Life and Writings Of: I.Eet - Anateshwar Sharma Baral
Life and Writings Of: I.Eet - Anateshwar Sharma Baral
Life and Writings Of: I.Eet - Anateshwar Sharma Baral
BY
ABSTRACT
After the text are two appendices and two maps of Nepal.
map of the whole of Nepal within its present boundaries. The other, a
were waged.
. . . .
Kathmandu for his kind help. It 'Was he 'Who during my stay in Kathmandu
(1951-56) accepted me as his disciple and initiated me ,into Nepalese
history. He has been for me an infinite storehouse of inspiration, and
every time I have approached him, personally or by correspondence, he
has been kind enough to give me details of information I needed.
Some other Nepalese friends, particularly, Messrs. Sliryavikram
JfiavalI, Lalitjanga Sijapati and Bhavanibhiksu, have been very helpful
~
to me. I am obliged to Mr. Harka Bal'iadur Gurung and Mrs. Khadeja Patel
for their assistance in the dra'Wing of the maps I needed. I am also
thankful to Prof. A.L. Basham, Prof. J. Brough, Prof. C. von FUrer-
Haimendorf, Dr. p. Hardy and Prof. L. Petech for their valuable sugges-
tions. Members of the staff of the Library of the School of Oriental
and African Studies, and the India Office Library have been very kind
to me and have provided me 'With every possible facility in the
course of my research work.
5
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60 "OT .
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~ e ch th v or v
ai "
or ai j d
,
5
~ au or au
;:Ii I " Ii n s
-• -• t
• P h
·• h. th ph ks .
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7
and MakYanpur are the spellings largely used b.1 the Nepalese and in
maps too, so ~ and not! is used. In Nepali orthography the retroflex
. .
nasal is not used in the word Kathmindu and hence the subscribed dot
has not been used.
s
LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PRTHVINlRAYAN
----------------~o
sIB
.----
Abstract 2-3
Acknowledgements 4-5
Transliteration Table 6-7
Chapter I Introduction 9-16
Chapter II Translation of Divya upades 17-55
Chapter III Translation of Ptthv!naray~ Sah1s letters
(1742-J/J) 141-17..2i
Chapter VII Second phase of PtthvinaraYBl) I s campaigns
(1746-56) 173-200
Chapter VIII Third phase of P~hvinarayaz: I s campaigns
(1756-67) 201-252
Chapter IX Last phase of Ptthvlnarayazt I s campaigns
(1767-75) 253-303
Chapter X PrthvInarayan,
o • Soldier and Statesman
304-329
Appendix A Text of Nepall letters of P£thvinaray8.!l Sal!
330-345
Appendix B Bibliography 346-352
9
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
and the Nepali material included in the Hodgson Papers in the India
Office Library, some of which also exists in English, Persian and
Hindi versions.
Primary Material
1. ~thvlnarayaI]. I s Memoirs
. .
These memoirs have been published in book form in Kathmandu under the
. .
editorial title Divya upades. The 7th edition is dated Kathmandu, 2016
(1960 A.D.). The manuscript of the text is believed to have been 'Written
10
about 1800 A.D., and I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the
1
published version.
The text falls into two quite separate parts. The first is
historical, and contains an account of the campigns of Pt)thvIna.ray~ up
to the capture of Nuw8ko~ in 1744. Whether the later campaigns ",ere
similarly recorded and the record has been lost is not known. There is
no evidence on the subject either in witing or in the traditional lore
of the period. The second part of the text consists of a series of
policy pronouncements on a variety of topics: army organisation, systems
of justice, organisation of internal government, trade, currency, religion,
etc. The interpretation of this part of the text as PrthvInarayan's
o •
'advice' ",ould seem to account for the title under "'hich the whole
document has been published, Diyya upades. The form of the text as ",e
have it suggests that it ",as composed piecemeal,possibly qy dictation,
and assembled at a later date. It may be that a later ruler Yished to
draw upon PrthvInarayan'
o • s Yisdom in the conduct of his own military
strategy and internal policy.
2. PrthvInarayan's
o • letters
Secondary Material
,
The text entitled PsthvInaray® Siihko jlvani is held in VIrapustakalaya
. .
(Darbar Library) in Kathmandu and was published in 1963 A.D. It 1s a
2. GorkhavaIDsavalI
3. Hodgson Papers
The Hodgson Papers in the India Office Library contains a great wealth
of material on the persons and the period covered b.1 this thesis. They
13
considerable value.
4. Chronology
The problem throughout has been to fix with accuracy the dates of the
actions taken b.1 PothvInar8y~ Sah. It was not~d in the description in
the primary and secondary material given above that in certain cases
dates have not been given at all. In others they are spasmodic, and in
others incomplete. It has nevertheless been possible qy an examination
of all the material in parallel to ascertain the order in which the
events took place, and to assign to most of them a precise date. This
has been possible because certain dates are given in full, i.e. they
,
contain the year in Saka or Vikram eras, in some cases both the month,
the tithi (the day of the lunar fortnight) or gate (the day of the solar
month) and the day of the week. These dates after verification have been
used as the landmarks of the chronology. Other dates such as those in
the letters of P~thvInaray~ which do not insert the year, it has been
possible to calculate by working out the concurrences of the day of the
16
week, the tithi, etc. These dates once established were inserted in the
chronology. Other dates found to be accurate Py reference to the land-
marks already established were also inserted. These together gave me
the main chronological framework against which it was possible to work
out with reasonable accuracy the date of undated events and to correct
inaccuracies and eliminate variant datings.
In making the mathematical calculations necessary to es-
tablish the dates according to the ~aka or Vikram eras and to translate
them into the dates of the Christian era, I have been guided Py a work
I
of Sewell and Dikshit, and Pillai. I found that the method adopted by
Pillai was most useful in my own calculations. A check was also made
2
of the system operated by Petech but this proved less satisfactory
than Pillai IS.
CHAPTER II
,
TRANSLATION OF DIVYA UPADES
1 2
Obeisance to G~esa. May the goddess K81ika help (us).
May the three times glorious Siva 3and Gora'~nath 4helP (us). tJ.ay the
5 6 T
five times glorious Prlthinaray~ help (us). A speech of the most
8
glorious grand monarch before spiritual and religious priests, members
9 .
of the tradition~ families, relatives, councillors and his personal
10
male attendant Surathis1mBana.and all those whom people everywhere
11
regard as wise elders, during his last visit to Nuhako~ after the
12
conquest of Nepal of the three cities and the kingdom of the Lord of
13
the Hindus (Hindupati).
People say, "The old die but their speech lives on". When
you have been told this, you vill tell your descendants; your descendants
vill tell our descend~nts and thereQy they viII continue to rule over
this kingdom and preserve its integrity.
Ours are three mothers. We were born of the three
14
marriages; we were the reincarnation of the five pam~uvas. I vas
15
married in Makuvanpur. The bride vas not handed over and so ve went
16
to Makuvanpur vith a view to bringing the bride back and seeing Nepal
17
as well. After our arrival we made a demand on Dikbanda Sen namely that
18
I stationed ~ajit
Basnyat, Manstmha Rokaha, Birbhadra
57
Pa~hak in the G:utSnko birai under cover of Ligllg. I told them that
people had told me that the ~oddess of Sallyan-
Propitiation of the
goddess of Sa1lyinko~ 58
ko~ possessed a marvellous power of revealing
and her blessing
herself and that I too would go to visit her
on an auspicious day. I despatched them and accordingly set out on an
22
auspicious day. I encamped in a thatched hut which had been built for
me in a field. I asked the members of the traditional families of Sallyin
and its military chiefs and commandants whether I should be permitted to
visit the ~oddess. They replied to me that in so far as visiting the
inner sanctuary was concerned only priests and attendants were entitled
to do so. Saying so they left it to my discretion. I enquired whether I
could go as far as the door. To this they replied in the affirmative. I
went to the door every morning and evening and there I offered prayers,
told my beads and performed worship. One night I had a dream. It was a
girl of seven or eight years. She carried two swords, one in each hand,
and veiling her face with a yellow kerchief she approached me. I asked
her whose daughter she was. She replied that she was the daughter of
59
the Rana priest. She took out from the inner fold of her garment some-
thing which was red and as lustrous as a mirror. Holding it to my mouth
she asked me to swallow it. She told me that the desire of my heart had
been granted. She had a req~est to make and wanted me to promise that
- it would be granted before I went. So saying she left me but she had
scarcely gone two steps when I awoke. I sent for Bhanu, the astrologer,
Kulananda, the astrologer, and the Rana priest. I asked them what my
dream meant. The astrologers and also the priest said that it was the
~oddess who had revealed herself to me. Immediately I promised to offer
60
to the ~oddess the income from Borlam Gha~ and the tableland adjoining
the Gha~ for the purpose of daily worship and things needed for it, such
23
83
25
84
This kingdom is like a yam sandwiched between two stones.
85
Maintain very friendly relations with the Chinese emperor. Also maintain
86
friendly relations with the emperor of the sea of the south. But he is
87
very shrewd. He has been keeping H1ndusthana under his control and is
now in the plains. He will come in search of forts because it may be
difficult for him if Hindusthana becomes united. Keep forts ready in
effect at all.
