Wednesday we very briefly discussed the relationship between India and Nepal.  Being the countries are neighbors, some of you have wondered how old Nepal is, as an “official” country; i.e., an internationally recognized independent political entity.  The answer is: Not very.  Yes, we have evidence of human occupation in the Himalayan region that dates back to the Neolithic (New Stone Age), but we also know that political entities and boundaries—when they exist—shift through time.  And, we know that humans can be a very migratory species.  (Consider the fact that we humans emerged in Africa some 200,000 years ago, and have since populated every inhabitable continent on Earth.) The problem with answering the question proposed in the above paragraph is that it can have many answers, depending on how short-sighted or well-versed the respondent.  I prefer to address such questions from a chronological perspective.  Condensing several millennia into a few paragraphs, civilization in South Asia (the culture area that includes today’s India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal—with many political scientists now including Afghanistan) emerged in the Indus River Valley of what today is Pakistan and India—as at least several of you who took another class from me are aware.  That civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization, or Harappan Civilization, dates back as early as 3300 BCE, but was in its short-lived prime from just around 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. In brief, as best we know, when the Harappan Civilization finally collapsed, around 1300 BCE, deurbanization (flight from the cities) was in full swing.  Many migrants from there traveled east into the heart of the Indian Subcontinent, and beyond.  Regional kingdoms soon sprouted up all over this region, and in one form or another persisted under various rulers into the British East India period which began in the mid-late 1700s.  By the 1820s, colonial Britain had control of the entire Indian Empire (as it was then known), which included numerous states, many of them now independent countries—including Nepal. By the mid-18th century, the region known as Nepal consisted of three kingdoms.  In 1768—just eight years before the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain—Nepal became united into a single kingdom.  In 1923 Britain granted Nepal its independence from the Indian Empire (retaining some territory that Nepal ceded to the British Empire, and which is now part of India).  Nepal effectively remained a monarchy until late 2007, but the King did not abdicate until mid-2008.  (All of this is a story in itself.) Thus, while South Asia—including what is now Nepal—has been populated by Homo sapiens for some 30,000 years, and has witnessed numerous monarchies and dynasties since around 800 BCE, it has only been a “country” since 1768, shortly after which it became a state in the Indian Empire until 1923.  Not until 2007 did it become a republic.  The bottom line to what I said in cla.

1. Wednesday we very briefly discussed the relationship between
India and Nepal. Being the countries are neighbors, some of
you have wondered how old Nepal is, as an “official” country;
i.e., an internationally recognized independent political entity.
The answer is: Not very. Yes, we have evidence of human
occupation in the Himalayan region that dates back to the
Neolithic (New Stone Age), but we also know that political
entities and boundaries—when they exist—shift through time.
And, we know that humans can be a very migratory species.
(Consider the fact that we humans emerged in Africa some
200,000 years ago, and have since populated every inhabitable
continent on Earth.)
The problem with answering the question proposed in the above
paragraph is that it can have many answers, depending on how
short-sighted or well-versed the respondent. I prefer to address
such questions from a chronological perspective. Condensing
several millennia into a few paragraphs, civilization in South
Asia (the culture area that includes today’s India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal—with many political
scientists now including Afghanistan) emerged in the Indus
River Valley of what today is Pakistan and India—as at least
several of you who took another class from me are aware. That
civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization, or Harappan
Civilization, dates back as early as 3300 BCE, but was in its
short-lived prime from just around 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE.
In brief, as best we know, when the Harappan Civilization
finally collapsed, around 1300 BCE, deurbanization (flight from
the cities) was in full swing. Many migrants from there
traveled east into the heart of the Indian Subcontinent, and
beyond. Regional kingdoms soon sprouted up all over this
region, and in one form or another persisted under various
rulers into the British East India period which began in the mid-

2. late 1700s. By the 1820s, colonial Britain had control of the
entire Indian Empire (as it was then known), which included
numerous states, many of them now independent countries—
including Nepal.
By the mid-18th century, the region known as Nepal consisted
of three kingdoms. In 1768—just eight years before the U.S.
declared its independence from Great Britain—Nepal became
united into a single kingdom. In 1923 Britain granted Nepal its
independence from the Indian Empire (retaining some territory
that Nepal ceded to the British Empire, and which is now part of
India). Nepal effectively remained a monarchy until late 2007,
but the King did not abdicate until mid-2008. (All of this is a
story in itself.)
Thus, while South Asia—including what is now Nepal—has
been populated by Homo sapiens for some 30,000 years, and has
witnessed numerous monarchies and dynasties since around 800
BCE, it has only been a “country” since 1768, shortly after
which it became a state in the Indian Empire until 1923. Not
until 2007 did it become a republic. The bottom line to what I
said in class, though, is that millions of people who live in
Nepal are identical (genetically speaking) to those who live in
northern India.
identity; not just genetic identity, but personal, religious,
political, occupational, and national identity—among others,
such as caste identity. (The same can be said of western India
and Pakistan.) Identity, as we have seen it apply to Nepal,
becomes a complex phenomenon. Over time, landlocked Nepal
has experienced a major influx of peoples not only from India to
the south, but China (including Tibet) to the north—in spite of
greater geographical barriers on the north, and Burma
(Myanmar) to the east. With such a mix of peoples and their
various ideologies and ethnic identities, Nepal’s history has
been one of civil war and strife, right up into the 2000s.