I've long wanted to write about the historical role of Nepal in India-China-Britain relations in the form of a review of the most important work on the subject (below). Don't think I'll ever get around to it so here's a thread instead. 1/7
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The reason Nepal wasn't gobbled up by the British Empire was because the East India Company didn't want to jeopardize the lucrative trade between British India and China (opium, tea etc.). The Panchen Lama asked the EIC to attack Nepal in 1788, but it refused for this reason. 2/7
Instead the Qianlong Emperor's general, Fuk'anggan, invaded Nepal in 1792/3. Again Lord Cornwallis refused to help the Gurkhas. They were defeated and became tributaries of the Qing dynasty. They also became China's window on the Indian subcontinent. 3/7
Before the 1st Opium War (1839-42) Nepal's rulers warned the Qing that the British would attack by sea and suggested a counter-strategy - that China support a Nepali attack on the Bengal Presidency. If the Qing had listened the history of Asia might have been different. 4/7
The Anglo-Gurkha wars of 1814-16 have been written abt endlessly; very little has been written about the Sino-Gurkha war of 1792. I've asked @Himalistan to publish s/th on this. They couldn't find anyone to do it. Stark evidence of how S. Asian history remains Euro-focused. 5/7
So China's geopolitical presence is one of the main reasons why Nepal remained an independent nation, instead of being gobbled up by the British Empire. Nepal's identity is much more complicated than the simple 'South Asian' narrative suggests. 6/7
This history is laid out in Matthew Mosca's brilliant book (below). I also refer to it in 'Flood of Fire'. Sadly Mosca's book has gone almost unnoticed in India and Nepal. Sad also that amnesia and Eurocentricism still bedevil the writing of Asian history.
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I might add that this is all in response to @KanakManiDixit 's tweet: "New Delhi commentariat hyperventilating on evolving Nepal-China ties needs to read history of Kathmandu Valley's intense cultural & economic links to the north, which got weakened only under British imperium."
