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Unification of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah

When
1744–1768
Where
Nuwakot; Gorkha; Bhadgaon and Patan; Nepal valley and Company territories at Patna and Bettiah; Kathmandu; Cities of the Nepal valley still holding out
Episodes
6

Prithvi Narayan Shah, last king of Gorkha, unified dozens of small kingdoms into the Kingdom of Nepal, entering Kathmandu unopposed during Indra Jatra on 25 September 1768 and completing the reduction of the valley cities by year's end.

Episodes

  1. 1744 · NuwakotConquest of Nuwakot

    Shah isolated Nuwakot diplomatically, then sent an army from three directions, routing its defenders in 1744 and annexing the state.

  2. August 1762 · GorkhaFoundation of the Standing Army

    In August 1762 Shah established five permanent companies, laying the foundation of the modern Nepali standing army.

  3. 1767 · Bhadgaon and PatanCapture of Bhadgaon and Investment of Patan

    Shah took possession of Bhadgaon and next invested Patan in 1767, tightening his grip around the Nepal valley.

  4. 1767 · Nepal valley and Company territories at Patna and BettiahRepulse of the Kinloch Expedition

    Kathmandu's plea for East India Company help brought Captain Kinloch's 1767 expedition, which miscarried and was pursued by Gorkha forces.

  5. 1768 · Cities of the Nepal valley still holding outCompletion of the Unification

    By the end of 1768 Shah had reduced all cities still holding out, and Ranjit Malla requested safe passage to Benaras.

  6. 25 September 1768 · KathmanduUnopposed Entry into Kathmandu

    On 25 September 1768, during Indra Jatra festivities, Shah entered Kathmandu unopposed while the population and defenders were distracted.

Background and detail

Background. Before the unification movement, the territory of Nepal comprised 54 states. Gorkha was still a minor regional power when Prithvi Narayan Shah ascended its throne on 3 April 1743 after his father Nara Bhupal Shah's death. He harbored an early ambition to retake Nuwakot, which his father had lost to the Mallas of Kathmandu in an earlier military disaster.

Methods of Conquest. Shah combined strategic conquests, systemic economic blockades, and fragile political alliances to expand Gorkha's territory. His strategy encircled positions around the Nepal valley to impose a crippling economic blockade, making conquest of the valley inevitable. Chronic internal dissensions among the Malla rulers further eased his conquest.

Foreign Intervention Repelled. Jaya Prakash Malla, chief of Kathmandu, sought East India Company armed assistance against Shah. Nepali envoys Muktananda and Faqir Ramdoss negotiated with company agents in 1767, and Captain George Kinloch was directed to lead an expedition. The expedition miscarried, and retreating British forces were pursued and cut down by Gorkha troops.

Outcome and Significance. Shah became the last monarch of the Gorkha Kingdom and founding monarch of the unified Kingdom of Nepal, also called the Gorkha Empire, ruling Nepal from 1768 until his death in 1775. He made Kathmandu the royal capital, and a unified Nepal could negotiate with foreign empires from a position of strategic depth.

People involved

Sources

  1. Prithvi Narayan Shah Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-20

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.