Among the valleys through which the waters descending from the high mountain range (at least four peaks here exceed 8,000 m., including Everest, 8,880 m., the highest in the world) flow toward the Ganges, the valley traversed by the Gandak River stands out for the abundance of its crops (cereals, tobacco, oilseeds, fruit), the intensity of its livestock farming, and the number of its inhabited centers. In this valley lie the capital of the small state (140,000 sq. km.), Katmandu (110,000 inhabitants), along with the other major human settlements: Patan (105,000) and Bhagdaon (93,000).
The population (7 million inhabitants, density 50 per sq. km.), ethnically mixed (indigenous Mongoloid peoples and peoples from the densely populated Indian region), is dominated by a tribe of warlike Hindus, the Gurkhas, who subdued the country in the 18th century and established a strong independent monarchy, opposing—even in religion (Hinduism)—the aboriginal majority (Buddhists; there is an enormous number of priests living in temples and monasteries; V. BUDDHISMO).
Nepal constitutes a hereditary principality ruled by a military oligarchy; the territory is closed to European penetration.
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**II. EVANGELIZATION.** - At the beginning of the 18th century, in Nepal—then subject to the rule of the Mogul emperor—the Capuchins had established several hospices to penetrate into Tibet. The first foundation was in Katmandu; later, others followed in Patan and Batgao. Through the practice of medicine, the fathers opened the way to the conversion of these peoples. In the hospice of Batgao, the Capuchin fathers built a small church. Between the years 1737–55, the number of children baptized in articulo mortis reached 6,000 or 7,000. It is not known how many adult baptisms took place, but it is evident that the missions in Nepal at that time were flourishing (*Bullarium Ordinis Min. Cap.*, VII, Rome 1752, p. 252). Later, the war waged by the King of the Gurkhas against the other kingdoms of Nepal endangered the future of the mission.
In 1766, there were only seven fathers left. After the war was won in 1769, the king of the Gurkhas ordered the missionaries to leave. The Capuchin fathers then gathered the Catholics, crossed the Himalayas with them, and settled in Bettiah. As they left Nepal, the missionaries believed it was a temporary truce, but the gates of this kingdom were irrevocably closed to any foreign penetration. By a decree of Propaganda dated May 19, 1893, the entire Kingdom of Nepal was added to the Apostolic Prefecture of Bettiah, now the Diocese of Patna. Yet to this day, no missionary has been able to evangelize the land of Nepal again.
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