
other many people were killed in the war. He had two sons, eldest son was Udayabom Ranaji
who went to Udayapur and youngest son was Manamath Ranaji who went to Uijian. Manamath
had two sons Bhramarik and Bhupal. Bhramarik stayed in Uijian while Bhupal came to Ridi area
in Palpa and after that he went to Bhirkot in1522 B.S. He then became the King of Bhirkot area.
Bhupal had two sons named Khacha Khan and Micha Khan. Khacha Khan became the king of
Bhirkot and extended his territory. His brother Micha khan became the king of pollo Nuwakot
(Syanja in present).
Kulmandan Khan was the 7th king to rule over Pallo Nuwakot (Syanja) after Micha Khan.
Kulmandan Khan received the title of ‘Shah’ from Delhi Emperor. So ‘Kulmandan Khan’ was
changed to ‘Kulmandan Shah’. He had 7 sons. During his time, Lamjung had no king so the
Bhardars of Lamjung requested Kulmandan Shah to make his son as King of Lamjung.
Kulamandan Shah accepted their request and made his second son, Kalu Shah as the King of
Lamjung. After sometimes, he was killed by the ‘Sekhanta Community’ and again the Bhardars
requested Kulmandan Shah to send a King to Nuwakot. In this way Yashobrahma Shah, the
youngest son of Kulmandan Shah became the King of Lamjung in 1595 B.S.
Yashobrahma Shah had two sons- Narhari Shah and Drabya Shah. After the death of
Yashobrahma Shah, the elder son Narhari Shah became the king of Lamjung. His brother Drabya
Shah also wanted to be a King.
At that time, Gorkha was under Khadka King and the relation between King and Bhardars was
not good. The Bhardars wanted a popular person to be their King. With the help of Narayan
Arjyal of Lamjung, Drabya Shah made a good relation with the Bhardars of Gorkha. In 1615
B.S., Drabya Shah attacked Ligligkot, when the king and Bhardars were busy in race and select
their King for one year. They defeated the Ghale King at the time of Dashain. At 24th Bhadra of
1616 B.S. Drabya Shah attacked Gorkha with the help of Gorkhali Bhardars and killed the
Khadka King in the war. He then became the king of Gorkha. King Drabya Shah ruled 11 years
in Gorkha and died in 1627 Bs. The throne was then ruled by his descended. After his death his
son Purandhar Shah became the King for 35 years and his grandson Chhatra Shah ruled only for
7 months and he died childless. So after his death, his brother Ram Shah became the King in
1666 Bs. And continued ruling till 1693. This continued and Prithvi Narayan Shah became the
king in 1799 BS.
Prithvi Narayan Shah
Prithvi Narayan Shah was born on 27th Poush 1779 BS. From the womb of Kausalyawati, the
second queen of King Narbhupal Shah. Narbhupal Shah had four queens named
Chandraprabhawati, Kausalyawati, Buddhimati and Subhadrawati. The eldest queen
Chandraprabhawati had no children. Chandraprabhawati provided good schooling to King
PrithviNarayan Shah during his childhood. Under her supervision he got different knowledge of
Ramanyan, Mahabharat, Sukraniti, Chanakyaniti, and so on. He got knowledge about Archery,
Gun, Khukuri, hourse riding, swimming and swordsmanship.etc.
Prithvinarayan Shah had married in 1794 BS with Indra Kumari. She was the daughter of
Hemkarna Sen, the King of Makwanpur. Due to some conflict between the two royal families
during the time of marriage, Gorkhali had to return Gorkha without bride. They had bad relation
with Makwanpur then. Due to this, Prithvinarayan Shah married with Narendralaxmi in 1795 BS.
She was the daughter of Abhiman Singh of Kashi (Varanasi).
At the time of King Narabhupal Shah, Prithvinarayan Shah went to Lamjung with Kalu Pande
and signed a treaty in the month of Magh, 1796. In 1798, Prithvinarayan Shah came to
Bhaktapur and kept a good relation between Gorkha and Bhaktapur. Prithvinarayan Shah stayed
over there for few periods and understood the political situation of the valley. It was 1799 when
Narbhupal Shah died, and then Prithvinarayan Shah was made the king at the age of twenty.

Attack on Nuwakot
Unsuccessful attack over Nuwakot
In 1794 BS, King Narbhupal Shah attacked Nuwakot. The soldiers were sent on the leadership of
Jayant Rana and Maheshwor Panta from Gorkha. Due to the misunderstanding and unhealthy
competition among them, the Gorkhali did not succeed. As a result of the defeat, Jayant Rana
was exiled from Gorkha. Jayaprakash Malla, the king of Kantipur, called Jayant Rana and made
him the chief of Nuwakot.
In 1799 BS, Narbhupal Shah died and Prithvinarayan Shah became the king of Gorkha.
Prithvinarayan Shah also wanted to capture Nuwakot. So in 1800, he sent soldiers to attack
Nuwakot on the leadership of Viraj Thapa Magar. Jayant Rana was the head of Nuwakot then.
He did not let Gorkhari cross the Trishuli river. Prithvinarayan Shah sent another force under
Bali Pande and Maheshwor Panta. But they couldn’t succeed this time too and had to return
Gorkha.
Causes for the Attack on Nuwakot
 Nuwakot was like a western door of Kathmandu valley and without conquering this
region; the Gorkhalis could not attack the Kathmandu valley.
 Nuwakot was the trade route between Kantipur and Tibet, conquering Nuwakot meant
they would progress in economy through trade with Tibet.
 Nuwakot was a fertile region.
 Nuwakot was at a height and they could built the battle fort over there.
Conquest of Nuwakot
After the two defeats faced by Gorkha, Prithvinarayan Shah, knew that without sufficient trained
soldiers and weapons the Gorkhali could not win the battle. So he collected money from each
houses of Gorkha and went to Kashi with his 61 followers. In Kashi, he bought many weapons
with the help of his father in law, Abhiman Singh. Reaching Gorkha, he then managed to
develop his army. He gave training to his army from the experts he hired from Kashi. He
managed to collect grains for the war. He appointed Kalu Pande as the leader for the war. Even
King Prithvinarayan Shah himself participated during the war.
On 15th of Aswin 1801 BS, they attacked Nuwakot for the 3rd time and conquered Nuwakot.
Jayanta Rana and his son Shankamani Rana were killed during the battle. Gorkhali won the
battle and captured the whole area of Nuwakot. After capturing Nuwakot, the Gorkhalis attacked
on the regions of King Jayaprakash Malla. In this situation, the political situation of Kantipur
became worse.

