Sugauli Treaty - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Sugauli Treaty was signed on December 2, 1815 and ratified by March 4, 1816, between the British East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

and Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, which was a kingdom during that era. This ended the second British invasion of the Himalayan kingdom during the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816). The signatory for Nepal was Raj Guru Gajaraj Mishra aided by Chandra Sekher Upadhyaya and the signatory for the Company was Lieutenant-Colonel Paris Bradshaw. The treaty called for territorial concessions in which parts of Nepal will be given to British India, the establishment of a British representative in Kathmandu, and allowed Britain to recruit Gurkha

Gurkha

Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...

s for military service. Nepal also lost the right to deploy any American or European employee in its service (earlier several French commanders had been deployed to train the Nepali army).

Under the treaty, about one-third of Nepalese territory was lost, including Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

(whose Chogyal

Chogyal

The Chogyal were the monarchs of the former kingdoms of Sikkim and Ladakh, which were ruled by separate branches of the Namgyal family. The Chogyal, or divine ruler, was the absolute potentate of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, when its monarchy was abrogated and its people voted to make Sikkim India's...

s supported Britain in the Anglo-Nepalese War); territory to west of the Kali River like Kumaon

Kumaon Division

For Kumaoni/Kumauni People see Kumauni PeopleKumaon or Kumaun is one of the two regions and administrative divisions of Uttarakhand, a mountainous state of northern India, the other being Garhwal. It includes the districts of Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh, and Udham Singh Nagar...

(present Indian state of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

), Garhwal

Garhwal Kingdom

Garhwal Kingdom was a princely state in north-western Uttarakhand, India, ruled by the Panwar dynasty. It was founded in 888 AD and existed until it was annexed by the Gorkhas in 1803...

(present Indian state of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand

); some territories to the west of the Sutlej River like Kangra (present day Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

); and much of the Terai Region. Some of the Terai Region was restored to Nepal in 1816 under a revision of the treaty and more territory was returned in 1865 to thank Nepal for helping to suppress the Indian rebellion of 1857

Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...

.

The British representative in Kathmandu was the first Westerner allowed to live in the post-Malla Era Nepal. (It is to be noted that few Christian missionaries operating were deported by the Gurkhas after conquering Nepal during mid 18th century). The first representative was Edward Gardner, who was installed at a compound north of Kathmandu. That site is now called Lazimpat and is home to the British and Indian embassies. The Sugauli Treaty was superseded in December 1923 by a "treaty of perpetual peace and friendship," which upgraded the British resident to an envoy. A separate treaty was signed with India (independent by now) in 1950 which restored fresh relations between the two as independent countries.

Until the Sugauli Sandhi (treaty)

Until the Sugauli Sandhi (treaty) was signed, the territory of Nepal also included Darjeeling, and Tista to the east, Nainital to the south-west and Kumaun, Garwal and Bashahar to the west. However, today these areas are a part of India.

Terms of the treaty

After the Anglo-Nepal war, a treaty of peace and friendship was signed between the government of Nepal and the East India company. It is popularly known as "The Treaty of Sugauli, 1815". It was agreed upon on 2nd December 1815 by Gajraj Misra and Chandra Sekhar Upadhayay, on behalf of the government of Nepal, and Lt. Col P. Bradshaw, on behalf of the East India company. The signed copies of the treaty were exchanged on 4th March 1816 at Makawanpur by Chandra Sekhar Upadhayay and General Octorlony. The terms of the treaty were as follows:-

There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the East India company and the king of Nepal.
The king of Nepal will renounce all claim to the lands which were the subject of discussion between the two States before the war; and will acknowledge the right of the company to the sovereignty of those lands.
The king of Nepal will cede to the East India company in perpetuity all the under mentioned territories: i) The whole of low lands between the rivers Kali and Rapti. ii) The whole of low lands between Rapti and Gandaki, except Butwal. iii) The whole of low lands between Gandaki and Koshi in which the authority of the East India company has been established. iv) The whole of low lands between the rivers Mechi and Teesta. v) The whole of territories within the hills eastward of the Mechi river. The aforesaid territory shall be evacuated by the Gorkha troops within forty days from this date.
With a view to indemnify the chiefs and Bhardars of Nepal, whose interest will suffer by the alienation of the lands ceded by the foregoing Article (No. 3 above), the East India company agrees to settle pensions to the aggregate amount of two lakhs of rupees per annum on such chiefs as may be decided by the king of Nepal.
The king of Nepal renounces for himself, his heirs, and successors, all claim to the countries lying to the West of the River Kali, and engaged never to have any concern with those countries or the inhabitants thereof.
The king of Nepal engages never to molest or disturb the king of Sikkim in the possession of his territories. If any difference shall arise between Nepal and Sikkim, it shall be referred to the arbitration of the East India company.
The king of Nepal hereby engages never to take or retain in his service any British subject, nor the subject of any European or American State, without the consent of the British Government.
In order to secure and improve the relations of amity and peace hereby established between Nepal and Britain (East India company), it is agreed that accredited Ministers from each shall reside at the court of the other.
This treaty shall be ratified by the King of Nepal within 15 days from this date, and the ratification shall be delivered to Lt. Col. Bradshaw, who engages to obtain and deliver to the king the ratification of the Governor-General within 20 days, or sooner, if practicable.

In fact, this treaty of Suguali was in favour of the East India Company and Nepal had to suffer a heavy loss of her territory. So, a subsequent agreement was made in December 1816 according to which Nepal got all the low lands (Terai) from Mechi, in the east, to Mahakali, in the west. Therefore, the indemnity of two lakhs of rupees ceased to continue. A land survey was also proposed to fix the boundary between the two States.

Validity of the treaty

1. Article 9 of the treaty says that the treaty shall be approved by the King of Nepal, but records of the treaty being approved by King Girwana Yuddha Bikram Shah have not been conclusively traced.

2. The British had feared that Nepal might not implement the treaty signed on March 4, 1816 by Chandrashekhar Upadhyaya. Therefore, Governor General David Octerloni, on behalf of the British Government, ratified the treaty the same day and the counterpart treaty was handed over to Upadhyaya.

3. Some have argued that the treaty was signed between Nepal and the British and thus lacks the force to be implemented between Nepal and independent India.

Boundary conflict

As the treaty was not clear about the National delimitation

National delimitation

National delimitation in the Soviet Union refers to the process of creating well-defined national territorial units from the ethnic diversity of the Soviet Union and its subregions...

, its effects have persisted even to the present time:

1. The treaty failed to mention clearly in so many sections where the borderline would actually pass through. There have been problems in demarcating the boundary line and in erecting border pillars at several places. Now the area of such disputed places has been estimated at around 60,000 hectares. In many of these areas, there are still claims, counter-claims, discussions, controversies and arguments from both sides.

2. The result is that even today there are accusations of encroachment and disputes at 54 places of the Nepal-India borderline. The prominent areas have been identified as Kalapani- Limpiyadhura, Susta, Mechi area, Tanakpur, Sandakpur, Pashupatinagar, Hile Thori etc.

External links

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Until the Sugauli Sandhi (treaty)

Terms of the treaty

Validity of the treaty

Boundary conflict

See also

External links