This comprehensive history of Nepal spans pre-historic times and the Licchavi Period to more recent developments, such as the Maoist insurgency and the rise of the republic. In addition to religious history and histories of selected regions (Mustang, Sherpa, Tarai, and others), it covers the nation's relations with its powerful neighbors and its cultural aspects, especially its rich history of arts, architecture, and crafts.

Axel Michaels is Senior Professor of Classical Indology and Religious Studies at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg. A specialist in the legal and cultural history of South Asia, he is the author of Hinduism: Past and Present and Homo rituali: Hindu Rituals and its Significance for Ritual Theory (OUP, 2015), among other books.

• Preface


• Acknowledgments


• Glossary


• On the Spelling and Pronunciation of Indian and Nepalese Words


• Chronology


• Introduction


• Chapter 1: The Country


• Infrastructure


• Mountains


• Earthquakes


• Water Resources


• Forests and Holy Trees


• Chapter 2: The Population


• Migration


• Social Structures and Hierarchies


• The Position of Women


• Nepal as a Multi-ethnic State


• Chapter 3: The Religions


• Buddhism


• Hinduism


• Religious Syncretism and Tolerance


• Chapter 4: Scattered Power and Petty Kingdoms: The Country before the Fourteenth Century


• Prehistory


• The Kirata


• The Licchavi and Abhira-Gupta Period


• The Early Medieval Period


• The Khasa-Malla in West Nepal


• Petty Kingdoms


• Chapter 5: Divided Rule: The Malla Kingdoms, Thirteenth to Eighteenth Century


• The Malla Rulers


• The Urban Culture of the Newars


• The Three Royal Cities of the Kathmandu Valley


• Chapter 6: From Gorkha to Nepal: The Imperial Saha Monarchy, 1768/69-1846


• Prthvinarayana and His Followers


• The Consolidation of Gorkhali Power


• Anglo-British Encounters


• Sino-Tibetan Encounters


• Chapter 7: Patrimonial Rule: The Rana Period, 1846-1951


• The Kivara Rana, 1846-1885


• The Samsera Rana, 1885-1951


• Landholding and Agriculture


• Labor and Slavery


• Economy and Trade


• The Legal and Administrative System


• Education and the Media


• Healing Systems and Shamanism


• Hunting and Elephants


• Rana Architecture


• The Legacy of the Saha and Rana Periods


• Chapter 8: From Monarchy to Republic, 1951-2022


• The Restoration of the Sahas


• The Maoist Insurgency


• The Decline of the Monarchy and the Emergence of Democracy


• Power and Authority: King, Prime Minister, and Maoist Leader


• Administration and Law


• The Urbanization of the Kathmandu Valley


• Literature, Art, and Music


• Chapter 9: Alliances and Resistance: Ethnic Groups and Their Histories


• The Tarai: From Mithila to the Madhesi Uprising


• The Sherpa


• Mustang


• The Kiranti (Rai-Limbu) in Eastern Nepal


• From Empire to Nation State


• Conclusion


• Appendices


• The Sources


• Lists of Rulers, Prime Ministers, and British Envoys


• Notes


• Bibliography


• Index