Nepal
Although Nepal has never been a British colony, the history of the country makes it clear that its rulers had close connections with their counterparts in the British Empire. This, as well as the fact that Islam is not the dominant religion, explains the relatively high number of equestrian statues in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. To put the statues in perspective, we should understand a little of the history of the country.
Nepal’s history is characterized by its isolated position in the Himalayas. Due to the arrival of disparate settler groups from outside through the ages, Nepal is now a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multilingual country. Prithvi Narayan Shah founded the Kingdom of Nepal in 1768, which later suffered a major defeat in the Anglo-Nepalese War against the British East India Company. In the resulting treaty of 1816, nearly one third of the country (including Sikkim) was ceded to the British, in exchange for Nepalese autonomy. From 1846 until 1951, the prime ministers of the Rana dynasty ruled the country de facto. This Hindu Rajput dynasty reduced the role of the Shah monarch to that of a figurehead, and made the prime minister and other government positions hereditary. Tyranny, debauchery, economic exploitation and religious persecution characterized Rana rule. This changed in 1951 with the promulgation of a new constitution, when power shifted back to the monarchy. A struggle for democracy in the twentieth century resulted in a peace treaty signed in 2008. The royal household was ousted, elections were held, and Nepal became the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
All the seven equestrian statues in Kathmandu were ordered and produced in England. One should realize that this meant that these heavy statues had to be carried over the mountains between Nepal and India.