History of the Embassy
The history of official relations between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Nepal dates back to 1816. A short war between the army of the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Nepal took place from 1814 to 1815. It was ended by the Treaty of Sugauli signed on 2 December 1815. Both sides agreed that a British Representative should be stationed in Nepal and following the ratification of the Treaty in 1816, the first Representative, Mr E Gardner arrived. The government of Nepal made a spacious (but marshy) compound to the north of the city of Kathmandu available for the Resident. This compound, now surrounded by urban development, finds itself at the centre of the modern city. Part of it continues to this day to be the British Embassy, though the larger part of it became the Embassy of the new government of India in 1947.
Mr Gardner was succeeded as Resident in 1829 by Brian Houghton Hodgson, the most notable of the nineteenth century British Residents. An academic by nature, his own writings and the documents he collected during the fourteen years he spent in Nepal remain a source of important historical research material.
Relations between the two countries took a major step forward in 1852 with the visit to the United Kingdom of Jung Bahadur Rana, the Prime Minister of Nepal, whose family went on to rule as hereditary prime ministers for one hundred years. He believed that Nepal’s interests were best served by close and friendly relations with the United Kingdom, and in 1855 signed a new treaty with the British government in India, covering issues such as extradition.
One of Jung Bahadur Rana’s successors as Prime Minister, Chandra SJB Rana, signed a new Treaty of Friendship with the United Kingdom in 1923 which further formalised relations between the two countries, and changed the status of the British Resident to Envoy.
It was Indian independence in 1947 which brought the most major changes to the Embassy. The British Envoy became for the first time a full Ambassador, and the Embassy compound was split, with the larger part, including most of the office and residential buildings passing to the new government of India.
Since then, relations between the two countries have continued to grow, with a new Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship signed in 1950 which expanded areas of cooperation, and an exchange of State Visits: HM King Mahendra visited the United Kingdom in 1960 and HM The Queen visited Nepal in 1961 – the first visit by a British monarch to Nepal.
Amicable relations continue today; Nepal continues to be the source of recruitment of Gurkha soldiers into the British army – a tradition dating back to the nineteenth century but still an essential part of Britain’s modern army - and the United Kingdom remains one of the most significant providers of development assistance to Nepal. There is no reason to suppose that these mutual interests will not continue to form the basis of close and friendly relations into the future.
Mr Gardner was succeeded as Resident in 1829 by Brian Houghton Hodgson, the most notable of the nineteenth century British Residents. An academic by nature, his own writings and the documents he collected during the fourteen years he spent in Nepal remain a source of important historical research material.
Relations between the two countries took a major step forward in 1852 with the visit to the United Kingdom of Jung Bahadur Rana, the Prime Minister of Nepal, whose family went on to rule as hereditary prime ministers for one hundred years. He believed that Nepal’s interests were best served by close and friendly relations with the United Kingdom, and in 1855 signed a new treaty with the British government in India, covering issues such as extradition.
One of Jung Bahadur Rana’s successors as Prime Minister, Chandra SJB Rana, signed a new Treaty of Friendship with the United Kingdom in 1923 which further formalised relations between the two countries, and changed the status of the British Resident to Envoy.
It was Indian independence in 1947 which brought the most major changes to the Embassy. The British Envoy became for the first time a full Ambassador, and the Embassy compound was split, with the larger part, including most of the office and residential buildings passing to the new government of India.
Since then, relations between the two countries have continued to grow, with a new Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship signed in 1950 which expanded areas of cooperation, and an exchange of State Visits: HM King Mahendra visited the United Kingdom in 1960 and HM The Queen visited Nepal in 1961 – the first visit by a British monarch to Nepal.
Amicable relations continue today; Nepal continues to be the source of recruitment of Gurkha soldiers into the British army – a tradition dating back to the nineteenth century but still an essential part of Britain’s modern army - and the United Kingdom remains one of the most significant providers of development assistance to Nepal. There is no reason to suppose that these mutual interests will not continue to form the basis of close and friendly relations into the future.
