Nepal under the Ranas (e-Book)
Nepal under the Ranas (e-Book)
In 1846, a young and ambitious general named Jang Bahadur Rana was appointed Prime Minister of Nepal. He quickly usurped the power and authority of the King and made the prime ministership hereditary within his family. This situation, analogous to that of the Shogun and the Emperor in contemporary Japan, was to last for 104 years until, in 1951, the regime was toppled and the power of the monarchy restored.
This is the story of Nepal during that period: the story of Nepal under the rule of the Rana family.
Nepal is a land of stunning beauty with a mysterious and exotic culture. It is also a land with a fascinating history. Carved out of the Himalayan foothills by the raja of Gorkha in the latter half of the 18th century, the Kingdom of Nepal was closed to foreigners until the 1950s. As a result, although it is famed far and wide for the fighting prowess of its Gurkhas and the mountaineering skills of its Sherpas, its colourful and turbulent history is virtually unknown in the West.