Nepal Loses Original Documents of the 1816 Sugauli Treaty Amid Border Dispute
Nepal has misplaced or lost the official historical documents detailing the 1816 Sugauli Treaty with India, leaving authorities unable to confirm the physical location of the centuries-old papers that define the country’s western border with India, according to government officials.
The missing documents have surfaced as a central diplomatic hurdle amid an active territorial dispute over the Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura regions. The centuries-old accord remains the foundational legal instrument establishing the boundary along the Kali River. Without the original archival papers inside domestic repositories, Kathmandu faces a complex challenge in substantiating sovereign cartographic claims against modern Indian maps.
Search of National Archives Fails to Locate 1816 Sugauli Treaty
Nepalese authorities acknowledged that a comprehensive search across the Nepal National Archives and related government ministries failed to yield the original texts. According to official statements reported by The Times of India and regional outlets, officials confirmed there is no clear information regarding the current whereabouts of the treaty records.
The missing parchment sits at the heart of historical statecraft between the Himalayan kingdom and India. Signed on March 4, 1816, the Sugauli Treaty concluded the Anglo-Nepalese War. The treaty explicitly restricts Nepal’s claims to territories east of the Kali River, a geographic demarcation that forms the core of contemporary territorial disagreements.
India Signals Openness to Diplomatic Dialogue
In response to the developments surrounding the missing archives, India’s Ministry of External Affairs indicated that New Delhi remains open to diplomatic talks with Nepal to address boundary management and bilateral concerns. Indian officials have maintained that historical boundary alignment is governed by clear cartographic evidence and established treaties, even as Kathmandu navigates its domestic document shortage.
Bilateral relations have experienced periodic friction over the border sectors since Nepal released a revised political map in 2020 incorporating the disputed tracts. While academic historians point out that verified transcriptions and duplicate copies exist within British colonial archives and Indian repositories, the absence of Nepal’s primary domestic copy complicates formal diplomatic verification processes.