"When one of my friends asked me if I was lying for not having an Independence Day, that was when I knew I needed to start being proud of my country and our history."
Born as a Gen Z, for most of my life, patriotism felt like the last thing I needed to comply with. I grew up in a generation where politicians were taken as “scoundrels” and people protesting against the government were often taken as "protagonists" of our national story. A proper sight of development was rare, and chaos felt normal. All of this made me feel like my nation was flawed. Like every other Nepali, I often claimed to be proud of being from Nepal since it’s “the country with Mount Everest and the birthplace of Gautam Buddha”. Deep down I knew I was lying to myself. I would like to believe that I wasn't alone in thinking like that.
Nonetheless, I never thought that one little instance would change the way I thought about my country. On the evening of September 19, 2022, Scheel, my friend from Congo, invited me for a short walk around our university. We were joined by Ei from Myanmar and Ramon from Nicaragua. I had just returned after attending the Nepali Constitution Day celebration in the Embassy of Nepal, Beijing.
As we were walking, Scheel turned to me to ask, "How was the celebration for your Independence Day?"
"It was the Constitution Day celebration. It's our Constitution Day today," I answered.
"Constitution day? But isn't it just like Independence Day," he questioned again.
"No. Our constitution was written on this day in 2015. That's why we celebrate this day as our constitution day. It is very different from Independence Day. We don’t have an Independence Day," I answered back to him.
"Why? Why don't you have an Independence Day?" Scheel asked with genuine inquisitiveness in his voice.
This question sounded strangely funny to me, I laughed as I answered, “From what I know, most countries have an Independence Day to mark and remember the point in history when they got rid of their colonizers. Nepal was never colonized. Thus, we don't have an Independence Day.”
My answer confused everyone in the group, and I was quick to notice a strange reaction on their faces. But for some time I couldn't figure out why they were all confused.
I turned to Ei and asked, "Was Myanmar colonized?"
"Yes, by the British," she replied.
"What about Nicaragua?" I questioned Ramon.
"Yes. We were colonized by Spain," he answered.
The next day I met my new friend Kwame through Ei. I brought up the same topic and asked him if his country had been colonized. He, too, had the same answer as everyone else. He questioned me back, and I told him that Nepal had never been colonized.
"You must be lying,” he said.
"Why would I lie to you?" I replied.
"Then maybe Nepal is so small that the colonizers didn't even notice it," he said jokingly.
He wasn't wrong. Nepal, indeed, is a small country, in terms of area, resources and influence. From that day onwards, my curiosity about this topic burgeoned unstoppably, so much so that every new friend I met, I would ask them about their respective country and if their country was ever colonized in the past. Everyone would have the same answer. The more I talked to people, the more I wanted to know, how Nepal, despite being a reasonably small country in numerous aspects, managed to save its sovereignty even when almost every other country in the world was colonized.
Gorkhali Army launching an attack against the troops led by Mir Qasim in Makwanpur. (Photo: Nepali Army museum)
On my quest to search about this, I found some interesting reasons that explained how Nepal remained a sovereign nation despite facing multiple threats repeatedly throughout its history. The sovereignty of Nepal relied on the proper balance between three key factors: our unique geography, resilient military forces and crafty diplomacy. According to Dr. Prem Singh Basnyat, retired Brigadier General of Nepalese Army, these three aspects allowed Nepal to defend its sovereignty.
"When we look back at Nepal's history we can see that there were multiple instances where our sovereignty was in danger. But our complex geography, bravery of our military forces and our smart diplomacy had key roles to play for our defense," said Basnyat who is also an avid writer on national security, diplomatic and military history.
Every military action is supported by aspects of land, weapons, and military troops. From the very beginning, Nepal's geography was a supporting factor for its military defensive. The northern frontier, connected to Tibet, is covered with snowcapped mountains along with their harsh climate conditions. The southern frontier on the other hand has dense "Chaar Koshe Jhaadi" where the spread of malaria was rampant, killing a lot of people.
Secondly, the presence of China as our northern neighbor has also played a huge role in protecting Nepal's sovereignty. In the 1800s, before the opium war, China took a leading role in East Asia. However, despite having intense potential in terms of annexation, China's interests in Nepal were limited only within commercial tenacities.
"Keeping Tibet as an exception, China never crossed its borders to attack or annex any other territory unless it felt threatened," said Basnyat.
Nepal and Tibet fought three wars in total: 1788-89, 1791-92 and 1855-56AD. Nepal won in the first and the third Nepal-Tibet war but was defeated in the second Nepal-Tibet war as the Chinese army had joined to help the Tibetan army. The Chinese returned following a treaty between the Chinese soldiers and Nepali soldiers in Betrawati, Nuwakot. Despite being defeated, Nepal did not become a colony. However, the common thing between all the three wars with Tibet was that Nepal was the initial aggressor. The fact that China's attacks were always based on self-defensive grounds offered Nepal a safe shoulder in the northern frontier.
However, the threats from southern neighbors were frequent from the very beginning. "Military history of Nepal" published in 1992 by the Headquarters of the Nepal Army mentions that in the 13th century, long before King Prithivi Narayan Shah's unification campaign, the Muslim rulers of New Delhi, Gayasuddin Tughlaq and Samsuddin Tughlaq, invaded Kathmandu. But, fortuitously these attacks were carried out only with the intentions to loot economically prosperous Kathmandu. They burgled Kathmandu and returned. Nepal (then Kathmandu) did not face major damage to its sovereignty.
