Prithvi Narayan Shah

The Story

Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king of the small hill principality of Gorkha, is widely regarded as the founding monarch of modern Nepal. Born in 1723 into the Shah dynasty, he inherited not only a throne but also an unfinished strategic vision: to transform a vulnerable, fragmented landscape of dozens of petty kingdoms into a unified and resilient Himalayan state. At a time when the Kathmandu Valley’s Newar kingdoms, the Sen principalities in the east, and the Baise–Chaubise states in the west were competing for trade and influence, he recognized that disunity left the region exposed to rising imperial powers on all sides. His response was not defensive hesitation but an ambitious, long‑term campaign of suggestion and unification that changed the course of Nepal’s history. Ascending the throne of Gorkha in the mid‑18th century while still a young ruler, Prithvi Narayan Shah quickly reorganized his court, army, and revenue system to sustain continuous military operations. He invested in strengthening the Gorkhali army, improving discipline, logistics, and the construction of hill forts that would give his forces positional advantage over rival states. Understanding that open confrontation with all neighbours at once would be disastrous, he moved methodically: securing Nuwakot, a strategic gateway to the Kathmandu Valley and a critical node on the trans‑Himalayan trade route, then expanding his sphere of influence step by step. The unification campaign was long and strategically sophisticated. Prithvi Narayan Shah combined siege warfare, surprise attacks, blockades, and diplomacy to wear down stronger and wealthier opponents. In 1768–69, his forces captured Kathmandu, Patan (Lalitpur), and Bhaktapur, overthrowing the Malla kings who had dominated the Valley’s politics and culture for centuries. With the Valley under Gorkha control, he shifted his capital to Kathmandu and proclaimed a unified Kingdom of Nepal, consolidating authority over key trade routes between Tibet and the Indian plains. Yet Prithvi Narayan Shah was not only a military strategist; he was also a political thinker whose ideas are preserved in the work known as the Divya Upadesh (Divine Counsel). In these instructions to his successors, he described Nepal as a garden of many castes and ethnic groups ('Char Varna Chaurashee Jaat'), emphasizing that the strength of the state depended on maintaining harmony among its diverse inhabitants. He famously likened Nepal’s geopolitical position to a 'yam between two boulders,' warning that the country must carefully manage relations with the expansive powers to the north and south. His counsel stressed frugality, justice, and the need for rulers to guard against internal corruption and foreign interference. Prithvi Narayan Shah died in 1775, but the processes he initiated continued under his successors. Over time, his image evolved into that of a foundational national figure—commonly described as the 'father of modern Nepal'. While modern historians debate aspects of his legacy, there is broad agreement that without his vision and persistence, a unified Nepali state might not have emerged when it did. His life marks the transition from a patchwork of principalities to a single political entity.