Page 62 - Bhutan: Hidden Kingdom of the Himalayas

• Location: Nepal is bordered by China and India.

• Geography: Nepal is typically thought of as mountainous. But it is actually home to
widely diverse landscapes and ecosystems. There are three geographic areas or belts
running from west to east: mountain, hill, and plains.

• Population: 31,551,305

• Religions: Hindu 81.3%, Buddhist 9%, Muslim 4.4%, Kirant 3.1%, Christian 1.4%, other
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• Time Zone: Nepal is on Standard Time, 9.75 hours ahead of U.S. EST. When it is 6am in
Washington D.C., it is 3:45pm in Kathmandu.

National Holidays: Nepal

Nepal celebrates a number of national .ZY^_T_`L_TZY /Ld ?Z ʭYO Z`_ TQ dZ` bTWW MP
holidays that follow a lunar calendar, traveling during these holidays, please visit
such as Martyr’s Memorial Day, National www.timeanddate.com/holidays.
Democracy Day, Nepali New Year, and

Historical Overview of Nepal
Pre-20th-Century History

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farmers with a fondness for knives, they arrived in the seventh or eighth century BC from the
east. Their beliefs were a combination of Hindu and Tantric. Soon, Buddhism was introduced
to the region and it enjoyed a long history here. But the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the
historical Buddha and the prince of the kingdom of Kapilavastu, lost favor by 200 AD when the
Licchavis of northern India overthrew the Kirati king and re-instated Hinduism and its caste
system. With this conquest, a golden age of Nepali art and architecture began.

The Licchavi era ended by 879 AD when the Thakuri dynasty came to power. But their rule
was marked by instability and invasion. The Kathmandu Valley’s strategic location, however,
ensured the kingdom’s survival. Several hundred years passed before the Thakuri king,
Arideva, founded the Malla Dynasty, which heralded another creative burst of Nepali cultural
expression.

Earthquakes, invasions and feuding between Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur couldn’t
thwart the dynasty’s growth and it reached its peak in the 15th century under Yaksha Malla.
Malla’s prosperity was being watched by the Gurkhas in the nearby western city-state of
Gorkha. Their leader Prithvi Narayan Shah led his people to conquer the Kathmandu Valley,
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capital to Kathmandu. For the next 24 years, the Gurkhas expanded their power with an army
that seemingly could not be conquered. Their campaign ended quickly in 1792 when faced
with Tibet’s troops. (Many militaries today employ descendants of the Gurkhas, including the
British Army.)

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