In The Lap of the Himalayas Version 2

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Chapter 13: Constitution.
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    Chapter 13: The Constitution

    ***

    1860, Kathmandu

    ***

    Ranajor Singh Thapa, the son of Mathabir Singh Thapa, 3rd Mukhtiyar of Nepal was currently trying hard not to bang his head against the wall as he tried to explain to the cabinet, his cabinet, mind you, why a constitution would be best for the nation.

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    Ranajor Singh Thapa, 3rd Mukhtiyar of Nepal.

    “Look at the world around you!” Ranajor cried out to the Financial Secretary, Dhanendra Bikram Shah. “Having a constitution has become the basis for the rule of law in all of the nation states who have a liking towards remaining nation states and not devolving into petty warring factions!”

    “Perhaps, however any sort of constitution would still bind the powers of His Majesty the king, this is something we cannot allow can we? It is in the name of the gods that He rules over us, and any sort of bondage would not be something that would go over well with anyone.” Dhanendra replied as he tapped the table in irritation as the rest of the cabinet members sighed.

    “Has it gone outside of your mental capacity that you forget that the King himself has agreed for the constitution?” Ranajor mumbled angrily.

    “No I do know that the King has given his blessings for any sort of constitution or written laws, I do know that.” Dhanendra sighed as he ribbed his eyebrows. “However I fear that the reactionaries in the peasantry may perhaps rebel, or perhaps the nobility?”

    “You forget I come from Nobility. You come from the cadet lines of the royal family Dhanendra, and I can only assume that you do not know the inner workings of the nobility after being detached to it for so long.” Ranajor grumbled. “The fact is that the nobility has been stripped of almost all of their influence in the common citizens of the state barring the decisions they can make in the Bharadari Sabha. This will be off no consequence to them, and neither can they do much to oppose considering I have the royal seal of approval with me.”

    “They could try to stage a rebellion and install the Crown Prince Surendra on the throne, he is not known to be the best of mind.” Dhanendra pointed out.

    “They could try, but we no longer live in a feudal society. They command no troops. Mercenaries would be culled down easily.” Ranajor answered coldly.

    “*Sigh* Fine.” Dhanendra nodded as he signed the royal decree in front of him and Ranajor triumphantly picked it up unable to keep his smile away from his face.

    “This my friends will be the beginning of a new era for Nepal!” He proclaimed enthusiastically as he folded the royal decree into the folder he was holding gingerly.

    “Now we must discuss what we must include in the constitution eh?”

    ***

    Excerpts from the Rajendra Constitution, promulgated on September 17th, 1860 in Kathmandu, the Kingdom of Nepal.

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    The Constitution of Nepal.

    Preamble:-

    Having, by the glory of our ancestors, ascended the throne of a lineal succession which has been unbroken in its spirit throughout the ages eternal; desiring to promote the welfare of, and to give development to the moral and intellectual faculties of our beloved subjects, the very same that has been favored with the benevolent care and affectionate vigilance of Our Ancestors, and hoping to maintain the prosperity of the state in concert with our people and their support, we hereby Promulgate, in pursuance of our Royal Rescript of the 11th of May, a fundamental law of the state, to exhibit the principles by which we are guided by our conduct and to point out to what our descendants and our subjects and their descendants are forever to conform.

    The rights of the sovereignty of the state that we have inherited from our ancestors, and we shall bequeath them to our descendants. Neither we nor they in the future shall fail to wield them, with the provisions of the Constitution hereby granted.

    We now declare to protect and respect the security and the rights of the property of our people, and to secure them the complete enjoyment of the same, within the extent of our provisions of the present constitutions and the law.

    Chapter I: The King

    Article I: The Kingdom of Nepal shall forever be reigned over and governed over by a line of Kings unbroken through time in its spirits and resolute will.

    Article II: The King is sacred and unviolable.

    Article III: The King is the head of the state, combining in himself, the rights of the sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the constitution.

    Article IV: the King exercises the legislative power with the consent of the Royal Diet.

    Article V: the King convokes the Royal Diet, opens it, closes it, prorogues it, and dissolves the House of Representatives.

