History of Nepal - History of Limbuwan

History of Limbuwan

History of Limbuwan shows the history and political development of the people of Limbuwan until their unification with the Kingdom of Gorkha in 1774 AD. During King Prithivi Narayan Shah's unification of Nepal, the present-day Nepal east of Arun and Koshi River was known as Pallo Kirant Limbuwan. It was divided into ten Limbu Kingdoms of which the Morang Kingdom was the most powerful and had the central government. The capital of the Morang Kingdom of Limbuwan was Bijaypur, now Dharan. After the Limbuwan-Gorkha War and seeing the threat of the rising power of the British East India Company, kings and ministers of all the ten Limbu Kingdoms of Limbuwan gathered in Bijaypur, present day Dharan, to agree upon the Limbuwan-Gorkha treaty. This Treaty formally united ten Limbu Kingdoms into the Gorkha Kingdom, but it also gave Limbuwan full autonomy under Limbuwan Kipat System.

The stone inscription tells us that, the kirants probably ruled Nepal about 1000 years ago. The first and best remembered king was Yalambar. Legend credits him with meeting Indra, the lord of heaven, who ventured into the Valley in human guise. He had the dubious honor of being slain in the epic battle of the Mahabharata, in which gods and mortals fought alongside each other. Another remarkable event during this period is the coming of Gautam Buddha in the time of the seventh king. The Buddha supposedly spent time in Patan, where he elevated the blacksmith caste to goldsmiths and bestowed upon them the name of his own clan, Sakya. The great emperor of India, Ashoka, was also a visitor to Kathmandu in this period. As a follower of Buddhism, Ashoka visited Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, and erected stupas in Kathmandu. His daughter married a local prince and further spread the religion. As the Kirat dynasty came to an end in the valley, parts still remained in the eastern mountains where they are considered to be the forefathers of today.