Attack on Kirtipur
First Attack on Kritipur:
Prithvinarayan Shah was much eager to attack on Kirtipur. At that time three kingdoms of
Kathmandu valley were united. So the famous and brave Kaji Kalu Pande did not like to attack
in this situation. At first he wanted to initiate a quarrel among the Malla kingdoms and after that
he wanted to attack on Kritipur .But P.N shah wanted to attack immediately so he ordered
Balkrishna Joshi to fix the time to attack on kritipur .The day was fixed on 19 th Jestha 1814 B.S.
On this date Gorkhali soldiers marched on from Dahachok to attack on kirtipur under the
supervision of kalu pande.
Hearing this news of Gorkhali attack on Kirtipur, King Jayaprakash Malla, the king of Kantipur
sent the information to Bhaktapur and Lalitpur immediately and he ordered his soldier to go to
Kirtipur to fight against the Gorkhalis. The soldiers of Kantipur were leaded by Jayaprakash
Malla himself.
The battle was fought between the two groups. The Gorkhali soldiers were leaded by Kaji Kalu
Pande and the Malla soldiers were leaded by Jayaprakash Malla. The soldiers of Bhaktapur and
Lalitpur also came in the battlefield and they fought jointly against Gorkhali. The soldiers of
Gorkha were 1200 and the Malla soldiers were about 3000.
During the battle, Kaji Kalu Pande was injured by a arrow. He fell down to the ground and at the
sametime his head was cut off. After his demise, Gorkhali soldiers scattered and Prithvinarayan
Shah escaped a narrow death. Kaji Kalu pande and 500 Gorkhali soldiers were killed during the
battle. The Gorkhalis were defeated badly and they had to lose Kalu Pande.
Second Attack on Kritipur:
Prithvinarayan Shah knew it was impossible for him to attack Kantipur without conquering
Kirtipur. So, Prithvinarayan Shah wanted to attack Kirtipur very soon. But Kaji Vansharaj Pande
and Harivansha Upadhyaya advised King Prithvinarayan Shah not to attack Kirtipur. But at the
meantime, Surpratap Shah, Daljit Shah and Shriharsha Pantha wanted to attack over Kirtipur. So
Prithvinarayan Shah ordered Balkrishna Joshi to decide a auspicious moment to attack. At last,
they decided to attack over Kirtipur on 31st Bhadra 1821. The people of Kirtipur shut the door of
the wall around the city and did not come outside. The Gorkhalis could not enter inside the wall.
Surpratap Shah, the commander of Gorkhali force, tried to enter inside the wall by climbing up
the wall with stairs, but he became wounded by an arrow. So the attack was useless and they had
to return back. Thus their second attempt to conquer Kirtipur became unsuccessful.
Victory over Kirtipur:
For the 3rd time in 1822 in the month of Kartik, Gorkhali attacked over Kirtipur. The attack was
under the leadership of Vanshraj Pande. The people of Kirtipur shut the door of the wall as usual
and did not come out. Prithivi Naryan Shah makes an economic blockade at Kirtipur.
Prithvinarayan Shah made some of the soldiers and officer of Kirtipur on his side. At last in
Chaitra, Dhanbanta, the Chief Kaji of Kirtipur opened the door and Gorkhali conquered the
Kirtipur.
Fight with the English
After the fall of Kirtipur, King Jayaprakash Malla wanted to chase the Gorkhalis with the help of
English force. So he send his men to request help to East India company. East India company
send a force of around 2400 soldiers to help Jayaprakash malla under the captainship of Captain
Kinlock. Prithvinarayan Shah knowing this ordered the Gorkhali force to attack them on their
way. The Gorkhali were under the leadership of Kazi Vanshraj Pande, Shreeharsha Pantha,
Virbhadra Upadhaya and Vanshu Gurung. When the Kinlock’s force was coming at Sindhuli in
1824, the Gorkhali soldiers attacked them. The British were not ready for the war, so 1600
English soldiers were killed while 800 ran towards Janakpur. The Gorkhali soldiers gained a lot
of weapons. Thus, Jayaprakash’s plan became unsuccessful.

Conquest of Makawanpur
After the defeat in kirtipur during the 1st attempt, Prithvinarayan Shah conquered some small
regions like Shivapuri, Palanchowk, and Chaukot and so on. Prithvinarayan Shah wanted to
attack on Makawanpur. Digbandhan Sen was the king there; Prithvinarayan Shah’s relation with
the state was not good from the very beginning. King Digbandhan Sen was opposing to
Prithvinarayan Shah’s plan and supporting the Malla Kings. Prithvinarayan Shah wanted to make
economic blockade in Kantipur to win over the valley, for this he had to conquer Makawanpur.
In Bhadra 1819 BS, the Gorkhali soldiers marched on to attack Makawanpur from Dahachowk
and they reached after 3 days by the route of Chitlang and Kulekhani. On 9 th Bhadra, they
attacked in Makawanpurgadhi. About 50 soldiers from the Gorkhali side and 400 soldiers from
the Sen Sides were killed during the battle. The Sen king Digbandhan Sen and his minister
Kanaksingh Baniya ran away to Hariharpurgadhi.
After one month, the Gorkhali attacked on Hariharpurgadhi. About 55 soldiers from the Gorkhali
side and 500 soldiers from the Makwanpur side were killed during the battle. Digbandhan Sen
then ran away to Khundaghat. At Khundaghat, Digbandhan Sen tried to chase the Gorkhali with
the help of Bengali force. So he requested Mir Kashim, the Nawab of Bengal and got the help. A
force of 3,000 came to help Digbandhan Sen under the leadership of Gurgin Khan. The Bengali
force came in Makawanpur and chased the Gorkhali soldiers who were less in number. Knowing
this Prithvinarayan Shah sent the Gorkhali force to attack the Bengali force. There was a great
battle fought between the Gorkhali and the Bengali forces. At night time, when the Bengali were
sleeping, Vansharaj Pande; eldest son of Kaji Kalu Pande reached at Makawanpur with a force
and attacked Bengali. In this sudden attack most of the Bengali soldiers were killed. According
to the historians, around 1700 soldiers were killed and the Gorkhali soldiers captured 400 to 500
guns of the Bengali soldiers. So the attempt of Digbandhan Sen to chase away the Gorkhali from
Makawanpur was unsuccessful.

Conquest of Kantipur
After conquering Makawanpur in 1819 BS, King Prithvinarayan Shah made the economic
blockade at the Kathmandu valley and defeating Kirtipur they started preparing to attack
Kantipur. So the people of Malla kingdoms were unhappy. Prithvinarayan Shah made the people
and the officers of Kantipur in his side. He ordered his officers to make police station in different
places of kantipur state. At last he managed to attack at the Kantipur Kingdom.
According to the astronomer Kulananda Dhakal, the auspicious moment to attack the capital was
fixed at 13th of Aswin 1825 early in the morning at 3 O’clock. The Gorkhali attacked from
Naradevi, Tundikhel and Bhimsensthan. When the Gorkhalis attacked on the capital,
Jayaprakash Malla was busy in amusement at the occasion of Indra Jatra. The doors of the
compound wall were tightly closed from inside and there were guards inside the door. The
Gorkhali force broke the door by axes and fought with the guards and killed about 20-25 guards
while other guards ran away and informed about it to King Jayaprakash Malla.
King Jayaprakash Malla controlled his soldiers and fought against Gorkhalis. At last he could not
win the battle and ran away to hide in the temple of Taleju. The Gorkhali soldiers reached at the
Taleju temple and Jayaprakash Malla went to Patan (Lalitpur) with 300 faithful soldiers for
shelter. Prithvinarayan Shah worshipped the Kumari Goddess and took Tika from the hand of
Goddess Kumari. So the people of Kantipur became very happy and they accepted
Prithvinarayan Shah as the King.