Economic measures nine lakhs (of rupees) and the kingdom of the
Hindupati Our clothing consisted of eyiga and
1m
P~ga cloth. Impose a prohibition on the wearing of Indian cloth. Show
..........
samples of Indian cloth to those who know hoy to weave and instruct them
so that they can weave such cloth themselves. The result of this will
100
be that money vill not flow into a foreign country. Take indigenous
commodities, medicinal roots and herbs to foreign countries and collect
foreign currency. Maintain a steady flow of foreign currenc,y into the
l~
country. If the subjects are veIl off the palace will be strong. What
ll9
The essential thing required by a king is soldiers. Provide
them with home and land. They will manure and irrigate it. In this way
120
~~----------~~~I they will own both shares for themselves.
Military reorganization:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -____ 1
Then their families will have complete
security. The soldiers will also be in high spirits whether they be in
the capital or at the front. While screening men in the services form
l~
a company of hundred guns. As Subedars appoint men who have won reputation
in four or five battles and have been examined Qy yourself. Subedars
122
will also appoint as senior officers seven men who have had experiences
in two or three battles. The seven senior officers will choose as non-
123
commissioned officers sixteen men who have fought in battles with them
and appoint them to their rank. The sixteen non-commissioned officers
will also choo·se soldiers who have fought with them and enrol them in
their units. In their respective units they will enrol men of these four
124
.
tribes only: Sas, Magar, Gurum and Thakuri. One unit should not consist
.
of men of only one tribe. Life will become ver~y hard when fighting takes
125
place. Even the seat of Indra is shaken if one has thousands of bows,
126
thousands of flint-lock guns, thousands of scimitars, thousands of cannon.
Both those who fight in battles and those who render assistance are equal.
30
Do not discriminate between them while distributing offices and freehold
land. If a man dies give a pension to his son until he is capable of
handling a scimitar himself. As soon as he is able to handle a scimitar,
127
promote him to some office. If the king is considerate, soldiers also
128
from different countries vill come in hope of reward. If this happens
soldiers skilled in swordsmanship will be available. A king's real
wealth is his soldiers and subjects. The king should be clever, and he
will then keep the soldiers and subjects under his control. So revolt
and intrigue will not take place. As regards the soldiers, let him keep
them in training. Properly trained soldiers are not likely to be suborned
by anybody. Thus his purpose is accomplished. When the Guruins and Magars
is because outsiders create disorder in the palace. Let the king keep
all authority in his own hands. I have promoted the Umravas of the three
130
Importance of Thums to high executive authority and have confirmed
the Umravas
them in it. I have given them drums and standards as
their insignia. I have laid down that, they shall each of them receive
131
in perpetuity an income of 240, because wherever they have served on the
battle fronts at Sallyan: , LiglIg and Dhadlm, they have been successful
31
Old servants and this glorious result has been achieved. Test
to be tested
your old servants of our house, keep them at your
beck and call, make adequate arrangements for their duties and emoluments
and b.1 so doing keep your house strong. If the king is clever, let him
Soldiers and subjects to keep his soldiers and subjects under his
be kept under control control. Do not let them to be led into
disloyalty b.Y anyone's favour or obligation to anyone. Keep them loyal
to their salt.
happens, the sin which attaches to wrong judgment will not apply. If
tance. He sent for me but later on he betrayed me. After that with great
south to help Jayaprakas Malla. I did not let them enter Nepal but
139
slaughtered them inside the seven villages. Nahaf Kasmeri
Slaying of
the Nagas ~an"'invaded Makuvanpur. I defeated~is army] ",ith six
Defeat of Nawab score swordsmen, routed him and came back after
Mir Kasim of Bengal 140 CII
driving him beyond our boundary. Hadi Sabeb .
Defeat of Hardy ,
_______1 invaded Siduli ~.Fort with three or four platoons.
141-
There I defeated him, captured some flint-lock guns and returned. Three
n l42
Appointment of three : Muslims from Lapanai had come to Nuwako~ with
Muslims as Adjutants :
" ___,.,_--_·te"blP",Lt,-.
>, • . *4 • .
___
- -,
,,,n; a great desire to live under my protection and
operate these guns. I appointed these three men, Se~ Jarbar, Mama Taki
143 144 145
Bhe~irsiID as Aji'!ians. Thus I had my soldiers trained as riflemen.
to forestall the sin of its becoming the land of the Mugals I disbanded
Policy of the ~
Let none permit the movement of these people into
·closed frontiers:
---:~~------_I the Hills. Well, you may call one or two for the
153
EhiW' but send them away quickly. Thus they will not know secrets of
the country. For luxury and recreation one may have and see the dances
of the Newars of Nepal of the three cities. These dances are sanctioned
in the sacred texts. What is given to them will stay in the country.
154
If this happens the country will remain ~ecur~.
34
Textual annotations
1. The Hindus commence every undertaking, whether religious or secular,
with an invocation to G~esa, the god of wisdom and obstacles, and the
son of Siva and parvati. G~esa has the power to remove obstacles and
is hence invoked at the commencement of all sorts of compositions with
the usual formula svasti srI G~esaya nama~.
2. Otherwise KalI, a name of Durga, the goddess of terrific power.
Durga, the daughter of Himavat and wife of ~iva, is also called Uma,
ParvatI, etc., and is the mother of rarttikeya and G8.\lesa.
3. Erroneously written for Siva, the god who has the power of destroying
and reproducing. He constitutes the third god of the Hindu Trinity, the
other two being Brahma, the creator, and Vi~~u, the preserver. In Nepali
orthography the dental sibilant £ is often substituted for the palatal
sibilant i
~. Written for Gorakhnath, the legendary eponymous deity of Gorkha
(vide GVY, pp.ll ff). In Nepali orthography the cerebral sibilant Ii was
usually substituted for the voiceless aspirated velar kh. -
_ There are evidences to believe that the Sah kings of Gorkba
~~re primarily devotees of ~iva (vide IP, vol.I,p.40, col.l; GVY, pp.
71-72), but being Hindus they nevertheless showed their devotion to the
Brahmanical Pantheon, and also to local deities, to mendicants of diffe-
rent orders and to indigenous faiths. It is however curious that there
is no mention of Vi~~u of whom the kings of Nepal were supposed to be
an incarnation.
5. Hindu names are usually preceded b.1 arI used as an honorific prefix.
It is repeated to denote higher veneration or dignity. The word has a
wider connotation implying prosperity, welfare, good fortune, auspicious-
ness, wealth, power, majesty, glory, splendour, beauty, etc. The names
of the Malla kings of the KarnalI region appear with one arI only which
however was used with five times in the names of the kings of this region
from the eighteenth century (IP, vol.II, pt.i,pp.149 ff). The names of
the Malla kings of the Nepal Valley appeared with two arise The first
numismatic evidence of 1754 shows PbthvInaray~'s name prefixed b.1 two
arise It was preceded ~ three arIs in an inscription of 1763 (IP, vol. I ,
p.48,col.1) and five aris in an inscription of 1765 (ibid.,p.38,col.1).
In Bl! !nscription at Palancok 0.£ 1768 PlithvInarayBl).' s name appears with
two sris, presumably to conform to the practice of the Malla kings of
the Nepal Valley. In all PbthvInarayaIJ.' s letters his name appears with
three arIs excepting in one where it has five (videL~~'I\oD;\.kThe use of
five arIs (sri 5) for the names of the Sah kings and their queens, queen
mothers, king's brothers and sons was adopted when Janga Bahadur, the
Rfu:1a Prime Minister (1846-77) was designated srI 3 in 1856. The name of
the royal spiritual priest (Bara GurujyU) appeared with six arls as is
also the practice when addressing one's parents in letters.
35
either Upadhyayas or J£is1s. The former are Brahmans par excellence, and
the latter inferior since they are descendants of an Upadhyaya widow
kept as a wife by an Upadhyaya Brahman, or of an Upadhyaya girl kept by
him as a wife without marriage. Previously Upadhyayas and JMisls were
equal in social grade. It was PtthvInaray8.I} who demoted JRisIs to be
lower in grade than the Upaqhyayas as a punishment for their intrigue
against him. From then on J£isIs were debarred from officiating as
priests (vide pp. 195-96). So b,y profession they generally became J£isls,
otherwise called Josls or JosIs ( < SkI jyoti~~- , 'astronomer'). It-':is
not known whether Kulananda and Bhanu were Upadhyayas or J£isls. But
since they were astrologers they were called JHisls, the title denoting
their profession rather than distinguishing their grade.
These two J £is1s were constant companions of Pt)thvInarByaI}..
Bhanu Arjyu had been in the service of GorkhB. since the days of Narbhupal
~ah, Ptthvinaray8.IJ.' s father (GVY, p.124). During P~hvInarayaI}' s time
he was also for some time a Treasurer (KhajancI) (RP, vol.5l,fo.78,
vol.52,fo.l03). Kulananda survived PtthvlnarByaI} (HP, vol.51,fo.82;
IP, vol.I, p.128,col.2).
23. A mountain (elevation 8,289 ft. above the sea level) forming the
south-western boundary of the Kathmandu Valley. It is 7 miles from
Ka~hma.n~u. " .
