Perspective on the India-Nepal Border Dispute - a Brief on its Historical Context

Bhimsen Thapa's troops, right, at Sugauli, 1816, with India Pattern Brown Bess muskets and chupi bayonets (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

While many would feel that the India-Nepal dispute is something new, detailed examination would tell that the problem actually goes back to the British East India Company's days. In the 1799, the Ranas of Nepal, having united under a single banner and undertook an expansionist policy. One must commend the strength, maneuverability and the resilience of the Gorkha forces who managed to expand on both sides of the country, crossing Sikkim on the east and reaching upto the watershed of the Beas river on the west. Several forts of the Gorkhas still mark the memory of their presence, identifiable by their distinct style of construction. One particular fort, which was in fact the largest Gurkha fortification can still be seen in Parwanoo in the Kasauli region. 

Doorway of Gurkha Fort in Parwanoo 

The period of the Gurkhas is remembered not with much pleasure - folk songs and stories of Kumaon and Garhwal, which had come under their rule, are replete with references of the cruelty of the Gurkhas. Moreover, the expansionist policy under the Rana rulers was viewed as problematic, considering they had actually managed to take control of territories allied with Punjab, even beseiging Kangra at the time. Given the context, in 1814 the war took place between the two sides eventually. It is interesting to note that the British East India Company had the support of the Chogyals of Sikkim and the Shah rulers of Garhwal, in additional to the Patiala state, which was part of the Punjab confederacy at the time. The war eventually led to the defeat of Nepal, based on which the parties eventually signed up for a truce. The Treaty of Sugauli thus came up in December 1816, which has been reproduced below. You can read the original source here.

 

As the first line of the treaty states, the whole of the lowlands between the rivers Kali and Rapti were ceded. However, it was not defined where the source of the Kali river was, thus causing the challenge that stands till today. Strangely, Nepal's original copy of the Sugauli Sandhi is missing. 

An interesting conclusion to this also came in from other things that subsequently happened. The British, impressed by the Gurkha skills, also agreed mutually with the then ruler Bikram Shah to have Gurkhas work for the British East India Company Army, and later the British army, eventually becoming India's 4 Gorkha Rifles.