Kingdom of Nepal
Nepal, 1768–2008. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Kingdom of Nepal was a Hindu monarchy in South Asia that existed from 1768 to 2008. The kingdom was formed out of the expansion of the Gorkha Kingdom by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha monarch of the Shah dynasty. The Anglo-Nepalese War (1814 to 1816) resulted in Nepal's defeat, and under the Treaty of Sugauli the kingdom retained its internal independence in exchange for territorial concessions. Members of the Rana dynasty served as the hereditary prime minister from 1843 to 1951, and the Rana dynasty reduced the Shah monarch's role to that of a figurehead.
Seat of power: Kathmandu
Rulers
Prithvi Narayan Shah
King of Nepal, 1768–1775
He was the last monarch of the Gorkha Kingdom and the founding monarch of the unified Kingdom of Nepal. He is credited with initiating the Unification of Nepal and relocating Kathmandu as the royal capital. His efforts to unify the fractured country and build a shared political identity earned him the historic title Father of the Nation and King of Kings.
Portrait of Prithvi Narayan Shah: the Record, Public domain, file
Pratap Singh Shah
King of Nepal, 1775–1777
He became king at the age of 24 in 1775. Pratap Singh Shah ruled for only 2 years 10 months, up to 1777, and died of smallpox at the age of 26. He did not actively participate in the unification campaign led by his father.
Portrait of Pratap Singh Shah: Amar Chitrakar, Public domain, file
Rana Bahadur Shah
King of Nepal, 1777–1806
He ruled under the regencies of his mother, Queen Rajendra Rajya Lakshmi Devi, and then of his uncle, Bahadur Shah. During this time, the kingdom was expanded by conquest to include the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, now part of India. He imprisoned his uncle, Bahadur Shah, who died in jail.
Portrait of Rana Bahadur Shah: Amar Chitrakar, Public domain, file
Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva
King of Nepal, 1799–1816
Girvan Yuddha ascended the throne at the age of 1 and 1/2 years when his father abdicated to become an ascetic. He ruled under the regency of Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal and Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa. The Anglo-Nepalese War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, which ceded around a third of Nepal's territory to the British.
Portrait of Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva: Unknown, Public domain, file
Rajendra of Nepal
King of Nepal, 1816–1847
His reign saw the rise of the Ranas; in 1846, Jung Bahadur Rana came to power as prime minister and the next year, Rajendra was forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Surendra, by Junga Bahadur Rana. Most of Rajendra's rule was under the regency of his step-grandmother Queen Lalit Tripura Sundari Devi and Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa.
Portrait of Rajendra of Nepal: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Surendra of Nepal
King of Nepal, 1847–1881
He became the king after Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana forced the abdication of his father, Rajendra Bikram Shah. Surendra was effectively reduced to a figurehead, with Rana being the de facto ruler of the country.
Portrait of Surendra of Nepal: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Prithvi of Nepal
King of Nepal, 1881–1911
Among the most notable events of his reign were the introduction of the first automobiles to Nepal, and the creation of strict water and sanitation systems for much of the country.
Portrait of Prithvi of Nepal: Madan Puraskār Pustakālaya, Public domain, file
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Tribhuvan I of Nepal
King of Nepal, 1911–1955
He was King of Nepal from 1911 until his death in 1955, excluding a brief period of exile between November 1950 and January 1951. At the time of his coronation, the position of monarch was largely ceremonial, with the Rana dynasty exercising de facto power.
Portrait of Tribhuvan I of Nepal: DirghaMan and GaneshMan Chitrakar Art Foundation, Public domain, file
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Gyanendra of Nepal
King of Nepal, 1950–1951
He reigned from 7 November 1950 to 7 January 1951, when the Rana regime declared him king at the age of three after his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, and the royal family fled to India. His brief reign ended with Tribhuvan's restoration to the throne.
Portrait of Gyanendra of Nepal: Krish Dulal, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Mahendra I of Nepal
King of Nepal, 1955–1972
He led the 1960 royal coup, in which he dismissed the government, suspended the constitution, banned political parties, jailed their leaders, and established the Panchayat rule. During his reign, Nepal experienced a period of industrial, political and economic change which opened it to the rest of the world for the first time, after the 104-year-long reign of the Rana rulers, who kept the country under an isolationist policy, came to an end in 1951.
Portrait of Mahendra I of Nepal: Archive Nepal, Public domain, file
Birendra of Nepal
King of Nepal, 1972–2001
He inherited the panchayat system from his father when he acceded the throne in 1972, ruling as Nepal's absolute monarch. Following the 1990 revolution, he disbanded the system, lifted the concurrent ban on political parties and promulgated a new constitution in which he served as head of state of a democratic constitutional monarchy.
Portrait of Birendra of Nepal: CAPTAIN MEDUSA, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
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Gyanendra of Nepal
King of Nepal, 2001–2008
His second reign, which began as a result of the Nepalese royal massacre, was characterised by constitutional upheaval. He suspended the constitution and assumed direct rule in February 2005, claiming that it was a temporary measure to suppress the Maoist insurgency after civilian governments failed to do so. He reigned until 28 May 2008, when the monarchy was abolished and the democratic republic was proclaimed.
Portrait of Gyanendra of Nepal: Krish Dulal, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Dipendra of Nepal
King of Nepal, 2001–2001
He was King of Nepal for three days, from 1 June 2001 to 4 June 2001. For the duration of his brief reign, he was in a coma after apparently shooting his parents King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, other members of the royal family, and ultimately himself, in an event known as the Nepalese royal massacre. Crown Prince Dipendra was named as the perpetrator by the official investigation, although the lack of a trial and unanswered questions about the incident have led to ongoing speculation.
Culture
- King Tribhuvan played a significant role in ending the autocratic Rana regime and initiating the democratic movement in Nepal.
- An economic crisis at the end of the 1980s led to a popular movement that brought about parliamentary elections and the adoption of a constitutional monarchy in 1990.
- The 1990s saw the beginning of the Nepalese Civil War (1996 to 2006), a conflict between government forces and the insurgent forces of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
- The Nepalese monarchy was further destabilised by the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre, which resulted in Gyanendra assuming the throne again.
Picture
The Narayanhiti Palace, built by order of King Mahendra in 1963, was the residence and principal workplace of the monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal and became a museum in 2008.
Image: Suraj Belbase, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.