24. I.e. Bhatgau. Omission of nasal mode was perhaps intentionally left
or a scribal error.
25. I.e. Ka~hm~Ru. For the omission of nasal mode vide above.
26. Written incorrectly for Brahman, the usual Nepali being Bahun
(vide n. 48 ) •
Z7. Text, atit < SkI atIta- , meaning 'one who has renounced worldly
interest', i.e. an ascetic. Acarya (ed.) DU, p.4,n.2, thinks it means
'guest' (cf. < SkI atithi- 'one who comes without an appointment; guest').
Both, atit, 'ascetic', and~, 'guest' are however held in equal reve-
rence in Hindu society.
28. Muslim mendicants. It is interesting to note that Fakirs were
sufficiently well known in Nepal at that time to have been included in
this list along with Hindu ascetics.
29. I.e. SarasvatI, the goddess of learning.
30. Modern spelling ThSnko~, a hamlet situated near the foot of the
Candragiri mountain. It is 6 miles south-west of Ka~hminc}.u.
31. Modern spelling KalherI or KallerI, a ford on the left bank of the
. ..
BlirhI
, GandakI river and near the confluence of this river with the
TriSUl!. It is situated on a ridge and about 30 miles to the vest of
. . - -
Kithmandu via DhunIbesI, and then formed Gorkhii 1 s frontier
,
territor,y of Pa~an, which lay to the south of the TrisUli.
with the
39
47. I.e. Lamjung, the capt,taJ: ~f the state of the same name. It vas the
strongest states in the Caubisi. It is nearly 32 miles in the north-west
of Gorkhi. There had been a traditional rivalry and feud between the
two houses of Gorkhi and Lamjung since 1559 when Dravya Sah a :prince
of Lamjung, established his kingdom of Gorkhii independent or his brother
who was the ruler of Lamjung (vide pp. 101, 150-51).
48. These were the prominent castes of Gorkha. The Bahuns (Brahmans) had
in earlier times migrated from various parts of India to settle in the
whole length of the southern strip and in the first and second range of
the mountains in the Nepal Himalaya._The Khases, once inhabitants in the
Himalayan range from Kashmir to Kumiu, seem to have settled in the Kali
and Karnal! regions during the eleventh century (Giuseppe Tucci: Nepal,
pp.57,60). From this region they subsequently spread further towards the
east as far as 118m, the eastern extremity of modern Nepal. The Magars,
who belong to the Tibeto-Nepalese race and are Hinduised, are one of the
ancient tribal peoples (vide PP.108-9 ). The !hakurls claim to be of
the pure Rajput origin and regard themselves superior to the Khases and
Khatrls, the latter progeny of Brahman fathers and Khas mothers (vide pp.
83,~~,2,89). There is no ethnical evidence to support this claim. In
features the 1hakurIs resemble other tribes of the Mongoloid race. The
superiority which they claim may have been due to the power which they
acquired b,y establishing their principalities in the Nepal Himalaya. It
is interesting to note the order in which the four castes are mentioned
b,y Pbthv!naray~. It suggests the prominence held by each in his court.
49. Being a conveyance of the Lord Siva, an ox is regarded sacred b,y
the Hindus and hence it is a sin to ride on its back. It is however
yoked to both plough and cart to which no sin is attached.
50. It was not Sah as mentioned b,y P£thvlnaray~ but in all probability
SabI, the title of the royal house of Lamjung, a suggestion which is
supported by the title SabI used b,y the descendants of this house even
today (vide HP, vol.5l,fo.94, where Sabi is written for Virmardan, the
son of Ripumardan; also IP, vol.I, pp.67-68). P~thvlnaraya.I} had b,y this
time adopted Sab as his title (vide p. 82 ), ana because of the fact
that both the houses of Gorkha and Lamjung derived from a common stock,
he used it probably for the King of Lamjung as well.
51. I.e. Kilu pire, a Khatri. He was sixth in line from Ga.I}es pire, one
of the close associates of Dravya ~ah, and of the illustrious family
included in the Cha Thar (q. v. n.9). ralu Pire died in the course of
the first invasion of KIrtipur by P~thvInaraYa.I} in 1757 (vide p. 210).
From two P~es, Tularam and Kal.u, evolved two P~e families; the former,
a legitimate issue, was of a fair complexion and so his line of family
is called Gora ('fair') Pa~e; the latter being born of a Magar mother,
and hence illegitimate, was of a dark complexion. Vamsldhar vas his
real name. He was however nicknamed K81u ('blackie') and thus his line
of family became known as Kala ('black') P~e.
52. The treat~ for which K81u P~re is credited provided for an agreement
between Gorkha and Lamjung to the effect that either side could increase
its territory without any interference from the other and if required
either side would send troops to the assistance of the other. It also
laid down that Gorkha and Lamjung were to extend their respective
territories, t~e former as far as Sindhu in the east and the latter:;.fI
as far as Arghau in the territory of KaskI in the west (vide pp.153-54).
53. Icarya (ed.): DO, p.25, has quoted a few of these sacred books:
Manusm~, 7.54; I\amandaklya Nltis~ra, 4.25; Mahabharata: Santiparva,85.ll.
54._For the appointment of K81u P~e to ministership vide PP.1S~-56).
Viraj BakhetI was later a NajikI (aide-de-camp) of P~hvInaray~ (IP,
vol.l,p.125, c01;2).
55. The Basnyats (modern spelling Basnet) became conspicuous in the time
of PbthvInarayaIt, t~e most prominent among them being Sivaramsmha and
his sons. Sivaramsifuha vas the first Basnet to holg a high rank. He
became a Sardar (military cQmmander). He died in Sagacok in the course
of the second invasion of Cagu in 1755. His second son KeharsiIDha
(vritten here Keherstmba), vho rose to be a Kaji, took part in a number
of campaigns undertaken by Pt;thvinaraya\l. He was killed in action in
Satahu in 1771 in the course of campaigns against the C~ublsI. ~ivaram~~
simbals third son Abhimansimha became a Sardar. He vas mainly credited
Yith the conquests of the east,. C£udru;g.'i and Morang. SivaramsiIIlha l s
fourth and the youngest son DhaukalsiIDha (1746-1802) vas a counsellor in
Prthvinaray8.\l's time.
o
56. It is curious that P~thvinaray~ does not give credit to other tribes
the members of vhich played equally gallant roles in the success of his
campaigns leading to the conquest of Makvanpur in 1762, of the Nepal Valley
in 1769, ang. of CKudB.!lc}.i and Morang in 1773 and ,!774 res:Qecti:,:e;ty: No
doubt the Pares and Basnets, particularly I\alu Pare and SivaramsiIhha. Basnet
and their sons, played conspicuous roles in the realization of his ambi-
tion. In Nepalese accounts we have a galaxy of men such as Vamsaraj, •
Damodar, RarJ.aSur (sons of I\alu P~te); N8.ha.rs1IDha, Keharsooa, Abhimansirilha,
Dh£ukalsiJUha. (sons of ~ivaramsiIDha Basnet); Ranakesar, Gajkesar, KarvIr,
RaI].ajanga, Ral].adal (sons of Damodar P~re); JahUsiIhlla, Kirtismha,
Bakhtavarstmha (sons of Kehars1mha Basnet), etc., who served P;thvi-
narayarJ. ~d his succ:s~ors in various capacities to build modern Nepal.
Jadga Bahadur, the ~a Prime Minister, eliminated members of these
families from the high offices traditionally conferred upon them.
57. This was a region which comprised the villagespf Goplang, Bhusunc}.I,
Chopr8.k, lpp'ipal Bhanjyang, MIrkot, Ge.l.khure, etc. It lay between the
Cepe and Darau u"'d-J. r i ·
vers, surrounding the fort of Liglig, and north-west
of Gorkba (Iciirya,ed.:DU, p.26). The meaning of the phrase is not certain.
Icarya in a letter informs me that kings used to give a birs. of betel
leaves to officers entrusted Yith some specified duties ana-that the
acceptance of the bira implied an oath of allegiance. Bi~a is a folded
betel leaf dressed inside with aromatic spices, and in-soie cases dressed
outside either Yith ~hin silver or gold plate. So g£u~[nko birai means,
Icarya says, the regJ.on vhere such officers were posted. Since there was
a constant danger of being attacked unavares in that quarter by the
troops from LamJung, PsthvInarayaIf had to post his offi.5:ers to these
strategical villages to yard off any sporadic attacks. Aciirya is inclined
to interpret birai·in this way, considering Gorkha l s vulnerability from
the side of Lamjung. But an Abstract Noun (birai) is not possible from
a Noun (bire.) in Nepali grammar which permits such a formation from a
Verb only. So birai, an Abstract Noun (as is clear from the formative
suffix -ai), is derivable from v12i raunu, a Verb, meaning 'to commit a
mistake; to make land fit for agriculture', and hence g~ut.anko birai means
I pasture-land made arable I (cf. gRu~8.n <*gQ~~h8.n < Sk. gosthana- ,'pasture-
?it. ; '4vt> '
43
land', for which modern Nepali has gocarj and birai, 'arableness, ara-
bility'). Perhaps the region, originally a pasture-land, was turned to
cultivation and peopled ~ men in charge of the defensive strategies
stationed there.
