Is Nepal Older Than India: If so How and Why? – True ?

Nepal and India share excellent bilateral ties in terms of traditions, cultures, history, and religion. These two countries not only share an open border and uncontrolled movement of people, but they also have close bonds through marriages and family relations. However, the question “Is Nepal older than India? ” is a mystery to a lot of my fellow Indians and Nepalese.

You might have often heard “Nepal is our brother (Chota Bhai)” from Prime minister Narendra Modi and many other past ministers of India. So, here we are going to look into the saying technically by calculating the age of both countries.

I have no intention to hurt the feelings of any side; neither create hatred between peoples of these countries. So, please read it for just knowledge and conceptual approach.

Acquisition of Sovereignty and Establishment of Nepal and India

If we go with the official records Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल) was established in 1768 as the Kingdom of Nepal with Unification Campaign by King Prithvi Narayan Shah(officially began in 1743) of unifying all of Nepal that would form modern and lost territories of Nepal. Later On May 28, 2008, the newly elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal the Federal Democratic Republic.

Whereas India, officially the Republic of India, was founded on 15 August 1947. Present-day India was established when India got independence from Britain. However, the history of India dates back to the ancient period that’s Historical India, not the Republic of India.

As per the records for the establishment of India and Nepal and acquisition of sovereignty, Nepal thereby comes to be nearly 178 Years, 10 months, and 21 Days older than India. Which of course, is a significant amount of time. However, the history of Nepalis and Indians dates back to ancient times. They share the same origin and culture.

This makes Nepal the oldest country among SAARC countries in terms of the date of acquisition of sovereignty, and Nepal is the only country in the world that was never invaded by any empires of the world. Hope that clears a sensation between most of my Nepalese and Indian brothers.

Related: How Nepal Was Formed? Anglo -Gurkha War and British Colonization

Do you agree? – Is Nepal really Older than India?

So, the ultimate conclusion we could make by taking official records into account is Nepal is older than India. This means Nepal is the elder brother, not India. But, there is something we should also take into our records is if we go and compare the size of these countries then India is actually 22 times bigger than Nepal. Considering the different approaches to comparing things, India comes to be a way bigger brother. But for that, we might have to remove brother from our term Big Brother.

Now, let’s discuss what most people get confused about Nepal and India.

Here is where most people get confused…..

Indian Subcontinent and Ancient India

Again, that’s what official records do say not me. Some of my Indian friends might be thinking India has existed since the Maurya Empire or some might be wondering Indian subcontinent as India.

Let’s first talk about the Indian Subcontinent. Here is what I found on the wiki page about the definition of the Indian subcontinent “The Indian subcontinent, or the subcontinent is a southern region and peninsula of Asia, mostly situated on the Indian Plate and projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas.” I think that clearly signifies current day India is a part of the Indian subcontinent, not the Indian subcontinent.

Ancient India and Ancient Nepal

Now, let’s come to Ancient India. You might have noticed that I have been using words such as present-day India or current day India. This is to make a reminder that we are calculating and comparing the ages of both countries on the basis of how these countries evolved to become what they are.

If we look into the Sanskrit epics such as Mahabharata, the term Bharat or Bharatbarsh has been mentioned many times, but that’s historical India, and we cannot take historical India as the Republic of India.

Also, Ancient Nepal has existed for thousands of years. There are no records that clearly define how long had Ancient Nepal or Ancient India has existed, and neither we can calculate. You can check an article on How Nepal got its name? where you might find an idea of how long Ancient Nepal has existed.

Conclusions- A full stop to “How Nepal is Older than Indai?”

India is nearly 178 Years, 10 months, and 21 Days younger than Nepal as implied by the Acquisition of Sovereignty by these countries, and the Establishment of Nepal and India.

Clearly, we are not here to compare the ages of Ancient India and Ancient Nepal, and neither it’s possible from my side or yours. But, It’s not difficult to compare the ages of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and the Republic of India.

You May Like: Why Britain Never Succeeded in Colonizing Nepal?

That’s my conclusion on the older country between Nepal and India. You can agree or disagree with me; it’s up to you, but please don’t forget to write your thoughts in the comments. Also, If you have any opinions or disagree with my conclusions, feel free to use that comment section. I will make sure to look into your good thoughts and will try to include them in the article.

FAQ Related to Nepal