Mrs. Nirmala Pokhrel
Lecturer, TU, Nepal
(a) Origin of the word ‘Nepal’
Nepal is a country existing since a very ancient time. Located on the lap of the Himalyas, this country of area of central Asia was used to be known as Himalayan country, Kirat country etc. in the historical period. According to the Hindu mythologies, this country was known as ‘Satyawati’ in ‘Satyayug’, ‘Tapoban’ in ‘Tretayug’, ‘Muktisopan’ in Dwaparyug and ‘Nepal’ in ‘Kaliyoug’.
Having settlement of various peoples of different caste, tribe, languages and religions in this area from the beginning of the history, there are various opinions also about the origin of the word ‘Nepal’. Different scholars have made speculation regarding how this country was named as Nepal. Such speculations are given as follows:
On the basis of lingual-genealogy:
According to this belief Kathmandu was a big lake and was full of water in the beginning. A sage named ‘Ne’ had drained the water out of the Kathmandu valley and made it suitable for settlement; and hence this place was called Nepal. According to this Hinduism asserted belief the sage named ‘Ne’ had even started the regime of Gopal Banshi in nNepal.
On the basis of languages:
The word ‘Nepal’ is believed to be derived from different languages.
Some of the beliefs are given as follows:
From Tibetan language:
According to one of the beliefs the word ‘Nepal’ is derived from Tibetan language. In that language the meaning of ‘Ne’ is wool and ‘Pal’ is house. Since the ancient Nepal had enormous production of wool and it is believed that it acquired this name to mean this country as a house of wool.
From Newari language:
There is another belief that the word ‘Nepal’ is derived from Newari language. This belief argued that in Newari language Nepal is called only ‘Nepa’. In Newari language ‘Ne’ means ‘Mid’ and ‘Pa’ means country. For, this country is located at the central Himalayan area it is believed that this country was named as Nepal in Newari language to denote it as ‘Mid-country’.
From Limbu language:
In Limbu language the word ‘Nepal’ means ‘plain land’. The heart of Nepal, Kathmandu is plain and hence it is believed that it acquired named of Nepal.
From Lepcha language:
In Lepcha language, the meaning of ‘Ne’ is ‘holy’ and ‘pal’ is ‘cave’. It is believed that Lepchas named this country as Nepal, for this is the country of holiest religious places and caves.
From Sanskrit language:
According to Sanskrit language ‘Nep’ means Valley’ and ‘Aal’ means house’ and hence it is believed that this valley was named as Nepal in ancient time. The Vedic word ‘Nep’ also mean ‘the residents of valley’. This belief seems to be quite strong as the Kathmandu valley is known as Nepal even these days.
On the basis of caste:
It is believed that the word ‘Nepal’ is originated from different castes of people lived here in the history. Those speculations are as given below:
(a) The root word of both of the words ‘Nepal’ and ‘Newar’ is a single word ‘Nyerwa’. Newar is regarded as a caste originated from the mix-blood relationship between Nyerwa and Tamang caste people. Hence, it is believed that the caste ‘Newar’ and the name ‘Nepal’ are derived from the caste ‘Nyerwa’.
(b) In ancient time, Kirats, the native tribe of Nepal had a lineage branch called ‘Nepar’. The Nepar people used to live in Kathmandu valley. Hence, being the country where Nepar caste people were having settlements and in the distorted form of the word ‘Nepar’ the valley acquired name of ‘Nepal’.
(c) According to another belief a primitive milkman named ‘Nep’ used to live in Kathmandu valley. In the meaning of his residency (Aal) Kathmandu valley acquired named as Nepal.
History of the term ‘Nepal’:
The term ‘Nepal’ is found to be mentioned for the first time in the scripts of Atharba Veda (800-600 BC). Name of the countries like Nepal, Kamroop (Assam), Videha (Mithila), Udumber, Awanti (Ujjain) and Kaiksya are also been mentioned in that mythological script. In the ancient Buddhist and Jain literature we can also find the context of Buddhists priests and Jain sages visiting Nepal. In the Kautilya’s ‘Athashrastha’ (300 B.C.), we can find context of carpets that are made from the Nepalese wool were being used in the Indian palaces.