58. I.e. Sallyan Fort. It is 8 miles east of Gorkha. In Sallyan there is
a tableland which is cultivated during the rains. This kind of tableland
is called Tar in Nepali. On account of the tableland Sallyan has another
name Sallyan Tar.
59. Rana is a sept of Magars. In some temples of Sallyan, Nuw8ko"ti
(eastern), Kiitbmanq.u, Banepa, etc. there are even now non-Brahman "priests
in Hindu temples: e.g. Nagars, Newars and ~hastha Sannyasis> i.e.
descendants of the celebated ascetics who broke their vows and returned
to domestic life.
60. Modern spelling Borlang Ghat, a place about 6 miles east of Gorkha.
!
61. A ridge on the western bank of the TrisUlI.
62. I.e. Khincet, on the western bank of the TrisUlI.
63. I.e. VetravatI, a river which after flowing parallel and to the scu.th
of the Tri5Uli merges with it at the place of the same name (Vetravati)
about 6 miles north of Nuwrucot;. The valley of the confluence, which in
Nepali is called benI, is also called Vetravat!. At the confluence there
is a shrine of the goddess Indr8.I}.i (written here Indrayeni), a name of
Durga. Indr~r is reckoned as one of the eight mothers (mat~ka) or divine
energies (Monier-Williams: Sanskrit-English Dictionary).
64ft Shr!ne of the ~oddess IndrWt! Bhairav! (written here Indrayani
Bhairabi). Bhairavl. is a particular form of Durga.
65. Mab8ma.I].Q.al (misspelt here ris the highest peak of NuWko'\i, 2 miles
north-east of it, on which there was a fort of the ~~la kings of Kath-
manQ.u, but now desolate. Speaking of it as a co-wife of Nuwako~, P~thvI
narayaI]. meant two equally important components of Nuwako~: the fort
and the peak.'
66. Gyam! {also GyangmI) is a branch of the Rani Magars to which Jayanta
Rana, the person referred to here simply as Gyami Rani, belonged. Narbhupal
8ah had in 1737 sent troops under his command to invade Nuw8kot.. But it
met with serious reverses which were solely attributed to the incompetence
of the Magars. In the purge Jayanta HAna was dismissed. Subsequent to
his dismissal he joint Jayaprakas Malia, Ktng of Ka:t-hman~u (1735"-68),
who stationed him at Nuwrucot; as its officer in charge. Realizing him to
be dangerous, since he had inside information about his troops, PtthvI-
narayw: invited him to come again to his service, but he flatly refused.
67. Misspelt for Jayaprakas Malla.
.-
44
77. I.e. Pokhra, the place situated on the western bank of the SetI
G~~akI river (also called patilganga). This place is celebrated for
its lakes. It is about 30 miles west of GorkM, and was then in the
territory of Kaski, one of the C£ubisi kingships. ;" ":h~ 2~";!bis:::'.
78. I.e. Jhagal Gurung. Nothing further is knoYn about this person.
79. A very thin sword tied around the waist and thus carried without
being notice"-. The word given in the text is kota)an (modern spelling
kotruchan) which is a compound of kot, 'weapon', anea:- khan, 'store'. 0hlJ'
the higbly skilled craftsmen could make it and veteran swordsmen could
wield it with dexterity. On account of its rarity and being regarded
as a prized weapon it verily epitomised all the weapons then in use.
This weapon is no longer in use.
80. A kind of fish allied to carp. Since Pokhra was then a nourishing
market-place, it is quite probable that Jhagal Gurung carried the fish,
apparently a delicacY for the hill-people, pretending to sell it and
thus keeping his identity and mission secret.
81. Vide pp. 191-93.
82. Vide Letters nos. 2,3,5,9; also IP, vol.II, pt.iii,p.463 (Letters~v.
nQs.l~2,6).
83. The narrative ends here and what follows was perhaps written later
as it relates not to campaigns but to PtthvInarayaJt' s policy. The follow-
ing sections deal with his defensive strategy, administrative and judicial
measures, economic policy, military reorganization, etc. Obviously there
is a big lacuna which shows either the text abruptly ends here with the
conquest of the Nepal Valley or the scribe omitted the details dealing
with the remaining campaigns. The memoirs are not a coherent 'whole which
hence show that they embody what ptthvInaray~ may have spoken piecemeal
from time to time and that the fragments were pieced together after his
death. The extant text mentioned at the end of the printed text is said
to have been written in about 1800 A.D.
84. Pt;thvInaraYalf uses this simile to point out the delicate position
of Nepal like that of a yam which in mountain grows and thrives pre-
cariously in a small crevice between two blocks of stones.
85. PtthvinarayBl]. was very sharp to realize the hegemony which China
exercised over Tibet, the country north of Nepal.
86. I.e. the Government of the English East India Company which then
controlled the Indian Ocean, and had acqu!red a great political and
military power in the subcontinent. P~thvInara:y~ vas always suspicious
of the East India Company because of ~heir assistance to Jayaprakas
against him in 1767 (vide pp:.; 254 ff).
87. I.e. Hindusthan (India), so called because of its being the land
of the Hindus « Hindu + sthana- ,'the place of the Hindus').
88. Text, ~, the foothills of the Sivalik range, which run through
the Tarai strip of Nepal.
89. For the Hindus any river is regarded as the Ganges and hence holy.
Here the Ganges could be the celebrated Ganges. Even during the Prime
Ministership of Bhimsen Thapa (1804-37) the Nepalese dreamt of extending
their frontier to the Ganges (Acarya (ed.): Purana kavi ra kavita, p.l06,
verse 20).
90. Perhaps the Government of tpe English East India Company, the Moghul
Emperor of Delhi, the Emperor of China and the Czar of Russia. It is
however doubtful if PrthvInaray~
o
realized the power of the Czar.
91. These places, some of which 'were in the outskirts of the Nepal Valley
and some farther from it, controlled the highways to it and were hence
strategically important. So P~thvinaray~ intended to fortify' them and
make them military stations. For ~ivapuri vide n.73. Phulcok mountain
(elevation 9,050 ft.), the southern boundary of the Valley, is 10 miles
south of Ka~hman~u. For Candragiri vide n.23. Mahiideva PokharI, a ridge
(elevation 7,133 ft.) in the north-east of the Valley, forms its boundary
in that quarter. It derives its name from a tank (pokhari) situated on
the crest. An intermediate range of hills joins it to Mal}.icii~a mountain
in the north-east of the Valley, and a spur, RanIcok, joins it to Phulcok
mountain. PaJ.ung, a ridge (elevation 8,490 ft.) having the hamlet of
the same name, is 35 miles south-vest of KathmanQ.u. Through this passes
the TrisUlI river. Dapca is a strategical ridge on the highway to the
eastern Nepal, in the east of which passes the Sun KosI river. KBhulya
(modern spelling Kahule), a peak (elevation 9,000 ft.) of the BhIrbandi
. ..
mountain, is 17 miles to the north-west of Kathmandu. It stretches in
the east to be joined with Kakan1 mountain. Over the pass between these
two mountains runs the highway to Nuwako~. On Kahule a fort stood
formerly. It was the first place to be occupied by Pt;thvInarayan when
he advanced towards the Valley after the occupation of Nuwako~ {Kirk-
patrick, op.cit., p.140).
92. He seems tG be the first king of the BalsI and C£ublsI to have
introduced a code for social and administrative reforms. This code is
~ovn as Ram ~abko thiti (q.v. GVY, pp.25-33, 39-40). B.y this he intro-
duced administrative and judicial systems, pancayat (village- or local
councils), weights and measures, court manners, rates of interest, etc.
This also laid rules for preserving forests and trees, boundary demar-
cations, allotment of pasture-land and its preservation, trial of
witches, etc. These reforms made Gorkha famous, whence the proverbial
saying: bidya harie }\as! janu niye. harae -Gorkhi janu (I if learning 'I":!
vanishes one should go to Ka~I and if administration of justice is
absent one should go to Gorkha l ) .
93. Written for Jaya Sthiti Halla, King of Nepal (fourteenth centur,r)
who is chiefly famous for his social reforms, particularly the reorgani-
zation of Newar society according to tha,'Hindu caste system and duties
47
which they were screened. The screening took place once every year. It
was called pajani, meaning 'selection, choice'.
119. P~thvinaraya.I]. vas quick to realize the importance of military
strengih unlike Ram ~ah who stated that the main strength of the king
was his treasury (GVY, p.l?). .
120. In Nepal farmers of the land employed b.1 landlords to produce
crops have to pay a specified share to the landlords and keep the
customary one for themselves. Therefore those who till their own land
and produce crops vould be in a position to keep both the shares for
themselves.
121. A title of office borrowed from the administrative system of the
Moghuls. Subedars were governors of provinces. P~thvInaray~ used this
title for the commander of a Company.
122. It is not known whether seven was the total number of senior officers
of one rank or of different ranks in the descending order of seniority.
