Editing History of Nepal (section)

==Early modern history==

===Shah dynasty, Unification of Nepal===
{{Main|Unification of Nepal}}
[[File:Nepal30005a.JPG|thumb|Mohar of king Prithvi Narayan Shah dated [[Shalivahana era|Saka Era]] 1685 (CE 1763)]]
[[Prithvi Narayan Shah]] (c. 1768–1775) was the ninth generation descendant of [[Dravya Shah]] (1559–1570), the founder of the ruling house of Gorkha. Prithvi Narayan Shah succeeded his father [[Nara Bhupal Shah]] to the throne of Gorkha in 1743 CE. King Prithvi Narayan Shah was quite aware of the political situation of the valley kingdoms as well as of the [[Baise rajya|Baise]] and [[Chaubisi rajya|Chaubise]] principalities. He foresaw the need for unifying the small principalities as an urgent condition for survival in the future and set himself to the task accordingly.

His assessment of the situation among the hill principalities was correct, and the principalities were subjugated fairly easily. King Prithvi Narayan Shah's victory march began with the conquest of Nuwakot, which lies between Kathmandu and Gorkha, in 1744. After Nuwakot, he occupied strategic points in the hills surrounding the Kathmandu valley. The valley's communications with the outside world were thus cut off. The occupation of the [[Nyalam Tong La|Kuti Pass]] in about 1756 stopped the valley's trade with Tibet. Finally, Prithvi Narayan Shah entered the valley. After the victory in [[Battle of Kirtipur|Kirtipur]], King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu sought help from the British and the then [[East India Company]] sent a contingent of soldiers under Captain Kinloch in 1767. The British force was defeated in Sindhuli by the Gorkhali army. This defeat of the British completely shattered the hopes of King Jaya Prakash Malla. On 25 September 1768, as the people of Kathmandu were celebrating the festival of Indra Jatra, the Gorkhali army marched into the city. Prithvi Narayan Shah sat on a throne put on the palace courtyard for the king of Kathmandu, proclaiming himself the king. Jaya Prakash Malla somehow managed to escape and took asylum in Patan. When Patan was captured a few weeks later, both Jaya Prakash Malla and Tej Narsingh Malla, the king of Patan took refuge in Bhaktapur, which was captured on the night of 25 November 1769. The Kathmandu valley was thus conquered by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who proclaimed himself King with Kathmandu as the royal capital of the [[Kingdom of Nepal]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nepal/History|title = Nepal - History}}</ref>

King Prithvi Narayan Shah was successful in bringing together diverse religious-ethnic groups under one rule. He was a true nationalist in his outlook and was in favour of adopting a closed-door policy against the British. Not only did his social and economic views guide the country's socio-economic course for a long time, but his use of the imagery of "a yam between two boulders" in Nepal's geopolitical context formed the principal guideline of the country's foreign policy for future centuries.

===Senas of Makwanpur===
{{Main|Senas of Makwanpur}}
In the 16th century, a dynasty emerged in the southern parts of [[Nepal]] near the border with [[Bihar]] which used the Sena surname and claimed descent from the Senas of Bengal. One of their branches formed the [[Senas of Makwanpur|Sena dynasty of Makwanpur]] which ruled from the fort of [[Makwanpur Gadhi]].<ref name=Das2014>{{cite journal | title=The Sena Dynasty: From Bengal to Nepal | author= Basudevlal Dad | journal=Academic Voices |volume = 4| year=2014}}</ref> This branch of the Sena dynasty adopted the local language of the region, [[Maithili language|Maithili]] which became their state language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Das |first1=Basudevlal |title=Maithili in Medieval Nepal: A Historical Apprisal |journal=Academic Voices |date=2013 |volume=3 |pages=1–3 |doi=10.3126/av.v3i1.9704 |doi-access=free }}</ref>