Pire, I concur with almost everything you've said. I am too fed up with these half-wit people who keep on assessing Prithivi Narayan's deeds on the basis of present days' moral and ethical standards. We will never know what his real intentions were, whether it was merely for expansion of his state or unification of the whole country. Everyone is free to speculate, however I think it is totally unfair not to accept that it was because of him that we call ourselves Nepali. Expansionist or Unifier, it doesn't matter. We at least have one country. May be someone else would have done it if he hadn't, but for now why can't we all be grateful for what he achieved. Having said that, I am not condoning what he did to the people of Kantipur. That was horrible, but remember we are talking about a time centuries ago. You were right in pointing out what maoists and our recent kings have been doing in recent times. And spot on about that Umesh guy of merosansar. He did a great job during the movement, but I think he's fast losing his credibility for the reason you've mentioned. I too am a supporter of democratic republic for Nepal.