The text has faeari (lex., 'turban') which implies that they were
commissioned officers distinguished b,y their turban which had probably
the badge denoting their respective ranks. As late as 1835-37 Pagari
meant higher ranks, e.g. commissioned officers. Army lists of this
period (vide HP, vol.71, fos.29-32) distinguish between Pagari and
Hudda, two groups of ranks. In the former there were excepting in
Letar (1 Artillery) Company, Kaptan (Captain), KUIIlJledan (~,)Commandant);
Subedar, Kharidar (otherwise Khardar), Mejar (Major) Ajit-an (Adjutant),
Kotya (otherwise Kote) and J amad9.r. The Lej:.ar had two more, Vicari in
place of Nejar who was above Jamadar, and Vaidya (Physician) below
Kotya. Acarya (ed.): DU, p.29, thinks that the seven ranks mentioned
in the text are in this order: Jamadar, Sarjang (Sergeant), Nis8.n (Ensign),
Aji~an (Adjutant), Bha~ (Vdnstre1), Purohit (Priest} ~~ Bajanaikya
(Bandmaster). But in the Nepalese accounts of Ptthv~narayaI].' s time we
find references only to Umrava, Sardar, AjI~an~ MIr, Bhat, NagarcI
(Drummer), Banadar (Musician), HuddB: and Sipahi. •
123. It is also not known vhether sixteen was the total number of the
junior officers or the number of the officers of different ranks. The
text has Huddtr which means corporal senior to the private. In all
probability the Huddas were non-commissioned officers, for in HP,vol.71,
fos. 71-77, Hudda meant junior officers below Jamadar, i.e. Havalcliir,
Am al dar , Khalas!s(coolies), PIpas(Tent-makers) and Sepoys.
124. I.e. Gurung, another tribal people of Nepal. Like the Magars the
Gurungs are also Tibeto-Nepalese (vide p.110 ). They had also their
principalities or chieftainships which were gradually conquered b,y the
kings of Gorkha, and also probably b.1 those of Lamjung and !\ask!.
Earlier in PhthvInaray~'s army we do not find them holding any prominent
ranks. That is why perhaps he did not mention them along with the Bahun
Khas, Magar and !hakuri soldiers (vide n. 48). Perhaps later on they ,
52
proved their martial qualities and were taken in military service. Still
they were a minority. There was one Jhagal Gurung who was PrthvInarayar:' s
trusted servant (vide n.78).
125. Lord of Heaven.
126. The statement is a picture~que exaggeration.
127. By this system the Sah kings made the descendants of deceased
soldiers traditionally obliged and loyal to them. Moreover, this system
provided them with valiant fighters who kept the glorious tradition of
their illustrious forefathers.
128. PrthvInarayaI]. knew how to appease soldiers and keep them loyal
to him~ That is why foreigners too came to be taken in his military
service. There 'Were three t-iuslims from Luckno'W whom he had appointed
as Adjutants and through them he had got his soldiers trained as
riflemen (n. 143). Apart from them there 'Were two Frenchmen 'Who 'Were
in charge of casting cannon (vide p.310).
129. Khases and Brahmans had by this time settled throughout the 'Whole
of the mid-Himalayan and lower Himalayan regions in Nepal. They were
in the higher ranking services of many principalities outside GorkOa.
We find them in the services of the Vmlla kings of the Nepal Valley,
in the kingdoms of Makwanpur, c!udaJt.Q.I and Vijayapur (Morang). Ptthv'i-
narayar: may have doubted the loyalty of these outsiders as they were
unlike those of Gorkba 'Who ever remained loyal to him. It is quite
possible that accomplices of his brothers, who towards the end of his
career began to intrigue against him, may have been Kbases and Brahmans
from outside Gorkha. He al'Ways guarded himself against the intrigues
of Brahmans, cunning of Khases and the inscrutability of Magars. He
believed them to be prone to their respective inherent characteristics
and consequently. rendered them incapable of doing any harm to him
llrthvInarayan
o • ~ahko jivani, p.30).
130. Lex., 'top of a hillock', regional subdivision made for strategical
and administrative purposes. Ram ~ah had divided Gorkha into seven
Thums and stationed one Dvare (lex., '~ate-keepr'), i.e. frontier
guard, or Umrava (Commandant) at each (GVY, pp.48-49). The three Thums
mentioned here are Liglig, Sallyan and Dhading, which, as it appears
from the text, were made stronger by Ptthvinarayar: (DU, p.17, line 18).
This he had to do as a part of his strategy to guard Gorkha's frontiers.
Liglig guarded it from the invasion of Lamjung from the north-west,
Sallyan guarded it from the invasion of Nuwakot (the territory under
Kat.hmang.u) from the east, and Dhading guarded :i.t from the invasion of
Tanahu and Pa~an in the south-west and south. p,thvInarayaI]. however
does not mention other strategical outposts in the north, a fact which
shows there was little danger from Tibet even in the initial phase of
his campaigns though in view of the good relations then existing between
Tibet and the Nepal Valley there must have always been a possibility
of an invasion of Tibet by way of Kukurgna~, Gorkha's frontier 'With
Tibet near Kerung.
53
131. Probably the land, either producing 240 mur!.s or measuring 240
ropanis. In the Hills the land is measured in terms of the gross annual
produce of crops. 1 ropani= =
4 muris, 1 muri 72:-} sq.yds. 1 ropani of
land produces about 800lbs. of crops in one year. In P~thvInaray~'s
time emoluments of servants of the state were mostly pa1d in kind or
in land. Army officers or commandants were given land called khuva
(lex., 'milk condensed in a lump', a prized Nepali delicacy) in accor-
dance with their emoluments called khangi ( < Persian k~i, 'pertaining
to domestic affairs'). The holding of the land varied according to
the status or rank of the individuals. A part of the produce or revenue
of the land (which was also paid in kind) was utilised for their own
emoluments and the rest was utilised as the emoluments for the
soldiers or other empfyees serving under them, The land given to such
officers or commandants no longer remained under their names when
dismissed or dead. The king, however, under his discretion could grant
the land to such officers whether in or out of service, or to their
descendants to enjoy itLPerpetuity as their own private property. The
khuva then was called birta (freehold land).
132. According to a treaty made by Mahendra It..alla, King of Ka~hmancJ.u
(sixteenth century), kings of this state began to supply Tibet with
their mohars (silver coins) against the silver bullion brought in ~
Tibetan merchants. 12% commission was charged for this transaction.
Ka~bman~u made a great deal of profit out of this transaction. The
privilege, rather monopoly, of supplying coins to Tibet was also
subsequently shared Qy Bhatga~owards the end of the seventeenth
century. These coins were call~d Mahendramallis after Mahendra Malla
who had first coined mohars. But the coins of the later kings of
Ka~bman~u.and Bhatgau, Jayaprakas Malla (regnal years 173S-68) and
Ra.t:ajitsiIilha Malla (regnal years 1722-69), became debased. When
P~thvInaray~ conquered K[~hman~u in 1768 a large number of such
Vmhendramallis were current in Tibet. He was against coining debased
coins. But the pure coinage supplied to Tibet would have been at par
with the earlier debased coins. Hence he put an end to this practice
of issuing debased coins. He also withdrew from circulation all the
debased Mahendramal1Is then current in his country. Disputes arose
with Tibet regarding the supply of coins. The Tibetans even threatened
a war in 1768 (Kirkpatrick, op.cit., pp.211-12, 339-40~ also 217;
E.H. Walsh, 'The coinage of Nepal', Journal of Royal Asiatic Society,
1908, pp.684-85, 691-92). The deadlock continued even after the death
of P~thvInaray~, which ultimately led to Nepal-China Wars (1791-92).
During those days a coin ~f.'::pure, irrespective of its
origin, was freely accepted as a medium of commercial transactions,
its value being determined by the weight of the metal it contained.
P~thvInaraYaQ realized the importance of a pure coinage and emphasised
the necessity for it. By so doing he had not only meant to maintain
Nepal's traditional commercial transaction with Tibet but with other
neighbouring countries as well. Even in India the absence of a standard
54
CHAPTER III
TRANSLATION OF PRTHVINARAYAN
o • SAH'S LETTERS
1
LETTER NO.1
2
This letter brings my due respects to Bari P~~it.
said that they were ~ling to sell gold but at the rate of eighteen
1
not sixteen; that'no agreement ~ving been arrived at you left (them)
2
and came to the octroi post at Khasa where they sent word to you to
stop which accordingly you did; that you told them [the Tibetan
messengers] that the gold was to be pure unsmelted gold and you stuck
to the rate of sixteen which you had already offered. You further vrite
that they said eighteen and vished to adulterate it a little also; and
3
that saying so they have since gone to seek the approval of the phebas.
But do not buy impure gold. If they agree to give it at your previous
offer of sixteen, continue vith the negotiation. We shall see what
happens. But do not accept baser gold. It will be adulterated vith
powdered brass. Moreover, be on your guard while you buy it. If they
do not give at the rate of sixteen, keep your feelings to yourself. If
for pure gold they ask you to offer a quarter of a rupee more than
the rate of sixteen, continue with the negotiations. If perchance they
refuse to enter into agreement at this rate, be prepared to offer
seventeen for pure gold. If the amount of money you have will suffice
for the rate of seventeen, confine yourself to this amount and buy
gold.( •••• ) if there is a chance of getting twelve to fifteen
thousand tolas (of gold) containing some adulteration, go ahead with
the deal even at the rate of eighteen. But do so only if there is a
, .