Capture on Lalitpur
After conquering Kantipur, King Prithvinarayan Shah send his officers to Lalitpur to talk with
the six Pradhans or Kazis. The officers Shreeharsha Panta, Kehar Singh Basnet, Gajaraj Mishra,
and Dhanabanta and so on went to Lalitpur and talked with the six pradhans about their
surrender. The Pradhans accepted the purposal of Gorkhali officers. Knowing this, the king
Tejnarsingha Malla and Jayaprakash Malla went to Bhaktapur and asked King Ranajit Malla for
shelter. And on 24th Aswin, Gorkhali captured Lalitpur without any battle.
 Conquest of Bhaktapur
After capturing Kantipur and Lalitpur, the Gorkhalis started making plan to attack Bhaktapur. In
Bhaktapur, Jayaprakash Malla was making the Malla force stronger. Prithvinarayan Shah knew
without conquering Bhaktapur, the unification of Kathmandu valley would be incomplete. So
Prithvinarayan Shah wanted to attack and conquer Bhaktapur as soon as possible.
Gorkhalis prepared to attack Bhaktapur before dashain of 1826 and in the last of Kartik they
attacked Bhaktapur with 3500 soldiers. Jayaprakash Malla came to fight with Gorkhalis with 500
soldiers. At last, some of the Malla soldiers were killed and others ran away. The three defeated
kings went to Chaukot Durbar to hide themselves.
Knowing they have conquered Bhaktapur, King Prithvinarayan Shah reached there and met
Ranajit Malla; his Mitbwa and requested him to be the king of Banepa region. But Ranjit Malla
told that he had no any desire to be a king and he expressed his desire to go to Kashi to
pilgrimage. So Prithvinarayan Shah made arrangement for his pilgrimage. Prithvinarayan Shah
met Jayaprakash Malla and asked about his desire. He wished to go to Aryaghat and wanted to
die there. So the arrangement was made according to his desire. Finally, Prithvinarayan Shah met
with Tejnarsingh Malla and asked about his desire but he spoke nothing. So he was imprisoned.
And finally the whole Kathmandu valley was conquered.

Period after Unification to Rise of Rana

1) Role of Rajendra Laxmi in Unification

After the death of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, his elder son Pratap Singh Shah became the King
of Nepal in 1831 BS. After his death in 1834, his son Rana Bahadur Shah became the king at the
age of two and half years. So his mother Rajendra Laxmi became the regent of her son and ruled.
She was helped by Bahadur Shah. Rajendra Laxmi looked after the Civil Service affairs and
Bahadur Shah looked after the military and foreign affairs.
After 5 months dispute arise between them. The Bhardars were also divided into two groups. The
Bhardars who played vital role in the unification of Nepal were on the side of Bahadur Shah and
others were on the side of Regent Queen. At last with the help of Sarwojeet Rana, Rajendra
Laxmi arrested Bahadur Shah. After some time on the request of Gajaraj Mishra, he was
released. In 1835, accussing Rajaendra Laxmi for the misuse of state’s property, Bahadur Shah
with the help of Daljeet Shah arrested Rajendra Laxmi. Few days later, Sarwojeet Rana was
killed and the tendency to kill the courtiers started.
He had to go to Gorkha to manage for the conquest of Chaubisi states. In the absence of Bahadur
Shah, Rajendra Laxmi became free and got the power in 1836, Asar. He then signed a treaty with
Chaubisi states and went to Betia. Shivanarayan Khatri, Bansharaj Pande and Damodar Pande
also went to Betia along with Bahadur Shah. Bandu Rana Magar and Devadatta Thapa Magar
were made Kazis by RajendraLaxmi. She exiled all the courtiers who were against her. So she
became powerful then.
With this unstable political condition, the Chaubisi states became very happy. In 1838, Lamjung,
Palpa, Parbhat, Tanahun, and Kaski jointly made a force and attacked Sihranchowk, Gorkha.
Rajendra Laxmi sent a force to chase them and them conquered Kaski on 3 Jestha 1840.
Regent Queen Rajendra Laxmi called Vansharaj Pande from Betia and sent troops to fight with
the Chaubisi force. She then conquered various states like Lamjung, Kaski, Tanahun, Pallo
Nuwakot, and so on. She ruled as a regent for 9 years and then she died in 1942.
2) Role of Bahadur Shah in Unification
After the death of Rajendralaxmi, Bahadur Shah became the Regent of King Rana Bahadur Shah.
He is called the ‘Worthy Son of Able Father’. He wanted to complete the aim of his father to
unify and make greater Nepal. He ruled from 1842-1851 as a Regent. His administration was
well and systematic.
He conquered Parbhat on 14 Aswin 1843 and Dhurkot, Galkot, Musikot, Isma, Dang, Pyuthan
and Rolpa were conquered after that. The combined forces conquered all the states upto the
Bheri River by mangsir 1843.
The war between Nepal and Tibet started in 1845. Thus Kazi Damodar Pande and some military
officers were engaged in Nepal-Tibet war and Amarsingh Thapa and other officers continued to
the western part. He then conquered all the territories of Bheri, Jumla, Dailekh, Bajhang,
Achham, Doti and Nepal’s border reached upto River Mahakali. They crossed Mahakali and
conquered Kamaun state, Gadhawal. After conquering Gadhawal, they attacked Sirmor and
conquered all the territories upto the river Jamuna. Rana Bahadur Shah was 18 years old by the
time of 1851, so he dethroned Bahadur Shah from Regent and he was not given the chance to
involve in Royal affairs. Rana Bahadur in 1852 imprisoned Bahadur Shah accusing him to leak
the confidential matters to foreigners.
3) Contribution of Bhimsen Thapa
Bhimsen Thapa was born in 1832 B.S. in the small district of Gorkha. His father, Major Amar
Singh Thapa was a faithful soldier of King Prithvi Narayan Shah. At the age of 11, Bhimsen
Thapa came into contact with the Nepalese Royal Palace when his bratabandha ceremony was
held together with the Crown Prince Rana Bahadur Shah. Thapa and the Crown Prince soon
developed a friendship. Thapa eventually served as King Rana Bahadur Shah’s personal
secretary at the age of 22 in Varanasi, India.
During his stay in Varanasi, he studied the expansion and true intentions of the British East India
Company in South Asia. He became the first Prime Minister of Nepal when he and the king-
Rana Bhadur Shah returned to the country. Thapa served for 31 years under six kings. He
appealed all South Asian states to fight collectively against the British and declared war on
the English East India Company in 1816 A.D. as the commander of the army and as the Prime
Minister. However of the ill preparation, long standing internal unification campaign, lack of
foreign assistance as well as military disagreement with China, Nepal lost the war which marked
his downfall. However he continued to rule for another 13 years and during this time he brought
about several military, judicial, social and economic reforms in Nepal. The army was
modernized in European style, several ill social practices were abolished, unused lands were
brought under cultivation and the administration was updated. The Dharahara and Sundhara of
Kathmandu, the Bagdurbar and Teku Bridge were constructed by him.
At his Mukhtiyar period he sent his father Amarsingh Thapa to conquer Palpa. After conquering
Palpa, the Nepalese force was sent to conquer the western region under the leadership of
Amarsingh Thapa. Nepali force conquered Sirmor, Nahan, Satluj and others. During the time of
Bhimsen Thapa Nepal’s border reached upto the River Satluj.

