Battle of Sindhuli

Battle of Sindhuli
Part of the Unification of Nepal
The ruins of Sindhuli Gadhi
Date 6 November 1767 Location Sindhuli Gadhi, Kingdom of Nepal (present day Sindhuli District, Bagmati Province, Nepal) 27.2806°N 85.95501°E / 27.2806; 85.95501 Result Gorkhali victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Gorkha[1]	East India Company Kingdom of Kantipur
Commanders and leaders
Prithvi Narayan Shah	Jaya Prakash Malla Captain Kinloch
Sindhuli Gadhi class=notpageimage| Location within Bagmati Province Show map of Bagmati Province Sindhuli Gadhi Sindhuli Gadhi (Nepal) Show map of Nepal

The Battle of Sindhuli (Nepali: सिन्धुलीको युद्ध; also known as the Battle of Sindhuli Gadhi) was fought on 6 November 1767 near Sindhuli Gadhi. The battle was part of the unification of Nepal led by Prithvi Narayan Shah, King of Gorkha (later King of Nepal).

Background

Unification campaign

Main article: Unification of Nepal

Before the unification, Nepal was divided into many various petty kingdoms, notability Baise rajyas (22 kingdoms) in the west,^[2] Chaubisi Rajyas (24 kingdoms) in the Gandaki region,^[3] Malla Kingdoms in the Kathmandu Valley,^[2] and other kingdoms to extending to Sikkim.^[4] Gorkha, an Independent kingdom in Gandaki, was founded in 1559 by Dravya Shah, the second son of Yasho Brahma Shah, King of Kaski and Lamjung.^[5] In 1739, King Nara Bhupal Shah, launched an attack on Nuwakot, a territory controlled by Malla kings and Gorkhalis lost the war.^[6] Once again, he launched another attack with help from Kantipur and Patan(now known as Kathmandu, and Lalitpur respectively), and Gorkhas were ultimately defeated.^[6]

On 3 April 1743,^[7] 20-year-old, Prithvi Narayan Shah ascended the throne of the Gorkha after the death of his father Nara Bhupal Shah.^[6] Like his father, he attacked Nuwakot in 1742 and he suffered another defeat so Shah realised he needed more military technology and manpower to capture Nuwakot.^[8] Shah acquired weapons from Banaras, created alliances with other kingdoms, increased the manpower, and started the assault on 26 September 1744.^[9] This time Gorkhalis won the war which resulted in Nuwakot ceding from Malla Kings and subsequently started the unification of Nepal campaign.^[10] As Gorkhas were continuing their expansion, Jaya Prakash Malla, King of Kantipur requested assistance from the East India Company because he did not see other ways to stop them.^[11] Thomas Rumbold, head of the company in Patna advised Shah to remove the blockade of Kantipur and abstain from attacking Malla or else it could result in a war.^[11] Rumbold not receiving any positive response from Prithvi Narayan Shah led to the Battle of Sindhuli.^[11]

Trade route

During the reign of Gorkha's Ram Shah and Kantipur's Pratap Malla, both gained control of important areas in Tibet's border crossing areas where most of the trans-Himalayan trade occurred.^[12] Shah invaded Tibet around c. 1625-1630, the first attack was unsuccessful however the second strike proved to be successful which gained control of Kerong and went far as Kukurghat, north of Kerong.^[12] War ended with Gorkha signing a treaty with Tibet which gave Shah access to the main trade route.^[12] This created a problem for Kantipur as their traders used the same route, Malla did not fight for Kerong but he gained access to Kuti, second important route.^[12] He also signed a treaty, which created a monopoly for their traders as the trade between India and Tibet was extremely profitable, and the king also profited from the coins minted for their government.^[12] East India Company carried their trades to Tibet and China from Kathmandu, and they came in conflict with the Gorkhas because Prithvi Narayan Shah's blockade of Kantipur which affected them.^[13][14]

Terrain

Sindhuli Gadhi is located 4,648 feet above the sea level and it is about 150-kilometre away from Kathmandu.^[15]

Battle

References

Citations

1. "पृथ्वीनारायण शाहद्वारा स्थापित पाँच सैन्य एकाइ कुन हुन् र अहिले कहाँ छन्". BBC News (in Nepali). Retrieved 26 January 2021.
2. Shrestha 2017, p. 66.
3. Bista 1991, p. 44.
4. Subba 2008, p. 386.
5. Rana 2018, p. 1.
6. Sinha 2018, p. chapter 2.
7. Shrestha 1997, p. 6.
8. Hamal 1995, p. 176.
9. Hamal 1995, p. 97.
10. Hamal 1995, p. 99.
11. Hamal 1995, p. 116.
12. Rose 1971, p. 13.
13. Basnyat, Prem Singh. "The battle of Sindhuli". My Republica. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
14. Waller 2014, p. 171.
15. Basnet, Rakshya. "Sindhuli Gadhi: History that deserves to be remembered". My Republica. Retrieved 26 January 2021.

Bibliography

• Bista, Dor Bahadur (1991). Fatalism and Development: Nepal's Struggle for Modernization. Orient Blackswan. p. 44. ISBN 978-81-250-0188-1.
• Shrestha, Nanda R. (8 February 2017). Historical Dictionary of Nepal. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-7770-0.
• Subba, J. R. (2008). History, Culture and Customs of Sikkim. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-212-0964-9.
• Rana, Ramji (14 October 2018). "CoAS Thapa unveils statute of 16th-century monarch Yasho Brahma Shah". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
• Sinha, Awadhesh C. (26 October 2018). Dawn of Democracy in the Eastern Himalayan Kingdoms: The 20th Century. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-429-68568-2.
• Shrestha, Nanda R. (1997). In the Name of Development: A Reflection on Nepal. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-0759-9.
• Hamal, Lakshman B. (1995). Military History of Nepal. Sharda Pustak Mandir.
• Pradhan, K. L. (2012). Thapa Politics in Nepal: With Special Reference to Bhim Sen Thapa, 1806-1839. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-8069-813-2.
• Rose, Leo E. (1971). Nepal; Strategy for Survival. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-01643-9.
• Waller, Derek (11 July 2014). The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-4904-2.