Question

The Gurkha war took place during the tenure of _________.
(A) Lord Warren Hastings
(B) Marquess of Hastings
(C) Lord Cornwallis
(D) Lord Wellesley

Answer 1

Hint: The Gurkha War, also known as the Anglo-Nepal War, was fought between the Kingdom of Gurkha. It is presently known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, and the East India Company.

Complete step-by-step solution:
The Gurkha King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s conquest of the Kathmandu Valley, the capital of the Malla Confederacy, was the beginning of the Shah period of Nepal. Only the Kathmandu Valley had been referred to as Nepal until that time. An ill-equipped and ill-prepared expedition numbered 2,500 was led by captain Kinlock in 1767 with the assistance of the East India Company which the Confederacy had sought.
The war was fought between 1st November 1814 to 4th March 1816. In 1760, the Gurkhas assumed responsibility for Nepal by the replacements of Ranjit Malla of Bhatgaon and started to spread their domain past the mountains. They found it easier to extend in the southern direction, as the north was well defended by the Chinese. In 1801, the English conquered Gorakhpur, which bore the frontier of the Gurkhas and the boundary of the Corporation. The war began with the capture of Butwal and Sheoraj by the Gurkhas during the tenure of Marquess of Hastings (1813-23) and it ended with the signing of the Sugauli Treaty in 1816, which gave away some Nepalese held territories to the East India Company.

Thus, option (B) is correct.

Note: The Treaty of Sugauli was ratified on 4th March 1816. According to the treaty, Western Terai, all Sikkim (including Darjeeling), and the Kumaon and Garhwal regions were lost to Nepal. The Mechi River became the current eastern frontier and the Mahakali River became the western border of the empire.