Anglo-Nepalese War

After the Unification of Nepal, Nepal was extended to Tista River in the east and Satlaj River in
the west. Anglo-Nepalese War is the great incident in the history of modern Nepal. The war was
fought between Nepal and the East India Company in 1871-72 BS. (1814-1816 AD.)
Causes of the War
The process of expansion of the Great Nepal had spread like wild fire across the Himalayan
region. So it was natural for the British to be greatly alarmed. The Great Nepal was seen all
along as a threat to British rule in India till the end of the Anglo-Nepal War of 1814-16. In the
process of unification, Nepal and British were face to face and they both were great obstacle to
each other. In this situation, the war was necessary. The main causes of Anglo Nepalese war
were as follows:
I. Imperialism policy of both the countries: The imperialism policy of Nepal and British
India Company was the main reason behind the war. Prithvi Narayan Shah was also in
the process of unifying different small states to make it single country. He and his
successors had already unifies all small and petty states from Tista to Satlaj. Similarly, at
that time British East India Company also occupies different parts of India. Both
countries were consider one as the difficulty and were trying to have control over one
another’s areas. The imperialism policy was the main reason for the Anglo Nepal war
with British Perspective

II. Business motive of British East India Company: East India Company entered India with
business motive. After having conventional the business there as well. British were
seeking the way to have trade with Tibet and China .Also Nepal refused to join a kind of
political and trade relation with East India Company. This policy of Nepal was being an
obstacle for company to have relation with Tibet and China. So, the company had no any
other option except declaring war against Nepal and defeats it so as to have sound trade
relation with Tibet and China.

III. Greed upon the Natural and Gold treasury: The hot climate of India was not suitable for
British people as they had come from cold climate. The climate of Bombay, Calcutta,
Masuri, and Bangal was very hot places where British people had stayed. But The places
 like Kumaun, Nainital, Gadhwal, Masuri, Dehradun, Srinagar etc. of then Nepal was very
attractive and suitable for British people. They had belief that Nepal had adequate gold.
The productive land areas of Terai, expensive woods found in Nepal, beautiful
geography, climate, and forest of Nepal also attract the people, which resulted in
affirmation of the war.

IV. Failure in making good relation by BEIC with Nepal: BEIC had tried several times to
make relation with Nepal which failed. British East-India Company for the first time by
sending militaries to the King of Kantipur, Jayaprakash Malla in B.S.1824 (1767 A.D.)
tried to develop relation. But this policy failed. Similarly, it sends James Logan mission
in B.S.1827 (1770 A.D.) and Fox craft mission in B.S. 1840(1784A.D.) as a gift to Nepal.
But Nepal did not let the mission to succeed. But, when there was attack over Nepal by
China, Nepal was forced to ask for military support and have trade treaty with British
East-India Company .Though, Kirkpatrick had come to Nepal according to the treaty, and
its mission could not again succeed. RanaBahadur Shah after having gone to Kashi, the
ruler party of Nepal had again made another trade treaty with BEIC in B.S.1858 (1801
A.D.)Then Captain Knox was made ambassador for Nepal and was sent here. But, he was
made to go back which resulted in the breakage of the trade treaty. In this way, BEIC was
not able to established the relation with Nepal and had no other option except having war.

V. Negative view of the past kings towards Nepal: During the process of unification, the
Kings of western Nepal were not satisfied with the unification of their territory to make
bigger Nepal. The revolt against Nepal had already started in Jumla and Doti when Nepal
had attacked western Gadwall area. Then British people made some kings in their favor
who were against the unification process of Nepal. These kings opened the secrecy and
also gave them the information about the roadways and its interlinks in front of the
British people whish encouraged their activities. They also gave up to date information
about Nepal. Due to strict administrative policy of Nepal, many kings committed to
support BEIC in the war again Nepal. The Prince of Kumau and Gadhwal were in search
of chance whereas the ex-ministers of Palpa and Royal priests, Kanaknidhi Tiwari and
Pratinidhi Tiwari helped English troops in finding the way. British had also made the
“Rajauta” of western areas, Sudarshan Shah and Lalsingh in their favor by showing them
greed of many things. In this way, revolt against owns country from different areas
helped British to make ‘Mir Jafir’, which encouraged them to have war against

VI. Preparation of warriors against English by Nepal: English though had entered India
with business motive; they were almost interfering in all the political activities of India
and were making India its colony. Nepal was aware and known about this fact. From the
period of PNS, the foreign policy of Nepal was against British. This policy was also
perceived by other Kings after PNS. And at the period of Bhimsen Thapa, the non-
conformity deviance against English grew more and more. He thought to make Nepalese
people strong and able to fight with English. He also sent ambassador to Tibet, China,
Afghanistan, Burma and to the independent states of India to run away BEIC not only
 from India but from Asia as a whole. During the preparation of the warriors, Bhimsen
Thapa in B.S. 1870 (1813W.D.) sent Padmamani Sharma to Gualiair, Sardar Prithvibilash
to Amritsar and the lawyers of Lahsa, Sardar Dambar Thapa and Yudhisthir Thapa to
China. Nepal to chase away English people from Asia also sent letters to different
countries asking for help. Due to this activity of Nepal, English were angry. British in the
fear of positive response from the other country and to kill the revolutionary feel of
Nepalese people had to have war against Nepal.

VII. Suitable condition of British and policy of Hesting: There was war between Britain and
France from early times. France had planned to attack British East India Company
through the way of Egypt. But Britain was not afraid from France because eit was easy
for them to defeat France as in early period. In B.S.1869 (1812A.D.), Nepolean
Bonaparte with six lakhs military was trying to attack the capital of Russia, Moscow. But
at that time in 1825 A.D., British commander, Nelson defeated France. Before this,
English had made Panjab Keshari in their favor through the treaty of Amritsar. So British
were not afraid of any external attacks and there was no internal violence in India. Then
lord Hesting entered India on Ashwin 1870 B.S. (4, Oct, 1813 A.D.) as a Governor
General of the British East India Company. He was fond of war, ambitious and patriotic
and imperialist as well. This condition of British and behavior of Hesting helped to
encourage the war between BEIC and Nepal.

VIII. The territorial Debate: In the process of extending the territory by both the parties, the
border of East India Company and Nepal came to join. Then both parties thought the
other one as its obstacle. The territory was not separated on the scientific process neither
on natural process. So, the debate could rise at any time. The Debate regarding the border
had begun from 1827 B.S. (1770 A.D.) after the victory over the valley in 1826
B.S.English were not only responsible for the debate but Nepal was much more
responsible for it. From the East to West, the debate regarding territory aroused in forty-
two areas, among which twenty-two areas were the main. And among twenty-two areas,
Butwal and Shivaraj (Suyraj) area were the major area. In Suyraj and Butwal area both
the parties were claiming it to be theirs and were not ready to leave it at any cost. Both of
these were areas were of Abad’s state from before. “So those states should be of company
state gradually after the dissolution of those two states.” was said by British. And Nepal
assumed, “those two areas were of Palpa of Nepal and in 1863 B.S. after Nepal’s
integration, those areas should be of Nepal”Actually area was also in Abad state and after
dissolution of that state, it was in British colony. Afterwards, Palpali King PrithviPal Sen
was killed in Kathmandu then his heir paid to company government and used the land.
Amar Singh Thapa, who was sent to rule Palpa then tried to go inside Nepal Suyraj was
firstly Pyuthan’s jurudiction and dissolution of those area then it should be of Nepal then
also it was of Company government. In this way in those area there was weakness of both
party for border debate. If Nepal would leave Butwal then company was ready to leave
Suyraj. So for resolving the problem there was high level commission for border
maintenance, but due to absence of flexibility in both party, the problem then was much
 raised. English were much more unsatisfied since officer of Rautahat area; Laxman Giri
collected revenue from 819 villages which were not of jurisdiction

