ABSTRACT
Nepal, which was a small independent Hindu Kingdom in the Himalayan range of mountains, has made a historic transition from its 240-years-old monarchy. Till the 1950s, Nepal was commonly known as the ‘Forbidden Land’ due to its very controlled and oligarchic nature of politics. Nepal is a geographically landlocked country and is located at an altitude varying between 70 m and 8,884 m, bordering two Asian giants—India and China. Assam’s relation with Nepal also is rooted in matrimonial alliances, fostering pre-colonial migration. Thus, Nepal had historically a close tie with Assam and had encouraged migration through many such means in the pre-colonial period. The colonial conquest of the Assam valley later had opened up the region to Nepali highlanders. Nepal’s internal political instability, economic underdevelopment, poverty, high unemployment scenario, and ethnic conflicts have heavily led to the increase in out-migration to the neighbouring nations like India, and India’s Eastern and Northeastern states have remained open to such immigration.
