The Nuwakot hilltop served for over a thousand years as a lookout and fort (kot) guarding the western entrance to Kathmandu Valley. It was an important trading hub for the Malla kings of the Valley, lying on a major transit route for trade between India and Tibet via Kerung. Prithvi Narayan Shah captured the hill fort in a surprise attack on 26 September 1744 and made Nuwakot the capital of his expanding kingdom; it later served as a staging ground for the conquest of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur in 1768-1769. In later history, Chinese forces nearly captured Nuwakot during the Nepal-China conflict of 1792, and it was the site of the first meeting between British envoy William J. Kirkpatrick and Regent Bahadur Shah in 1793. The current seven-storey Nuwakot Durbar complex was expanded in the 18th century by Prithvi Narayan Shah, was submitted for consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, and suffered damage in the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Researched by the ChillNepal team from published sources. Spot something out of date? Tell us from the place's page.
