later, owing to a disagreement over the frontier policy of the Gurkhas, war was declared by the British, and two campaigns followed. At first fortune favoured the hillmen, but subsequently under General Ochterlony a decisive battle was fought, and in 1816 the Nepalese sued for peace. A treaty was concluded, and since that date Nepal has been under the protection of the British Government.
The annals of the country as an Independent State of India have been somewhat uneventful. The Gurkha raja, Girvena Yuddha Vikrama, who was responsible for the war, died shortly after the treaty, and his place was taken by his infant son, Rajendra Vikrama Sah. During his minority the reins of the Government were held by a powerful minister named General Bhimsena Thapa. At this time the court resolved itself into the two rival factions of the Thapas and the Panres, and the remaining years are a record of struggles between these parties for supremacy. Bhimsena, however, was a wise and popular regent; but after having been over twenty years in power, through a variety of circumstances, he was
