Anglo-Nepalese War
Further west, general Amar Singh Thapa overran lands as far as Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, the strongest fort in the hill region, and laid siege to it.[16] These activities involved carving political and administrative boundaries in Nepal to render the territory “more legible for colonial rule.”[16] These maps were then produced by the Revenue Surveys in the nineteenth century, serving as a strategy for the Company to divide land into non-overlapping, fixed spaces.The acquisition of the Nawab of Awadh's lands by the British East India Company brought the region of Gorakhpur into the close proximity of the raja(king) of Palpa – the last remaining independent town within the Nepalese heartlands.A struggle with the former was unpromising as the British were ignorant of the country or its resources and, despite their technological superiority, it was a received persuasion that the nature of the mountainous tract, which they would have to penetrate, would be as baffling to them as it had been to all the efforts of many successive Mahomedan sovereigns.[11] In the meantime, the British found that the Nepalese were preparing for war; that they had for some time been laying up large stores of saltpetre; purchasing and fabricating arms, and organizing and disciplining their troops under some European deserters in this service, after the model of the companies of East India's sepoy battalions.[25][26] So when Hastings told the directors of the Company about an alternative means of remittance, a rare and precious raw material that could easily and profitably be shipped from India directly to London, they were at once interested.The raw material in question was a superior-quality wool: the exquisitely soft and durable animal down that had been used since time immemorial to make the famous wraps, or shawls, of Kashmir.When the Kathmandu Durbar solicited Nepalese chiefs' opinions about a possible war with the British, Amar Singh Thapa was not alone in his opposition, declaring that – "They will not rest satisfied without establishing their own power and authority, and will unite with the hill rajas, whom we have dispossessed.[28] Prinsep estimates that the revenue of the usurped lands could not have been less than a lakh of rupees a year to the Nepalese, in the manner they collected it: the retention of this income was therefore an object of no small importance to the ambitious views of Bhimsen Thapa and the preservation of the influence he had contrived to establish for his family."[21] Soldiers like Rollo Gillespie saw the Nepalese as a challenge to British supremacy — "Opinion is everything in such a country as India: and whenever the natives shall begin to lose their reverence for the English arms, our superiority in other respects will quickly sink into contempt."I found, however, that what had been provisionally agitated with him was perfectly understood by his successor,[33] so that the latter came forward with a spontaneous offer of a crore of rupees, which I declined as a peishcush or tribute on his accession to the sovereignty of Oude, but accepted as a loan for the Honourable Company.My surprise is not to be expressed, when I was shortly after informed from Calcutta, that it had been deemed expedient to employ fifty four lacs of the sum obtained by me in discharging an eight per cent loan, that the remainder was indispensable for current purposes, and it was hoped I should be able to procure from the Nawab Vizier a further aid for the objects of the war.This took place early in autumn, and operations against Nepaul could not commence till the middle of November, on which account the Council did not apprehend my being subjected to any sudden inconvenience through its disposal of the first sum.He agreed to furnish another crore; so that the Honourable Company was accommodated with above two millions and a half sterling on my simple receipt.In the aftermath of the war, he writes:[31] The richest portion of the territory conquered by us bordered on the dominions the Nawab Vizier.Notwithstanding this general description, spaces comparatively open and hollow, and elevated tracts of tolerably level land, are to be met with, but so completely detached as to contribute but little to facilitate intercourse.The first division, at Dinapur, being the largest, was commanded by Major-General Marley, and was intended to seize the pass at Makwanpur, between Gunduk and Bagmati, the key to Nepal, and to push forward to Kathmandu: thus at once carrying the war into the heart of the enemy's country.[42][44] The fourth, or north-western division, at Ludhiana, was to operate in the hilly country lying near the Sutlej: it assembled under Brigadier-General Ochterlony, and was destined to advance against the strong and extensive cluster of posts held by Amar Singh and the troops under his immediate orders at and surrounding arki, a considerable town of Kahlur, and to cooperate with the forces under Major-General Gillespie, moving downwards among the hills, when these positions should be forced, surrounding Amar Singh, and driving him upon that army.This officer was desired to open a communication with the Raja of Sikkim, and to give him every assistance and encouragement to expel the Gorkhas from the eastern hills, short of an actual advance of troops for the purpose.With the help of an ousted Palpali king, Major General Wood planned to march on Siuraj, Jit Gadhi and Nuwakot with a view to bypass the Butwal defenses, flushing out minor opposition on the axis, and assault Palpa from a less guarded flank.The fort's garrison was commanded by Captain Balbhadra Kunwar, while Major-General Rollo Gillespie, who had previously fought