NEPAL

Nepal stamps available at Io Collezionista. Nepal managed to keep its independence through the centuries, the various territories having been unified in 1768 by Prithvi Narayan Shah, in the face of the expansionist designs of China and of the British Empire from neighbouring India. According to local legend Nepal derives from the name of a sage, Ne, who moved to the valley where the future capital Kathmandu would rise. In later ages the story was handed down of a certain sage Nemi, protector, Pali in the local language, of the valley, hence the word Nepal. It is worth recalling that the name of the Newar, the historic inhabitants of the valley, went through a complex evolution over time which, according to a Sanskrit source of the 6th century, became for a period Nepal, denoting both the inhabitants and the whole territory.