60
2
LETTER NO.3
2. The letter does not mention the year of its composition. But
there is some evidence which helps us to fix the year. We find this
letter as a supplement to Letter no.l,p.56, whose year we have
fixed to be 1754 (vide p.58,n.4). Reference to PrthvInarayan's
currency also suggests this year. The day of theOweek, Wednesday,
corresponds with that of 14 August 1754 and hence the probable
date of its composition.
63
1
LETTER NO. 5
2
This letter brings my blessing to Abhudsi Pradhan.
Everything here is all right and I hope everything is well
there. If that is so I shall be very happy. News here is good.
3 4
.
You who are known as BhaIhdels are not of my country but
you are friends of mine. Bring into effect my purpose today in any
way possible. Those who are really of one I s family are known by their
deeds. Bring into effect my purpose by creating a division there. I
shall accomplish my plan of acquiring kingship. I shall also confer
high rank on you and make you powerful. So do as I ask bravely and
fully. Send a reply quickly. This is all I need to write to the wise.
Dated Kabhrya, Wednesday, the second day of the bright
5
fortnight of Srav~a.
when we begin here our operations to take Cagu and Siikhu, our plans
there will not be prosecuted strongly. If operation is undertaken in
(to me). This is quite proper. Gorkha has nowhere else to go except
Kaski. Kaski also has nowhere else to go except Gorkha. Although Kaski
has not accomplished the deed today, it will accomplish it tomorrow
in the interest of Gorkba. Although Gorkha has not accomplished the
deed today, it will do it tomorrow in the interest of Kaski. So to
bring about an agreement between Gorkha and Kaski will contribute to
the strength (of both). Although the deed is not accomplished today,
it will be accomplished tomorrow. Whether the task be great or small,
1
I have a desire to reduce the kingdom of Lamjum so as to be of benefit
to (the King) my younger brother.
You write to me asking me to intern the members of the
2
family of the Kaji. When we did that they began to be hostile to the
Kaji and hence we could not intern them. Firstly, the Kaji acted im-
properly against us and involved himself in a conspiracy; secondly,
1. I.e. Lamjung.
2. I.e. KajI, 'minister'. For the possible person vide p.66, n.l.
66
and him and hence we let them go. You are there under the protection
of (the King) my younger brother, (and because) you are there we
1
shall send negotiators from here. Pacify the Kaji and send him here.
This is all I need to write to the wise.
Dated Nuwakot- Valley, Saturday, the ninth day of the dark
2
fortnight of High.
3
LETTER NO.7
4
To Bhagvati Ban and Lachiman Ban.
We have granted you protection. We have exempted you from
5 6
revenue 12 ropanis of land in Bhadgamil at Samf?umul and Nagosit-ar, 800
7
muris of land including plots of dwelling-houses at Gokarna, and 40
ropanis of land including the monastery in Bhadgamu town. Enjoy it
and be happy. All other people will be required to pay the traditional
5
LETTER NO.8
granted you immunity from paying off the balance of the 2,000 Nahindra-
that sum.
2
Dated Cagu, Sunday, the first day of the bright fortnight
3
of PhalguIt Samvat 1823. Vay it be auspicious.
4
LETTER NO.9
5
This letter brings my regards to KIrtirajananda Upadhya.
put an end to all the differences between you and ourselves. The
6
affection of our Kaji has been of great assistance in this respect.
7
Now get yourself on friendly terms with your senior and junior uncles
and your lands at Sa~u, C~gu, Pa~an, Ka~hma9-Ru and in the Hills are
freehold and exempt from tax and besides your farm-land and your
dwelling-house. Moreover, you are permitted (to perform your)
priestly functions. This is all I need to say now.
Dated KIrtipur,Wednesday, the ninth day of the dark
1
fortnight of Asvin. ~my it be auspicious.
2
LETTER NO. 10
YOU told his wife you were sorry that he (Jetha C~utarrya) was going
4 ' 5
to be the king of the lowlands. The fact is this. An official letter
6
.
of the Jetha C:utariyii was intercepted by Kahar and sent on to me. As
a result of the information it contained I sent you deliberately as a
7
II - '::'1_
secret messenger to the Je~hi Cautarni then at NUWUKO~ to communicate
the news that he was going to be king and report to me what they said
about it. A servant must obey his master. You did not go there to tell
the news on your own initiative nor did you compel or suborn him to
attempt a coup • In this connection his own official letter is evidence
1. !P, vol.I,p.12,col.l.
2. Third son of Sivaramsifuha Basnet, a Gorkhalese commander (vide p.42,
n.55).
--'-
3. I. e. VJS.hoddWuldrti - -
Siih, P~thvino.ra.y~' s brother who , it appears, was
at this time hostile II to him. Of Prthvmar-ayan'
0 •
s brothers MahoddainkIrti
and Dalmardan were Cautariyas (q.v.~.~~,"W\.\), the former being elder to
Dalmardan was called Jethii (senior) C£utariya and the latter Kancha
(junior) C£utariya (Aca,rya, 'Basnyat patravaliko ~ipp~i', IP, ibid.,
p.10l, coLI).
4. I.e. that part of the Tarai which originally belonged to the
Makwanpur state.
5. Text, bijinis patra, 'a letter of business', < English business, and
Sk. patra- ,'letter'. Official correspondence of the English East India
Company was called letters of public business. The compound refers to
some official correspondence of l1ahoddamkirti, which is unknown.
6. I.e. Keharsimha Basnet, elder to Abhimansimha Basnet.
7. Feminine of J etha
•
Cautariyii,
-
i.
11
e. the
-
wife of Mahodd8.m1cirti S~ •
The modern spelling .,riSl Je~hi Cautarni.
against him. You were sent as courier as a proof to that fact. No
fault therefore rests with you in the matter.It is he who is to blame.
Should he come to quarrel with you, you may show him this letter with
the royal seal. He will himself then confess.
1
If materials for Purascar~~ are inadequate, ask for more.
This is all I need to vrite to the wise.
Dated Bhadgau,Tuesday, the twelfth day of the bright
2
fortnight of ~art1ka.
3
LETTER NO. 12
and 80 men of Lamjung were killed. Fighting took place at Mugja also.
Lamjung repulsed the troops of Kask!. Seven men of Kiiski including
1
••.••••• Sah, King of Kaski, were killed. Six or seven men of Lamjung
were killed. Moreover, Kaski is threatened with invasion. Our Kajis
2 -kelp
Cautaras are marching to itslwith troops to Gorkha. We shall be
3 4
operating in the Raginas area after the 4th of Hamsir •••••••••••
5
LETTER NO. 14
.
Gorasnath who does and causes everything to be done. It was through
his kindness that the grandson was born and at his wish he took him
away. Such is the world. Everything depends on his wish. If you give
us your blessing others will be born and those who are born will live
3
long. We crave your blessing.
You advise us to spow friendship and good will towards
4
Jumla and Jajarkot and to cultivate friendly relations. A delegation
of two experienced men have gone to Jumla from here. From there also
5
two men, one Hahatarii and one Buc}h'athoki, have arrived here already.
They have come to suggest (to me) a treaty of unification between
6
.
Gorsa and Jumla and to take (some) gentlemen back with them. Accordingly
eight or ten persons along with BIrbhadra Pantha, son of Mahesvar
Pantha, will go to Jumla from here. They are ready now. I had thought
7
of sending them by that way. But the C:ubIsI will not let even
prominent persons pass through. Even if they let men pass through, they
I. I.e. N~gendra 8iih, eldest son of PratapsirIlha SM, who died in his
~fancy (Acarya, '~rI 5 Rij endralakfo>mI DevI', Ruparekha., year 5, no. 6,
. .
Y~thmindu, 1963, p.lO).
2. The name is not mentioned in the letter but the space is left blank
with a numerical symbol 1 which refers to the name Sri Gorasnath which
is written at the top. For this practice vide p.59, n.5. •
3. The use of high grade honorific expressions shows Prthvinariiyan's
profound respect towards Bhagavantanith. 0 •
will not let them take presents with them. For this region they will
1
go Qy our usual route through Bho~. I pray you to send your men to
Jumla from there and make Jumla and Jajrko~ favourably disposed towards
us. One more point about this. Some men will go from here to Salyana
2
and Jajrko~ and some gentlemen will also go to PyU~hana.
.
is drawn up (the King of) Susim '\fill arrest the absconders
, from the
land of the Kiratas and deliver them to us. If the negotiations break
down then we shall be compelled to make a war on Sukldm.rMaybe:-Sukhim
will attack us. By your blessing we shall slaughter (its troops).
just as they vere. You are vII avare vhat they are. They vill
definitely see~ opportunity to attack us to the extent of their
power. But so far they are not strong enough and so they are keeping
quiet. Details vUl be laid before you by Sasidhar Upadhyay3:. This
is all I need to write to the wise.
Dated Ka~hmaqJIu, Friday, the sixth day of the bright
1
fortnight of Bhadrapada. May it be auspicious.
