Regxni Research (Private) Ltd, Kathmndu: November l, 1970. �egmi Research Series Year 2, No. 11, Edited By: Mahesh C, Regmi. Contents l. A Brief Account of Ancient And Medieval Nepal •... 253 2. Guthi Lands of Sri Vara.hi Temple In Bhaktapur ••• 259 3. On The NeP1,l-Tibet War, 1791 . �. 267 4. Nepal-Sirmu.r Treaty .... 272 5. Glossary Of Revenue, Administrative And Other Terms Occurring In Nepali Historical Documents ... 273 Regmi Research (Private) Ltd, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal. Compiled by Regmi Research (Pri.vate) Ltd tc.lr private study and research. Not neant for public sale or display. 253 • . A B rief Account Of Ancient . And M:idieval Nepal B"iJ Babu Ram Achar,yal : ·The ancient· period in the history of Nepal is· sup�sed to have eommenced around 750 B.C. However, little is known about the history of Nepal for l milleoium, that is, imtil around 250 A.D. An idol of the Kushan perfud fo und at the_ Pashupati Temple and Indian literatt:!'G shed some light on this period, however� . _: . · ·The ea.riy Lichchfiav i period is considered t, o h ave lasted from 250 to 505 A.D. The medieval period in the history of Nepal began with the death . of King. Manadeva ,in 505 ·A.D. The custom c>':f worshipping and maldng ·r1 tual gifts of cows started when the Sa.natana r eligion spread to Nepal during the Lichchhavi period. Cowherds (Gopala-Gwar) were procured from outside to look a:t'ter cows. In cour:::e of time, these Gopalas grgdually bu.i.lt up their strength, and ·after 5 generations they became vory powerful. , ' King Mahadeva., was succeeded by his son Mahideva. However, within less than a year �er a scending the throne, Mahideva was succeeded by his son Basantadeva. Dt?-ring the reign ol' Basantadeva, the Abhinis2 began to interfere in.the·affairs of the State. They eventually enforced laws pr:,h:i.b:;_ting the son of the reigr:inr. king from succeeding his f'ather. "'he Abhiras thus becime dic tator (Adhinayaka ). Bhumagupta was the last Abhira dictator. He held absolute power .during a 'period of intense tunnoil ttat lasted nearly 70 ye;.;1_•a After him, _th� c ountry was ruled by Rupavarma and then by Amshu.varina. Durin;: their regime, routes we\.e opened between Nepal and Tibet. Nepali envoys · want to Tibet and even to China during the rule of Narendradeva, grandson of Amshuvarma. Vaishyas arrived in Nenal in 880 A .D. whe_n Lichchhavi rule had c ome to an and. After the Vaishyas came the �llas (1,200 A •.D.) . The me dieval period. · l asted in Ne pal until 1525 A.D., the year when the Moghul empire was est :-.1.·�­ lished in India·. In fact, the establishment of the Moghul e mpire i� India, the division of the Mall.a kingdom of Nepal into 3 parts am. their eventual reunification are all events of the modern period. 1. 11 Purve. Brittanta". (An Accountant o f the Previous Period). In Nepal Ko Srunskshipta Vrittanta (A Concise Account o f Nepal). Part I, Kathmandu: 11 Pramod Shamsher and Nir Bikram 11 Pyasi , Chaitra 20'22 (March 1966). 2. i.e. the Gopalas. Contd••• 2.54. At tha beginning of the modern PEJ:riod , Nepal was·· in a divided condition , In 1525 A.D. , it was 'dtvided i,nt9 several .f'r�ments, whic h were known a�. the Baisi and Cbaub�si:J)rincipalities •$.These we.re. all united by King Prith'li Narayan Shah, w ho emerged in 1743 A.D. The unification of Nepal was the most important e vent 'in the modern history of Nepal . :he proc ess of unifi• cation startedby Prith:vt Na raya_n Sh$ laste d t ill 179.3 A.D . , after which Ne pal h ad to wage a war with the British. Unde r the Treaty s igne d after the war , Nepal had had to relinquish sc.;me p arts of it s territor,J$. An e. mo­ sphere of intranguillity prevaile d throughout the Prima Ministership of Bhimasena Thapa. In the midst$:pf the chaos that prevailed duri� that period, Jung B_ahad'l,lr: appeareq, pn the sce1,1� 3:nd establishadth e Rana regime$• � . '. .. The Rona •re'gime collapsed· following i;,h e end 'of the$. second worlrl war . It was followed by the p resent adminis tra.tiv� . system. - . � . �- . .. Before 7$0 A .D,. ,: �pe Aryans had settle d on .the region .stretching from the plains of. the IndUs a.pd t.he Ganges to ..the Brahmaputra Vall ey in the east . 