There has been little direct contact with the lands controlled by the British East India Company or its clients, but by the early 1800s a confrontation is becoming more likely.

Just as Nepal had been expanding toward the west throughout the late eighteenth century, so the company has steadily added to its annexed or dependent territories all the way to the Punjab.

Amar Singh Thapa claims lowland areas of Kumaon and Garhwal as part of his conquests, but David Ochterlony, the British East India Company's representative in the west, keeps up constant diplomatic resistance against such claims, which are not pressed.

In 1804 Palpa is finally annexed by Gurkha and along with it comes claims to parts of the Butawal area in the Tarai.

As Nepalese troops slowly occupy these tracts, local landlords complain to the company that their rights are being violated.

Similar claims to Saran District lead to armed clashes between Nepalese troops and the forces of local landlords.

During these proceedings, there is constant diplomatic intercourse between the government of Nepal and the British East India Company and little desire on either side for open hostilities.

The Gurkha generals, however, are quite confident in their ability to wage warfare in the mountains, and the company, with its far greater resources, have little reason to give in to this aggressive state, which blocks commerce in the hills.

After retreating before a reoccupation by company troops, Nepalese forces counterattack against police outposts in Butawal, killing eighteen police officers on April 22, 1814.

The fragile state of Nepal is at war with the British Empire.