Jumla, Karnali Province, Nepal

🇳🇵 Jumla is the centre of Chandannath Municipality in Jumla District of Karnali Province of Nepal. It is located at 2,514 metres (8,251 feet) elevation. According to new structure Jumla district is divided into 1 municipality (urban) and 7 rural municipality: Municipalities • Chandannath (urban) • Kankasundari • Sinja • Hima • Tila • Guthichaur • Tatopani • Patarasi.

Geography Jumla is one of the 77 districts in the midwestern hills of Nepal. Rice (Oryza sativa L) cultivation in Jumla ranges from 2,400 to 3,050 m altitude, which is the highest elevation in the world. The highest elevation at 3,050 m is Chhumjul of Jumla, a record altitude, where rice is cultivated in Nepal. Jumli Marshi, a Japonica variety of indigenous rice, having cold tolerant gene, is probably cultivated since 1,300 years ago in Jumla in the bank of the Tila river. The Tila Valley as well as the Sinja Khola Valley are covered with paddy fields growing the 'Kali Marshi' rice variety, a unique red rice that is sought after for its special taste.

Jumla has a STOL airport, Jumla Airport, and the road network first reached it from Surkhet in May 2007. It is the usual starting point for treks to Rara Lake.

History Jumla was a part of Khasa kingdom during the 11th to 13th century. After 13th-century, Khasa Kingdom collapsed and divided into Baise Rajya (22 principalities) in the Karnali-Bheri region and the Kingdom of Jumla was one of them.

Kingdom of Jumla The Jumla Kingdom was one of the many kingdoms that dotted Nepal before its reunification by King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha and later by his younger son Bahadur Shah. The kingdom was founded around 1404 when Baliraja, who married the daughter of the last ruler of the Yatse (Malla) Kingdom, succeeded his father-in-law. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in western Nepal, being one of the 22 Baise principalities of the Karnali region which had once been part of the larger Yatse Kingdom. After centuries of intermittent warfare, it appropriated the kingdom of Mustang in 1760. In the late 18th century the Jumla kingdom successfully defended itself against the first attack by King Prithivi Narayan Shah, and legend even has it that he got injured in the battle. Later, with the help of the kingdoms surrounding Jumla, Bahadur Shah attacked again and annexed Jumla for the Gorkha kings in 1789. The Jumla kings were Thakuris (Sijapati, Malla, Shahi) like the Gorkha Kings.

The Jumla Kingdom belonged to the more extensive pre-unification kingdoms in Nepal. At the height of its power it extended from Mustang in the east to present-day Uttarakhand, a state in modern-day India, territory that the Kingdom of Nepal lost to the East India Company in 1816 during the partition of Nepal. The Jumla kings belonged to the Kalyal dynasty, linked to the Mewar clan of Rajasthan, India. There have also been marriages between the Jumla royal family and the Shah's royal family of Nepal. The direct descendants of the erstwhile Jumla royal family include Nepali Film legend Nir Shah, Maya Kumar Shah SP (Retd.) of Nepal Police, former Director-General of Nepal Electricity Authority Harish Chandra Shah, DIGP (Retd) Sher Bahadur Shah, Colonel Nepal Army (Retd.) Bhim Bahadur Shah and AIGP (Retd.) of Nepal Police, Surendra Bahadur Shah.