The regime of Gopal Dynasty:
The kings of Gopalbansi were the first to rule over Nepal. The term ‘Gopal’ refers to the people who rear cow or the community of milkman. In whatever way the water was drained out of the Kathmandu valley, it is obvious that after that only this valley became suitable for settlement. After that Gopals of ‘Nep’ caste started entering the valley from south. In the encounter of the Gopals with the native ‘Naag’ peoples around the valley, the Naag people were defeated and fled towards south. Then after Gopal people’s dominance was established in Nepal valley.
We can find different stories regarding the history of Nepal in genealogies. According to one of them, a cow named ‘Bahuhri’ of one of the Gopals of that time used to drop the milk out of her nipples in a place on the bank of Bagmati River. Surprised by seeing such an activity of the cow when the place was dug the Jyotirlinga of Pashupatinath revealed at the same place. According to another story a sage named ‘Ne’ who used to meditate on the river conjunction at Teku had crowned Bhuktaman (Bhumigupta) as the king of Gopal dynasty. He was not just the founder of Gopal Dynasty, but was also the first king of the country ‘Nepal’. According to the genealogy of the Gopal Dynasty, 8 kings including Bhumigupta, Jayagupta, Dharmagupta, Harshagupta, Bhaumagupta, Manigupta, Bishnugupta and Jeetgupta, respectively had ruled over Nepal.
The term Nepal is found to be mentioned also in the famous mythology Mahabharat. Likewise, we can also find the term Nepal is Skandapurana and Barahapurana. The term ‘Nepal’ is also found in proved archaeology of Prayag (Allahabad) of the historical king Samudra Gupta. The inscription installed in 640 AD at Yangal Dhara of Lagantol, Kathmandu during the combined regime of the Lichhavi kings Bhimarjun Dev and Bishnugupta is believed to be the oldest evidence mentioning the term ‘Nepal’ that has ever been found in Nepal.
The ancient period:
If we analyze the history of the civilization of Nepal, we can find the ancient history has been made fictional and exaggerated. However, the major facts regarding the development of Nepalese civilization has been proved. The ancient period of Nepalese history is assumed to have started thousand years before Christ, but the history of Nepal just before the starting of Gregorian calendar is also not yet very clear. The solid archaeological materials and evidences of before Kirat regime has not been found till date. The glances of the political, economical and social aspects of Kirat regime period can only be found in the inscriptions of Lichhavi period. It is assumed that the Lichhavi period had been started during the beginning of Gregorian calendar. However, on the basis of evidences the ancient history of Nepal is found to be more reliable and authentic only after 5th century AD.
The Regime of Mahispal Dynasty:
According to genealogy of Gopal Dynasty the Mahispals had established their dynasty in Nepal by defeating the king of Gopal Dynasty Jitgupta in a battle. However, some historian have stated that similar to cow rearing people were entitled as ‘Gopal’ buffaloes rearing people were entitled as ‘Mahispal’ or ‘Avir’. Another belief sated that Gopal and Mahispal belonged to the same dynasty and they were divided into two communities only on the basis of rearing cow and buffalo. In the genealogy of Kirkpatrick it is written that Avirs were the milkmen of Rajput Dynasty, being equipped with arms and weapons they used to rear buffaloes in a large number in the plain land between Simrongadh and Janakpur and they even entered the valley and established their own regime by defeating the king of Gopal Dynasty. ‘Barsing’ is the first king of Mahispal Dynasty. According to the genealogy of Gopal Dynasty, three kings mainly: Barsingh, Jaya Singh and Bhuwan Singh ruled for 49 years, 71 years 2 months and 41 years respectively making a regime of total 161 years and 2 months of Mahispal Dynasty in Nepal.
However, some of the historians have stated that even though the genealogy of Gopal Dynasty has mentioned two different monarchical dynasties, they belonged to the same Avir Dynasty. Gopals who reared cow and Mahispal who reared buffaloes may only have professional division. Due to the lack of organized political system at that time, the different professionals of the same dynasty may fight together to become the ruler of the area and hence they might have been acknowledged as different dynasties.