We can also see that before the British colonized India, Portuguese and French had already colonized some parts of India. Nepal could've faced the same fate, but it did not happen because of increasing rivalry between the European powers in the Indian subcontinent. "The Portuguese and French had already captured some parts of India. The arrival of British forces in India added another player to the game. This created rivalry between European powers within India and they were busy contending with each other," said Basnyat. "At the same time Prithivi Narayan Shah, the king of Gorkha state was growing stronger, solidifying the unification campaign of Nepal," he added.
In January 1763 when Prithivi Narayan Shah had just conquered Makwanpur and his unification campaign was at peak,—Mughal troops sent by Mir Qasim the Nawab of Bengal, led by Gurgin Khan attacked Nepal. Named as the First Nepal-British War, it is considered as the first foreign attack in the history of Nepal. However, despite the support of the British, Nepal strongly defeated the Mughal troops. After winning this battle, Nepal received a large number of guns and weapons from the enemy side. Earlier, the Nepalese had no guns or extravagant weapons.
Prithivi Narayan Shah's continuous expansion campaign had already dilated through the outskirts of Kathmandu valley. The three kingdoms within the valley were already surrounded by Gorkha troops. This created anxiety for the then king of Kantipur, Jay Prakash Malla, who ultimately requested to the Patna office of British East India Company for military assistance in order to defend themselves from the Gorkha Army. The British undeniably agreed to provide assistance; it was a golden opportunity for them to have a hold on Kantipur. If they had won the war, Nepal would have been the shortest route to reach Lhasa via Keirung and Kuti valley.
However, their aspirations to capture Tibet remained unachievable as the troops won the war. In August 1967, 2400 British soldiers under the leadership of Captain Kinloch proceeded to capture Kathmandu from Sindhuligadhi, the eastern side of Kathmandu. But despite being inferior in every way, the Gorkha army won over the world renowned British troops who had never lost any war before. "In the quest of saving our motherland, Gorkhali troops have played an important role in saving Tibet and China from the English troops," said Basnyat.
This created a huge fuss about the Gorkhali among the European circle. The vanity of the title "Gorkha army” came to surface from that moment. Prior to that, the British and Gorkha Army never tried to confront each other. "On one hand Nepali soldiers knew that the British were powerful so they never did anything to provoke any war with them. And on the other hand, the British had also seen the strength of the Gorkha army in the Battle of Sindhuli and avoided any form of war," said Basnyat.
"The two military wars won by the Gorkhali Army against the troop led by Mir Qasim in Makwanpur and the one led by Captain Kinloch in Sindhuligadhi were decisive to safeguard the independence of Nepal. Had Nepal lost one of the two historic wars, it would not have remained intact from being colonized," added Basnyat
Gorkhali Army fearlessly attacking the British forces led by captain Kinloch in Sindhuligadhi. (Photo: Nepali Army museum)
However, as Nepal and the British forces of East India Company were expanding their borders they confronted each other again. Between 1814 and 1816 there was another war between the Nepal and British army. This war, popularly known as Anglo-Nepal war, took place in the areas that Nepal had claimed during its expansion campaign. Nepal was defeated in this war and had to lose its territory, most of which it had annexed recently. The war came to an end following a treaty between both the parties in Sugauli. The current map of Nepal was sketched after that treaty. Despite losing the territories it had won earlier, Nepal was not colonized.
After the Anglo-Nepal war, Nepal tried to contain its enemy through diplomatic measures. "During that time maintaining Diplomatic relations meant balancing Military assistance," said Basnyat. We were bound to send Nepali Youths in the British Army following the Treaty of Sugauli. Nepal even helped British soldiers during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After the British Empire requested Nepal for help, the then Prime Minister and Commander–in–Chief Jung Bahadur Rana himself took part in the suppression of the rebellion with Col. Pahal Man Singh Basnyat and Col.
Bhairab Narsingh Rana with more than 15,000 Nepalese troops. Nepal played its diplomatic card by always catering to the interest of the British Army and sending Nepali troops whenever it demanded. Nepal also sent Nepali troops during the first and second World Wars to back the British Army and continued to offer its support in every way, thus preventing itself from being colonized.
In a hypothetical world, if Nepal had been colonized, what would it look like?
It is obvious that Nepal would have been a part of India. That would be a great loss for the identity of Nepal and the enthralling history it holds. However, we can't deny that Nepal would have received plenty of resources for infrastructure and development a long time ago. Places like Sikkim and Darjeeling are developed because all the aspects of development like factories, expensive machines, military institutions, schools, train lines, etc. were brought by the British occupiers. But, does it have more value than our sovereignty?
"Never," said Basnyat. "National sovereignty always weighs more than any other wealth. Losing sovereignty is like glamming a dead skeleton. You can put a number of jewelry and ornaments on it to make it look better, but it won't have the same value as a body that's still alive."
My roommate Panny and I often like to talk about our countries. She's from Burundi, which was colonized by Belgium and eventually claimed its independence in 1962. Panny loves talking about her country and how Independence Day is the most important celebration in Burundi. She often mentions how growing up her grandparents would tell her stories about the colonial area in Burundi. "The colonizers were cruel and treated us like servants in our own land," she remembers her grandma's words. "Imagine your identity being taken away. That is what the colonizers did to us. You can't think of that pain, Aditi. You should be proud that your country did not have to be in the clutches of colonizers," she said.
While it may not look like a big matter since Nepal isn’t the only country to have never been colonized, I can't deny that this little thing has definitely taught me to be a little more proud of my country and its history.
(Baral is pursuing her Bachelor’s degree at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing)
