History

The following table should help you get acquainted with Nepal's history. Read the period and key events. Then move on to the timeline content for more. Also be sure to see facts and photos to find other interesting items
Period
King / Dynasty Ruler
Key Event(s)
800 BC to 300 AD
Kirat Kings
Kirat kings ruled nepal for over 100 years with a total of 28 Kirat Kings ruling from various parts of Nepal. The Lord Gautam Buddha was also born during this time period in a place called Lumbini of Nepal which is now located near the Indian border in Nepal.
200 AD to 1200 AD
Lichhavi and Thakuri Rule Nepal
Upon defeating Kirat Rulers, Lichavi start governing Nepal. Located in the precinct of Changu Narayan, dating back to 464 AD, a monument dedicated to Lichhavi King Mandeva can be found near Kathmandu. Changunarayan Temple was built by Licchivai King Manadeva.
1200 to 1769
Malla Kings Rule Nepal
Came to Kathmandu valley in 1200. They held absolute power of Governing the people. Mallas's religion influence were Hindu. Major Kings ruling Nepal during the period were Ranjit Malla, Jaya Prakash Malla, Pratap Malla, and Jayasthiti Malla. One noticeable feature of these kings were their ability to assign tasks to individuals by creating the cast system. Example includes Brahmins and Chhetris Cast were working in Palaces, and over 60 occupational castes were for farmers and traders.
1769 to 2006
Rana then Shah Dynasty / Kings
Shah Dynasty Rule Nepal while at some time both King and Political Parties Govern the Country
2006 to Present
King Gyanendra, Maoists and Political Parties all become Rules of Nepal
Since the birth of Political Parties, Nepal have had more than 10 general elections, each one picking a Prime Ministry who fails to resolve country's issues such as poverty eradication, backing human rights, improving economic development programs and most importantly uplifting Nepalese life.

Year 1989 is considered to the turning point for Nepal. It's the year when people took the streets in large, villagers flew to cities or to other countries, and some fought against the Panchayat System and demanded a government that Nepalese could decide, where they could elect their leaders and rule the country for the benefit of all. The Multi-Party system started it's first foot step in that year, which game Nepalese hopes to some extend for a better life, better freedom and development of rural infrastructure. But since Political Parties failed to fulfill the expectation of people, Maoists appeared and the country went to war, splitting the people into groups; those for king, those for political parties and those for the Maoists. Violence started to become the topic that both Nepalese and None Nepalese came to know about Nepal until after the peace agreement with Maoists and a new Government where Nepal's constitution bans King from doing nothing but living in his own Royal Palace.

Democracy in Nepal wasn't fully realized until after the King Mahendra started ruling Nepal under the Panchayat system. The system would allow King to pick his own people as PM and head of the districts to govern people. As the corruption took its height, people started disliking this system and hence people's movement started. Then the birth of "Multi Party" system was born in Nepal where people were allowed to form political parties, join election and run a government with a leading party backed by a opposition party. Even in the political party system, King still would have more power than the Prime Ministers

King of all King is known as the "Prithivi King". He unified Nepal into one Kingdom thus helping Nepal grow together politically, economically and socially in collective manner
People's King is regarded as the King Birendra who died with with his entire family in a family shoot-out, with report on the side that a drunken and fully doped Prince Dipendra took his own life upon taking the life of his entire family with a gun. What amazes Nepalese is that the family of his brother remains intact, even they too were at the scene before random-shooting took place. This is not say that King Gyanendra had a role in this Royal massacre but to say that a majority of Nepalese believe want a thorough investigation of the accident to find exactly what happened and who were behind the massacre. Some also believe that outsiders might have been involved but not King Gyanendra and his family

King was the main man who could pick anyone to be a Prime Ministry, He had absolute Power to control the country
Voice of the Nepalese meant nothing to this system. In fact, anyone who talked against the King would be sentenced to jail, or killed or made to disappear for life
Constitution of the system didn't allow any Political Parties to be born
Basic Human rights and the freedom of speech was suppressed
News and media was mainly run by Nepali King and its people and hence the Truth-News never existed in Nepal during those years
Corruption was at the highest level; Ministry and local government body were getting richer day by day
Getting a job in government offices meant, lobbying with Government personnel by giving money or having connections
Economic development did take place but money spent for also didn't give substantial development to the country
Improvement in the day-to-day life of the people was not seen while many still argue that today's multi party system hasn't proved to be any better. Panchayat system still gets good reputation for having lower inflation, development and peace in the country then other systems that followed
Many believe that the Panchayat system simply evaporated from Nepal due to one major factor - ** Basic Human rights; see above list for explanation and People had a government made for them not by them

