When did Nepal exist?

Nepal existed 1768–2008. On this map it is drawn 1775–2024.

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Nepal covered about 228,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

South Asia · Company and Raj

Nepal

Hindu monarchy (the "Gorkha Empire") · 1768–2008

Prithvi Narayan Shah, ninth Shah ruler of the hill principality of Gorkha (founded by Dravya Shah in 1559), began the unification campaign with the Battle of Nuwakot (26 September 1744). After two costly failures, Kirtipur fell in 1767; Kathmandu and Lalitpur were taken in 1768 (Kathmandu on 25 September 1768, conventionally the kingdom's founding date) and Bhaktapur on 14 April 1769, extinguishing the Malla kingdoms of the valley.

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Type: Hindu monarchy (the "Gorkha Empire")
Existed: 1768–2008
Shown on the map: 1775–2024
Peak area: at peak ("Greater Nepal", c. 1805–1815) roughly 228,000 km² from the Sutlej to the Tista across the Himalayan arc, reduced after 1816 to about 147,516 km².
Region: South Asia

Origins and founding

Capitals and territory

Kathmandu became the permanent capital. Expansion continued under Prithvi Narayan's successors: the Kirata east (1772, by Ram Krishna Kunwar), the Chaubisi and Baisi states, Kumaon and Garhwal (1804), reaching the Sutlej by 1809 — the extent remembered as Greater Nepal.

Major rulers and key events

Prithvi Narayan Shah (1768–1775) was followed by Pratap Singh Shah and the infant Rana Bahadur Shah, amid savage court conspiracies (executions of Sarbajit Rana Magar, Vamsharaj Pande, Swarup Singh Karki). Regent Bahadur Shah's invasion of Tibet and sack of Tashilhunpo monastery (1791–1792) provoked the Sino-Nepalese War and Qing intervention under Fuk'anggan, checked at Nuwakot. Bhimsen Thapa, de facto ruler 1806–1837, fought and lost the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816); the Treaty of Sugauli ceded about a third of the territory — Kumaon, Garhwal, the western Terai and Sikkim claims — to the East India Company in exchange for internal autonomy. The Kot massacre (1846) brought Jang Bahadur Rana to power, founding the hereditary Rana premiership (1846–1951) that reduced the Shahs to figureheads.

Government, economy and culture

An absolute Hindu monarchy ruling through kazis and bhardars drawn from the Chhetri, Magar, Pande, Basnyat and Thapa nobilities; the famous Gorkhali army, whose khukuri-armed soldiers the British later recruited as Gurkhas from 1816, was the kingdom's backbone. Nepali (Khas kura) gradually displaced Newar as the language of administration.

Decline and end

Rana autocracy ended in the 1951 revolution; the Panchayat era (1960–1990), the 1990 and 2006 movements, the Maoist civil war (1996–2006) and the 2001 royal massacre destabilised the crown, and the Constituent Assembly abolished the monarchy on 28 May 2008.

Legacy and significance

Nepal is unique in South Asia as a state never formally colonised; its unification created the modern Nepali nation, while Sugauli's lost lands seeded the enduring "Greater Nepal" idea and the Gurkha martial tradition remains globally renowned.

Common questions

What was Nepal?: Prithvi Narayan Shah, ninth Shah ruler of the hill principality of Gorkha (founded by Dravya Shah in 1559), began the unification campaign with the Battle of Nuwakot (26 September 1744). After two costly failures, Kirtipur fell in 1767; Kathmandu and Lalitpur were taken in 1768 (Kathmandu on 25 September 1768, conventionally the kingdom's founding date) and Bhaktapur on 14 April 1769, extinguishing the Malla kingdoms of the valley.
When did Nepal exist?: Nepal existed 1768–2008. On this map it is drawn 1775–2024.
How large was Nepal?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Nepal covered about 228,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Where was Nepal?: Kathmandu became the permanent capital. Expansion continued under Prithvi Narayan's successors: the Kirata east (1772, by Ram Krishna Kunwar), the Chaubisi and Baisi states, Kumaon and Garhwal (1804), reaching the Sutlej by 1809 — the extent remembered as Greater Nepal.
Who ruled Nepal?: Prithvi Narayan Shah (1768–1775) was followed by Pratap Singh Shah and the infant Rana Bahadur Shah, amid savage court conspiracies (executions of Sarbajit Rana Magar, Vamsharaj Pande, Swarup Singh Karki). Regent Bahadur Shah's invasion of Tibet and sack of Tashilhunpo monastery (1791–1792) provoked the Sino-Nepalese War and Qing intervention under Fuk'anggan, checked at Nuwakot.
What is the present status of Nepal?: Rana autocracy ended in the 1951 revolution; the Panchayat era (1960–1990), the 1990 and 2006 movements, the Maoist civil war (1996–2006) and the 2001 royal massacre destabilised the crown, and the Constituent Assembly abolished the monarchy on 28 May 2008.
How was Nepal governed?: An absolute Hindu monarchy ruling through kazis and bhardars drawn from the Chhetri, Magar, Pande, Basnyat and Thapa nobilities; the famous Gorkhali army, whose khukuri-armed soldiers the British later recruited as Gurkhas from 1816, was the kingdom's backbone.
Why does Nepal still matter?: Nepal is unique in South Asia as a state never formally colonised; its unification created the modern Nepali nation, while Sugauli's lost lands seeded the enduring "Greater Nepal" idea and the Gurkha martial tradition remains globally renowned.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Kingdom of Nepal en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Nepal

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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