IX. The then reason, English’s attack and Nepal’s counterattack: The border debate could
be solved by having talks but English were trying to make attack over Nepal with this
issue. At the end of Falgun 1870 B.S. (11, March, 1814 A.D.), the Governor General
Hesting ordered Kalwat of Gorakhpur to control over Butwal, Suyraj and twenty-two
village areas of Rautahat within 25 days with force, if Nepal do not leave the place. Nepal
had assumed of attack of British over them and was discussing regarding the same issue.
The elderly people and Royal priest, Rangnath Paudel, Kaji Dalbhanjan Pandey, Ranjor
Singh Thapa, Bom Shah and Badakaji Amar Singh Thapa of western side were not in the
favour of war and willing to give the territory that they claimed because they themselves
weren't able to fix the areas of western and also fixed the boundary in Nalapani side
which joined to Company’s state. But youngster including Bhimsen Thapa was in the
favor of war due to the imperialist nature of the British. They were not ready to give even
an inch of land to British and were willing to have war.
The twenty-five days given by British had passed so the British attacked over the debated
land on Baisakh 9, 1871 B.S. (April 22, 1824 A.D.)The Nepalese troops were very few
there but among them sixteen military died and rest of them refuge in Palpa. After this
attack, Nepalese people were terrified .And in the leadership of Dale Thapa, Jayanta
Shahi and Maniraj three troops were sent to Butwal to attack on the temporary camp
made by British on Jestha 16, 1871 B.S. (May 29, 1814 A.D.).The attack was made at
night where 28 people along with daroga (police).then Nepal got power over that area. It
was the rainy season so English troops could not comes there immediately. And
Governor General Hesting declared war against Nepal on Kartik 16, (Nov 1) for the
above reasons.

The war was fought in Butwal, Makwanpur, Jaithak, Nalapani, Deuthal and many other places.
Nepal fought bravely with the British at the leadership of Bada Kazi Amarsingh Thapa, Hastidal
Shah, Bhakti Thapa, Balabhadra Kuwar, Ujir Singh and many other officers. The war continued
for 2 years. However, the Nepali troops fought bravely, but the result was on the side of the
Company. Owing to the lack of the war materials, Nepal could not win the war. At last a treaty
was concluded between Governments of Nepal and East India Company on Falgun 18, 1872
which is now called as the ‘Treaty of Sugauli’. Since the treaty was done at the sugauli of
Makwanpur, the treaty is called Sugauli Treaty.
 The Rana Regime

After the re-unification of Nepal, several incidents took place inside the royal family that
ultimately gave rise to a century long family autocracy which reduced the Shah monarch to a
figurehead and provided sovereign authority to Ranas. The post of prime minister was then made
hereditary. Ranas were the one to decide on every important political issues of the county. From
1830 onwards, the successors to the throne were invariably minors, and as such the
administration was always controlled by the Palace Aristocracy composed of the Pande, Thapa
and Basnet family who were associated with the royal family from the early day of its
ascendency. The succession of minors to the throne had thrown responsibility into the hands of
the Queen Regents who, in turn were guided by men of aristocratic families, they loved or
favored for reasons of intimate relationship which lasted till the king’s power was finally taken
away by Jung Bahadur Rana and started the family ruling system.
Jung Bahadur Rana was the son of Kaji Bal Narsingh Kunwar; bodyguard of King Rana Bahadur
Shah. Since his childhood he was ambitious and was a courageous person. Jung Bahadur Rana
joined the military service (1832–33) at the age of sixteen. The Then Prime Minister Mathbar
Singh Thapa was his maternal uncle, so since his childhood he had understood the politics inside
the royal family.
After the death of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal, the political situation of
country was more of conspiracies for power within the ruling family. This conspiratorial
situation was mainly because of these two factors. The kings who succeeded the throne during
that period were generally minor kings. During the rule of these minors, the country was
virtually ruled either by Nayabs (regents) or the Mukhtiyars (prime minister). There was a
struggle for power between these regents and prime ministers. Likewise, there was internal
conflict and tension within the royal family which led to political instability in Nepal. The
situation of instability was to some extend controlled during the prime ministership of Bhimsen
Thapa but after his death the situation was the same. The inefficiency of kings provided
opportunity to the regents and ministers to concentrate authority in their own hands.