During the period of Bhuwansingh, the last King of Mahispal dynasty, the Kirats coming from the east attacked and established their regime in Nepal. Some more to follow: Ed.
ref : http://www.telegraphnepal.com/national/2014-02-12/political-history-of-nepal.html
Lecturer, TU, Nepal
(a) Origin of the word ‘Nepal’
Nepal is a country existing since a very ancient time. Located on the lap of the Himalyas, this country of area of central Asia was used to be known as Himalayan country, Kirat country etc. in the historical period. According to the Hindu mythologies, this country was known as ‘Satyawati’ in ‘Satyayug’, ‘Tapoban’ in ‘Tretayug’, ‘Muktisopan’ in Dwaparyug and ‘Nepal’ in ‘Kaliyoug’.
Having settlement of various peoples of different caste, tribe, languages and religions in this area from the beginning of the history, there are various opinions also about the origin of the word ‘Nepal’. Different scholars have made speculation regarding how this country was named as Nepal. Such speculations are given as follows:
On the basis of lingual-genealogy:
According to this belief Kathmandu was a big lake and was full of water in the beginning. A sage named ‘Ne’ had drained the water out of the Kathmandu valley and made it suitable for settlement; and hence this place was called Nepal. According to this Hinduism asserted belief the sage named ‘Ne’ had even started the regime of Gopal Banshi in nNepal.
On the basis of languages:
The word ‘Nepal’ is believed to be derived from different languages.
Some of the beliefs are given as follows:
From Tibetan language:
According to one of the beliefs the word ‘Nepal’ is derived from Tibetan language. In that language the meaning of ‘Ne’ is wool and ‘Pal’ is house. Since the ancient Nepal had enormous production of wool and it is believed that it acquired this name to mean this country as a house of wool.
From Newari language:
There is another belief that the word ‘Nepal’ is derived from Newari language. This belief argued that in Newari language Nepal is called only ‘Nepa’. In Newari language ‘Ne’ means ‘Mid’ and ‘Pa’ means country. For, this country is located at the central Himalayan area it is believed that this country was named as Nepal in Newari language to denote it as ‘Mid-country’.
From Limbu language:
In Limbu language the word ‘Nepal’ means ‘plain land’. The heart of Nepal, Kathmandu is plain and hence it is believed that it acquired named of Nepal.
From Lepcha language:
In Lepcha language, the meaning of ‘Ne’ is ‘holy’ and ‘pal’ is ‘cave’. It is believed that Lepchas named this country as Nepal, for this is the country of holiest religious places and caves.
From Sanskrit language:
According to Sanskrit language ‘Nep’ means Valley’ and ‘Aal’ means house’ and hence it is believed that this valley was named as Nepal in ancient time. The Vedic word ‘Nep’ also mean ‘the residents of valley’. This belief seems to be quite strong as the Kathmandu valley is known as Nepal even these days.
On the basis of caste:
It is believed that the word ‘Nepal’ is originated from different castes of people lived here in the history. Those speculations are as given below:
(a) The root word of both of the words ‘Nepal’ and ‘Newar’ is a single word ‘Nyerwa’. Newar is regarded as a caste originated from the mix-blood relationship between Nyerwa and Tamang caste people. Hence, it is believed that the caste ‘Newar’ and the name ‘Nepal’ are derived from the caste ‘Nyerwa’.
(b) In ancient time, Kirats, the native tribe of Nepal had a lineage branch called ‘Nepar’. The Nepar people used to live in Kathmandu valley. Hence, being the country where Nepar caste people were having settlements and in the distorted form of the word ‘Nepar’ the valley acquired name of ‘Nepal’.
(c) According to another belief a primitive milkman named ‘Nep’ used to live in Kathmandu valley. In the meaning of his residency (Aal) Kathmandu valley acquired named as Nepal.
History of the term ‘Nepal’:
The term ‘Nepal’ is found to be mentioned for the first time in the scripts of Atharba Veda (800-600 BC). Name of the countries like Nepal, Kamroop (Assam), Videha (Mithila), Udumber, Awanti (Ujjain) and Kaiksya are also been mentioned in that mythological script. In the ancient Buddhist and Jain literature we can also find the context of Buddhists priests and Jain sages visiting Nepal. In the Kautilya’s ‘Athashrastha’ (300 B.C.), we can find context of carpets that are made from the Nepalese wool were being used in the Indian palaces.