    Article VI: In times of great upheaval and emergency, the King’s Royal Ordnances are the rule of the law and the day.

    Article VII: The King confers royal titles, titles of nobility orders, and other marks of honor.

    Article VIII: the King declares war, makes peace, and concludes treaties.

    Article IX: The King has supreme command of the Army and the military.

    Chapter II: Rights and Duties of the Citizens

    Article XX: Nepalese subjects are amenable to service in the Army, in accordance with the provision of law.

    Article XXI: Nepalese subjects shall, within the limits of the law, enjoy liberty of speech, freedom, writing, publication, public meetings and associations.

    Chapter III: The Royal Diet

    Article XXXIII: The Royal Diet shall consist of two houses, a House of Peers and House of Representatives.

    Article XXXIV: The House of Peers, shall in accordance with the ordinance concerning the peers, shall be composed of the members of the Royal Family and the Nobility of the state and the people who have been appointed by the King.

    Article XXXV: The House of Representatives shall be composed of members elected by the people, according to the provisions of the Law of Election.

    Article XXXVI: The Royal Diet shall be convoked every year.

    Article XXXVII: Any bill, rejected by both houses, shall not be brought forward for discussion or voting in the same session.

    Article XLIX: Both houses may receive petitions from the subjects of the Kingdom.

    Chapter IV: Ministers of State

    Article LVI: The respective Ministers of the state shall give their advice to the King and shall be responsible for it.

    Chapter V: Finances

    Article LX: The imposition of a new tax or the modification of the rates (of an existing one) shall be determined by law.

    Article LXI: However, all such administrative fees or other revenue having the nature of compensation shall not fall within the category of the above clause.

    Article LXII: The raising of national loans and the contracting of other liabilities to the charge of the National Treasury, except those that are provided in the Budget, shall require the consent of the Royal Diet.

    Article LXIII: The Budget shall be first laid before the House of Representatives.

    Article LXIV: In order to supply deficiencies, which are unavoidable, in the Budget, and to meet requirements unprovided for in the same, a Reserve Fund shall be provided in the Budget.

    Article LXV: The final account of the expenditures and revenues of the State shall be verified and confirmed by the Board of Audit, and it shall be submitted by the Government to the Royal Diet, together with the report of verification of the said board.

    ***
     

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    • Chapter 14: Industrialization and Economics.
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    Chapter 14: Industrialization and Economics.

    ***

    Economical History of Nepal

    By: Dr. Narendra Modi (PhD in economics; University of Sagarmatha, President of Gujarat)

    ***

    The Kingdom of Nepal always had a particular interesting and peculiar history in regards to its economic sector. Ever since the dawn of civilizations on the Indian Subcontinent, the small principalities of Nepal controlled great wealth. After all they controlled the only overland trade route from India into Tibet which would lead to China. This in itself made the Nepalese kingdoms one of the greatest trade manipulators in history, with dynasties such as the Kirat Dynasty and Malla Dynasty punching themselves to the heavyweights of the Indian Peninsula boasting literal sacks of gold in their respective cities and seats of power because of the economic exploitation of the trade route with China and India. After the unification of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah, the first Rajah of Nepal, the importance of the trade route with China became multifold. The riches of the Malla Dynasty were now the riches of Nepal, however Nepal quickly exhausted them with wars against the Oudh Kingdom, Kumaon Kingdom, Sikkimese Kingdom, Bhutanese Kingdom, Sikh Empire, Chinese Qing Empire, Tibetans, and the British. The mere fact that being surrounded by enemies on all sides, the feat that Nepal accomplished retaining its independence is a massive victory for the Durbar at Kathmandu.

    Due to the economic and trading reforms of Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa, and Mukhtiyar Balbhadra Kunwar had already made Nepal a proto-industrialized state with the Nepalese textile industry being the supreme textile producer in North India, providing for much of the textile needs of the North Indians and the Tibetans. Using mechanized looms and technology bought from the British, under Mukhtiyar Balbhadra Kunwar, Nepal’s textile industries for all intents and purposes drove forward on to the levels of the Europeans. However the money used for this technological innovation from the British came from taxation, monetary loans from the Royal Bank of Nepal, and the trade exploitation with Tibet and China. However the sheer weight of this technological exchange was heavy for Nepal as a whole. The taxation laws that had been raised by 1.5% in exchange for maintenance had been a heavy toll on the income resource of the normal nepali citizen.