'The . Arjans could on t pro ceed northward be cause all routes leading to the Himalayas at the time ,were ve ry ·inaccessible . However, they did manage to· enter the Kangra area west of the Sutlej river. Altoough the Ji..r yMS$. could. not proce ed furtherwe stward, anot'qer _branch of them entered Kashlnir from Kashgar . Until 750 A.D., Arrci,n s ettlements had exterrled on}.y to the .banks of the SuUej$. The Aryans had not been able to break throueh the Hjma,]._aya.� ea.St of tho Sutlej. A different race was inhabiting th�s region . This race has 1 1 b0en described ; as 11Kirata . in Sanskrit literature and as 11 Aus t1'0-.Asians " by Europeans . Nepalwas· inhabited at that time by these Kiratas . Since the major part of Nepal cons iste d of fores ts , and communication difficultie s too were ·.very acute , the. Kiratas were concentrated mostly on het banks of rivers •. They Jived in ordinary hu'Ls. 1-Jith no culture or civ ilization of their ·Own, t,hey le d almost a barbarian life .$· The. southe·rn plains o f Nepal_ too were inhabite d by Kir2tas$. It is believed that 'the Tharus now inhabitin: the southern plains of Nepal are the des$cenclants of Kiratas; for their physiognortiy·c losely re sembles that of the Kirat·as· of old$� �rowever, havin;? . C lived in the ·pl ains for centurie s , they hav e forgotten thei:c o:!'i6inc1.l dinl�$· :ind have imitated the Aryrm c$ivilization . Even then, 'they still retain son.. of their original customs and usages . -: . '. Being familiar with mountains$, SOT!l;l o f the Kirata's who . had origina lly s�ttled in : the. plains later mig.ra,t ed·to Nepal Valley. �rais and Danuwar� are branches of this Kirata community. Darm.wars maintain the ir liv elihooa by· catching fis h . Th� Ki.unals also bolong to the Kirata commun,:i.ty . They a.ru potters by occupation. They ca.mo to Nepal Valley· aiong t·,e banks o$f the Bagmati., the Kamala and the Trishuli$. Theyhos c e -�pal . v�lley for settle; rnent because of the level terrain. Nepal Valley is the most spacious trnc, af1:J3r Kashmir-. Moreover; the soil of this vally is fertil.e , and such ri'Je:·. Contd$.· • • as the Bagmati, the Bishnumati and thet. Manohar.a fli,w through itt. After the arrival of the Darais , Danuwars and Kuinals in Nepal Valley, the Kiratas living here started moving to and from the southt. At this timet, the Lichchh;rv. is were ruling over nortth Vihar undetr 9. democratic set-up . Seve ral states inc luding Vide ha had merged into a united Li chchhavi state, whi ch was called 11Vrij i Sangh" , Nepal �stablishe d rela tions with the ne ighboring Vriji Sangh. This had q. civ ilizing influence on Nepal, and, also led to political constciousness and unity among the Kiratas livmg in _Nepal . The republican system, which lasted about 200 year s in the Vri ji Sang h, left an impact on Nepal . Nepal too adoptetd a democratic syste m during that period. Afte r Gautama Buddha attainedNirvana , King .Aj atashatru of :-'hgadha conquered the Vr ij i Sangh and annexed i t . A monarc hy was then inst ituted in the Kirata state of N9p al -as we ll. This ma rks the beginning of monarchy in Ne pal, With the institution of tronarchical rule among het Kiratas , they became followers of Aryan culture wit rout, however, completely renouncing their own culture . Consequent to the - assimilation of' these two dis�t culture �, a new Kira.ta culture emerged. An.:.i.r�da, who was the tr.a in dis ciple of Gautama Buddha , h3.d seen how tr::cte in wool was flourishing in �pal. He had noticed tmt the Kiratas wore ma in:.Y engaged in trade in woolt. This shows that civilization had downe d in t'h L .area with sheep-bre edi:igt. Kautilya 1 s Arthashastra also contnins references to more than 20 ·✓ ariG - ties of woolem blanket s ma.de in Nepal used to e xpnrt woolen bl:1n>�e ts tc, M:lga dha at that t.imet. The _manufac ture of five woolen blanke ts was thus thriving in Nepal along with trade il} woolt. - l King Ashoka had sent missionaries to r8pal to propagate Buddhism . ' h·· propagation of Buddhism in Nepal helped the Kiratas to become cultured gnd civilized peoplet., thereby insp iring than to embrace the Aryan civilt ":,.. tion. 'l'ho cultivation of paddy was then introdu ced, and the Kiratas beP.;ar to improve the ir economic condi ti.on. They thus reached the levt)l of pr0·t•-:-t,; :.:_ - atta.ined by th e Aryanst. following th e de cline of the _ Ma urya empire in N epal, people of dif/ 2rc ;t, race s from West Asia starte d immigratting into India .