Fossils of ancient hominoids Ramapithecus were found near the Tinau (Tilottama) River as early as 1932, including a 10.1 million year old tooth.
Historically Butwal connected Nepali people with their Indian neighbors. As the British East India Company annexedAwadh from its hereditary rulers while the Shah Dynasty attempted to annex the Terai, Butwal became one of bones of contention leading to the Gurkha War 1814-16.
When King Tribhuvan fled to India in 1950 during the revolt against the Rana dynasty he travelled through Butwal. Then it was little more than a village on the western bank of Tilottama River (also known as Tinau). With completion in 1968 of Siddhartha Highway from the border at Sunauli through Butwal to Pokhara and then in the 1990s Mahendra Highwayacross the full east-west expanse of Nepal's Terai, Butwal has developed rapidly
