(centre)
Princess Wencheng (right) and
Princess Balmobza' Khribtsun (left) The relationship between
Nepal and
Tibet are centuries old, with the
Sherpa people, the
Gurung people and the
Thakali people of
Nepal sharing close linguistic, cultural, marital, and, ethnic ties with the
Tibetan people of
Tibet. Around 600–650 CE, Nepalese Princess
Bhrikuti (Bal-mo-bza' Khri-btsun in Tibetan) married
Songtsän Gampo, the earliest known Emperor of Tibet. Princess
Bhrikuti, as a part of her dowry, is widely believed to have brought Buddhists relics and
Thangkas to Tibet, and therefore, is attributed for establishing Buddhism as the Royal religion in Tibet. Bhrikuti is usually represented as
Green Tara in Tibetan
iconography. The Red Palace (Mar-po-ri Pho-drang) on Marpo Ri (Red Mountain) in
Lhasa, which was later rebuilt into the thirteen storey
Potala Palace by the Fifth
Dalai Lama, was constructed by
Newari craftsmen according to her wishes, who came to Tibet from
Kathmandu with her, as a part of her dowry. She also instructed her craftsmen to construct the Tub-wang and other statues in
Samye, the first Buddhist
gompa in Tibet. One of her craftsmen, Thro-wo, also carved the revered statue of
Chenresig (
Avalokiteshvara), Thungji Chen-po rang-jung nga-ldan. During the
Tang dynasty, the Chinese envoy
Wang Xuance led an army of Nepalese and Tibetans to defeat an usurper in the Indian
Kingdom of Magadha at the
Battle of Chabuheluo. In 1260 CE during the
Yuan dynasty, Nepalese craftsmen
Araniko, on the decree of Chinese/Mongolian Emperor
Kublai Khan, traveled to
Shangdu and built the White Stupa of
Miaoying Temple in Beijing, which was the largest structure in
Beijing at that time. Taking almost ten years (1279–1288 CE) to complete, the Stupa better known as White Dagoba, is still standing today and is considered to be one of the oldest Buddhist Stupa in China. 1685 (AD 1763) meeting with
King Mahendra in 1965. In 1789, the Tibetan government stopped the usage of Nepalese coins for trade in Tibet, citing purity concerns over the copper and the silver coins minted by the Nepalese government, which led to the first
Tibet-Nepal War. A resounding victory of Gorkha forces over Tibetans in the first Tibet-Nepal War left the
Lhasa Durbar with no choice but to ask for assistance from the
Qing Emperor in
Peking which led to the first
Sino-Nepalese War. In the immediate aftermath of the Sino-Nepalese War (1789–1792), Nepal was forced to sign the 'Treaty of Betrawati' which stipulated that the Government of Nepal was required to make payment of
tribute to
Qing court in Peking once every five years, after the defeat of Gurkha forces by the
Qing army in Tibet. However, during the
Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–16), the Qing Emperor refused the Nepalese government's request to provide support to Nepalese forces, and, the latter's defeat led to the establishment of the
British Empire in India. Soon after Nepal's defeat in the
Anglo-Nepalese war, from 1840 onward, Tibetan government again stopped the use of Nepalese coins for trade. In an attempt to preserve the lucrative coin export business and trade advantages, the Nepalese Kingdom, under the leadership of
Jung Bahadur Rana again invaded Tibet in 1855 during the second
Nepalese-Tibetan War, and raided the
Tashilhunpo Monastery in
Shigatse, home to the
Panchen Lama at that time. The invading Nepalese army was ordered to vacate the occupied
Tibetan territories by the
Qing Court, which was rapidly losing its hold over frontier territories due to turmoil inside China proper. Nepal's refusal to hand back the control of
Tashilhunpo Monastery led to the second
Sino-Nepalese War which resulted in a stalemate; a major setback for Tibetans, ultimately culminating into the
Treaty of Thapathali on March 24, 1856. Through the
Treaty of Thapathali, Nepal expressed commitment to help Tibet in the event of foreign aggression while authorities in Tibet were obliged to pay the Nepalese government a sum of Nepalese Rupees 10,000 every year. while at the same time, Nepalese coins were completely forbidden in
Tibet from then onward. During the late 19th century (1899–1901), after the destabilization of Qing Imperial Court due to the
Boxer Rebellion, the
British Raj as the unchallenged and the dominant power in the sub-continent exerted total control over China's frontier regions including Nepal. Left with no support from the weakened Qing Court, in the immediate aftermath of Qing Empire's defeat at the hands of an 8-nation alliance, Nepal aligned itself with the
British Raj in India and supported the
British expedition to Tibet. The area of
Lo Manthang, however, still remains quasi-restricted to foreigners. ==Diplomatic relations and Nepalese neutrality==