Dargeeling ,Garhwal ,Kumaon ,and Nepal- what's the mess
History is proof Nepal was a great country, is a great country. Its eastern border was Kamaru Kamakshya, southern border Katur and western border was Kangada. This has been mentioned in 81st chapter of Skanda Puran and 1000 B.C. Old Atharba Veda, Kautilya’s Arthashastra. It has been mentioned in the inscription of emperor Samundragupta in Illahabad, that the border of Nepal was Kamaru in Kamakshya in the east, Pataliputra Katur in the south and Udhampur in the west. Kamaskhya is the capital of Assam, Pataliputra is Patna. Katur is near Illahabad and Udhampur is north-west Bengal. This inscription is 350 B.C. Old. Nepal was immense then. This was the period when the Kirat Rule was in its last days and the Lichhavis were emerging. When the latter became weak, the country got divided into 53 pieces.
Great Late King Prithivi Narayan Shah, with his indomitable courage, initiated the campaign to unify the state that had been divided into 52 principalities. His knowledge of history and mythological stories inspired him. In 1799 B.S. he ascended the throne. He won the neighboring Nuwakot just after one year it. The unification campaign started thus. Then in 1819 B.S. he annexed the Makawanpur ruled by Sen rulers, which inspired him to win Kirtipur 1823 B.S. Then in 1825 he won Kantipur Lalitpur and Bhaktapur in 1826. He then unified the Kathmandu Valley and made Kathmandu the Capital of Nepal. Then he set for the east and won Chaudandi in 1830 B.S. In 1831 he annexed Bijayapur and extended the border in the east around Mechi area. After he died his eldest son Pratap Sing Shah annexed Chitwan. But he died soon and Rana Bahadur Shah, who was a minor, ascended the throne. Acting on his behalf, Queen Mother Rajendra Laxmi took the state power in her hand and continued the unification campaign. By 1842 B.S., she annexed Lamjung, Tanahun and Kaski belonging to “24 Principalities”. After her death, the youngest son of Prithivi Narayan Shah, again acting on behalf of Rana Bahadur Shah, the youngest son of Prithivi Narayan Shah, continued the campaign and won three-fourth part of Sikkim and extended the eastern border to Tista River.
Bahadur Shah then set for the west, By 1844 he won the “24 Principalities”. He attacked the “22 principalities” and won Karnali region conquering Jumla. In 1847 he won Doti state and extended the border in the west to Karnali River. In the same year he attacked Almoda, capital of Kumaon and won it. The following year he attacked Shrinagar, the capital of Gadhwal and made it a subordinate state. But due to war with Tibet the unification campaign had to be stopped. The Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa and Commander Amarsingh Thapa led the campaign that had been disrupted by the death of Bahadur Shah. In 1861, Shrinagar was attacked again and Gadhwal was fully annexed into Nepal.
Thus, the border in the west extended to Jamuna River. Immediately after, Nepali army crossed the river and annexed many small states lying between Jamuna and Sutluj River. In 1863 Amarsingh Thapa crossed Sutluj river winning various places and attacked Kangada. But the Nepali army that had crossed Ravi River could not win Kangada fort. Nepali army kept under seize Sansarchand, the king of Kangada in Kangada fort but could not penetrate it for four years. Finally, the King of Panjab Ranjit Singh came to his rescue and war ensued. Consequently, Jwalamukhi Treaty was signed and Nepali army was compelled to retract to Sutluj River.
The unification campaign initiated in 1799 by Prithivi Narayan Shah by 1863 had resulted in a great Nepal extending from Tista in the east and Sutluj in the west.
1st Nov 1814 A.D.
