Nepal

Shah dynasty: Glory days to sorry state

Shah dynasty: Glory days to sorry state

By Rishi Singh

1606-33: Ram Shah of Gorkha reigns; conquests begin as Gorkha kings focus on expansion

•1743: Prithvi Narayan Shah ascends to throne

1768: Gorkha’s King Prithvi Narayan Shah conquers Kathmandu and Patan, Bhadgaon; shifts capital to Kathmandu

1775: Prithvi Narayan Shah dies

•Jan 1775 - Nov 1777: Pratap Singh Shah reigns

•Nov 1777 - March 1799: Rana Bahadur Shah reigns

•March 1799 - Nov 1816:Girvan Yudha Bikram Shah reigns

Dec 1815: Anglo-Nepalese War results in Treaty of Sagauli

•Nov 1816 - May 1847:Rajendra Bikram Shah reigns

1843: Collection of law Ain Sangrah published

Sept 1846: Kot Massacre Jang Bahadur Rana takes over as prime minister and establishes hereditary Rana rule; Shah kings reduced to figureheads

•May 1847 - May 1881Surendra Bikram Shah reigns

•May 1881 - Dec 1911: Prithivi Bir Bikram Shah was the king

•Dec 1911 - March 1955:Tribhuvan was the king from

1941: Four martrys executed for conspiring against autocratic Rana regime

1946: Beginning of formation of political parties against the Rana rulers

1948: The country’s first constitution, The Legal Act of Nepal Government, is promulgated

Nov 1950: King Tribhuvan goes to India

1951: Rana regime collapses and democracy dawns in Nepal

1952: Interim Constitution drafted and enforced

1955: King Tribhuvan dies

•March 1955 - Jan 1972: King Mahendra reigns

June 1956: Cabinet was dissolved

Feb 1959: Mahendra enacted and promulgated the constitution of the kingdom of Nepal

Feb 1959: The first General Election was held

Dec 1960: Parliament dissolved

Jan 1961: King Mahendra introduces party-less Panchayat System

Jan 1972: King Mahendra dies

•January 1972 - June 2001: King Birendra reigns

1980: King Announces referendum to choose between Panchyat and multi-party democracy

1981: Referendum held; small majority favours panchayat system; King agrees to allow direct elections to National Panchyat, but on a non-party basis

1985: Nepali Congress begins civil disobedience campaign for restoration of multi-party system

Jan 1990: Pro-democracy agitation co-ordinated by the NC and leftist groups begins; street protests suppressed by security forces resulting in deaths and mass arrests

April 1990: King bows to pressure and agrees to new democratic constitution

Nov 1990 : New democratic constitution promulgated

1991: Nepali Congress wins first democratic elections. Girija Prasad Koirala becomes prime minister.

Feb 1996: CPN-Maoist submitted 40-point demands to then government, launched armed struggle

June 2001: King Birendra killed with his family members in a royal massacre

•June 1, 2001-June 4, 2001: Dipendra declared king while still in coma and Gyanendra declared regent

•June 4, 2001: King Gyanendra ascends to the throne

May 2002: House of Representatives dissolved, elections announced

Oct 2002: King Gyanendra sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba

Nov 2002: King declares a state of emergency

Feb 2005: King assumes executive power of the state in a bloodless coup

April 2006: Protests begin; King relinquished power to the people

May 2006: House of Representatives votes unanimously to curtail the king’s political powers

Nov 2006: Government and Maoists sign a Comprehensive Peace Accord

March 2007: Interim constitution drafted, Interim legislature formed

Dec 2007: Constitution declared Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic to be implemented by the first meeting of the CA

April 10, 2008: CA polls held

May 28: The first meeting of the CA to meet and implement a republican order