at the Battle of Java, was in charge of the attacking British troops.Gillespie was killed on the first day of the siege while rallying his men and despite considerable odds, both in terms of numbers and firepower, Balbhadra and his 600-strong garrison, which also consisted of brave women who reportedly shielded the bullets and cannonballs with their bodies, successfully held out against more than 5,000 British troops for over a month.Fraser recorded the situation in the following terms:[48] The determined resolution of the small party which held this small post for more than a month, against so comparatively large a force, must surely wring admiration from every voice, especially when the horrors of the latter portion of this time are considered; the dismal spectacle of their slaughtered comrades, the sufferings of their women and children thus immured with themselves, and the hopelessness of relief, which destroyed any other motive for their obstinate defence they made, than that resulting from a high sense of duty, supported by unsubdued courage.This, and a generous spirit of courtesy towards their enemy, certainly marked the character of the garrison of Kalunga, during the period of its siege.Whatever the nature of the Gurkhas may have been found in other quarters, there was here no cruelty to wounded or to prisoners; no poisoned arrows were used; no wells or waters were poisoned; no rancorous spirit of revenge seemed to animate them: they fought us in fair conflict, like men; and, in intervals of actual combat, showed us a liberal courtesy worthy of a more enlightened people.So far from insulting the bodies of the dead and wounded, they permitted them to lie untouched, till carried away; and none were stripped, as is too universally the case.After two costly and unsuccessful attempts to seize the fort by direct attack, the British changed their approach and sought to force the garrison to surrender by cutting off the fort's external water supply.Thus by mid-February, of the four British commanders the Nepalese army had faced till that time, Gillespie was dead, Marley had deserted, Wood was harassed into inactivity, and Martindell was practically incapacitated by over-cautiousness.After a series of carefully planned and executed moves, he succeeded in establishing a position on the crest of Deothal, not even over a thousand yards from Kazi Amar Singh Thapa's main fort at Malaon.Major General David Ochterlony settled down to receive the treaty, signed by Kathmandu Durbar through Chandra Sekhar Upadhyaya, Pandit Gajaraj Mishra and finally though Bhaktawar Singh Thapa.Hastings sent mollifying assurances to the imperial authorities, and ordered the British Resident, newly arrived in Kathmandu, to pack his bags and be ready to leave at once if the Chinese invaded again.This regiment, which later became the 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles, saw action at the Malaun fort under the leadership of Lieutenant Lawtie, who reported to Ochterlony that he "had the greatest reason to be satisfied with their exertions".The prime minister however had been able to retain power by maintaining a large, modernized army and politically dominating the court during the minority of King Rajendra Bikram Shah, (reigned 1816–1847).In 1833, Brian Hodgson became British resident, openly favouring Bhimsen Thapa's opponents, and in 1837 the king announced his intention to rule independently, depriving the prime minister and his nephew of their military powers.
Rollo GillespieBattle of NalapaniKingdom of NepalTreaty of SugauliEast India CompanyEarl of MoiraDavid OchterlonyGirvan Yuddha Bikram ShahBhimsen ThapaAmar Singh ThapaUjir Singh ThapaRanabir Singh ThapaBakhtawar Singh ThapaRanajor Singh ThapaDalbhanjan PandeHistory of NepalTimelineUrheimatBronze AgeIron AgeShakya KingdomNepal in MahabharataParvata kingdomNepa kingdomHimalaya kingdomKirata kingdomKhasas in MahabharataLimbuwan tribal statesVideha kingdomGopala dynastyMahisapala dynastySoma dynastyLicchavi KingdomThakuri dynastyKatyuri kingsKhas Malla KingdomKarnat dynastyMalla DynastyChand kingsKingdom of LoKallala dynastyKingdom of KantipurKingdom of PatanKingdom of BhaktapurTwenty-four kingdomsKingdom of ArghaKingdom of BajhangKingdom of BhirkotKingdom of ButwalKingdom of DhorKingdom of DhurkotKingdom of GalkotKingdom of GhiringKingdom of GarahunKingdom of GorkhaKingdom of GulmiKingdom of IsmaKingdom of KaskiKingdom of KhanchiKingdom of LamjungKingdom of MusikotKingdom of NuwakotKingdom of PaiyunKingdom of PalpaKingdom of ParbatKingdom of PyuthanKingdom of RishingKingdom of SatahunKingdom of TanahunTwenty-two kingdomsKingdom of JumlaShah dynastyUnification of NepalBattle of NuwakotBattle of MakwanpurBattle of KirtipurBattle of SindhuliBattle of KathmanduBattle of LalitpurBattle of BhaktapurDeclaration of Kingdom of NepalFirst Campaign Against TibetansSecond Campaign Against GurkhasThird Nepal-Tibet WarPande dynastyThapa dynastyBattle of Khurbura1806 Bhandarkhal massacreGurkha–Sikh WarBattle of JaithakBrigade of GurkhasRana dynastyKot massacre1846 Bhandarkhal massacreBattle of AlauBiratnagar Jute Mill StrikeJayatu Sanskritam1951 Nepalese revolutionDelhi AccordPanchayatBack to the Village National Campaign1990 Nepalese revolutionNepalese Civil WarNepalese royal massacreBattle of Bhalubang2004 Beni attackSecond Battle of Khara2006 Nepalese revolutionComprehensive Peace Accord1st Nepalese Constituent AssemblyNepal humanitarian crisisApril 2015 Nepal earthquakeMay 2015 Nepal earthquake2015 Nepal blockade2015 Mount Everest avalanchesConstitution of NepalGorkhali armyIndian subcontinentfamily of Amar Singh Thapathe GorkhasKathmandu ValleySino-Nepalese WarShah eraGorkhaPrithvi Narayan ShahKathmandu