Kathmandu, officially Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is the capital and most populous city of Nepal with 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households as of the 2021 Nepal census and 2.9 million people in its urban agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.
Maharajadhiraj Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723–1775) was the last ruler of the Gorkha Kingdom and first monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal. Prithvi Narayan Shah started the unification of Nepal.
Lalitpur Metropolitan City is a Metropolitan city and fourth most populous city of Nepal with 299,843 inhabitants living in 49,044 households per 2021 census. It is located in the south-centraL part of Kathmandu Valley, a large valley in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.
The Kathmandu Valley, also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley, National (Federal) Capital city, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayan mountains in Nepal. It lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of the Indian subcontinent and the broader Asian continent, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Buddhists. There are seven World Heritage Sites within the valley.
The unification of Nepal was the process of building the modern Nepalese state, from fractured petty kingdoms including the Baise Rajya and the Chaubisi Rajya, which began in 1743 AD. The prominent figure in the unification campaign was Prithvi Narayan Shah, King of Gorkha. On 25 September 1768, he officially announced the creation of the Kingdom of Nepal and moved his capital from Gorkha to the city of Kathmandu.
Nuwakot District (Nepali: नुवाकोट जिल्ला, a part of Bagmati Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Bidur as its district headquarters, covers an area of 1,121 km2 and had a population of 288,478 in 2001 and 277,471 in 2011. It is a historically important district in Nepal. Prithvi Narayan Shah died in Devighat of Nuwakot.
Nuwakot (नुवाकोट) is one of the district in midwest Nepal. The city is located on the bank of Trishuli and Tandi Rivers. It is Located just 75 km west from Kathmandu, known as historic town which was the capital of the Valley in the days before the unification of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah, and for more than 1,000 years the hilltop had served as a lookout and fort (kot) guarding the western entrance to Kathmandu Valley. Nuwakot served as an important trading hub for the Malla kings of the Valley, and was along a major transit route used for trade between India and Tibet. Making the Nuwakot hill as main forts including other eight forts: Malakot, Simalkot, Bhairabkot, Belkot, Kalikot, Salyankot, Dhuwankot and Pyaskot in its surrounding area, collectively named as 'Nawakotta'.
Basnyat/Basnet family or Basnyat/Basnet dynasty was a Khas-Chhetri and a warlord clan family involved in the politics and administration of the Gorkha Kingdom and Kingdom of Nepal. This family got entry into Thar Ghar aristocracy group of Gorkha at the time of King Prithvi Narayan Shah. It was one of the four noble families to be involved in active politics of Nepal together with Shah dynasty, Pande family and Thapa dynasty before the rise of Rana dynasty. This family is descended from Shivaram Singh Basnyat, the commander of Gorkhali forces and a member of Shreepali Basnyat clan of Gorkha. This family was maritally linked to Kala (Black) Pande section of Pande dynasty through Chitravati Pande who married Kaji Kehar Singh Basnyat. This family was the last Kshatriya (Chhetri) political family to be wiped out from the central power by Jung Bahadur Rana of Kunwar family during the Bhandarkhal Massacre in 1846 for the conspiracy to take the power leading to people suffering from the Rana rule for 104 long years.
The Narayanhiti Palace Museum is a public museum in Kathmandu, Nepal located east of the Kaiser Mahal and next to Thamel. The museum was created in 2008 from the complex of the former Narayanhiti Palace following the 2006 revolution. Before the revolution, the palace was the residence and principal workplace of the monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal, and hosted occasions of state.
The history of the city of Kathmandu, which is inseparable from that of the Kathmandu valley, dates back to ancient times.
Hanuman Dhoka is a complex of structures with the Royal Palace of the Malla kings and also of the Shah dynasty in the Durbar Square of central Kathmandu, Nepal. It is spread over five acres. The Hanuman Dhoka Palace gets its name from the stone image of Hanuman, the Hindu deity, that sits near the main entryway. 'Dhoka' means door or gate in Nepali. The buildings were severely damaged in the 2015 earthquake.
