History of Nepal

The recorded history of Nepal begins when the kiratis from the eastern part of the country started to rule the country. The first known rulers of Kathmandu valley were kiratis. Yalambar, was their first king, he is also mentioned in Hindu epic the Mahabharata. It was during the kirati period Buddhism first arrived in the country, krakuchhanda Buddha, kanak muni Buddha and kashyapa Buddha visited the Kathmandu valley to worship Swoyambhunath which is also called monkey temple and is one of the place that has been enlisted in world cultural heritages which is visited by many tourists every year.

After kiratis, the lichhavis came up as the second dynasty to rule the country from the 4th to 7th century. The temple of Changu Narayan was built in licchavi period, which has been preserved till date and can be visited.

Licchavis were followed by the Malla dynasty. The Malla period was golden period of Kathmandu valley when a large number of art, statues and temples were built. From the 14th century Malla ruled this valley for total period of 568 years. During that period the country was divided into small principalities and kingdoms of 24 groups in western and 22 groups in far western region. The Kathmandu valley was divided into three states of kantipur, Lalitpur & Bhaktapur.

From the tiny kingdom of gorkha, halfway between Kathmandu and pokhara the king of shah Dynasty gradually strengthened and extended their power. In 1768 king Prithvi Narayan shah defected the Malla kings and Nepal was ruled by shah kings until it was declared as republic. King Gyanendra Bir Bikram shah dev was the twelfth and last king in the shah dynasty. Through the people�s revolution, Nepal has become the federal democratic republic nation. Dr Ram baran yadav and pushpa kamal Dhal (parchanda) are first head of the state and head of the government of the republic Nepal respectively.