The Malla Dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Nepal from the twelfth century to the eighteenth century. Malla kings of Nepal visited Lumbini in the 11th and 12th century. It was during their reign the people living in and around the Kathmandu Valley began to be called as "Newars" (or Nepa:mi in Newari language, meaning the citizens of Nepal). The Mallas were the ruling clan of the Malla Mahajanapada. They later shifted to Kathmandu valley. In Nepal, The first Malla king was Abhaya Malla, the son of Ari Deva.
Malla ruler Ananta Malla (r.1274 - 1310) was succeeded by his son Jayananda Deva (r.1310 - 1320). His son Jayaraja Deva (1317 - 1361) became king in 1347. During his reign Sultan of Bengal, Shams-ud-Din Ilyas Shah invaded Nepal. Jayaraja Deva was succeeded by his son Jayarjuna Malla (r. 1361 - 1382). Jayarjuna was overthrown by Jayasthiti Malla in 1382. Jayashtiti Malla (r.1382- 1395) was the most capable ruler of this dynasty who curbed the powers of the feudal chiefs. He is known for structuring of Newar society by implementing the caste system and fixing the status of the different castes. However, some historians and scholars consider this caste system to be the worse aspect of the Malla dynasty as the whole world sees this today as a social taboo. Lower castes like Chame, khadgi were treated as untouchable and totally outcasted from the society. Manandhar, Maharjan (middle caste) were considered lower than the those rulers but a slightly higher than the Chame and Khadgi.There always arose marriage conflicts among the working groups. The Malla rulers and the Shrestha (Administrators) have proven themselves hungry for power and creating a check and balance strategy among the working class. Even to this date, much changes are not seen in this social taboo issue and there has been reported issues of deriding the working class on the basis of their traditional profession and caste. It won't be untrue to say that the whole credit of forming and maintaining the world class Newar culture and tradition goes to the middle caste and lower caste of Newars than the greedy higher caste rulers who used to be considered as deities. He took the titles Dayitanarayana and Asuranarayana. He had three sons who ruled conjointly after their father's death but later his youngest son Jayajyotir Malla became the sole ruler (r.1395 - 1428).
Jayajyotir Malla was succeeded by his son Jayayakshya Malla or Yakshya Malla (r.1428 - 1482). He was the last Malla king of united Nepal, who divided his kingdom amongst his sons. Most noted Malla kings were:
Pratap Malla of Kantipur
Siddhi Narasimha Malla of Lalitpur
Bhupatindra Malla of Bhaktapur
The Malla dynasty rulers ruled the Kathmandu valley till Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the valley from them in 1768-69 CE. The last Malla kings were Jayaprakash Malla of Kantipur, Tejnarsingh Malla of Lalitpur and Ranajit Malla of Bhaktapur.

Nepal is situated between China to the North and India to the south, east, and west. The population is 30 million people. There’s just one airport in Nepal, the Tribhuvan International Airport. The Nepalese Currency is the Rupee. Kathmandu is the capital and is the largest metro city in Nepal.The Mountains in Nepal are some of the highest mountains in the world, some include, Everest, Annapurna, and Lantang, and Kathmandu. They are part of the Himalayan peaks. The mountains also offer some of the world’s greatest white river rafting. The powerful rivers come from the Himalaya’s, down the middle and finally empty out into the steamy flat-lands of the Terai in the south. At the lowest elevations there is nice warm tropical weather. Here is where there are exotic animals and birds to see.Tourists can enjoy temples and monasteries, there are also many bazaars and festivals. The main religion and culture of the Nepalese people is Buddhism and Hinduism. People come from around the world to explore the hundreds of ancient temples and monasteries. These two different religions live in harmony amongst one another. They are peaceful people.Many people visit Nepal for a spiritual awakening. Nepal has many festivities and holidays that give you a deep spiritual experience. Nepal is home to the largest Shiva temple in the world. Buddhists and Hindus worship there. But the main religion of Nepal is Hinduism, and the festivals celebrated are Hindu.Nepal is one of the few places in the world where it’s not commercialized. The traditional Nepalese cuisine has spicy curries and vegetarian dishes. Folklore is very important to the Nepalese society. They enact these traditional stories by dancing and with music. The stories help preserve their history and also relate to their day-to-day life, love, affection and battles.Visiting Nepal is such an enriching experience. The scenery and local people will definitely live with you long after you’ve left.