Review article: Kirkpatrick's An acoount of the kingdom of Nepal

Colonel Kilpatrick's mission to Nepal was undertaken in early 1793. His itinerary lasted less than seven weeks, from February 13 until April 3. The cause of the mission lay as far as Nepal was concerned, in the danger that was looming large in the north just before the start of the Nepal-Tibet war of 1972. Nepal wanted military help from the British government of Bengal to repulse the Chinese attack in the event of such a situation arising and accordingly wrote an urgent appeal to Calcutta. The Government of Bengal during this time was very keen to negotiate friendly relations with Nepal, motivated by a desire to further British trade with Nepal and Tibet. Nepal was considered a better approach or access route to Tibet than Bhutan because of the latter's discouraging attitude to the conduct of Bengal's trade with Tibet through Bhutan.