The Hidden Himalayan Kingdom of Mustang

This episode of The History of Nepal takes us beyond the well-trodden Kathmandu Valley to the windswept plateaus of Mustang, a remote kingdom that once controlled the salt trade and stood as a buffer between Nepal and Tibet. We trace its origins to the Tibetan warrior Ame Pal, who founded the Lo Dynasty in the 15th century, and follow the fortunes of Lo Manthang, a walled city whose red-and-white monasteries still echo with the chants of Vajrayana Buddhism. We explore the kingdom's intricate relationship with the Gorkha conquest of the late 18th century, when it became a vassal state, and its later role in the Anglo-Nepal War and the failed 1856 invasion of Tibet. We also examine the unique culture of the Thakali people, whose trade networks stretched from India to Lhasa, and the enduring legacy of the Kingdom of Lo, which survived until the 2008 abolition of the Nepalese monarchy. From the Kali Gandaki river's sacred saligrams to the clifftop caves of Mustang, this episode uncovers a hidden chapter of Himalayan history that challenges our assumptions about Nepal's past.

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