Editing Nepalese Armed Forces (section)

==Engagements==
===Battle against [[Mir Qasim]]===

The fortress of Makawanpur has a historical and military significance for the Nepali. It was here that the Nepali defeated superior forces of Mir Qasim in 1763 and seized 500 guns and two cannons. Later on, these weapons were used by Nepali troops and four companies were established regular, namely, Srinath, Kalibox, Barda Bahadur (Bardabahini) and Sabuj. (Purano) Gorakh Company was established a few months later. It was the first rank and file system beginning a proper organizational history for the Royal Nepali Army. The battle against Mir Qasim troops was the first battle of the Royal Nepali Army against a foreign power.

Sardar Nandu Shah was the fortress Commander of Makawanpur with 400 troops, some guns and home-made traditional weapons like Dhanu, Khukuri, Talwar, Ghuyatro etc. They devised different hit-and-run strategies to surprise the enemy. A spoiling attack base was set up on the Taplakhar mountain ridge
for night operations.

Mir Qasim's renowned warrior, Gurgin Khan was the commander on the other side with approximately 2,500 troops with cannons, guns, ammunition and a very good logistics back up. Their attack base was at the bottom of the Makawanpur Gadhi hill. They had planned a night attack. When the enemy's heavy forces marched in December 1762 and arrived at Harnamadi in January 1763, they found all the local houses already evacuated and the area short of food provisions. Makawanpur Gadhi was on top of a mountain, about nine kilometers uphill from the Harnamadi area. Although the Nepali had physically occupied all the fortresses en route, the enemy was able to initially push them back to the Makawanpur Gadhi area.

About 300 enemy launched a strong attack on 20 January 1763 putting the Nepali still more on the defensive. But they were totally surprised when they were resting in Taplakhar, as Kaji [[Vamsharaj Pande]] led a downhill attack on them Kaju Naharsigh Basnyat led an uphill attack from below them and Nandu Shah led a frontal attack. The smooth coordination among the three, leading their, by now battle-hardened, troops in the dark of the night, led the bewildered enemy to scatter. About 1700 of them died and 30 Nepali soldiers were lost in that battle. The Nepali captured
500 rifles and two cannons with other military equipment. More importantly, the battle led to the beginning of a proper organization of the Royal Nepali Army.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://nepalarmy.mil.np/organisation/images/history.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027015252/http://www.nepalarmy.mil.np/organisation/images/history.pdf |archive-date=2007-10-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Other major engagements===
* [[Battle of Pauwa Gadhi against Captain Kinloch]]- 1767 AD
* [[Anglo-Nepal War 1814 AD]]
* [[First Nepal - Tibet War]]

The relations started forming sour after the Malla rulers started to mint impure silver coins just before their downfall. The Tibetans demanded that the coins be replaced by pure silver ones. When Prithvi Narayan Shah took over, he found that it would be a great loss to him if he conceded to the Tibetan demands. That case remained unsolved due to his untimely demise. Queen Mother Rajendra Laxmi, the Regent of minor King Rana Bahadur Shah, inherited the coinage problem which reached the culminating point in 1888 AD. Another sore point in Nepal-Tibet relations was Nepal's decision to provide refuge to Syamarpa Lama with his 14 Tibetan followers. He had fled from Tibet to Nepal on religious and political grounds. Yet
another cause for conflict was the low quality salt being provided by Tibetans to Nepal. All salt came from Tibet in those days. Tibet ignored the Nepali ultimatums and that promoted the preparations for war. Nepal was soon preparing to launch multi-directional attacks.

'''Kerung Axis:''' ''Kaji'' [[Balbhadra Shah]] was the main Commander of the offensive attack from Kerung axis. ''Kaji'' [[Kirtiman Singh Basnyat]], ''Sardar'' Amar Singh Thapa and ''Kapardar'' [[Bhotu Pande]] were the subordinate commanders under him. Approximately 6,000 troops and 3,200 porters were despatched for this operation. Their main objective was to capture Dirgacha through Kerung. The march of the troops was delayed because Balbhadra Shah became seriously ill. They crossed
Kerung on 20 July 1788 and captured Jhunga on 3 August 1788. ''Kapardar'' [[Bhotu Pande]] was captured by the Tibetans. The Nepali troops were reinforced with 2,000 more troops and ''Kapardar'' [[Bhotu Pande]] was freed from the Tibetans on 14 October 1788.

'''Kuti Axis (I):'''Shree Krishna Shah was the Commander and Kaji [[Ranajit Pande]], Sardar Parath Bhandari, Captain Harsa Panta, Captain Naharsingh Basnyat and Captain Shiva Narayan Khatri were the subordinate commanders under him. About 5,800 soldiers and 3,000 porters were allotted for the offensive operation. Later on, Kaji Abhimansingh Basnyat and Ranajit Kunwar also joined this offensive. The Dalai Lama was taken by surprise and to protect his sovereignty, he initiated a parallel approach whereby he asked military help from Sovan Shahi, the King of Jumla in West Nepal, and requested him to launch guerrilla activities and revolt against the Nepali Army in and around Jumla. Sovan Shahi did revolt at Humla and captured some fortresses. The Dalai Lama also asked for military help from the Chinese Emperor. Additionally, he himself and Panchen Lama of Dirgacha wrote a secret letter to the East India Company seeking military assistance. The Tibetans also initiated propaganda about having constructed a new road through the Tigri valley and establishing a post at the front. They also rumoured that they had assembled an Army of 1,25,000 men. But the Tibetans could get nothing from Jumla, China or the East India Company.

'''Kuti Axis (II):'''Kaji [[Damodar Pande]] was leading his troops with subordinate commanders Bom Shah, Dev Dutta Thapa and others. He was given about 4,000 troops and his objective was to capture Dirgacha via the Kuti axis. The Battles Nepali troops, having crossed the Himalayas captured Chhochyang and Kuti in June 1788 and Sikarjong on 3 August 1788, in spite of many difficult logistic limitations. Later, Bahadur Shah was able to provide some reinforcements and improve some logistics arrangements. Still that was not enough and progress was slow. When the Nepali were about to capture Dirgacha via both Kuti and Kerung, the Tibetans started to make compromises with Nepali commanders. Bahadur Shah started negotiations, ultimately arriving at a solution. Prisoners were handed back to the Tibetans. Tibet was ready to pay tributes to the tune of Rs. 50,000 in silver coins per annum to Nepal and a treaty was signed on 2 June 1789 in Kerung. The treaty is called the ‘Treaty of Kerung’ by historians [[Rasuwa Gadhi]] and [[Timure]] were the firm bases in the first Nepal-Tibet war. [[Syabru Besi]] and [[Rasuwa Gadhi]] were Strategic points in this war. Likewise, Listi and Duguna villages were the main bases for offensive operations against Tibet. They were the forward most dumping places of the Royal Nepali Army. Although Rasuwa Gadhi and Duguna Gadhi Fortresses were not constructed at the time, the places themselves were important because of their military significance.

* [[Nepal-Tibet/China War]]
* [[Nepalese-Tibetan War|Nepali-Tibetan War]]