Anglo-Nepalese War - Historical Background

Historical Background

Further information: Unification of Nepal, Sino-Nepalese War, and East India Company

The Shah era of Nepal began with the invasion of Kathmandu valley, which consisted of the capitals of Malla confederacy that ruled Nepal during the medieval era of Nepal.

In 1767, a request to the British for help by the Nepalese Malla confederacy under threat from Gorkha invasion resulted in an ill-equipped and ill-prepared expedition numbering 2,500 led by Captain Kinloch. The expedition was a disaster; the Gorkhali army easily overpowered those who had not succumbed to malaria or desertion. This ineffectual British force, provided the Gorkhali with firearms and filled them with suspicion, causing some to underestimate their future opponents.

The invasion of Kathmandu Valley resulted in the shift of the capital of the Kingdom from Gorkha to Kathmandu. Also, the invasion of economically sound Kathmandu Valley provided the Gorkha army economic support for furthering their martial practices throughout the region. The martial campaign in eastern region was largely a failure. After a number of defeats by the Limbuwan army, the Gorkha army finally made peace treaty with Limbuwan and incorporated the Limbuwan states into the kingdom under a mutual pact. In the west, all rulers as far as the Kali River had submitted or been replaced by 1790. Farther west still, the Kumaon region and its capital Almora had also succumbed to the Gorkhali.

To the north however, aggressive raids into Tibet (concerning a long-standing dispute over trade and control of the mountain passes) triggered the Chinese intervention. In 1792 the Qianlong Emperor sent an army, expelling the Gorkhali from Tibet to within 5 km of their capital at Kathmandu. Acting regent Bahadur Shah, (Prithvi Naryan’s son), appealed to the then British Governor-General of India for help. Anxious to avoid confrontation with the Chinese, the Governor-General sent Captain Kirkpatrick as mediator, but before he arrived the war with China had finished. The Gorkhali were forced into signing a humiliating treaty revoking their trading privileges in Tibet and requiring them to pay tribute to Peking every five years.

The Tibet affair had postponed a previously planned attack on the Garhwal Kingdom, but by 1803 Raja of Garhwal Pradyuman Shah had also been defeated. He was killed in the struggle in January 1804, and all his land annexed. Further west, general Amar Singh Thapa overran lands as far as the Kangra – the strongest fort in the hill region – and laid siege to it (although by 1809, Ranjit Singh the ruler of the Sikh state in the Punjab, had intervened and driven the Gorkhali army east of the Sutlej river).