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Book Cover
E-book
Author Michaels, Axel, author

Title Nepal : a history from the earliest times to the present / Axel Michaels
Edition English language edition
Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2024
©2024

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Description 1 online resource (xxiii, 402 pages) : illustrations, maps
Contents The country -- The population -- The religions -- Scattered power and petty kingdoms: the country before the fourteenth century -- Divided rule: the Malla kingdoms, thirteenth to eighteenth century -- From Gorkha to Nepal: the imperial Śāha monarchy, 1768/69-1846 -- Patrimonial rule: the Rāṇā period, 1846-1951 -- From monarchy to republic, 1951-2022 -- Alliances and resistance: ethnic groups and their histories
Summary "This book is a history of cultural, religious, and socio-political diversity in a landlocked state, squeezed between India and China (Tibet), a country with 125 ethnic groups and 123 languages and a plethora of religions, textual and art historical traditions and power centers. It thus deals with transcultural histories of the regions, different political claims and forms of organization, multiple and fluid identities, and cross-border transcultural, transreligious, and economic entanglements. It introduces into the infrastructure, the mountains along with the ever-threatening earthquakes, the importance of water reserves and forests. It deals with the different multi-ethnic population groups and the resulting challenges such as migration, social hierarchies, the caste system or the position of women. Another focus is on religions in their special forms: the Buddha born in Nepal and Buddhism with its tantric Vajrayana, the strongly syncretic Hinduism and the numerous folk religions. The political history is dealt with in a span from prehistoric times to the elections in 2022. In addition, the focus is on widely neglected topics that have so far hardly been dealt with in other histories of Nepal, such as relations with India and China, land and administrative structures in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the labor situation and slavery, democratization, and the influence on the Maoist movement as well as the lesser-known history of selected ethnic groups such as the Sherpa, Mustangi or Rai-Limbu in eastern Nepal. A common thread running through the book is the question how the country's major challenges in terms of social conflicts, nationalization, infrastructure, education, migration, or divided forms of rule and political instability can be addressed without sacrificing the impressive ethnic and cultural diversity"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 15, 2024)
Subject Asian history.
History.
SUBJECT Nepal -- Civilization. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008116261
Nepal -- History. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85090821
Nepal -- Politics and government -- History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2023045510
ISBN 9780197650967
0197650961
9780197650950
0197650953
9780197650943
0197650945