World History

Ratna Malla was the youngest son of Yaksha Malla. He became king of Kantipur in 1568 B.E. (1511 A.D.) He was cou rageous, had patience and was a diplomat of the first order. On his accession to the throne he found himself beset with difficul ties. First, he had to face the danger from twelve Thakuris. How to counteract their growing influence was the problem before Ratna Malla. They were, so to say, the de facto rulers of Kath mandu. They were much more powerful than the king . The king was a puppet in their hands. Ratna Malla invited them to a feast and poisoned them all to death. Now he became all in all. No sooner had he successfully encountered the internal menace, menace from outside posed itself before him. Kantipur was threatened with an invasion by the Bhotias called 'Kaku'. When Ratna Malla saw that he would not be able to face the huge armies of the enemy single-handed, he sought the help of Mukunda Sen, King of Palpa. He defeated the enemies and saved the country

 Jayasthiti Malla ascended the throne at the time when the condition of Nepal was worsening. The central government was very weak and the feudal lords were fighting among them selves. There was no peace at home. The Kingdom was split with dissension and feud. Social life was also chaotic. Weights and measures differed from one part of the country to another. There were no standard and uniform weights and measures throughout Nepal. There was no uniformity even in law and justice and other governmental rules and regulations. The strong oppressed the weak. Under the then existing condition, Nepal needed a strong monarch just as England needed a strong monarchy just on the eve of the beginning of the Tudor period. Just as the English people found a strong monarch in Henry VII, the Nepalese also found a strong mo narch in Jayasthiti Malla. He was a great reformer. He brought about social, economic and religious reforms. Social reforms He introduced social reforms by defining the jobs of th

The Rajputs belonging to the Soma dynasty in order to shelter themselves from the invasions and the growing influence of the Mughal Empire came to the western part of Nepal and established their own principality there. Kiranti kings were rul ing over the Valley, but Gasti, the last Kiranti king, being very weak, had to suffer defeat at the hands of Nimistakar Barma (Nimish I) who came from Soma dynasty. He got a palatial building built in the forest of Gokarna, now a picnic spot about five miles north-east of Kathmandu. He got a four-faced Linga of Pashupati Nath erected and established. He got a new town built in place of the old town of Bishal Nagar. Nimisha got a palace built at Godawari, too. Bhaskar Varma was the last ruler of the Soma dynasty. He came out to be a great conqueror. He conquered modern Orissa and many other territories. He donated a lot of money and jewels to Pashupati Nath. As he had no sons and daughters to succeed him, he adopted Bhoomi Varma, . a Lichchhav

 four models DAVID N. GELLNER NOT only does everyone in Nepal today believe in democracy, all politicians too claim to stand for democracy, just as they claim to be building the nation and seeking ‘all-round development’. Even King Gyanendra, when attempting to rule without political parties in order to turn the clock back to the Panchayat days of his father King Mahendra, claimed to be doing so in order to establish democracy on firmer foundations. He pointedly claimed inspiration from his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, ‘the architect of democracy’ while actually following the model of his father. There are and have been competing and radically incommensurable ideals of democracy in Nepal, a clash of visions that led to many deaths and great turmoil in the civil war that wracked the country between 1996 and 2007. Speaking broadly, four main ideologies can be identified, with four different understandings and claims about the implications of democracy: king-led, liberal, leftist, and mu