Whelpton, John. 2005. A History of Nepal (Book Review‪)‬

Whelpton, John. 2005. A History of Nepal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0-521-80470-1 (paperbaek); 0-521-80026-9 (hardback). Price: 15.99 [pounds sterling] (paperback); 40.00 [pounds sterling] (hardback); NRs. 600.00 (South Asian Edition), pp. 296 John Whelpton is the editor and translator of an extraordinarily interesting book, Jang Bahadur in Europe, published in 1983, which depicts the first Rana prime minister's 1850 visit to Britain and France (Belait-yatra). As is well known, this journey provided for the first time an opportunity and occasion for face-to-face contact in a fully European atmosphere between the governing elites of two European countries and those of Nepal. It had a deep impact on the friendly policy demonstrated towards Britain in India by Nepal during the second half of the nineteenth century, especially during the Indian Mutiny, and the beginning of the twentieth century. Jang's visit to Europe also had its effect on the internal scene: among the results was the introduction of some European elements into the Nepalese legal system, as well as to the local palace architecture. In other words, this journey is an important date in the overall process of the Westernization of the Himalayan kingdom, a process that continues in train to this very day, and one with incalculable consequences. What is more, as far as I know, the Belait-yatra is the first travel account not written by a European about Nepal, but by a Nepalese about Europe. Such a reversal of perspective, and one of such relative antiquity, is extremely significant. Few texts of this type have reached us from Asian countries. Admittedly, the Nepalese manuscript is brief, and does not contain much detail; but it does give us a chance to understand how high-status Nepalese officials of that time regarded Western countries. The impression made by the West went so deep, indeed, that Jang Bahadur considered staying on there for at least some years, and thus abdicating his power in Nepal.