    However there were ways around this. The extensive irrigation system built in the Nepalese south meant that agriculture was booming in Nepal, and due to excess food resources being produced, under Bhalbadra Kunwar, the Nepalese government provided incentives for farmers to start retail farming and commercial farming and to slowly scrap subsistence farming. This meant that Nepalese food products were being circulated and exported. Internal exports were the major driving force of the Nepalese agricultural industrial sector, with foodstuffs from places like Ilam finding headway almost everywhere in Nepal, and the foodstuffs from Parsa gaining headway in Kathmandu Valley etc. This made the food and agricultural business in Nepal highly profitable. This was taken on by the Nepalese government with the establishment of the Nepalese Agricultural Financial Cooperation (NAFC) as a sub-wing of the Ministry of Finance in Nepal. This incentivized the agricultural sector by a good margin, and the Nepalese economic trade started to even out slowly and by the time of Balbhadra Kunwar’s stepping down from power in 1859, the Nepalese nation had all the groundworks it needed to join the other nations of the world for the process of industrialization.

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    Nepal's Irrigation system was an extensive one.

    Ever since the end of the Anglo-Nepalese War, Nepalese nobles had been slowly sending their children for studies to the outside world; mainly or almost entirely into Europe. This was encouraged by Bhimsen Thapa, and the end result was that the generations that came from studying in Europe and witnessing the upheaval of the 1848 Spring of Nations was a learned and experienced generation. They were all liberal and reformed minded people, largely. This meant that Nepal had a slew of noblemen who were as learned in the subjects as any other European. This made reform, most notably in economics pretty easy on the whole wide front for the Nepalese.

    After the Constitution of 1860 was laid down by King Rajendra and Mukhtiyar Ranajor Singh Thapa, the country immediately set its sights on industrialization.

    Nepal had around 150 to around 200 noble houses, some major and most minor noble families all around the country. Some even ruled subsidiary Kingdoms like the Kingdom of Mustang and the Kingdom of Jajarkot and held lot of influence in the Nepalese court, and even till this day do hold a lot of influence. From this total number, Nepal had around 1100 noblemen who had studied in Europe and had the knowledge required for industrialization. Noblemen who studied in Great Britain advocated for transportation and heavy industrialization reform, noblemen who studied in France advocated for dispersed economic industrialization and noblemen who studied in Austria and Prussia and the other German states advocated for market reform and industrialization.

    This gave Nepal a slew of options.

    The Economic Reform Act of 1860 which was passed in October 19th, 1860 within the Sanghiya Sansad (Parliament of Nepal, Lower House of Nepal), and subsequently the Rajya Sabha (The House of Peers, formerly the Bharadari Sabha) introduced much needed land reform within the nation. This was a massive reform granted by Ranajore Singh Thapa, that endeared him to virtually all of the merchant class of the Nepalese Kingdom. Even the reform minded and liberal Bhimsen Thapa, and Balbhadra Kunwar had held off land reform and had instead aggressively driven for agricultural yield development. This land reform, finally became the final nail in the coffin for the Nepalese feudal past as the peasants got the economic opportunity they needed even in many villages, though in many rural parts not accessible due to the mountains and gorges, they persisted. But for the most part within the accessible regions of Nepal, the land reform became a major success.

    The second important portion of the bill, was the transition of industries. Nepal had around western level textiles within their industrial capacity and therefore had no need to upgrade them. However in all other sectors this was no longer the case. Thus the need for transitioning the industries into western style industries were needed. Thus ‘model factories’ were created and constructed by the Nepalese government to facilitate the transition from a primitive industry to a western style industry. This scheme would prove to be a widely successful scheme, as it made the transition process a whole lot easier for the country.

