Nepal has a long glorious history. Its civilization can be traced back to thousands of years before the birth of Christ. History reveals dynasties of Ahirs and Gopalas, Kirants, Licchavis and Thakuris ruling the country before the Malla period began and then the Kingdom of Nepal was established on 25 September 1768 by Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha ruler who prevailing with regards to bringing together the kingdoms of Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur into a solitary state under his Shah tradition.
Now i want to give a short introduction about the Dynasty from Lichavi to Shah Dynasty:
Lichavi Dynasty
The first documented history of Nepal starts from the Dynasty of Lichavi. The Lichavis are said to have ruled at around 250 AD.The hystory said that Lichavi Dynasty have migrated into Nepal from north India in around 250 A.D. The first Lichavi king of historical importance was Manadeva 1. Another important Lichavi monarch was Anshuverma who opened trade routes to Tibet. One of his daughters, Bhrikuti, who was married to Tibetan ruler Tsrong-tsong Gompo, was instrumental in spreading the Gospel of the Buddha in Tibet and China. Anshuverma has been referred to as a man of many talents in the accounts of the Chinese traveler Huen Tsang, who had visited India in the 7th century AD.
Malla Dynasty
And after the fall of the Lichchhavis came the Malla period during which the foundation of the city of Kantipur (later Kathmandu) was laid. 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.
Shah Dynasty, Unification of Nepal
After the fall of Malla Dynasty, Nepal got its first King who ruled the unified nation. The stage of Shah Dynasty came right after the fall of the Malla dynasty. King Prithvi Narayan Shah , with whom we move into the modern period of Nepal's history, was the ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah (1559-1570), the founder of the ruling house of Gorkha. Prithvi Narayan Shah succeeded his father King Nara Bhupal Shah to the throne of Gorkha in 1743 AD. King Prithvi Narayan Shah was quite aware of the political situation of the Valley kingdoms as well as of the Barsi and Chaubisi principalities. He foresaw the need for unifying the small principalities as an urgent condition for survival in the future and set him self to the task accordingly.
While Prithvi Narayan Shah was the king of Gorkha, Nepal was divided into several principalities named Baise and Chaubise States or rajyas. He predicted the urgent need to unify these small states for the long term survival of the country and he set himself according to his plans. His victory march started with the realization that Nepal was not strong enough to battle with the East Indian Company while it was divided itself. He intended to unify Nepal to make Nepal a unified and dignified state in the world and to make Nepal Independent.
Prithvi Narayan Shah started his victory march with the intention to conquest Nuwakot. In 1744 he became successful in taking over Nuwakot which was the key point to know about other states of Kathmandu Valley. Soon after, he got victory over other states that surrounded the Kathmandu Valley and became able to cut off all the communications between the states of Kathmandu and other outer states.
Kathmandu was the most powerful state during the victory march of King Prithvi Narayan Shah and it was not easy to conquest over the three states of Kathmandu valley, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur. In order to conquest these states, he had to take over Kirtipur at first. After the two unsuccessful attempts, he finally took over the ancient city of Kirtipur on the third attempt.Finally, on September 25, 1768, King Prithvi Narayan Shan overthrew the king of Kathmandu, King Jaya Prakash Malla and sat on the throne. He marched to Kathmandu on the day of Indra Jatra and hailed victory over Kathmandu. Jaya Prakash Malla managed to escape and took refuge in Lalitpur.
After the dramatic and successful victory over Kathmandu, Prithvi Narayan Shah took over other two powerful states, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. In this way, Prithvi Narayan Shah became able to bring all the small principalities under one dignified and glorified nation, Nepal.
