There are different histories relating back to the formation of Nepal. Standing between China, India, and Tibet many of the people might wonder how Nepal came into being. Since the people of Nepal have different caste and religion they have their own point of perception towards the origin of Nepal valley. Most of them however explain Kathmandu valley as the center of Nepal.
According to Gopalraj Bansawali (One of the most important and popular chronicles in Nepalese history), in the beginning, Kathmandu was a big lake called Nagdaha. Lord Krishna drained the water from the valley by cutting the hill at Chobhar with his Sudarshan Chakra or wheel. He then nominated Bhuktamana the King of the valley. Since the people who came with Lord Krishna were cowherds their dynasty was called Gopal Dynasty.
The ancient history before Lichchavikal is not clear due to lack of reliable sources. The history of this era can be studied only on the basis of genealogies and Puranas. Many interesting stories related to the origin of Nepal Valley have been described in those books. According to such sources, in ancient times Kathmandu valley was covered with dense forest and there was a huge lake in the middle of it. It was called Nagadah because the lake was inhabited by Nagas. Various ascetics like Vipaswi Buddha, Shikhi Buddha, Vishwabhu Buddha, Manjushri Bodhisattva, Krakuchchanda Buddha used to come here from time to time.
Vipashwa Buddha
According to genealogical and mythological sources, the first Mahatma to come to Nepal Valley was Vipashwa Buddha. It is believed that he came to his permanent residence in Bandhumati Nagar during Satya Yuga. Coming here, he settled on the Nagarjuna mountain and after some time planted a lotus seed in the center of Nagadah on the day of Chaitra Shukla Purnima. Even today, a fair is held on the Nagarjuna mountain on the day of Chaitra Shukla Purnima and it is believed that this fair is held in memory of Vipashwa Buddha.
Sikhi Buddha
Six months later, on the day of Ashwin Shukla Purnima, a supernatural flower emerged from the seed planted by Vipashvi Buddha, and Jyotirmaya Bhagavan Swayambhu appeared in the middle of that flower. Thus, after hearing the news of Swayambhu Lord’s arrival in Matryaloka, the Sikh Buddha of Arunpur came here and worshiped Swayambhu and after some time went to join God himself. The mountain where he came and stayed is called Dhyanochva mountain. It is customary to consider the fair held there every 1st of January as a fair held in memory of Sikhi Buddha.
Vishwambhu Buddha
He came here in Treta Yuga. He came to Nepal Valley and chose a mountain with many flowers and built his hermitage. The hill where he lived became famous by the name Phulloch. He was the one who first informed his disciples about the way of water going out of the valley.
Manjushri BodhisattvaA few years after the return of Vishwambhu Buddha, Manjushri Bodhisattva arrived here from China in the Treta Yuga. The genealogies describe many things about this Manjushri Bodhisattva. He came here and after having the darshan of Swayambhu thought of sending out the water of the valley.
After studying the entire geography of the lake, he made a road to the water of the valley at a place called Katuwal. And built a huge city from Swayambhu to Guhyeshwari. Then he made a person named Dharmakar the first king of Nepal. After Manjushree returned, his disciples named this city Manjupattan. In the name of Manjushree, Chaitya Mela is held in Swayambhu today on the day of Sri Panchami.
Krakuchanda Buddha
After the return of Manjushree Bodhisattva, Krakuchhand Buddha came here to visit Swayambhu Jyoti. When he came here, seeing the lack of water in Kathmandu, he prayed to Guhyeshwari. It is mentioned by the Vashanvalis that Guhyeshwari gave birth to Bagmati from Shivpuri after hearing that prayer. It is also mentioned in the genealogy that this Buddha made Dharmapala the king of Nepal after him because he was childless.
After King Dharmapala, his descendant Sudhanva ruled the Nepal Valley until the end of the Treta Yuga. He was killed by Kushadhwaja, Janak’s brother, when he was going to Janakpur on Sita’s Swayamvara. After that, Nepal remained under the control of Mithila for some time.
At the end of the Dwapara Yuga, when King Prachandadev of the Gaud country came to Nepal to visit Swayambhu and Guhyeshwari. As there were five villages named Vasupur, Agnipur, Vayupur, Nagpur and Shantipur near Swayambhu. It is mentioned in the genealogy of the story that he covered the Swayambhu Jyoti with a stone. And built a chaitya on it in the belief that the people of the Kaliyuga will not be able to see the Swayambhu Jyoti.
As the throne of the valley was vacant at that time, Shaktidev, the son of Prachandadev, established his control here. In the genealogies, it is mentioned that Gunakamadeva, Shaktidev and Sinhala etc. held the throne here after him.
Moreover:
In another context, Nepal was not divided at first. As a medieval period, it was divided into many different cities and was like that of the states. After the death of Narabhupal Shah, in 1743 AD (1799 BS) the brave Prithvi Narayan Shah becomes the king of Gorkha Kingdom. Then he re-united Nepal into one and thus Nepal was formed. Late king Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered all the Nepali cities and united them to become as one whole nation.
Previously, Nepal consisted of 3 beautiful cities i.e. Kantipur now known as Kathmandu, Bhadgaun now known as Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur. These were the beautiful cities of Nepal and King Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered this city with lots of efforts. Now present Nepal owns him for the unification of Nepal into one whole country. His words of wisdom were “Nepal is a beautiful country made of 4 Barna and 36 jats.”
The period of the unification campaign was at a peak, Bhimsen Thapa as a prime minister of Nepal. During his time the territory of Nepal extend Tista River in the east to Satlaj River in the west. But due to an uneven treaty between the East India Company and Nepal, our territory was limited to Mechi to Mahakali.
During the rules of Junga Bahadur Rana Nepal help the British rule. And Gorkhas were recruited as a soldier in the British India army. Then they return some parts of the Terai region like Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, and Kanchanpur district to Nepal in 1860 AD. After that current Nepal is formed according to the boundary.