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    A Model Factory in Nepali Terai

    The third portion of the bill focused on market policy. Whilst economic income and development had doubled from 1816 to 1855, the process had been slow and arduous, however the 4 decades gave the framework of the Nepalese economy and allowed for an easy transition for the Nepalese economy. However despite this, the market policy of the Nepalese economy during this period was still the same old market policy of the Nepalese economy used since time immemorial. Thus, a clear new market policy was required for the Nepalese government with tariffs, and free investiture policies added. This task would assigned to the Royal Bank of Nepal. The bank put a lot of tariffs on many goods, however at moderate rates, which made Nepal’s economic progress become strengthened. Tariffs were mainly put at luxurious items being imported from Europe and America, and partly from China.

    The fourth portion of the bill focused on monetary policy and currency. Until 1860 the Nepalese economy still used the old coinage system of the old economic system. This made Nepal’s economic efficiency lag behind the west and the Europeans in large amounts. This was addressed with the creation of the Nepalese Sunaisa, the legal banknote and legal tender which would now serve as the Nepalese paper currency with the coins remaining as the Paisa. Second exchange rates were made as well. The exchange rate in 1860 for the Pound Sterling was that 1 Pound = 24.76 Nepalese Sunaisa. It was a hefty sum, however economists agree that without the textile and economic policies of Balbhadra Kunwar and Bhimsen Thapa, that the exchange rate would have been much higher and unprofitable for the Nepalese.

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    Old Nepali Sunaisa.

    The final portion of the bill dealt with transportation sector. Under Bhimsen Thapa, the Nepalese had built a very strong transportation sector with strong road networks around the nation. The government advocated through the bill feasibility tests for railroads throughout the Nepalese nation, which would connect the major cities of Nepal by 1890. The plan called for a railroad from Kathmandu Valley to Pokhara to Bharatpur to Birgunj to Biratnagar to Dharan to Ilam to Dhangadi to Lumbini and some other major metropolis areas of Nepal. It was an ambitious project, but with a realistic time period given to it.

    Implementation of these policies would begin on January 1st, 1861.

    ***

    First Sanghiya Sansad General Elections, 1860.

    Source: www.nepalgov.net/history

    ****

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    Nepal Sanghiya Sansad 1860

    Parties:-    ​

    Sahi Loktranta Rajnitik Prasad (Royal Democratic Party) Leader: Ranajor Singh Thapa (Mukhtiyar of Nepal, Prime Minister). Seats Won: 170 (purple)

    Samajik Loktranta Rajnitik Prasad (Social Democratic Party) Leader: Dhirendra Gautam Bhandari. Seats Won: 65 (yellow)

    Independents, seats won: 15 (grey)

    ***

    Sahi Loktranta Rajnitik Prasad (Royal Democratic Party)

    The Royal Democratic Party was founded by Ranajor Singh Thapa in 1859 after the advent of democracy in Nepal. The party is a monarchist, constitutionalist, Nepalese Nationalistic, National Conservative, Center-Populist, Economically Liberal, and Fiscal Conservative Party. In 1860, it became the dominant party in the Sanghiya Sansad by a huge margin.

    ****

    Samajik Loktranta Rajnitik Prasad (Social Democratic Party)

    The Social Democratic Party was founded by Dhirendra Gautam Bhandari, the heir to the Bhandari Fortune as a social democratic party with a center-left approach. The party is a monarchist, social democratic, center-left, anti-corruption, economic conservatism, and protectionist party. In 1860, it became the second largest party in the Sanghiya Sansad.

    ****    ​
     
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    • General Elections of Nepal 1860
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    Sanghiya Sansad (Parliament; Lower House)

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    Royal Democratic Party - 170 seats won (blue)
    Social Democratic Party - 65 seats won (yellow)
    Independents - 15 seats won (grey)

    Rajya Sabha (House of Peers; Higher House)

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    Royal Democratic Party (purple) - 272 seats
    Social Democratic Party (yellow) - 104 seats
    Independents (grey) - 24 seats
    Royal Lord Speaker (black) - 1 seat

    Rastriya Adhivesana (Bicameral Legislature)

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    Royal Democratic Party (blue) - 442 seats
    Social Democratic Party (red) - 169 seats
    Independents (grey) - 39 seats

