BRIEF HISTORY OF NEPAL

The history of Nepal is characterized by its isolated position in the Himalayas between its two neighboring country,India and China.Nepal is now a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multilingual country because of the disparate settler groups from outside. Nepal was divided in three kingdoms from the 15th century until the 18th century, when it was unified under the Shah monarchy.Before Nepal's emergence as a nation in the latter half of the 18th century, the designation 'Nepal' was largely applied only to the Kathmandu Valley. Thus up until the unification of the country, Nepal's history is largely the history of the Kathmandu Valley. The national language of Nepal is Nepali, which is the most-spoken language of Nepal.

Nepal experienced a struggle for democracy in the 20th century. During the 1990s and until 2008, the country was in civil strife. A peace treaty was signed in 2008 and elections were held in the same year.

Newars are said to have lived in the Nepal Valley since the 4th century AD, developing a Hindu-Buddhist culture. The Gurkha principality was later established by "rajputs" warriors from India, and in 1769 they conquered lands beyond the present-day borders of Nepal. After incursions into northern India in which the Gurkhas were defeated, Nepal lost part of its territory to British India but retained its independence and enjoyed close ties with the British.It has maintained its close association with India since the latter gained independence in 1947.