The territorial foundation of Nepal as it exists today was laid in the mid-eighteenth century when small principalities in the Himalayan region were unified under the leadership of King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha. Nepal has remained an independent sovereign state since then. In 1846, Jung Bahadur Rana carried out a bloody coup, stripped the Shahs of political power and established a hereditary all-powerful Rana regime. While other independent countries in the world were going through a scientific technological and industrial revolution, the Nepali society remained isolated and feudalism continued as the order of the time. Scattered and sporadic opposition to the Rana Rule began immediately after the First World War, but it did not gather any momentum until the end of the Second World War. The anti-Rana armed movement led by Nepali Congress culminated in the eventual fall of the Rana regime in 1951. The Nepali Congress has occupied a pivotal position in the annals of contemporary politics of Nepal since then.Since its establishment the party has been in the forefront of political strggle in the cause of democracy, pluralism, human rights and rule of law. It has also waged a ceaseless battle againt feudalism and other remnants of the old order. It has always stood for liberal and modern values. In 1956 the Nepali Congress adopted democratic socialism as its ideology for socio-economic transformation. The party's struggle has been marked by both peaceful and armed means. In the course of its struggle the Nepali Congress has gone through several ups and downs, trials and tribulations. Thousands of its activists have been killed, jailed, tortured, exiled and their properties confiscated. In practically all general elections held in a democratic set up, Nepali Congress has been voted to power.