    ***
     
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    • The Booming 1860s (part 1)
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    Chapter 15: The Booming 1860s (part 1)

    ***

    Comprehensive History of the Kingdom of Nepal Volume 1.​

    By: Maharajah Birendra Bir Bikram Shah​

    Kathmandu Publications​

    ***​

    The decade of 1860 is remembered in Nepal with particular fondness. It began with quite the political intrigue. The 1st Constitutional Act was passed in the Rastriya Adhivesana with the support of the then king, my ancestor, Maharajah Rajendra Bir Bikram Shah. The First Constitutional Act created the basis with which how long a term a Mukhtiyar of Nepal could serve. The First Constitutional Act stated that the Mukhtiyar of Nepal would be able to serve his term for a period of 8 years, with a one term renewal upon reelection. The long period of time that was given to the Prime Minister of Nepal was based upon the argument of stability. Many nobles and many politicians in at the time argued that changing governments every now and then would lead to huge political instability and in hindsight, this statement varies from place to place, however to the audience back then, the reasoning was very sound. Thus the logic was that serving for a long period of time would make the political rule of the nation easier and more stable in the long run.

    Meanwhile the economic modernization of the country continued. The country invested heavily into the creation of new economic industries and economic opportunities in Nepal. In fact due to the economic boom that the country experienced due to these modernization attempts, the government of Nepal also began to advertise immigration into the country. The new immigration focus of the Nepalese government was focused onto the Nepalese living in the lands of India, in Sikkim, Assam, Kumaon and Garhwal. It was also partially focused at the Tibetans who would be able to settle down in a warmer and more economically sound nation. For the most part it largely worked. Data varies a lot, however historians can agree that around ~300,000 Nepalese living in India and around ~75,000 tibetans immigrated from their respective homes into Nepal by the end of the year 1875. For a country with a population of 4.1 million that was a huge leap forward.

    That same year, the new tariffs implemented by the Royal Bank of Nepal was put into practice, and this was very helpful in reducing some of the financial constraints that Nepal felt in the time period. With learned noblemen having learnt a great deal from Europe and some from North America, many advocated for creating a center of education in Nepal as well. Nepal didn’t have the funds nor the need at the time for such an endeavor, however the lingering pursuit of education was something that would come up multiple times.

    The support from Bira Narsigh Kunwar, the grandnephew of former Mukhtiyar Balbhadra Kunwar, who was also the Lord Kunwar in the Rajya Sabha (House of Peers) was a definite advantage that the advocates of education systems in Nepal held. However it wouldn’t be until the Panic of 1867 where the issue would be addressed once again.

    For the time being however the very first education purpose driven school was opened in Nepal. Durbar High School was opened in Kathmandu near Tudikhel. Unfortunately for many, it was a private school and only nobles and rich merchants could send their children to study in this school. However despite this, the curriculum that was made for Durbar School was a much thought over one, and largely correlated with the British schooling curriculum and the selection of subjects in Durbar School varied from English, Nepali, French, Spanish, Maths, Science, Commerce, Economics, Geography, Geology, Political Science etc. Around 260 noble children and around 32 merchant children for a combined total of 292 students became the first batch of Durbar High School. The Durbar High School still stands today as one of the best education institutes of Nepal.

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    Durbar High School, 2007 AD.

    Monetarily and economically as well, the government of Nepal continued to move forward in their reform. The Nepalese Sunaisa was officially pegged to the British Pound Sterling during the ending months of 1861. And it was during this time that a few Nepalese students from the United States of America returned back to Kathmandu brining news of a massive civil war going on in the new world.

    For decades by this point, the Nepalese had been forgetting or a better word would be neglecting their military, and armies sent to quell the Indian rebellion had been the first tier military field army of the Nepalese. The other divisions and armies…..were in a sordid state. The news of a military conflict was all that was needed by Shivaram Singh Basnyat, the Field Marshall of the Royal Nepalese Army to whip the Nepalese military into shape.

