What is now Nepal was once a collection of feudal principalities sandwiched between Moghul India and Tibet. you can see the places of these ancient rulers as you trek through places such as Sinja near Jumla, Besi Sahar (Lamjung) near Dumre, Lo Manthang, Gorkha and, of course, the Kathmandu valley. Many of these small kingdoms had little or no contact with Kathmandu. the early history of the Kathmandu valley, with its Licchavi dynasty from the 3rd to the 13th century and the Malla reign from the 13th to the 18th century, had little effect on the remote hill regions.

In 1768 Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the Hourse of Gorkha, unified these diverse kingdoms and established the general shape, and the present borders, of Nepal. He founded the Shah dynasty, defeated the Newar kings of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, and established the capital in Kathmandu. The current king, Gynendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, is a direct descendant of Prithvi Narayan Shah.

In 1814 the British East India Company declared war on Nepal. After a fierce war with imperial India, Nepal conceded a large section of its territory, which now comprises the northern areas of the Indian states of Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Nepal also agreed to allow a British 'resident' in the country, but he was not permitted to leave the Kathmandu valley.

Nepal is one of the founder members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).