Pokhara's early history is rooted in its location along an important trade route between the Indian subcontinent and Tibet. Before the unification of Nepal, the region was ruled by the Kaski Kingdom, one of the Chaubisi Rajya (24 Principalities) of the Gandaki basin. The legendary King Kulmandan Shah established his capital here, and his descendants ultimately led the unification of modern Nepal under King Prithvi Narayan Shah in the late 18th century.
Following the unification, Pokhara became an increasingly vital commercial hub. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Newari traders from the Kathmandu Valley migrated to Pokhara, transforming it into a vibrant trading post and introducing their distinctive brick-and-wood architecture, remnants of which can still be seen in the old city areas like Bindhyabasini and Bhairab Tole.
For much of its history, Pokhara remained accessible only by foot. It wasn't until the late 1960s, with the completion of the Siddhartha Highway (connecting Pokhara to the Indian border) and the Prithvi Highway (connecting to Kathmandu in the 1970s), that the city opened to the modern world. In the 1970s, Pokhara became a prominent stop on the famed "Hippie Trail," laying the foundation for its modern tourism industry. In 2017, Pokhara merged with neighboring areas to officially become Nepal’s largest metropolitan city by area.