Nepal's Historic Tradition - A Collision of Cultures:

Nepal's Historic Tradition - A Collision of Cultures:

Kathmandu has long been a magnet to peoples, with it's highly fertile soil, pleasant climate, and ancient holy sites. Stone tools are occasionally found which make it clear that Man had discovered the ancient lakebed which is the Kathmandu Valley at least 30,000 years ago. It seems likely that many of the holy sites and local deities still worshipped were established by these peoples in great antiquity. Little is known of these neolithic people today. The forces which shape modern Nepal arrive on the scene about 1,000 BCE, in the form of waves of immigration from the west and the east. In the west, the Khas, an Indo-Aryan people, probably related to the "aryans" who arrived in India 1,500 years earlier, settled in western Nepal and had a capital or important city in the western part of the Kathmandu Valley. Somewhat earlier Tibeto-Burman people known as the Kirat had settled in the East of Nepal, and had also arrived in the valley. Their state is mentioned in many old chronicles, and King Yelambar of Nepal is reported to have taken part in the the battle recorded in the epic, Mahabharata (possibly 8thC BCE). By about 300 AD a dynasty of the Licchavi family had established itself in Kathmandu. The Licchavis were part of the waves of immigrants from the south, which were to continue for the next 1,000 years. In many ways this was the great flowering of Nepal, and the remaining artifacts of this time are wonders of craftsmanship and artistic merit. After 500 years of Licchavi rule, a "dark" period occurs, of which records are very limited. This seems to have been time of stagnation and close cooperation with powerful States in northern India. From the 10th to 12th centuries local power began to assert itself, possibly again by intermarriage with immigrants the south and west; and by the 12th century the Malla dynasty arose. Destined to rule in "interesting times", the Malla Kings held sway for 600 years, though the Valley was often divided into warring states, with three Kings on the throne for much of that time. Most of the great architectural heritage of Nepal and amazing craft works in wood and metal dates from the Malla times. Also in the 10th and 12th centuries, immigration from the north became an important part of Nepal's cultural mix. Early in that period the Sherpas moved south from the Tibetan Plateau and settled amidst the great mountains in Nepal's north. Two centuries later, the Tamangs, remnants of Ghengis Khan's cavalry, settled in the north and east. In recent years, Tibetans fleeing from the Chinese occupation have settled in the north of the country as well. In the 18th century the Khas people of the west of Nepal, augmented and interculturated by immigrants from the south, united under King Prithvi Narayan, and in a series of politically and militarily brilliant manouvers he siezed control of all three "States" in the Valley and reunited Nepal. His dynasty ended in 2008 when Nepal became a republic. The last king of Nepal, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, luves in Kathmandu today as an ordinary citizen. The Shah dynasty rule was partially interrupted from the mid-1800s to 1951 by a series of hereditary Prime Ministers who dominated the Kings and exercised autocratic rule. The monarchy was restored in 1951, and Nepal has been a full democracy since 1990, except for a brief period of royal rule in 2005 and 2006. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the repeated influxes of people into Nepal is that it all happened relatively peacefully. Except for a one-week incursion of Moghul troops from India in the 14th century, there has never been an "invasion" as such. Instead, in what in hindsight seems typically Nepalse, each new group was incorporated into the society, enriching it and adding to the complex fabric.