In 1st November 1814, when General Hastings, on behalf of East India Company, British attacked Nepal from five different places. Out of five, Nepal lost in two and won in three. General Amar Singh was in charge of safeguarding the far-west. He commended his troop from there. The British General Octorioni tried to entice him by offering to make him ruler of western part of Nepal. But he refused and fought bravely. When the British found it impossible to seize Sutluj, they entered Nepal through another place Nalapani. From October to November 1814 A.D. along with General Gilespy, about 1000 Brithsh were killed in clash between Nepalese and British East India Company, which is now known as Battle of Nalapani. British have constructed the monuments in the honor of their brave enemies.
The Deuthal fort of Malaun, After the battle of Nalapani, the final war between Nepal and East India Company occurred. After the British became successful in capturing this fort using all their strength, the brave Bhakti Thapa, who was over 70 years old, re-attacked the British to regain the control. He died during the battle. Nepal had to lose this war and was forced to sign treaty of Sugauli.
December 2nd, 1815 A.D. a
On the day of December 2nd, 1815, Sugauli treaty was signed between ChandraShekhar Uphadaya and Gajraj Mishra, who represented Nepal, and Lieutenant Colonel Bradshaw, who represented East India Company. As per this treaty Nepal had to lose plain land lying between Kali and Rapti Rivers, all plain land lying between Rapti and Gandaki Except Butwal, the plain land lying between Gandaki and Koshi, the plain land stretching between Mechi and Tista, all territories east of Mechi and west of Kali.
There is no mention about our border up to Sutluj river in the treaty. It is simply said that the king of Nepal was forbidden to make any kind of contact to the people residing west of Mahakali river. But it has not been specified the borders of Nepal in the West. In an agreement or it can also be called a treaty conducted between the commander of Nepal Amarsingh Thapa and then Commander of Britain Octorioni on May 15th 1815, it has been categorically mentioned that the area lying between Mahakali and Sutluj belongs to Nepal. This provides evidence of the real border of Nepal. There was a provision that the treaty would have to be signed by the king of Nepal and submit it to Bradshaw within 15 days. Since the king of Nepal was unsatisfied that Nepal was about to lose a large portion in the Terai (Plains), the Brithsh send the message to the king of Nepal, that some of it would be given back to Nepal. Finally, the treaty was concluded on 8th December 1857 in Makawanpur. Nepal was to regain areas between Koshi and Gandaki and Gandaki and Rapti.
In 1857 there was a mutiny against the East India Company in India. Jung Bahadur, then the prime minister of Nepal, supported the East India Company. He sent Nepali army to crush the mutiny. The British became happy with this and gave back some parts of the Terai (Plains) that the Nepal had lost in the Sugauli treaty. Nepal took the present shape only after it twice regained the parts of the Terai it had lost in the treaty.
Britain should take responsibility of the territories Nepal has lost due to the treaty of Sugauli. East India Company was an authoritative institution of United Kingdom. Therefore, even though Nepal has signed the treaty with former, it is tantamount to signing it with latter. India was freed though an act called India Independent Act was passed by the British Parliament. This implies that the government of United Kingdom is directly responsible for the treaty of Sugauli. Since it has left the territories of a sovereign country (Nepal) in the state of indecision until those territories are acquired back by Nepal, the The United Kingdom should take the responsibility of them, and play an important role in this.
When the British were about to quit India, the British had expressed their intention of giving back those territories to Nepal. It had suggested that Nepal make a demand to that effect.
A tripartite treaty was signed about Gurkha Recruitment but all remained scilent about the Nepali Territory.
1815
In 1815 the British not only took our land but also our men (Gurkhas). Gurkhas became the paragon of valiance won numerous battle for the British in First and Second World War. When the British were about to leave India, it was decided that the Gurkha soldiers be divided between Britain and India. Nepal was also included in the treaty at Kathmandu November 9, 1947. But no one said anything about the lost territories of Nepal.
Nepal was included in the tripartite treaty because both Britain and India needed Gurkhas for their army. Britain now did not require the territories it has seized. India didn’t want to give them back. Nepal did not want to raise the issue. Thus our land was left with in india. But Gurkha Army was divided.
