Sugauli Treaty and Nepal

Treaty of Sugauli

After the Sugauli treaty about one third of Nepalese controlled territory was lost such as kumaun, Garhwal, Sikkim, Darjeeling, and many parts of Terai. Some land of terai was restored to Nepal in 1816 A.D. The treaty was in the favor of East India Company and Nepal suffered from heavy lost of territory. This treaty really hurt and broke the heart of every gorkhali warriors. Nepal is a country made by the sacrifice of blood, sweat and tears of many Nepalese which would definitely break every warrior’s heart. 

·         We lost 1/3 territory of our Country.

·         We lost many places of cultural & historic importance.

·         Our confidence on our leaders decreased fro that time.

·         British established its embassy on Kathmandu and started interfering in our sovereignty so,    till now India interferes in every policy made by Nepal government.

·         Unification campaign started by King PN shah was end forever.

·         The dream of our ancestors of making greater Nepal was collapsed forever.

·         Conspiracy took place in royal palace.

·         It brought dishonor to sacrifice made by great Gorkhali warriors.

But one of the interesting fact is that at present there is no active sugauli treaty. British dismissed every treaty with Nepal after they left India. India has only been using the territory which was cut off from greater Nepal, but it has no substantive proof of ownership. After India gained independence from the British rule, there is no treaty or agreement regarding domination of the territory of greater Nepal by republic of India. Thus the land captured  by British from Nepal should no longer remain under present India’s domination.

Territory of  Greater Nepal before Suguali treaty.

Additionally, Nepal got back the soe parts terai after 44 years of sugauli treaty. British gave (banke, bardiya, kailali, kanchanpur districts) after Junga b.d. Rana went to India which directly proves that the sugauli treaty was not done to last forever. Despite, when British left india, every treaty were dismissed and every Nepalese must realize that Sugauli Treaty is there until Nepal boosts its self-confidence and act accordingly in this regard. For this, we must be able to stand firmly on our feet. We must improve our social status and economic condition to stand on our own feet. Our per capita GDP must increase with our own effort. The Nepalese society can progress, if its economic condition improves. When there is economic and social progress Nepalese could increase their capacity to think logically and rationally. If there is social awareness in the Nepalese society, it will naturally increase the feeling of love for one’s country and patriotism. After fulfilling as these items, one day Nepal will be able to annul the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 which was signed under pressure.

Now, the question is when will Nepal be able to stand on firm legs? The answer would be: Nepalese will become self-reliant, if there are enough employment opportunities inside the country, if there is industrial development and if there is maximum utilization of the natural resources. But the development of industries, development of infrastructure and production of the necessary goods within the country depend on politics and political activities. Therefore, political stability is imperative for the development of the country. If everything within the country is favorable and the Nepalese society becomes fully self-reliant, we can cremate the Sugauli Treaty by restoring the remaining territory of the Greater Nepal that was earned by our ancestors. For example: Britain had taken over Hong Kong Kowloon in 1842 under a treaty saying it would be forever. But it was forced to return back the territory to China after 155 years. Similarly, Macao, which was captured 400 years ago by Portugal, was returned to China on December 20, 1999. This is due to the fact that China is becoming a prosperous country. It is going to capture most of the goods and merchandise market of the world. At the same time, it is marching ahead in the political field as well. In such a situation, who can say that the remaining part of Greater Nepal, which was split away only 201 years ago (on March 4, 1816) could not be returned! But for that, the only thing that remains is that Nepal should be economically and socially developed and the Nepalese should be prosperous. If China had not progressed and prospered economically, socially and politically, it might not have gotten Hong Kong and Macao back