Fascinating story of a monarchy on the doorstep of China now changing to a republic:
Nepal's major political parties have agreed to abolish the world's last Hindu monarchy as part of a deal to bring former communist rebels back into the government, the one-time insurgents said Monday.
The communists, who are known as the Maoists, ended their decade-long rebellion last year and later joined the country's interim government. But they withdrew in September, demanding the monarchy be immediately abolished.
The current monarch, King Gyanendra, heads a dynasty that dates to 1769, when a regional ruler led an army down from the hills and conquered the ancient city of Katmandu.
Gyanendra came to the throne in 2001 after a palace massacre in which the crown prince is accused of gunning down Gyanendra's older brother, the late King Birendra, and much of the royal family and then killing himself. The murders helped pierce the mystique surrounding Nepal's royalty.
Wonder how much influence China itself or the U.S. had on this matter? Also, what is the future for Hinduism?
Based upon my year of living in Nepal when my former wife had a US Government position, I would say that China and India were more powerful than the US. The US was important, because they funded so much stuff, but the Japanese, who were not so influential funded a lot of infrastructure projects.
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