Maharajadhiraja Prithivi Narayan Shah (1723–1775; Nepali: ???????????? ???) was the last ruler of the Gorkha Kingdom and first monarch of Kingdom of Nepal (also called Kingdom of Gorkha).
He claimed to be a Gorkhali monarch of Rajput origin from medieval India.
Prithvi Narayan Shah is credited for starting the campaign for the unification of Nepal.Maharajadhiraja Prithvi Narayan Shah self proclaimed the newly unified Kingdom of Nepal as Asal Hindustan ("Real Land of Hindus") due to North India being ruled by the Islamic Mughal rulers.
The self proclamation was done to enforce Hindu social code Dharmasastra over his reign and refer to his country as being inhabitable for Hindus.
He also referred to the rest of Northern India as Mughlan (Country of Mughals) and called the region infiltrated by Muslim foreigners.