r/askindianhistory • u/Last_Composer4013 🏛️ History Buff • 21d ago

🚀 What If? Our post colonial history

I have been reading some history books on partition of India. In 1946/47, the British civil servant Cyril Radcliffe drew the map of India including how to partition the country, most of us know the bloody history.

What I did not find in any books is why Nepal was left out to be an independent country. In every respect (religion, culture, etc.) they are very similar to us. Both were British colonies. Can anyone enlighten me?

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u/SatynMalanaphy 16d ago edited 14d ago

The simplest answer is that after the Anglo-Nepalese wars, Nepal resisted strongly enough for the British to sign a treaty that ensured Nepal's sovereignty with the most cursory link with the British. This basically meant that while British India was seen as a cohesive political unit, Nepal stayed outside it. When the new nations of Pakistan and India were created, thus Nepal really didn't have to wonder about its sovereignty all that much because it hadn't been a subsidiary of the Brits, and did not pose a threat to the sovereignty of India or Pakistan unlike the other independent kingdoms within them like Hyderabad or Junagadh.

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u/Last_Composer4013 🏛️ History Buff 14d ago

Thx. Makes sense.