Key Facts
- Duration
- 1768 – 2008 (240 years)
- Founding ruler
- Prithvi Narayan Shah
- Rana hereditary PM rule
- 1843 – 1951 (over a century)
- Anglo-Nepalese War
- 1814 – 1816; ended in Nepal's defeat
- Civil War
- Maoist insurgency, 1996 – 2006
- End of monarchy
- Republic declared 28 May 2008
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
The kingdom was founded when Prithvi Narayan Shah of the Gorkha Kingdom unified rival hill principalities across the Himalayan foothills from 1768 onward. His campaigns consolidated dozens of small states under Shah-dynasty rule. Subsequent expansion brought Nepal into conflict with Tibet and China in 1792, and continued southward pressure eventually brought Nepali forces into direct confrontation with the expanding British East India Company.
Phase II: Zenith
Before the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814–1816, the kingdom reached its greatest territorial extent, sometimes called Greater Nepal, stretching from the Mechi to the Sharda rivers. The Sugauli Treaty curtailed this territory but preserved internal sovereignty. Under the de facto Rana dynasty from 1843, Nepal maintained independence from British India while the hereditary prime ministers dominated administration and foreign relations for over a century.
Phase III: Decline
King Tribhuvan's 1950 exile and return helped dismantle Rana autocracy, opening a turbulent democratic era. Failed constitutional experiments and a Maoist civil war from 1996 further destabilized the state. The 2001 royal massacre brought Gyanendra to the throne; his 2005 direct rule galvanized a unified opposition. The House of Representatives was restored, an interim constitution stripped royal powers, and the Constituent Assembly abolished the monarchy on 28 May 2008.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory