History of Nuwakot

Nuwakot District, a part of Province No. 3, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The headquarters of the district is Bidur. It covers an area of 1,121 km² and had a population of 277,471 in 2011. Nuwakot is one among the nine Kots that are Belkot, Dhuwakot, Dhaibungpot, Pyaskot, Bhairamkot, Malakot, Simalkot, Sallyankot and Kalikakot. Considered as one of the richest districts in terms of culture, history and nature, Nuwakot got its name from the common name of all nine kots (Navakot).

Nuwakot is a very small town in a Nepal but with greats wonders and historical importance which molded the Nepalese history .Nuwakot is noted as being a fortress area during the reign of the Mallas in the Kathmandu Valley 1201–1769 CE. This period was when Nepal was still a collection of kingdoms with Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan being controlled by the Mallas. An outsider coming from Gorkha, King Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723-1775), captured the hill station of Nuwakot with the plan that he would use it as a base to conquer the entire Kathmandu Valley by cutting oﬀ the supply line from Tibet. His first attempt failed in 1743. His second attempt succeeded and started a chain reaction of conquests that saw the fall of the Malla era. With Nuwakot under his control the king built massive military towers on the surrounding hills which eﬀectively blocked oﬀ trade into the Kathmandu Valley. The Mallas would not go easily though and it took three attempts for King Prithvi Narayan Shah to conquer Kirtipur alone. Then came the fall of Patan followed by Bhaktapur and finally Kathmandu. King Prithvi Narayan Shah unified the kingdoms into one which was his plan to prevent the British from colonizing Nepal much like it was doing in India. The King died in 1775 at the age of 52 in the fortress palace at Nuwakot before the full administration of Nepal was completed. His sons continued the work which continued on through to modern day Nepal. Nuwakot had also remained as the capital of Nepal for about 25 years during 1801 BS – 1825 BS.