HISTORY OF NEPAL | Page 5

fall on his feet. Then the old man said, "If you had eaten that yogurt you would vave succeede in what you speak of, but since the yogurt fell on your feet, you will conquer the lands that your feet tread upon". Saying so, the old man vanished. It is said that the old man was no other than Gorakhanath himself.

At the age of fourteen, Prithvi Narayan was married with twelve years old Indra Kumari, the daughter of King Hemakarna Sen of Makawanpur. Queen Chandra Prabhavati wanted to have matrimonial relation with Makawanpur with a view to get some help of arms and ammunition from Makawanpur. The marriage ceremony was held in Makawanpur. After the Marriage was solemnised, Prithvi Narayan Shah wanted to take his wife with him, but according to the custom of Makawanpur, she was not to be sent to her husband immediately after the marriage. He came alone to Gorkha. After some time, he went Makawanpur to take his wife. But a dispute arose between Prithvi Narayan Shah and the king of Makawanpur and Prithvi Narayan Shah left again Makawanpur alone. On his way back to Gorkha, he went to see the kingdoms of the valley. He disguised himself as an ordinary man and from the hill of Chandragiri he saw the valley kingdoms, which he wanted to conquer for himself.

On 21st January 1740 A.D., Crown Prince Prithvi Narayan Shah went to Chepe and concluded a treaty with Ripu Mardan Shah, the king of Lamjung. They agreed to maintain cordial relation with each other.

He was very displeased with the king of Makawanpur, and in retaliation, he married Narendra Laxmi, the daughter of Abhiman Singh, a Rajput of Benaras. The marriage ceremony was held at Gorakhpur in February 1740 A.D. Then Queen Chandra Prabhavati sent Prithvi Narayan Shah to Bhaktapur to study the situation of the Kathmandu valley. Prithvi Narayan Shah contracted a friendship with Bir Narasimha Malla, son of Ranjit Malla, and stayed for three months in Bhaktapur. Having acquainted himself with the geographical, political, economic and strategic position of the valley, he went back to Gorkha in 1740 A.D. via Nuwakot. At that time he also maintained a friendly relation with Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu. In the meantime, Narabhupal Shah died and Prithvi Narayan Shah ascended the throne of Gorkha on 3rd April 1743 A.D.

When the king of Makawanpur heard that Prithvi Narayan Shah had ascended the throne of Gorkha, he invited him to visit Makwanpur and take his wife with him. Prithvi Narayan Shah was unwilling to go to Makawanpur to invade the valley. So, he went to Makawanpur. But no good understanding between the two kings could be established. It so happened that the soldiers of Makawanpur saluted Prithvi Narayan Shah without removing their shoes. Prithvi Narayan Shah considered this as an insult. So, in a fit of passion, he beheaded some of them with his sword. At this, there were serious exchanges of hot words between Prithvi Narayan Shah and the Prince of Makawanpur, Digbhandhan Sen. Prithvi Narayan Shah returned to Gorkha empty-handed but with full information about the Malla rulers of Kathmandu valley.

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INVASION OF NUWAKOT

Prithvi Narayan Shah was an ambitious king. He wanted to extend the territory of his kingdom far and wide. He also wanted to conquer the small kingdoms and unite them into a strong nation. His main target was the kingdoms of Kathmandu valley. Before invading the valley, he had to capture Nuwakot, which was the gateway to the valley and main trade passes between Kantipur and Tibet. His father Narabhupal Shah had been unsuccessful in his attempt to conquer the kingdom of Nuwakot.

Then Prithvi Narayan Shah attacked Belkot. Kalu Pandey was not in favour of the hasty action but Prithvi Narayan Shah, who was encouraged by his conquest of Nuwakot, gallantly attacked Belkot. The Gorkha troops suffered a heavy loss in this battle. At last, the Gorkha troops won a victory over Belkot. Jayanta Rana, who was, in the past, the commander of the Gorkha army during the reign of Narabhupal Shah, was the commander of the Malla troops installed at Belkot. It is said that Prithvi Narayan Shah ordered his soldiers to skin the living body of Jayanta Rana. He was said to have treated Jayanta Rana in that manner to show the fate of a betrayer of Gorkha. After the conquest of Nuwakot, Prithvi Narayan Shah began to control all the areas around the valley. He captured Naddum, Mahadev Pokhari, Dahachowk, Ippa, Malta, Siranchowk etc. He planned to impose an economic blockade on the Kathmandu valley.

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VISIT TO BENARAS

The defeat at the invasion of Nuwakot taught Prithvi Narayan Shah a good lesson. He realized that the standard of his army was below what he had estimated. His troops lacked arms and ammunition and sufficient