2
LETTER NO. 15
1. The whole land of the Kiritas, Vallo Kirit and Pallo Kir~t (q.v.
p.73, n.2) was conquered by P+:thv!nirayaIJ. by 25 September 1774. He
died in January 1775. Apparently the letter was written some time
during this period. But the date given in this letter is wrong as
according to my calculation the day of the week does not correspond
with the equivalent Christian date for 1774 which was Sunday, 11
September when the land of the Kiritas was not conquered. Only ~~ga
sirsa sudi 6 of IS)I Vikram or 1696 Saka vas Friday which corresponds
with Friday, 9 December 1774, vhich seems hence the probable date of
the composition of this letter.
2. The photograph of the original was kindly supplied by ~r! Lalitjanga
Sijapati, a Nepalese now residing in Banaras (India). The letter is
also published in IP, vol.I, p.l).
3. The Gorkhalese officers sent for the conquest of the land of the
Kiritas.
79
1
us: your plan to make a fort .:d.'b. Cltud~~a, the despatch of troops from
2
Kuhrilya., the arrangement of duties to be performed on all the three
3
fronts and the receiving of submission from every Suba of the Limbus
4
and StrOgya. The extreme point to which our troops have advanced up to
5
Islimba and Caithapu must not be surrendered. Strengthen the pOSition
there and build forts. (It is my command that) you do this. Moreover,
6
you must be sure to take possession of the land between the Kanka in
7
the west and the Ti~~a in the east after taking possession of (the
region near) Islimba and Camthapu. There is no sense in retaining land
of inferior yield and abandoning the land of better quality which
produces greater income. You mu~t be sure to take possession of it.
If Su~im should remain on good terms with us after Islimba and Camthapu
have been made our frontier and do not engage us in war,use your
1. I.e. C£ud~gI, the state whose territory probably lay in Vallo Kirit
in the Hills and in the plainS it stretched from the upper reaches of
the Kamla to the region of the Trijuga river in the east,(vide P.226J~.1).
It was conquered b,y P~thvinaray~ in 1773.
\
2. A place situated on the left bank of the Tamar.
3. The :.title, :of the headman of the Rai and Limbu tribes.
4. It is hard to identifY this place. Possibly it meant the summit of
all the mountains where the Subas (modern SUbbas) of the Limbu tribesmen
resided (cf. Sk. i~, 'top or summit of a mountaln,peak,crag' (MW)~.
5. Places to the north of=Ilam and situated in the Singlila range forming
the boundary of Pallo Kirat with Sikkim.
6. I.e. KankaI (q.v. p.76, n.3), whiCh then in its upper reaches also
formed the boundary between Morang and Sikkim.
7. I.e. Tis~a, the river which separeted Sikkim from Morang •.
80
"-
alenated from us for suCh a little cause, you are not to give up the
I-
of the mahout of that elephant, take him in your employ, promise him
four or five hundred rupees and send him to steal it. If you tell that
mahout to steal the elephant, it will not take long. The mahout1s
3
relatives are probably in our own country. Give some promises and
in that region would have come to an end. But we did not. Employ some
sepoy irrespective of how you do it, promise him 1,000 to' 1,200
(rupees) and also promise him some reward. Then you must get him to
kill him (Buddhika.n:a RaI). Once this is done all disputes will come
Tarai to meet the wages of the soldiers there and to defray expenses.
Furthermore, the 2,001 rupees you sent have been received. The amount
has been temporarily entered in accounts and aCknowledged. You will
receive the official receipt in due course. One last point. Do not go
beyond Islimba and Camthapu for further conquest. Should Su~im attack,
make one stronghold and make arrangements to destroy the attackers
utterly. If you cross the original boundary of Su~im, we shall bring
1
upon us the displeasure of Lasa in the north. For this reason you must
not cross the boundary into the territory of Lasa in the north by even
2
one inch. You must not harass the subjects of Lasa in any way. Neither
3
must you invade the original territory of Su~im. This is all I need
to say now.
Dated Kathmad~u, Wednesday, the fifteenth day of the dark
4 •
fortnight of Asvina. May it be auspicious.
5
Respects to BaIk~~~a JRisI and Blrbhadra Upadhya.
title used by the Kaly81 rulers of the KamalI region now in western
Nepal. It is possible that SShI is derived from sai ( < Sk. svamin) which
~he rulers of this region used as their title from the fifteenth to the
1 ,
seventeenth century. Sahi, presumably an imitation of Sah, one of the
titles adopted by the Muslim rulers of India, is used in 1568 for the
first time by the rulers of Dullu, D£ilekh and Vila spur , all in the
2 3
Karnal'i region. The At.ht.Ika rulers of BhIrko"\i, Garhliti, ~hor, Nuwakot-,
a.
Satahti, Kaski, Lamjung and Gorkha, all in the Sapta G8lf<iakI region, who
derived from the original Khan house of Lasargha, had first Khan as their
title. Even now descendants of the ruling houses of BhIrkot-, Garahti and
. ..
Dhor are called Khans. Later on the rest of the Ithtika rulers took Sam:
as their title. The descendants of the ruling houses of Kiiski and Lamjung
5-
are as yet called Sahis. The title SMI used by rulers of Gorkha was
. 6
changed into salt in 1754 by Pt)thvInaray~ (regnal period 1742-75) who
became king of Nepal in 1769. Even then .. SahI,Sah and Saha were variously
used by the kings and the royal members of the Gorkha s'BhI family of
Nepal. Originally the variants, SBhi, Sah, Saha (modern Sahl, 8MI, 8M)
did not imply difference of status, but later on illegitimate sons of
the royal families were called Sahls or Bhajus (also called Ba.jus or
Hindu Bajus) to distinguish them from the legitimate sons, who were
1
called. Sans or S8.has. This distinction tended to disappear later. The
,-
royal house of Nepal today is called Sah. Some descendants of the previous
region, also use San as their family name. All the ancient ruling houses
of the KarnalI and the GalJ.gakl regions are called ThakurIs, the tribe
2
being regarded as the seniormost K~atriya clan of Nepal. The commoner
,
Thakur!s who were earlier called Siih!s do not generally write
•
San for
they contradict one another in many places, they all agree in attri-
,
buting the origin of the Sabs to the Rajputs of India. Various recensions
the late H.H. Kaiser Shamsher Janga Bahadur Rana, others in the private
possession of individuals, Pandit Baburam Acarya and SUryavikram JfiavaII,
1
both of Nepal, and in the Hodgson Papers in the India Office Library.
It is not possible to reconcile the genealogical records
,
given in these chronologies and accept at the outset that the Sab kings
of Nepal were descended from the Sisodiya Rajput clan of Chitor, later
2
of Udayapur. The earliest of the genealogies of the Sib kings were
composed in Sanskrit verses b.1 Citravilas and Dhar~Idhar Sarma respec-
tively, during the times of Ram Sah,
King of Gorkha (1601-36), in whose
.3 ,
court the authors appear to have resided. Curiously enough, though these
writers were contemporaries, they present two different versions of the
origin of the Sahfamily. The genealogy given by Citravilas gives the
4
founder as Jillaraj, conqueror of the countries of the Bhillas, and
king of CitrakUta in Medapa.~a, whereas that by Dhar~Idhar traces the
5
ancestry even to an earlier king, Ayitavum, belonging to the Solar race,
the name Jillarai, who became king of Chitor, comes seventh in line ~rom
realising that if fighting broke out his defeat and death were almost
certain, he gave poison to his wife and daughter rather than leave them
alive to be disgraced at the hands of the non-believer, and ordered some
of his faithful servants to take away his son HIra SahI, the Crown Prince,
to a safer place. The king died in the course of the fighting. Hira Sahi
was taken by the servants to China, the emperor of which appointed him
king of the Hills. He established his kingdom in Dulla under Chinese
suzerainty. Tara can , Hlra Sahi's younger son, was later appointed king
of Jumla by the Chinese emperor. Obviously the contents of this chronology
are too fanciful to be accepted. Even the reference to Jayamalpatta aaI
is erroneous, let alone the reference to Chinese suzerainty and the
appointment of kings by the Chinese emperor. We know that Akbar, the
M~~h\t Emperor of Delhi, invaded Chitor in 1567 when MahariQa Udayasiffiha
1
was ruling, and that Jayamal and Patta, the two Rajput heroes, fought
heroically for the Viaharana. Jayamal was wounded by Akbar and died while
2
fighting. The chronology then continues as follows: Hlra Sahi's twenty-
1. Haharru:a was the title of the rulers of Chitor and later of Udayapur.
Udayastmha was forced to leave Chitor after the capture of the fort by
Mcbar. He established his seat at the site where the capital of Udayapur
grew later (J. Tod: Annals and ant~guities of Rajasthan,ed. William Crooke,
nera~t~v:abore~iated Annals, vol.I,pp.383-84).
2. Cambridge History of India, vol. IV, Mughal Period, Cambridge, 1937,
pp.98-99; also V.A. Smith: The Oxford History of India, 3d.ed.,p.342 •
. -rocl.'~'J p~. ~IO ... ,).. ,
87
two successors ruled over Dullu"and the twenty-third, Maniraja Sahl, went
1
to Argha from where his grandson Adidam Sahl migrated to Nuw8.kot.. The
latter's son Kil Sah! vent to Lamjung vhere he vas killed by Gurungs,
the local tribal people, after vhich they brought another of his brothers,
2
Jasbam Sah!, to be -made their king. His younger son Darbe SaIl, born of
the junior vife, became king of Gorkha where his line continued on the
throne.
