The Gurkha state has its greatest success in expanding to the east and west, but it also presses northward toward Tibet.

There is a longstanding dispute with the government of Tibet over trade issues, notably the status of Nepalese merchants in Lhasa and other settlements and the increasing debasement of coinage used in Tibet.

There also is a dispute over control of the mountain passes into Tibet, including the Kuti and Kairang passes north of Kathmandu.

In the 1780s, Nepal demands that Tibet surrender territory around the passes.

When the Tibetans refuse, the Nepalese close trade routes between Lhasa and Kathmandu.

In 1788 the Nepalese overrun Sikkim, send a punitive raid into Tibet, and threaten Shigatse, seat of the Panchen Lama, the second highest-ranking lama in Tibet.

They received secret assurances of an annual payment from the Tibetan and local Chinese authorities, but when the agreement is not honored they invade again in 1791, pillaging the monastery at Shigatse before withdrawing to Nepal.

These acts finally move the emperor in Beijing to send a huge army to Tibet.

Alarmed, the government in Kathmandu concludes a trade agreement with the British East India Company, hoping for aid in their struggle.

They are to be disappointed because the British have no intention of confronting China, where there are so many potential trading opportunities.