The Anglo-Nepal War and the Treaty of Sugauli (1814–1816)

By the early 19th century, Nepal had grown into a large kingdom stretching, at its widest, from the Sutlej in the west to the Tista in the east. Such rapid expansion brought it face to face with the other rising power in the region, the British East India Company. The Anglo-Nepal War (1814–1816) is a core topic for exams, with the Treaty of Sugauli at its centre.

Treaty dates and terms are standard exam facts, but sources give slightly different details about signing and ratification. We give the commonly cited version and note where dates differ.

Nepal before the war

After Prithvi Narayan Shah's death, his successors continued the expansion westwards and eastwards. Around 1788–1792, Nepal also fought a war with Tibet that ended after Chinese intervention, and the settlement left Nepal with obligations such as sending periodic missions to China. In the west, Nepali forces under commanders like Amar Singh Thapa took Kumaon and Garhwal and pushed to the Sutlej. The attempt to take Kangra failed in 1809 against the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh. At this time the real power in Kathmandu lay with Bhimsen Thapa, who headed the government.

Causes of the war

• Border disputes in the Tarai. Nepal and the Company both claimed districts along the southern border, especially around Butwal and Sheoraj (Syuraj). Clashes broke out over who controlled them.
• Conflicting ambitions. A rising Nepal and a rising Company shared a long border and neither wanted to give way.
• Company aims. The Company wanted trade access to Tibet and Central Asia, and security for its northern frontier.

The Governor-General, Lord Hastings (Marquess of Hastings), declared war in late 1814 after a border incident.

The course of the war

• Nalapani (Khalanga) fort, 1814. A small Nepali garrison under Balabhadra Kunwar held the fort near Dehradun against a much larger British force. The British general Gillespie was killed in the fighting. The fort finally fell, but the defence is remembered as one of the great episodes of Nepali bravery, and the British were so impressed that they later put up a memorial to both sides.
• Western front. Amar Singh Thapa's forces were gradually driven back across the Kali. In 1815, after General Ochterlony pushed from Himachal, Amar Singh Thapa surrendered at the fort of Malaun, and the west was lost.
• Kumaon. The British took Almora, and Kumaon and Garhwal passed out of Nepal's hands.
• Central front. A British advance toward Makwanpur in 1816 pushed Nepal to accept terms.

The Treaty of Sugauli

The treaty was agreed at Sugauli (in present-day Bihar). It is commonly said to have been signed on 2 December 1815 and ratified on 4 March 1816. On Nepal's side, Raj Guru Gajraj Mishra and Chandra Shekhar Upadhyaya are named as its signatories, and for the Company, Lieutenant Colonel Bradshaw.

Main terms

• Nepal gave up the territories west of the Kali (Mahakali) river, including Kumaon and Garhwal and the western hills as far as the Sutlej.
• Nepal gave up much of the Tarai lowlands.
• Nepal gave up its claims to Sikkim in the east, and the Mechi river became the eastern border.
• Nepal accepted a British Resident in Kathmandu and agreed not to employ citizens of other European or American countries without British consent.

As a result, Nepal lost roughly a third of its territory. The Mahakali and Mechi rivers became the traditional western and eastern limits of the Nepal we know today, and the exact course of the Kali river still features in the Kalapani border dispute.

After the treaty

• Part of the Tarai was returned soon after 1816, though not all of it.
• The Naya Muluk (new country). In 1860, the British returned the districts now known as Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur as a reward after Nepal, under Jung Bahadur, helped them during the 1857 uprising. This region is called Naya Muluk.
• Gurkha soldiers. The bravery shown by Nepali soldiers during the war led the British to begin recruiting them, and Gurkha regiments in the British Indian army date from this time.
• Foreign policy. Nepal remained independent, but for a long time it kept its relations with the outside world very limited.

Why did Nepal lose?

• The Company's army was larger and better supplied, and it could fight on several fronts.
• Nepal's forces were stretched across a very long frontier.
• Many local chiefs and communities in the newly conquered territories did not feel loyal to Nepal and some supported the British.
• Nepal had little access to modern weapons and manufacture.

Exam focus

• War: 1814–1816. Treaty: Sugauli, signed 2 December 1815, ratified 4 March 1816 (as commonly cited).
• Nepali commander at Nalapani: Balabhadra Kunwar. British general killed there: Gillespie.
• Nepali commander who surrendered in the west: Amar Singh Thapa.
• Boundaries after the treaty: Mechi (east) and Mahakali (west).
• Territories lost: Kumaon, Garhwal, Sikkim claims and much of the Tarai.
• Naya Muluk returned: 1860, after the 1857 uprising.
• Head of government during the war: Bhimsen Thapa.

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