Timeline of Nepal's History since Siddhartha Gautam Buddha to Shah Dynasty

ca. 623 B.C. The Buddha born in Lumbini, in Tarai Region of Nepal (Source: UNESCO)

During the rule of the 7th Kirat King Jitedasti, Gautam Buddha is believed to have visited the Kathmandu valley with his several disciples. The Buddhist monks had established a forest monastery in Sankhu. The Kirats of the valley refused to follow his doctrine but welcomed Lord Buddha and his disciples.

268-31 B.C. Ashoka establishes empire in north India. It is said that this is the time of Sthunko, the 28th Kirata King, in 266 BC, Emperor Ashoka's daughter Charumati came to Nepal and ordered to build "Stupa" around the 4 corners and middle of Patan.

ca. A.D. 353-373: Samudragupta establishes empire in north India

400-750 AD: Licchavi kingdom in power in the Kathmandu Valley

750-1200 AD: "Transitional" kingdom in power in Kathmandu Valley

1100-1484 AD: Khasa Malla kings rule in western Nepal 

1200-1216 AD: Arimalla, first monarch of the Malla Dynasty, rules in Kathmandu Valley

1312 AD: Khasa king Ripumalla leads raid in Kathmandu Valley

1345-1346 AD: Sultan Shams ud-din Ilyas of Bengal leads raid in Kathmandu Valley

1382-95 AD: Jayasthitimalla rules as king of united Malla kingdom in Kathmandu Valley

1428-82 AD: Yakshamalla reigns--height of united Malla kingdom

1484 AD: Malla kingdom divided; three kingdoms of Kathmandu, Bhadgaon, and Patan expand

1526 AD: Mughal Empire established in north India

1559 AD: Gorkha kingdom established by King Dravya Shah, son of King Yashobramha Shah of Lamjung, son of King Kulamandan Shah, the first Shah ruler of Kaski.

1606-1633 AD: Ram Shah of Gorkha reigns; Gorkha kingdom experiences first expansion. 1728 Chinese influence established in Tibet

The Shah Dynasty that unified and ruled Nepal for the last 240 years, often through bloodshed, came to a peaceful end on MAY 28, 2008. If the rise of the Shahs was spectacular, so was their downfall. In modern history, hardly any monarchy has been abolished either through the ballot or so peacefully.

The story of the Shah Dynasty, stretching over a period of over 450 years, is a saga of both triumph and tragedy. 

After Drabya Shah, a prince of the royal house of the adjoining principality of Lamjung and progenitor of the Shah Dynasty, wrested Gorkha from local tribal chiefs in 1559, the Shahs remained confined to this impoverished, hilly principality for the next 183 years.

But that changed once and for all after an audacious prince, Prithvi Narayan Shah, ascended to the throne of Gorkha in 1742AD at the age of 20.