Rise of Rana

Political instability
After the death of Bhimsen Thapa in 1896 BS, Nepalese politics returned to the previous state of
instability. Almost immediately old disputes, conflicts and violence returned to politics. From
1896, council of ministers was changed seven different times within the time period of 9 years.
Likewise, the kings who succeeded the throne after the death of Prithvi Narayan Shah were
usually minors. None of the royal family members or chiefs proved strong enough to restore
stability in administration.
Groupism among bhardars
The groupism among the heirs of Pande, Thapa and Basnet; who contributed in the unification
campaign during the period of Prithvi Narayan Shah was also the cause for the rise of Rana
regime. When Rana Bahadur Shah became the king, there was the conflict among Bahadur Shah;
Younger son of King Prithvi Narayan Shah and Rajendra Laxmi; elder daughter in law of King
Prithvi Narayan Shah. In between the conflict of Rajendra Laxmi and Bahadur Shah, Rana
Bahadur Shah couldn’t get the good schooling which continued till Surendra. Among the
groupism inside the royal family, one began to make conspiracy against another. This continued
for a long time. Even the Queen in the royal family began to make plan to make their son the
successor of the throne. So, an ambitious person like Jung Bahadur Rana took advantage of this
political turmoil to rise to power.
Inefficiency of King Rajendra
The weakness and inefficiency of reigning King Rajendra Bikram proved as a chance for
political groups inside the palace to rise to power. It also sharpened the ambition of his two
queens. His two queens- elder Samrajya Devi and younger Laxmidevi engaged themselves in a
bitter struggle for power to secure the throne for their own sons and the subsequent regency for
themselves. He as a king was not even successful to settle this dispute among his wives.
Kot Parva
The immediate cause behind the rise of Janga Bahadur Rana was Kot Parva. Kot Parbha, as
mentioned in its name, it is not any happy moment or occasion as its name suggests. It is a
Massacre, which occurred in 3 rd of Ashwin 1903 where the royal officials of the then Royal
family were killed in a court while they had an assembly to find out the murderer of Gagan Singh
Khawas. The queen having heard about this death was very furious and vowed to revenge on
murderers. With the intent of finding the murderer, all the royal officials were asked to gather
unarmed at the Kot. But instead of detecting the murderer, the Kot drama ended in a bloodshed
resulting in the massacre of all the top 36 bhandars including the prime minister Fate Jung Shah
in the orders of the junior queen; Rajya laxmi. The Queen then declared Jung Bahadur Rana the
Prime minister and commander in chief on the very next day of the massacre. He was then vested
with all civil, military and judicial powers. King Rajendra was on the throne then. He was
intimidated. He against his conscience, had to confirm Jung Bahadur’s appointment as
‘Mukhtiyar’ and commander in chief made in his name by queen Rajya Laxmi Devi, on whom
he had conferred all his power and who was the real author of that tragedy. The Kot Massacre
gave sufficient power to Jung Bahadur Rana to establish his dictatorial rule in Nepal. The junior
queen, Rajya laxmi had shown her favor to Jung Bahadur to make her own son the Prince
Ranendra the heir- apparently by killing her step sons, Crown Prince Surendra Bir Bikram Shah
Dev and his younger brother Prince Upendra Bikram Shah.
Bhandarkhal Parva
After he came into power, Jung Bahadur started disobeying the queen, so she started making a
plan to kill him. Bir Dhoj Basnet was appointed to kill him. For this she made a plan to kill him
at Bhandarkhal in Hanuman Dhoka Palace. The plot Rajya Laxmi had designed was betrayed by
a servant named Putali Nani. A big feast was organized at Bhandarkhal in Hanuman Dhoka
where queen and her men were ready to kill Jung Bahadur. Bhir Dhoj, who was sent to bring
him, was killed and Jung Bahadur went to the Bhandarkhal where he ordered the conspirer to
surrender and those who surrendered were imprisoned and who did not were killed. Twenty three
men were killed at that time where 15 of them were Basnet only. This Bhandarkhal Parbha is
also known as Basnet Parbha in Nepalese history. After this, he exiled Rajya Laxmi whereas
Rajendra thinking it’s better to leave the country for certain period went to kashi.
Alau Parva
King Rajendra had followed the queen to Kashi. In India the king was encouraged by the exiled
courtiers to return to Nepal. His all efforts to kill Junga Bahadur were failing. After that in 1904
B.S. in a place named Alau, Rajendra tried to attack Jung Bahadur and kill him, but he failed it
and he was dethroned and Surendra was made the king while he imprisoned Rajendra. After
Surendra became the king he then received the Panja Patra from King Surendra through which
he gained the legitimate authority so that international community won’t question him. He also
through a Royal Proclamation from King Surendra issued that all the crimes committed by Jung
Bahadur Rana till the date of Bhandarkhal Parbha was due to compulsion and he was pardoned
for the offences. He slowly and slowly made King Surendra in favor of himself. In some books it
mentions that in order to please King Surendra, he jumped from the Dharahara with an umbrella;
however this statement cannot be easily accepted. He procured from King Surendra in 1913 BS a
lal mohar (royal order) granting him the title of the maharaja with full sovereign authorit y over
the two districts Kaski and Lamjung which was to pass from him to his off springs to off springs.
He got the title of Shree 3 and would exercise the following rights:
 To exercise right over life and deaths of the Nepalese subjects throughout the domain,
 to appoint or dismiss all governmental officials,
 to declare war or conclude peace or sign treaty with foreign powers,
 to inflict punishment on offenders, and
 to repeal or amend or frame laws of country.
After king Surendra awarded the title of Shree 3 Maharaja of Kaski and Lamjung to Jung
Bahadur Rana, he became the most powerful person resulting the strong foundation of the Rana
regime. He started the autocratic rule in the name of giving stability in Nepal which was very
weak due to the numerous bloodsheds.
Matrimonial relations with the Royal Family
Matrimonial relations of Jung Bahadur with Royal family made him more and more powerful.
Jung Bahadur himself married with the sister of Chautara Guru Prasad Shah. In 1911, he
arranged the marriage of his eldest son Jagatjung with the daughter of King Surendra. He also
arranged the marriage of his second son JitJung with the second daughter of King Surendra. Jung
Bahadur’s two daughters were married with the crown prince Trailok Bikram Shah. So the
relation with the Royal family became very deep. By the matrimonial relations with the royal
family, Jung Bahadur became most powerful and the King Surendra was only symbolic head.
After he received the title of Shree Tin Maharaja, he became the de facto ruler of the country.

Downfall of Rana Regime

Family Intrigues and conflicts:

Several efforts were made during the rule of Jung Bahadur to overthrow him from power but
they were all futile. After his death, Ranodip became the Prime Minister who was childless. The
1938 Parva and 1942 Parva(Massacre) gave a new turn in the history of the Rana rule. The sons
of Dhir Shamsher assassinated Ranodip and the sons of Jung Bahadur and the role of succession
went to the lineage of Dhir Shumsher. Chandra Shamser conspired and dismissed Dev
Shumsher. Thus, there were always conflicts and conspiracies among the Ranas.
Disregard of both King and People
Both the king and the people were neglected in the Rana regime. His Majesty was the head of the
state only for name’s sake. The palace used to be under a rigid monitoring and control of the
Ranas. The Ranas used to make marital relations with the royal family very cleverly to
strengthen their political and social position. There used to be a powerful control, domination
and exploitation over the people.
Exclusion of ‘C’ class Rana.
Chandra Shamsher initiated the division of class within the Rana family on the basis of marriage.
This action planted the sense of dissatisfaction and animosity among the Ranas family members.
Juddha Shamsher not only abolished 'C' class Ranas from the succession but also banished them
from the country. This made the 'C class Ranas opponent of the Rana regime
Departure of British Government from South Asia:
Until 1947 AD (2004 BS) many countries of Asia, Europe and Africa were under British
Government. The Rana regime in Nepal was enduring especially, with the support of British rule
in India. The British had provided full protection to the Ranas. But, when British Government
departed from India in 1947, the Ranas ultimately became weak like orphans. On the other hand,
a great enthusiasm aroused among the Nepalese who were banished and had even taken part in
the fight for freedom for India. They were motivated with the belief that if, a powerful
government like of British can be overthrown then we can definitely overthrow the Ranas from
the regime. In this way, the departure of British Government from South Asia especially, from
India also became an important reason behind the downfall of Ranas.
The support of King Tribhuwan in the Revolution of 2007 BS:
The then king Tribhuwan had been supporting the struggles of Nepalese people against Ranas
secretly. However, it could be seen that the kings of Nepal had been dissatisfied with the Ranas
since the establishment of Rana and had been internally involving in the activities against Ranas.
Only one year after the mount of the Rana regime an armed encounter had taken place in Allau
between Rana’s force and the supporters of King Rajendra Bikram. In fact, the king was
returning back from Kashi with an aim to taking back his authorities dismissed by Rana Prime
Minister Jungabahadur. But, he was imprisoned. Later, Trailokya Bikram, the son of King
Surendra, had also made some efforts for this. But, he was also unsuccessful. For this, King
Tribhuwan was favored by time and situation. The king used to come out secretly to meet,
discuss and encourage the revolting groups and in order to make the government of India active
against the Ranas he even went to the redemption of India endangering his throne. These roles
played by the king also became the prime reason for the downfall of the Ranas. Later, the Rana
regime ended in the history of Nepal with a peaceful agreement between the Ranas, King and
people or the leading organization of the Revolution of 2007 BS, the Nepali congress in Delhi,
India.
Various Anti Rana Movements
Various anti rana movements were started right after the Rana regime had begun. Anti Rana
movements were initiated by the Royal family. Bhandarkhal parva, aalau parva are the examples
of it. However these movements instead of Keeping Rana out of the throne, they made them
more and more powerful. Some of the anti Rana movements are as follows:
1) Lakhan Thapa’s rebellion:
He was from Gorkha. In 1876 A.D (1932 B.S.), he announced that the Goddess
Manakamana had ordered him to kill Jang Bahadur. Then Jang Bahadur arrested him and
hanged in Kathmandu. He is regarded as the 1st martyr of Nepal.

