The fort's garrison was commanded by Captain Balbhadra Kunwar, while Major-General Robert Rollo Gillespie, who had previously fought in the Battle of Java, was in charge of the attacking British troops.

A number of later engagements, including one at Jaithak, unfolded in a similar way; but more than any other battle of the war, the fighting around Nalapani established the Gurkhas' reputation as warriors.

In 1814 under the new and ambitious Governor-General Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, the Earl of Moira, the long-standing diplomatic disputes between British India and the Kingdom of Nepal, caused by expansionist policies of both parties, descended into open hostility.

[4] Around the beginning of October 1814, the British troops began to move towards their depots and the army was soon after formed into four divisions: one at Benares, one at Meerut, one at Dinapur, and one at Ludhiana.

[5] The division at Meerut was formed under Gillespie, and originally consisted of one British infantry regiment, the 53rd, which with artillery and a few dismounted dragoons, made up about 1,000 Europeans.

As a result of the hasty construction work, even at the wall's lowest part, it was high enough that the attacking force would need ladders to reach the top of the rampart.

[15] Every point where the fort was approachable, or thought weak by its defenders, was bolstered by stockades made out of stones and stakes that had been stuck into the ground.

Parties were employed in preparing fascines and gabions for the establishment for artillery batteries, while two 12-pounder guns, four 5.5-inch howitzers, and four six-pounders were carried up the hill on elephants.

[15] The British secured the table-land without any Nepalese resistance and the gun batteries were ready to open fire on the fort on the morning of 31 October, at a distance of 600 yards (550 m).

[15][17] It was intended for these columns to ascend from different points, at a signal made through the guns firing in a specific manner, and thus attack the Nepalese from different sides.

[18] In doing so, the British hoped to divert the attention of the Nepalese and prevent them from concentrating their fire on any one point, allowing the attackers to gain an advantage.

[15] However, after the attack began only two columns, those under Carpenter and Ludlow, responded to Gillespie's signal to assault, which was given some hours earlier than was intended.

[fn 2][21][22] Not having expected such a determined resistance from the Nepalese, Colonel Sebright Mawbey, who was next in command of the British troops at Nalapani,[22] retired to Dehra until 24 November so that heavy guns could arrive from Delhi.

[26] The day ended with the British assault force withdrawing after spending two hours pinned outside the wall, exposed to heavy fire from the garrison, and having suffered significant losses.

[29] However, that night the Mleccha Kalanala Company, which had arrived as reinforcements and was stationed at a portico east of Nalapani, secretly abandoned their post, taking with them their arms and colours.

Perhaps unable to convince their commanders with words, the escaping men caught hold of their Captain and other officers by their arms, and dragged them away from the fort.

[28] When the British troops entered the fort, it was found, as Prinsep writes, in a "shocking state, full of the remains of men and women killed by the shot shells of our batteries; a number of wounded were likewise lying about, and the stench was intolerable.

"[32] [fn 3] Upwards of 90 dead bodies were found and cremated, while the wounded were sent to British hospitals; the rest of the fort was then razed to the ground.

[34] This gave rise, on one occasion, to a scene, which was recounted by the Scottish traveller James Baillie Fraser: While the batteries were playing, a man was perceived on the breach, advancing and waving his hand.

The guns ceased firing for a while, and the man came into the batteries: he proved to be a Ghoorkha, whose lower jaw had been shattered by a cannon shot, and who came thus frankly to solicit assistance from his enemy.

He recovered; and, when discharged from the hospital, signified his desired to return to his corps to combat us again: exhibiting thus, through the whole, a strong sense of the value of generosity and courtesy in warfare, and also of his duty to his country, – separating completely in his own mind private and national feelings from each other, – and his frank confidence in the individuals of our nation, from the duty he owed his own, to fight against us collectively.

[36] Fraser recorded the situation in the following terms: The determined resolution of the small party which held this small post for more than a month, against so comparatively large a force, must surely wring admiration from every voice, especially when the horrors of the latter portion of this time are considered; the dismal spectacle of their slaughtered comrades, the sufferings of their women and children thus immured with themselves, and the hopelessness of relief, which destroyed any other motive for their obstinate defence they made, than that resulting from a high sense of duty, supported by unsubdued courage.

[39] The fighting spirit displayed by the Nepalese in this and other following battles of Anglo-Nepalese War ultimately led to the recruitment of Gurkhas into the British forces.

[40] The battle provides the setting to a Nepali musical drama called Nalapanima written by Bal Krishna Sama and composed by Shiva Shankar.