Ancient and Medieval Nepal – Rishikesh Shah

Nepal is on the threshold of a new era. A new Constitution vesting sovereignty in the people has come into being, first election to House of Representatives held and duly elected government has assumed office. A fresh wind is blowing across the land and all eyes are on the vision of a new and brighter future. What then is the relevance of a new book on ancient and medieval Nepal at this point of time?
It is precisely at this juncture that a nation must ask itself: Who are we? Where have we come from? and where are we going? No viable answer can be given to the third question without some reflection on the first two. Failure to root the new order in the culture and tradition of the nation will produce a bewildered society, people who have lost their mooring and don’t know where they are going.
The above questions furnish an appropriate answer to the question ‘what then is the relevance of a new book on ancient and medieval Nepal’ at this point of time.
Rishikesh Shaha is well qualified to undertake such a study. Having published Modem Nepal: A Political History 1769-1955 and Politics in Nepal 1980-1991; Referendum Stalemate and Triumph of People Power, Prof. Shaha now goes back and presents us Ancient and Medieval Nepal, thus covering the history of the nation from the earliest times to the modern period.
The work includes the latest scholarship on the subject and would, it is hoped, be of use not only to those who must now shape the destiny of Nepal but also to those who love the land and long to know more about its people.
Rishikesh Shaha, a scholar involved in political activity in Nepal since the 1950-51 revolution, has had a successful career as Nepal’s leader of political opposition, ambassador, cabinet minister, chairman of the standing committee of the council of state. He was elected to Nepal’s panchayat national legislature for the period 1967-71 from the prestigious graduates’ constituency. He has been a visiting professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. and the East-West Center, Honolulu. The author has to his credit several books on Nepal’s history, government and politics.
Ancient and Medieval Nepal – Rishikesh Shaha