Welcome To Historical Nepal E-Library

Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multiracial, multicultural, multi-religious, and multilingual country. The most spoken language is Nepali followed by several other ethnic languages. The modern day Kingdom of Nepal was established in 1768 and started a campaign of unifying what would form the modern territories of Nepal. Some former territories had been lost due to the Anglo-Nepalese War and the Sino-Nepalese War. In the Sino-Nepalese war,the conflict ended with both victories and losses with the kingdom ultimately accepting tributary status with the Qing dynasty of China from 1792 to 1865. The Anglo-Nepalese War ended in British victory and resulted in the ceding some Nepalese territory in the Treaty of Sugauli. In a historical vote for the election of the constituent assembly, the Nepalese parliament voted to abolish the monarchy in June 2006. Nepal became a federal republic on 28 May 2008 and was formally renamed the 'Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal' ending the 200-year-old reign of the Shah monarchs.

Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Nepali: महेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव; 11 June 1920 31 January 1972) was King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972. He led the 1960 coup d'état, in which he dismissed the government, jailed other political leaders, suspended the constitution, banned political parties, and established an autocratic royal regime. He ruled the country with his Panchayat system for 28 years until the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990. During his reign, Nepal experienced a period of industrial, political and economic change which opened it to the rest of the world for the first time, after the 104-year-long reign of the Rana rulers, who kept the country under an isolationist policy, came to an end in 1951. Mahendra was born on 11 June 1920 (1977 B.S) at the Narayanhiti Palace to King Tribhuvan of Nepal.[4] He was the eldest child of King Tribhuvan and Queen Kanti. Under the Rana dynasty, the power of the king was reduced to that of a figurehead. Although Tribhuvan was nominally king since 1911, the royal family had been held captive in Narayanhiti Palace since the rise of the prominent Rana dynasty. Even though he did not have formal education, King Mahendra was privately educated inside the palace and learned politics, economics and Nepali literature, history and culture.

Surya Bahadur Thapa (Nepali: सूर्य बहादुर थापा; March 21, 1928 April 15, 2015) was a Nepali politician and a five-time Prime Minister of Nepal. He served under three different kings in a political career lasting more than 50 years. Thapa was selected as a member of advisory council in 1958 and was elected as the chairperson. Later he was appointed to the Upper house in 1959 and appointed chair of the Council of Ministers from 1963 to 1964. He went on to serve four further terms: 1965–69, 1979–83, 1997–98, and again in 2003 before leaving Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) in November 2004. Surya Thapa was the first prime minister under the Panchayat System of Nepal. In his later years, he was a leader of RPP. He died on 15 April 2015 from respiratory failure while undergoing surgery. Thapa was born on March 21, 1928, in the village of Muga in Dhankuta district.[2] He began his political career in the underground student movement in 1950. In November 1958, he was selected to the national assembly as an independent, and became Chairman of the Advisory Council.[3] In 1959, Thapa was elected to the Upper House. He was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forest and Industry under the newly formed Panchayat system. Subsequently, he served as Member of National Legislature and Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.