2) Makai Parva:
Krishna Lal Adhikari was the subba of Kausal Adda. In 1977 B.S., he published a book
whose title was ‘Makai Ko Kheti’. The book had specially focused on the criticism of
Rana regime through the development maize in literary. Following sentences were
written in this book which was against Ranas:
 In 1903 B.S., the maize was suffered by harmful insects i.e. in 1903 B.S., Rana came
in power by Kot massacre.
 The insects are of two kinds- red headed and black headed i.e. British and Ranas
respectively.
 For the growth of the child, the mother’s breast is more important than Chandrodaya.
I.e. mother’s breast means Shah king and Chandrodaya means Ranas.
 We love foreign dogs more than indigenous dogs but at the time of theft and robbery,
indigenous dogs are worthful than foreign dogs i.e. British.
 In 1977 BS, Krishna Lal Adhikari was arrested along with his followers. Krishna Lal
Adhikari was sent to prison for six years. He had published 1000 pieces of books among
which 999 were captured and rest one was hidden by him that’s why he got more three
years imprisonment. Altogether, he got imprisonment of nine year but he died in prison in
1980 B.S. due to physical and mental torture

3) Charkha Prachar Revolution:

Being impressed by Mahatma Gandhi of India, in 1987 B.S., Tulashi Mehar started the
publicity of Charkha. His main aim was to spread consciousness to revolt against Ranas.
Later on, Rana ruler alleged him committing treason. He and his followers were arrested.

4) Prachanda Gorkha:
It was the first organized institution to revolt against Rana regime. The chief leader was
Khadgaman Singh Basnet and members were Khadgaman Singh Basnet, Maina Bahadur,
Umesh Bikram Shah, Ranganath Sharma, Laxman Raj etc. They made a plan to kill
whole family of Ranas and make the king powerful. Before the implementation of the
plan, it was flashed out by one of the member named Laxman Raj because Juddha
Shamsher was his father in law. Due to this, all the members were arrested and they were
kept in very narrow and dirty prison. Due to this, they died one by one and later on
Khadgaman Singh Basnet remain alive. He was released after the downfall of Rana
regime.

5) Library revolution and establishment of Mahavir School:

In 1987 B.S., for the purpose of people awareness, some educated youth established the
library. They intended to give application to Prime minister with the signature of 46
people but before it, one of member informed about it to Prime minister. All the members
were arrested and charged the fine.
Due to increase in political consciousness in young generation, some educated young
men established Mahabir School at Khinhatole in Jestha 1993 B.S. The main aim of the
establishment of this school was to develop the education and discuss on politics. The
number of teachers was 28. By knowing this, Ranas arrested all of them.

6) Establishment of Nepali Nagarik Adhikar Samiti:

The Nepali Nagarik Adhikar Samiti was established in Phalgun 1994 at the leadership of
Shukra Raj Shastri along with his followers. The number of members was 21. The Nepali
Nagarik Adhikar Samiti had divided its work. Shandar Prashad went to India to publish
sorrows of Nepalese people, Muralidhar went to explain Puran in Asan, Indrachowk and
Shukra Raj Sanstri started to explain Bhagavat Gita from tole to tole. In the month of
Mansir, 1995 B.S., Shukra Raj Sanstri was arrested when he was explaining on
‘Karmayoga’ of Gita. At the same time, Ganga Lal Shrestha delivered speech against
Ranas. The police tried to arrest him but he hide in crowd. Shukra Raj Sanstri was
 imprisoned for 6 years. Later on, Muralidhar flashed out all the information to Ranas
that’s why, many of the members were arrested.

7) Nepal Prajaparishad:
It was established in 22nd of Jestha, 1993 B.S. at the home of Dharmabhakta Mathema in
Ombahal. The founder members of this institute were Tanka Prashad Acharya, Dashrath
Chand, Dharmabhakta Mathema, Ramhari Sharma and Jeebraj Sharma. It is said that the
members of Prajaparishad signed with the blood of their thumb, and that paper was kept
at the Dharmabhakta’s house, inside the wall, back of the photo of Prime Minister Juddha
shamsher. The main aim of this institute was to revolt against Rana regime and makes the
king powerful. Dharmabhakta Mathema had link with king Tribhuvan because he was the
gymnastic teacher of king Tribhuvan. For this, Nepal Prajaparishad had got the support of
king Tribhuvan too. King Tribhuvan had given Rs. 5,000 for moving the institute. In
Bhadra, 1997, a committee was formed. The committee worked very actively that’s why,
Ranas became very angry. They tried to arrest them but were unsuccessful so they
published in Gorkhapatra that the government would give Rs. 5,000 to the person who
would inform about Prajaparishad. One of the members of the Prajaparishad informed the
secret matter. Then most of members were arrested and beaten. Then Ranas decided to
punish them. According to the decision, Shukra Raj Sanstri was shoot at Pachali(Teku) in
9th Magha 1997, on 11th Magha, Dharma Bhakta Mathema was hanged at Siphal,
Dasharath Chand and Ganga Lal Shrestha were shoot at Bishnumati and Shovabhagwati
respectively on 15th Magha.

8) Establishment of Nepali Rastriya Congress:

In 5th Kartik, 2003 B.S., Nepalese youths had established “Akhil Bharatiya Nepali
Rastriya Congress” with the help and coordination of Indian Socialist Jaya Prakash
Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohiya. Later on in 11th and 12th Magha, 2003 B.S., a
meeting was held at Calcutta. At that time, Ganesh Man Singh, a member of Prajaparisad
also reached there who was imprisoned but ran away by jumping out the wall of the jail.
According to the decision of the meeting, the name of the institution was “Nepali
Rastriya Congress”. The activity of this institute was to revolt against Ranas.

9) Biratnagar Mill Labour Strike:

The labors of Biratnagar Mill hadn’t enough rights. After the establishment of Nepali
Rastriya Congress, the labors became very eager to demand their comforts. The labor
movement started in 20th Phalgun, 2003 BS. On Chaitra 11, Badahakim, Ram Shamsher
requested Ranas to send 250 soldiers in Biratnagar. Then all the leaders were arrested
along with Indian leaders too. At that time, many people were killed. Then the anti-Rana
movement started not only in Kathmandu but also in Biratnagar, Birgunj, Nepalgunj,
Janakpur, Ilam and other many places.

10) Jayantu Sanskritam:

 The student of Sanskrit Pathasala did strike with the demand of developing the course
and also to include history, geography, politics, economics, mathematics etc. Then about
200 students left the hostel and started to beg. That’s why, they got the public support.
Later on, Padma Shamsher assured them to fulfill their demand, and then stopped the
strike.

11) Interim constitution of kingdom of Nepal, 2004 B.S.:

This constitution was the outcome of strike of Nepalese people. To some extent, this
constitution gave rights to the people. By this constitution, the legislative, judiciary and
executive part of government were separated. This constitution was declared by Padma
Shamsher in 13th Magha, 2004 B.S. But it couldn’t be implemented.

