as per the records, in the earliest period, nepal was supposed to be ruled gopalas and mahishapalas. however very little information is available on that period except the fact that their capital was at matatirtha, south west corner of kathmandu valley. later from 7^th or 8^th century bc, kiratis, mongoloid people are supposed to have ruled the country. king yalambar or yalung, who was the first of the 29 kings of kirati dynasty is mentioned in the mahabharata. it is believed that by defeating last king of avir dynasty, bhuwansingh, he took the regime of valley under his control. this event, as per hindu mythology, is believed to have taken place in final phase of dwaparyug or initial phase of kalyug. it was during their reign buddhism is believed to have been introduced in nepal when lord buddha himself visited the valley. his visit was later followed by visit of legendary indian king asoka and erected four stupas around patan which are lagan thura (southern stupa), largest of the four stupa; teta thura (eastern stupa); pucho thura (western stupa) and ibahi stupa (northern stupa).

over the years, buddhism lost ground to hinduism and somewhere around 300 ad, licchavis from northern india, took control of nepal by removing kiratis. licchavis era was the golden period for nepal culture and architecture when lot of hindus and buddhist temples were built including the famous changunarayan temple and famous swayambhunath temple. they rules nepal for three centuries.

somewhere in early 700 ad, king amsuvarman founded thakuri dynasty when he succeeded his father in law who was the last licchavi king. in order to protect his kingdom from the invasion of tibet rulers he married his daughter, bhrikuti, to great tibetan king songsten gompo. sometime in 10^th century, king gunakamadeva founded the city of kantipur, today’s kathmandu. the reign of thakuri’s continued for three centuries.

the next major event in history of nepal happened in 12^th century, when first ruler of the great malla (wrestler) dynasty came to power. they continued their rule of next 550 years and this was referred to as golden period in nepal history. the mallas, though hindu also accepted other religion buddhism, which allowed buddhism to flourish in nepal. however, within hundred years they lost control over large parts of the country and nepal was divided into small city-states, with as many as 48 at one point of time. it was during this period that muslim ruler sultan samsuddin of bengal invaded nepal. the invasion of muslim leader was the only aberration in the initial rule of mall dynasty which lasted till 1482, reaching its pinnacle under jayasthiti malla who unified the whole valley and implemented the caste system in nepal. under the reign of yaksha malla, grandson of jayasthiti malla, kathmandu valley was divided into three kingdoms, bhadgaon (bhaktapur), lalitpur (patan) and  kantipur (kathmandu). after the death of yaksha malla, nepal was again divided into small states. the last malla rulers were jaya prakasha malla, teja narasingha malla and ranjit malla of kathmandu, patan, and bhaktapur respectively. the rivalry amongst the three malla kingdom was not only their zest to outdo each other in warfare but also in art and architecture which flourished under their reign. the famous durbar squares found in all the three places of kathmandu valley was a result of this rivalry.

in the 18^th century, shah dynasty came to power and unified nepal. from the tiny kingdom of gorkha, the shah rulers expanded their kingdom. in 1768 king prithvi narayan shah conquered kathmandu valley and shifted his capital there. prithvi narayan shah is also known as founder of nepal. he went on conquering kingdoms after kingdoms till in 1792 he was defeated by chinese in tibet. under the truce agreement, nepalese had to stop their attacks on tibet and had to make annual payments to chinese emperor which continued till 1912. during shah dynasty, nepalese boundary expanded from kashmir to sikkim which did not go down too well with british raj which finally led to war after initial treaties. in 1814-1816 after the defeat in the war, the present boundaries of nepal were drawn under treaty of sagauli. after this defeat, nepal cut itself off from all foreign contact from 1816 till 1951.

shahs continued their reign till 1846 when they lost the power to rana family, powerful landowners from west.  rana jung bahadur, plotted the infamous kot massacre, a bloody coup in kot courtyard near durbar square in kathmandu, and assassinated all the court and political leaders of nepal. he declared himself prime minister and took all power. king was reduced to mere figureheads. the ranas ruled as hereditary prime ministers for hundred year, with the shah kings as simulated prisoners in the palace requiring permissions even to leave the palace. the ranas became a second ‘royal family’ within the kingdom.

the ranas were removed in a democractic movement in early 1950s with support from king of nepal, king tribhuvan who was reinstated as the head of the state. after his death in 1955, his son mahendra succeeded him. in early 1959, he issued a new constitution, and the first democratic elections were held which was won by nepali congress party. bp koirala, leader of the part, formed a government and served as prime minister. in1960, king mahendra dissolved the parliament and dismissed the first democratic government. he introduced new party less system of panchayat democracy which continued till 1990. king mahendra died in 1972 and was succeeded by his 27-year-old british-educated son birendra.

however in 1990 widespread protests led to the restoration of democracy. may 1991 general election were contested by 20 parties and was won by the nepali congress party over the combined communist party. however political atmosphere continued to remain volatile and in 1994 nepali congress government, led by gp koirala, brother of bp koirala, called a midterm election in which no single political party could get a majority which resulted in coalition government which was nullified in 1995 by supreme court who reinstated the previous parliament. maoist insurgency began in nepal in 1996 which severely impacted the economy. on 1st june 2001, in a horrific tragedy almost the entire royal family including king birendra and queen aishwarya with many of their closest relatives were gunned down. with only king birendra’s brother, gyanendra and his family surviving, he was crowned the king. on february 1, 2005, king gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers, declaring a “state of emergency” to quash the revolution. in april 2006 strikes and street protests in kathmandu forced the king to reinstate the parliament. on december 24, 2007, polictical parties agreed to abolish the monarchy and declare nepal a federal republic and the elections were held 10 april 2008 in which the maoists secured a simple majority and declared nepal, a federal democratic republic, abolishing the 240 year-old monarchy.