Baise Rajya (Nepali: बाइसे राज्य) -- "22 principalities" -- is a former group of petty kingdoms centered in the Karnali-Bheri river basin of (modern) Nepal. The Baise were sovereign but intermittently allied among themselves until annexed during the unification of modern Nepal during 1744-1810. The nation's founder Prithvi Narayan Shah (ruled 1743-1775) did not live to see this but his son and grandson annexed the entire collection by the end of the 18th century.

The 22 principalities were Jumla, Doti, Jajarkot, Bajura, Gajur, Biskot, Malneta, Thalahara, Dailekh, Dullu, Duryal, Tulsipur-Dang, Sallyana, Chilli, Phalawagh, Jehari, Darnar, Atbis Gotam, Majal, Gurnakot, and Rukum.

A parallel confederation of 24 principalities Chaubisi rajya (Nepali: चौबिसी राज्य) occupied most of the Gandaki basin east of the Baisi.

Dang_Deokhuri_District

House of Tulsipur

Aruna Lama (Nepali: अरुणा लामा) is one of the well-known singers of Nepali music. She is popularly known as "The Nightingale of the Hills". She sang hundreds of Nepali songs, including some for Nepali films, and left an indelible mark as one of the best singers in Nepali music.

Aruna Lama was born on September 9, 1945 at Ghoom Pahar, Darjeeling, India to Surya Bahadur Lama and Sanmaya Lama. Her uncle C.B. Lama inspired her to sing from the age of 7. She won a music competition organized by the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan (GDNS) in 1956 at the age of 11 and then she never looked back. Amber Gurung, one of the stalwarts of Nepali music, groomed her in singing from 1958. Aruna Lama did her schooling at Mungpoo Primary School, Jalpahar, and St. Teresa's School, Darjeeling. She completed her graduate degree in arts from Darjeeling Government College. In 1963, Aruna Lama married Saran Pradhan, another Nepali musician. In 1974, her husband died and she was left with her two children. She worked hard to raise them, working as an assistant teacher in St. Alphonsus School (1965) and finally found work at the Scheduled Castes and Tribes Welfare Office in Darjeeling where she worked till 1998. She continued to sing even with all her struggles till the end of her life.