12) Establishment of different political parties:

Mohan Shamsher didn’t implement the Baidhanik Kanoon. To revolt against it, in 26th
Ashwin, 2005 B.S., some educated youth established a party named “Nepal Praja
Panchayet”. They revolt against Ranas, that’s why, all the members were arrested. Later
on, all were escaped due to high pressure created by people. In 1st Shrawan, 2005,
another party, “Nepal Prajatantra Congress” was established which was separated from
Nepali Rastriya Congress due to internal conflict of the party. Nepal Prajatantra Congress
worked against Rana rule regularly.
On 30 Bhadra 2006, Nepal Communist Party was established whose founder members
were Pushpalal Shrestha, Niranjan Govinda Vaidhya, Narayanbilas Joshi, Nara Bahadur
Karmacharya and Motidevi Shrestha. They played vital role for democracy. Nepal
Prajatantra Congress was the party which was separated from the Nepali Rastriya
Congress. Due to separation, they both became weak. That’s why, Indian leader Ballav
Bhai Patel suggested the leader of both parties to unite. In 27th Chaitra, 2006 B.S., they
both were united and a new party was formed i.e. ‘Nepali Congress’ where: Matrika
Prashad Koirala (president), Mahendra Bikram Shah (secretary), Suvarna Shamsher
(treasurer) was the members. After the unification, the revolution against the Ranas was
high.
The different anti-rana movements were going on very rapidly. In the same time, Mohan
Shamsher suppressed the royal family too. That’s why on 21st Kartik, 2007 B.S., king Tribhun
went to Indian Embassy with his family for shelter except his 2nd older grandson Gyanendra.
When King Tribhuwan reached Delhi, the anti Rana movement became stronger. They did not
accept king Gyanendra as a king and demanded Tribhuwan. The armed revolt started in different
parts of the country. B.P. Koirala, Dr. K.I. Sing, Rudra Prasad Giri, Balchandra Sharma, and
many others were leaders of the revolution. The armed revolt took place mainly in Kathmandu
valley, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Jhapa, Ilam, Dhankuta and many other parts of the country.
The Delhi Agreement:
The Delhi agreement was signed between the representatives of Rana, Nepali Congress and the
King Tribhuvan. The terms of Delhi agreement were as below:
 King Tribhuvan would be the legal king of Nepal.
 The representative of the Ranas and the people would make the ministry.
 A legal assembly would be established on the basis of adult suffrage.
 All political leaders would be released.
 People would have the right to openthe political party.

Reforms/Judicial contribution of Jung bahadur Rana

1) Muluki Ain 1910

In early 1910 B.S, when Surendra Bikram Shah was King and Jung Bahadur the first Rana Prime
Minister, the government promulgated the first Legal Code in the history of Nepal. The code is
known as the Muluki Ain. The terms are of Arabic origin and literally mean “Law of the Realm”.
Within a month of Jung Bahadur’s return from England in 1907 B.S, he appointed a Law
Council, the Ain Kausal, to reform and codify the law. The 230-member Council included all the
senior Ranas, the Dharma Adhikar, the Rajgurus, the Chautariyas and most of the civil and
military officers of the Kingdom. The Ain Kausal deliberated for almost three years. Finally, in
1910 BS, the Legal Code, the Muluki Ain, was promulgated under the Red Seal of King
Surendra, the Red Seal of Crown Prince Trailokya and the Yellow Seal of ex King Rajendra. The
Muluki Ain was strict outcome of the Hindu Dharmasasthras such as Manu Smiriti,
YagyaBalkya, Smirities, Bhrihaspati, Vedas etc. It has 163 sections and was made in four parts.
Later it was widely amended by Bir Shamsher in 1942 and was overall amended 12 times.
Muluki Ain 1910 is a collection of administrative procedures and legal frameworks for
interpretation civil and criminal matters, revenue collection, landlord and peasant relations, inter-
caste disputed and marriages and family law. The punishment varied according to the caste
status.
While coding the Ain, the legal provisions were made on the basis of the norms and values of the
then society. Under the Varnashram system, Brahman, Chhetri, Vaisya and Sudra were the four
Varnas. Under these Varnas also there were provisions of many castes according to the
Varnashankar profession, lifestyle etc.
Keeping these things in mind, the legal Ain was codified. The same provision was prevalent until
2019 B.S. Chhoi chhito halnu parne was the lowest Jaat. Chhoi chhito halnu naparne was the
jaat above it. The Castes above these were Panichalne and Tagadhari and Brahmans. Muluki Ain
classified the entire community into 4 castes:
 Tagadhari
 Matwali
  Pani nachlane
 Pani chalne
The Muluki Ain introduced by Jung Bahadur made provisions for offices Amini (district court),
Mal adda (Revenue Collection Office), Bhansar Adda (Customs Office) and Police Thana
(Police station) which were placed under the control of a Rana Prime Minister whose oral order
was considered to be above the laws of the country.
The Ain possessed three important features:
 First it facilitated the quick disposal of disputed cases according to its provision because
its many provisions covered all the different aspects of Nepalese society. It was no longer
necessary as it had been in the pre-codification period to consult the Shastras for the
clarification on legal points.
 In the second place, the Ain provided Nepal with a more or less uniform system of
administration.
 Finally the Ain became the foundation for all the future legislation. New enactments were
made to meet changing needs but they remained within the framework laid down in 1854.
Court of Justice
Hierarchial sketch of the courts of Justice Hierarchal sketch of the person entitled to
dispence Justice
Kausal Prime Minister
Sadar Court Sardar/Judge
Gaunda Court Gaunda/Governor
District Court District governor
Amal Court Ditthas, Bicharis, Vassal chiefs, Amalis,
Dwares and Other village headmen such as Rai
and Limbu subbas

2) Attempt to Control Sati System

The Sati system in Nepali society existed in the early ancient society. In Medieval Period, the
Sati system was as its height. During that period, the sati system was supposed to be prestigious
matter and the women who did not like to go Sati in her husband’s death, would be censured.
During the time of King Surendra there was an attempt to prevent the Sati system as a social evil.
Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana in his code tried to discourage Sati system. The Code reads
as follows:
 The widow who was under 16 years, was forbidden to be Sati
 The widow who was pregnant, who had already two husbands as well as unmarried girl
could not be Sati.
 The female slave couldnot be Sati with the death of Queen and the Bhardars.
  Sati was forbidden if the youngest son was below 16 and the youngest daughter was
below 5 years.
 The mother was forbidden to be Sati on her son’s death.
 The woman who was prostitute was forbidden to be Sati.
The legal Code of Jung Bahadur was not completely in practice. So, when he died in 1933, his
wives became Sati. Control of the Sati system was further attempted by Bir Shumsher. The Sati
system was completely abolished at the time of Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher. He restricted
this social evil on 15th Asar 1977 by a legal system. Some orthodox people opposed but most of
the people praised the Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher’s work. There was the system of
sentence to death who would oppose to the Code. Thus, the sati system was then abolished.
3) Attempt to Reduce Slavery
Like other countries, there was slavery system in Nepalese society too. Slavery system in
Nepalese society was an evil practice. It was a stigma in the society. King Prithvi Narayan Shah
and Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa tried to abolish Slavery system but couldnot do so.
 Noone shall be made slave against his will.
 No parents can sell their childrens to make slave.
 He freed 450 slaves in 1924
 He made a fine of Rs. 350 and Rs. 720 against slavery.
4) Similarly Jung Bahadur tried to control Gambling. In 1905, he made a rule that gambling
could be done only for 11 days in festivals.
5) He reformed the economic condition of Nepal. He collected 11 crore during the transitional
period.
6) He built Durbar High School and brought English teacher from Britian to teach English.