Nepal - End of another Himalayan kingdom

• Nepal's 239-year-old Shah dynasty was the latest to bow out.
• Nepal becomes secular republic.
• Pressure has come from China to the north and India to the south, and pressure has come from below, from subjects impatient to replace feudalism with democracy, as these once-forbidden kingdoms gradually opened to the outside world.
• In 1990, street protests forced King Birendra to relinquish power and introduce democracy. The palace was openly reviled at the time, but over the ensuing decade it gradually rebuilt its reputation. While politicians squabbled and stole, the king stayed firmly above the fray.