The regime of Gopal Dynasty:
The kings of Gopalbansi were the first to rule over Nepal. The term ‘Gopal’ refers to the people who rear cow or the community of milkman. In whatever way the water was drained out of the Kathmandu valley, it is obvious that after that only this valley became suitable for settlement. After that Gopals of ‘Nep’ caste started entering the valley from south. In the encounter of the Gopals with the native ‘Naag’ peoples around the valley, the Naag people were defeated and fled towards south. Then after Gopal people’s dominance was established in Nepal valley.
We can find different stories regarding the history of Nepal in genealogies. According to one of them, a cow named ‘Bahuhri’ of one of the Gopals of that time used to drop the milk out of her nipples in a place on the bank of Bagmati River. Surprised by seeing such an activity of the cow when the place was dug the Jyotirlinga of Pashupatinath revealed at the same place. According to another story a sage named ‘Ne’ who used to meditate on the river conjunction at Teku had crowned Bhuktaman (Bhumigupta) as the king of Gopal dynasty. He was not just the founder of Gopal Dynasty, but was also the first king of the country ‘Nepal’. According to the genealogy of the Gopal Dynasty, 8 kings including Bhumigupta, Jayagupta, Dharmagupta, Harshagupta, Bhaumagupta, Manigupta, Bishnugupta and Jeetgupta, respectively had ruled over Nepal.
The term Nepal is found to be mentioned also in the famous mythology Mahabharat. Likewise, we can also find the term Nepal is Skandapurana and Barahapurana. The term ‘Nepal’ is also found in proved archaeology of Prayag (Allahabad) of the historical king Samudra Gupta. The inscription installed in 640 AD at Yangal Dhara of Lagantol, Kathmandu during the combined regime of the Lichhavi kings Bhimarjun Dev and Bishnugupta is believed to be the oldest evidence mentioning the term ‘Nepal’ that has ever been found in Nepal.
The ancient period:
If we analyze the history of the civilization of Nepal, we can find the ancient history has been made fictional and exaggerated. However, the major facts regarding the development of Nepalese civilization has been proved. The ancient period of Nepalese history is assumed to have started thousand years before Christ, but the history of Nepal just before the starting of Gregorian calendar is also not yet very clear. The solid archaeological materials and evidences of before Kirat regime has not been found till date. The glances of the political, economical and social aspects of Kirat regime period can only be found in the inscriptions of Lichhavi period. It is assumed that the Lichhavi period had been started during the beginning of Gregorian calendar. However, on the basis of evidences the ancient history of Nepal is found to be more reliable and authentic only after 5th century AD.
The Regime of Mahispal Dynasty:
According to genealogy of Gopal Dynasty the Mahispals had established their dynasty in Nepal by defeating the king of Gopal Dynasty Jitgupta in a battle. However, some historian have stated that similar to cow rearing people were entitled as ‘Gopal’ buffaloes rearing people were entitled as ‘Mahispal’ or ‘Avir’. Another belief sated that Gopal and Mahispal belonged to the same dynasty and they were divided into two communities only on the basis of rearing cow and buffalo. In the genealogy of Kirkpatrick it is written that Avirs were the milkmen of Rajput Dynasty, being equipped with arms and weapons they used to rear buffaloes in a large number in the plain land between Simrongadh and Janakpur and they even entered the valley and established their own regime by defeating the king of Gopal Dynasty. ‘Barsing’ is the first king of Mahispal Dynasty. According to the genealogy of Gopal Dynasty, three kings mainly: Barsingh, Jaya Singh and Bhuwan Singh ruled for 49 years, 71 years 2 months and 41 years respectively making a regime of total 161 years and 2 months of Mahispal Dynasty in Nepal.
However, some of the historians have stated that even though the genealogy of Gopal Dynasty has mentioned two different monarchical dynasties, they belonged to the same Avir Dynasty. Gopals who reared cow and Mahispal who reared buffaloes may only have professional division. Due to the lack of organized political system at that time, the different professionals of the same dynasty may fight together to become the ruler of the area and hence they might have been acknowledged as different dynasties.
During the period of Bhuwansingh, the last King of Mahispal dynasty, the Kirats coming from the east attacked and established their regime in Nepal. Some more to follow: Ed.
ref : http://www.telegraphnepal.com/national/2014-02-12/political-history-of-nepal.html
Thank you so much mam for this document. I understood a lot from this . Mam please also share kirat dynasty ko facts and evidences ?
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