Kathmandu Durbar Square is a historically and culturally significant site in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is one of the three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal that are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The architectural heritage of Kathmandu city is integral to that of the Kathmandu valley since all monuments have evolved over centuries of craftsmanship influenced by Hindu and Buddhist religious practices. The architectural treasure of the Kathmandu valley has been categorized under the well known seven groups of heritage monuments and buildings. In 2006, UNESCO declared these seven groups of monuments as a World Heritage Site (WHS). The seven monuments zones cover an area of 188.95 hectares, with the buffer zone extending to 239.34 hectares. The Seven Monument Zones (Mzs) inscribed originally in 1979 with a minor modification in inscribed year as 2006, are: Five monuments in Kathmandu – Durbar square of Hanuman Dhoka, Hindu temples of Pashupatinath and Changunarayan, the Buddha stupas of Swayambu and Boudhanath; and two monuments outside Kathmandu city limits, in the satellite towns of Patan and Bhktapur – Durbar square at Patan, Durbar square at Bhaktapur. Brief details of the five Kathmandu city monuments are elaborated here.
Bhaktapur Durbar Square is a former royal palace complex located in Bhaktapur, Nepal. It housed the Malla kings of Nepal from 14th to 15th century and the kings of the Kingdom of Bhaktapur from 15th to late 18th century until the kingdom was conquered in 1769. Today, this square is recognised by UNESCO, managed jointly by the Archeological Department of Nepal and Bhaktapur Municipality, and is under heavy restoration due to the damages from the earthquake in 1934 and the recent earthquake of 2015.
Patan Durbar Square(Nepal Bhasa: 𑐫𑐮 𑐮𑐵𑐫𑐎𑐹/यल लायकु, Nepali: पाटन दरवार) is situated at the centre of the city of Lalitpur in Nepal. It is one of the three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of its attractions is the medieval royal palace where the Malla Kings of Lalitpur resided.
Pratap Malla was a Malla king and the eighth King of Kantipur from 1641 until his death in 1674. He attempted to unify Kathmandu Valley by conquering Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, but failed in the effort. He was successful in extending and securing the borders of Kantipur and was responsible for the monopoly over trade with Tibet. The resulting prosperity was responsible for the construction of majority of the buildings around Durbar Square during his reign. His reign is seen as a cultural and economical high point of the Malla dynasty.
The Battle of Lalitpur in 1768 ended with the Gorkha conquest of Lalitpur, one of the three kingdoms in Nepal centered in the Kathmandu Valley, and the loss of the rule of the native Newars.
The Battle of Nuwakot also called Siege of Nuwakot or Invasion of Nuwakot was fought in Nuwakot in 1744. Nuwakot was controlled by the Kingdom of Kantipur and it was an important location as it had a trade route to Tibet. The Gorkha Kingdom previously attacked twice by Nara Bhupal Shah and his son Prithvi Narayan Shah respectively. To prepare for the war Prithvi Narayan Shah visited Varanasi to get war materials, ammunition, acquire weapons, train the soldiers, and Pilgrims. He improved his army personnel and included people from any caste including the blacksmiths, cobblers, sweepers, Damai, and anyone who was bodied and physically fit was able to join the crew.
Bhairabi Temple is a Hindu temple in Bidur Municipality, Nuwakot, Nepal. It is dedicated to goddess Bhairavi, the consort of god Bhairav. It lies about 200m south from the seven storied palace. This temple is also known by the name of Gandaki bhairavi getting its name from the Trishuli Gandaki River.
In the 11th century, a powerful empire of Khas people emerged in western Nepal whose territory at its highest peak included much of western Nepal as well as parts of western Tibet and Uttarakhand of India. By the 14th century, the empire had splintered into loosely associated Baise rajyas, literally 22 states as they were counted. The rich culture and language of the Khas people spread throughout Nepal and as far as Indo-China in the intervening centuries; their language, later renamed the Nepali language, became the lingua franca of Nepal as well as much of North-east India. In south-eastern Nepal, Simraungarh annexed Mithila around 1100 AD, and the unified Tirhut stood as a powerful kingdom for more than 200 years, even ruling over Kathmandu for a time. After another 300 years of Muslim rule, Tirhut came under the control of the Sens of Makawanpur. In the eastern hills, a confederation of Kirat principalities ruled the area between Kathmandu and Bengal.