    The Nepalese Military was expanded to have an active force of 140,000 men divided into 9 divisions and 1 independent regiment. The 9 Divisions were restructured into:-

    • The 1st ‘Patan’ Infantry Division (15,000 men)
    • The 2nd st ‘Kathmandu’ Infantry Division(15,000 men)
    • The 3rd ‘Bhadgoan’ Infantry Division (15,000 men)
    • The 4th ‘Bharatpur’ Infantry Division (15,000 men)
    • The 5th ‘Gorkha’ Infantry Division (15,000 men)
    • The 1st ‘Sagarmatha’ Mountaineer Division (15,000 men)
    • The 2nd ‘Solukhombu’ Mountaineer Division (15,000 men)
    • The 3rd ‘Kanchenjunga’ Mountaineer Division (15,000 men)
    • The 4th ‘Manaslu’ Mountaineer Division (15,000 men)
    The 1 independent regiment was the ‘1st Gurkha Regiment’ (5,000 men).

    The Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon of the British was also adopted as the official mainstay rifle of the Royal Nepalese Army. Coupled with this fact, the military industrial complex of the Nepalese was also upgraded with four new extra factories being built. Nepal already had one independent factory which produced bullets and rifles, however the other four would aid the first factory and provide for small arms and artillery guns as well.

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    Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon

    Finally the last military reform that was passed in late 1861 and early 1862 was the passing of the 2nd Constitutional Act. This had been a long campaign, and had been in the talks even before the promulgation of the Constitution. However it passed in the Rastriya Adhivesana on May 17th, 1862 and the act of conscription for all young men was passed into the law, with men aging from 18 years to 24 years to serve in the Royal Nepalese Army.

    The Controversial ‘Collectivity Law’ came into force that year as well in 1862 which dictated that every Nepalese farmer would have to give 3% of their farming output every year to the Nepalese government. The foodstuffs that would be given were those which could be stored for a long time. This law found widespread opposition and twenty years later it would be repealed. However for the first two decades of this bill, farmers were forced to give up around 3% of their output in farming to the government to form large food stocks under the command of the central government in Kathmandu.

    During the ending months of 1862, the government of Nepal, influenced by the western nations also modified its national flag. Nepal became one of the very lone nations to have adopted two national flags. The old flag of the triangles was adopted and kept as well, and the new flag adopted by the Nepalese were:-

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    The flag along with the triangular tipped flag of Nepal would become synonymous with Nepal. The triangular flag would be largely used in the military and ceremonial affairs whilst the rectangular flag would be used in civilian affairs.

    In 1863, the Social Democratic Party officially issued their first manifesto called the ‘Economic State Dream’ which kept in the goal of making Nepal a first world nation on par with Europeans in economic sense. This was a popular move on part of the Social Democrats, and many of the public supported this. This was seen with some suspicion in the Royal Democrats and the filing of their own manifesto began. The Royal Democrats also thereafter issued their own manifesto which was titled the ‘Literary and Economic State’ which advocated the economic aspect of the Social Democrats, and it also advocated for a fully literate population in the Nepalese Kingdom. This was seen with some trepidation by the conservatives, and a split occurred from the Royal Democrats, and the Conservative Royal Party (Rudhvadi Sahi) was formed by Sakshyam Singh Thapa. In his manifesto for the Conservatives, Sakshyam Singh Thapa outlined his ideals which was titled ‘The Middle State’ which advocated for a middle ground between economic prosperity and traditions and reforms. This was pretty popular in the lower classes of Nepal as well.

    In late 1864 the Mid-terms General Elections took place in Nepal. The results were:-

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    Parliament (Sanghiya Sansad):-

    Royal Democrats (purple) – 141 seats

    Social Democrats (yellow) – 63 seats

    Conservatives (blue) – 32 seats

    Independents (grey) – 14 seats

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    House of Peers (Rajya Sabha):-

    Royal Democrats (purple) – 226 seats

    Social Democrats (yellow) – 101 seats

    Conservatives (blue) – 51 seats

    Independents (grey) – 22 seats

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    Bicameral Structure (Rastriya Adhivesana):-

    Royal Democrats (purple) – 367 seats

    Social Democrats (Yellow) – 164 seats

    Conservatives (Blue) – 83 seats

    Independents (grey) – 36 seats

    ***
     
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