Article 8 of the treaty of 1950 has annulled Sugauli Treaty. In 1950 Nepal-India treaty is a treaty between a newly-born country India, which was born in 1947 August 15 and Nepal, which had remained independent for hundreds of years. Nepal had done the treaty of Sugauli with the British government. The treaty had squeezed its border from Tista and Sutluj to Mechi and Mahakali. The territory Nepal had lost had been annexed to the British Empire. One part of the British Empire was India. When a country called India was formed in 1947, Nepal signed a treaty with it in 1950. If the two countries had signed a treaty before the treaty of Sugauli mentioning that they would ratify the latter, then Mechi and Mahakali would have been acceptable as the border of Nepal. Nepal and India have never done any treaty ratifying the treaty of Sugauli. Furthermore article 8 of the 1950 treaty has annulled all the treaty signed by the British on Behalf of India. The treaty of Sugauli was signed with British Government. Thus the 1950 treaty annuls the treaty of Sugauli. This implies Nepal get back the territories lost due to the Sugauli Treaty.
Article 8 of 1950 Nepal Britain Treaty has annulled the treaty of Sugauli. Nepal also signed a Peace and Friendship treaty with Britain in October 1950. In That treaty too it has been mentioned that all the treaty signed hitherto would be annulled. Thus, Britain also has officially rescinded the treaty of Sugauli. We had lost our territory though treaty we regain through treaty.
Lord Kenning told Jung Bahadur, “Words alone will not be sufficient for the great assistance you have provided us. You will receive something that will be remembered for long and by all. From the message that has come from Britain, I have learnt that the British government has shown willingness to return all the territories Britain had obtained from Nepal in 1815 i.e. Ghagra in the west, Gorakhpur in the east, Khiragadh and Bahariach in the south and up to the hills in the north.
Nepalese territories are in India as a colony. In Glimpses of the World History, a book written by the prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, it has been clearly mentioned that those territories belonged to Nepal. Similarly the treaty signed between Britain and Sikkim in 1817 has accepted this.
In 1960 UN (United Nation)passed a decolonization resolution. It says that the territory of a country kept as colony by another country must be freed. India should have handed back the territory according to this resolution too. Nepal should have demanded it. But neither of them did so. But still we can present this as strong evidence. The Gorkhaland movement in Darjeeling has clarified that there is no legitimate basis for annex Darjeeling to India.
In 1986 May 12 the Gorkhaland movement began in the district of Darjeeling that lies between Mechi and Tista. Many Nepalese died in the moment. Subash Ghising, the leader of the moment send a letter to the king of Nepal Briendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev pleading that Darjeeling belonged to Nepal and that they were his subjects. But the king did not send any response. In 1991, Ghising wrote to the Indian Prime Minister to clarify the legitimate status of Darjeeling. He also sent a letter to the then prime minister of Nepal Girija Prasad Koirala. When all went vain, he knocked the door of the Indian Apex Court. When the Gorkhaland movement was going on, Ghising filed a case in Supreme court of India. He had filed it according to article 1-3-c of the Indian Constitution. Constitutionally, according to the article, Darjeeling would have to be decided as belonging to Nepal. To avert this, the court said that it was political issue. This implied that it would have to be settled politically. So practically, Nepal would never raise the issue.
If Goa and Hong Kong can be regained why can’t Darjeeling and other Territories be? There is one thing common in the treaty of Sugauli and Hong Kong or Nankin Treaty as it is also called, and that is in both treaties the phrase “in perpetuity” has been used. It implies that those territories china had relinquished to Britain was done for ever or permanently. The same applies for the territories of Nepal. But the point is Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997. But our territory has not been returned.
Those territories of our country that were seized forcefully in 1816 can never become India’s or anybody else’s for that matter according to international law. In the event the people of our country demand it, India will be obliged to give them back. The international community and court must speak in our favor.
