Why aren't Bhutan or Nepal a part of China or India?

Why didn't India or China ever annex Bhutan or Nepal? Despite them being respectively run by expansionist powers like the Mughals or the British. To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

A special thanks to my patrons:

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[alexjv]

Without Nepal, who else would rebel against rectangular flags? 🇳🇵

[sleepysalamander]

At least 50% of historical border issue questions can be answered with one thing “Britain”

[thedawapenjor]

As a Bhutanese I have to say that the short of it is we had nothing of value. Even the trading routes were undesirable. The best thing we have to offer is to be a buffer state.

[gauravamatya]

Correction: Nepal was never claimed by China, neither pre nor post-independent India. We fought and defeated the Tibetans about three times and fought and lost one war to China. But never became part of China. However, we did pay tributes to China as you said. Although they never defended us when we needed it against the British in the Sino-Nepal war. So, the tributes stopped pretty soon.

[maharjan_sakin]

Slight correction at 1:44, British didn't acquire Darjeeling from Bhutan, rather it was acquired from Nepal after Sugauli Treaty during the end of Anglo-Nepal war. Before Anglo-Nepal war and Sugauli Treaty, Nepal's border extended from Tista (modern day southern part of Sikkim) to Kangada (modern day Uttarakhand state of India), after the treaty Nepal gave up these territories to British East India Company and now at present lies in India.

[Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I have long found it interesting that along the Indian-Chinese border, there are not one, but _two_ independent states that aren't a part of either! Now, I know why: mountains, instability in the Mughal Empire, British-Chinese relations, Tibet, and more mountains! Thanks for the video!

Edit from 28 August 2023: I have over 100 replies, which I didn't expect! That's the most replies I've gotten yet!

[anwitadhikari]

The British invaded Nepal not only for reasons of trade, but also for reasons of security. The territory of Nepal had expanded by almost 1000 kilometres in length in a span of 49 years, from 1743 AD to 1792 AD, and Calcutta, the most important port of the East India Company, was less than 400 kilometres from Nepal. The British assessed that if Nepal allied with either the Sikh Empire or the Maratha Confederacy, their position in Calcutta, and by default in India, would be untenable. This is shown by how they fought each state: Nepal in 1814, Maratha Confederacy in 1818, and the Sikhs in 1830s.

And while it is true that the British did not want to conquer Nepalese territory entirely due to geographic difficulties, they nevertheless wanted to divide Nepal back into the 55+ principalities it originally united from, so that Nepal would not continue to pose a threat to the British. They could not do this because Nepal fought well enough to protect its independence: out of 5 major campaigns fought between the British and the Nepalese in the war, the Nepalese won 3 of them.

Source: The Invasion of Nepal by John Pemble, a British military historian.

[abhinabkhanal]

3:04 Mao Never claimed Nepal as a part of Tibet. Nepal having previously won the war with Tibet got paid annually as a part of peace treaty. In the 1960s Nepalese Delegates had an official visit to china where they resolved border disputes and clearly claimed Mount Everest peak to be inside Nepal.

[williambarraclough]

Never fails to answer questions I needed to be answered but didn't ask

[P.K.theOrdinaryCommenter]

Fun Fact: Bhutan doesn't recognizes both China and Taiwan.

[BigBrotherTheWatcher]

I am watching this channel after two years and James Bissonette is still running the show!

[MartyxWL]

I was born in Sikkim with half British half Tibetan/Lepcha origin and I'm glad that someone has mentioned Sikkim and a brief history around it

[belgianvanbeethoven]

As a Belgian I was very excited to see your depiction of our Chamber of Representatives in our Palace of the Nation, so I was very attentive and I spotted you added the motto above the speaker's chair. I read "L'Union fait la force" and thought: very nice. But then I expected to read in my mother tongue: "Eendracht maakt macht". Instead I got: "Stroopwafels zijn heerlijk". Dear god, I laughed way too loudly for way too long at that one... Well, I must admit that I do agree, syrupwaffles are delicious. One of our neighbours' best sweets. Still, in the end, I am faithful to our Brussels and Liège waffles, of course.

As for the rest of the background: nicely done! Great video as usual!

Edit: I just watched last week's video, which I missed. It too has this joke in it. I wonder whether this image for our Chamber has been used a lot before and I just always missed it?

[AchyutChaudhary]

Fantastic video! I would recommend a History video explaining ‘Why was 🇲🇲Burma (now Myanmar) partitioned from 🇬🇧British India in 1937?’ - as it was British India’s largest province & there aren’t many videos explaining it, just like How you made a video about Why was 🇮🇳India partitioned into 🇵🇰Pakistan & 🇧🇩Bangladesh.

[akshittripathi]

A bit of inaccuracy at 1:09 Nepal did expand in the region, but not into the territory that's highlighted. The map shows them as taking over the territory of the Kingdom of Awadh, which was not the case. They didn't expand into the densely populated plains. Rather, they expanded west into what is now the Indian state of Uttarakhand. But a great video overall!

[aashutoshmishra]

In 1:50 you said Nepal became independent. I want to correct you that Nepal was never colonised. So after India got independence Nepal didn't had to choose to join India. It was Sikkim that was given the chance to choose either join India or be a separate country or join Nepal.

[magnetospin]

I imagine fighting a war in the Himalayas is very difficult for people who are not used to high altitude, even with modern weapons.

[avhgptws]

Perhaps, if James Bisonette were there, he'd conquer all of them and incorporate every country of the world into the Bisonette Empire.

[P_Dendu]

At 1:40, Britain and Bhutan went to war between 1845-1846, which Bhutan lost. It ended with the treaty of Sinchula, where Bhutan lost control over Assam and Bengal Duars.

[saujanyapoudel]

Hi! A Nepalese here. It is controversial but the truth needs to be told. India is not invading Nepal directly but is slowly shifting its borders outward overnight. Sometimes it sparks an international headline but most of the time it goes unnoticed by everyone else.