No kings of Dullii and Jumla vith names like H!ra sallY, Taracan
and 1-1aniraj a Sah! have been traced. We do, hovever, find one MaI:iraj, a
Kalyal king of Jumla.. The genealogy of the Kaly'al kings also claims that
their descent vas from the Sisodiya clan of Chitor. The first KalyEil king
vas Baliraj, said to be a Rajput. When pregnant his mother had gone on
a pilgrimage from Chit or to Mansarovar. On her yay back she gave birth
3 4
to him at a village called tal:'i in Soru Dara of Jumla. He lived in the
"
court of Malaibham, ruler of Kh~acakra. With the assistance of some
Brahmans, Baliraj became king of Jumla., vhich vas then ruled by Jakti-
s:i.illha of Jaktipur and comprised Jumla, Sija and Lamathara. The genealogy
mentions the year 1404 as the date when Baliraj established his capital
5
at Sunargau of Jumla. It further mentions that the Kaly81s belong to
1. The central and not to be confused with the eastern situated on the
9ank of the TrisUli river. All references to this place before Narbhupal
sah's times (1716-42) are for the central.
2. No reason has been given for the change of the title from Sih! to Sah.
3. Whence Baliraj and his descendants are known KalyEils.
4. Dara means 'a subdivision of the district'. It is current in Jumla only.
5. Therefore l-1aI}iraj, the fifth in line £tbILBeJ.h:aH'<-perl:ial>s-~notirished
some time during the last quarter of the fifteenth century, the time being
assumed by roughly allowing an average of 20 years' rule to each of his
predecessors.
88
the Raghu dynasty (i.e. the Solar dynasty). The first ancestor is named
1
as ~~iraj and their gotra is given as Ravi. Another genealogy of the
Kalyals, however, states that they belonged to the Lunar race and their
gotra was Ravi with the fivefc51a- .t;~i pravara: SavarIl-i, Cyavana, Tama-
2
dagni, Mirgava and Aplava. The latter genealogy enumer~tes fifty-nine
predecessors of Baliraj of whom the first five were~~~ (i.e. Brahmans)
and the rest, presumably non-Brahmans, had Aditya, Bana (1 Hagar), Pal
and Raj as their titles in succeeding generations. No such genealogy and
titles for the Sisodiyas are found elsewhere. Moreover, it is known that
the Sisodiyas belonged to the Solar race, and that their gotra was
Baijavapa, with the threefold Tsi pravara: Angirasa, Barhaspatya and
3~' 4
Bharadvaja. There are also a few other genealogies of the Kalyals but
their accounts conflict, and on their evidence the claim to Sisodiya
lineage cannot be regarded as established.
The chronology copied b,y Prthvinarayan
o • does not mention the
names of the first twenty-two successors of RIra sahI but only that of
the twenty-third, ~~iraja Sah1, who migrated to Argna. If we give an
average of twenty years to each generation and make a calculation back
from Dravya 88.h, who became king of Gorkha. in 1559, to Maniraja, five
generations, the latter must have lived round about the third quarter of
S8.hi to be one and the same person but the absence in the accounts of
assumption doubtful.
of its compilation, but presumably writing ceased about 1742 the date
The men are alleged to have found out that the Sah family belonged to
the Sisodiya clan, and that they obtained an augmentation of the prasasti
of the Sah kings from the Sisodiya ruler of Udayapur. This prasasti
cycle of the kings of the Hills) which was also approved by the emperor
2
of Delhi when he was requested to do so b.1 the Gorkhalese emissary.
1. Vol.I,pp.121-22; vo1.II,pt.iii,pp.419-25.
2. Vo1.5l,fos.:5-l07. The initial portion of this chronology is in Hindi
and the rest in Nepali. There are 106 volumes and rolls of the Hodgson
Papers, Almost all tne~~uter±als of~these~~apers were collected b.Y B.H.
Hodgson during his residence at Ka~hman~u from 1820 to 1843 where he was
first Assistant Resident and later Resident of the British Residency.
These Papers contain manuscripts in Sanskrit, Nepali, Newari, Hindi,
Persian, English and in other dialects of Nepal. They were collected
"for the full exposition of the history, institutions, races and tongues,
revenue and commerce" of Nepal. They were presented to the Secretary of
State for India in 1864, and are now available in the India Office
Library (William Wilson Hunter: Life of Brian Houghton Hodgson,p.338).
3. Hodgson Papers (hereafter abbreviated HP), vol.17,fo.l ('prepared by
order of 1-1aha Rajah in 1837-42'), vol.18,fo.ll ('from the Chountra'),
ibid.,fo.15 ('l1atabar Sing's'), vol.52,fo.108 ('From the Rajah'), ibid.,
fo.117 obverse (in Nepali '~hakal Mejarba~a', i.e., from Major ~haka1;
in English 'From Vl8ha Raj ah' ), ibid., fo .172 (, Futeh J an~ - Gorkha Bansa-
vali'), vol.56,fo.40 ('From Maha Rajah'), vol.74,fo.97 ('Recd. 4 Sept.
1824'). There is also a list in HP,vol.74,fo.96, where the sources of
some of these chronologies and accounts are mentioned.
4. HP,vol.74,fo.j6.
92
assumed that the annalists stopped at this period. All the chronologies
collected Qy Hodgson from different traditions claim the origin of the
sat dynasty to be from the Rajputs of India, although the place from
where they migrated, the person who migrated and the place in the hills
of Nepal where he first settled vary.
It was BhImsen Thapa, Prime Minister of Nepal. (1804-37), who
,-
arranged the official chronology of the Sah dynasty in order to trace
the pedigree and more particularly to give a detailed account of the
campaigns and conquests undertaken by kings from PtthvInaraYaIt omlards
and also to enumerate the roles played by those who fought and died for
1
their kings and country. This chronology seems to have been written in
early 1814 when Girbfutayuddhavikram Sah (1799-1816), great grandson of
2 ,
Ptthvinaray~, was reigning. It states that the Sah dynasty originated
from Ayutam ~ajI, King of Chitor Fort in Udayapur city in the country
of Mal ~ H'e:rw~l, and belonged to the Lunar race. As a result of a
domestic quarrel amongst the sons of Virvikram RaYe, the seventh ,king
in line from Ayutam Ra~ajI, Jillaha Raye left his ancestral home to enter
the Hills in the north. Bhupati Raye, the thirteenth in line from Jillaha
_ 3
Raye, went to Khilung in Bhirkot. Jayanta Khan, one of his four sons,
1. No reason has also been given for the adoption of Sahi and then
change to Saha.
2. These discrepancies will be apparent fro~ the comparison of the
chronologies b.1 Citravilas, DharaQIdhar, Bhimsen Thapa, etc.
3. The chronology names all the kings of Gorkha from Kulamandan to
PtthvInaray~ with the title of Saba. The use of this title' for the
latter's successors is however not consistent and the spelling varies
between Sa:h and Saba. Sa:hi is the title given to the ille~itimate issue
of the royal family, e.g. Rudri SabI, Narbhiipal's illegitimate son and
Pbthvinaray~ls step-brother (IP, op.cit.,p.124, co1.2), ~asiffiha Sahi,
P~thvinarayan's illegitimate son (ibid., p.128, co1.2). Vide also HP,~
vol. 74, fos:97-98, for this distiction. '
4. HP, vo1.26, fos.116-17.
94
reign of GIb~ayuddhavikram may have been compiled for the same purpose.
While augmenting and closely folloving the chronology by Citravilas, the
author of this latter chronology has added later material. It tells that
Vikram, after having defeated his enemies, entering the Hills. After him
there vas Jillaraj. But the author does not say vhere the kings from
Jillaraj onwards vere domiciled. GaurIdatta seems to prefer the chrono-
logy by Citravilas to that by Dhar~idhar perhaps for the reason that the
former described the origin as from the house of Chitor, which the Sibs
could use as a support to their claim, whereas the latter simply mentioned
1
the ancestral home as being Fort JambIra from where JHi Khan, the ninth
2
in line from Jilla, entered the Hills to settle subsequently at Lasargha
and from there his descendants branched off to places near and around it.
lL At the turn of the eighteenth century when Nepal carne into
contact with the British in India, British officers in the service of
the East India Company in Bengal and those sent on duty to Nepal or to
the region bordering on it began to collect information regarding the
country. The earliest of them to submit an exhaustive account YaS
for this genre. It is the most elaborate of the other Sanskrit chrono-
,
logies referred to above. It ends with the birth of Surendravikram Sah,
the Crown Prince, in 1829. The chronology translated from Nepali into
English by Hunshi Shew Shunker Singh and Pandit ShrI Gunanand, and edited
4
and published by Daniel Wright was perhaps a contemporary work for we
find an identical king-list and almost all the statements are identical.
These two chronologies differ significantly from the earlier ones,
,
excepting in the claim of the Sahs to origin from the royal Sisodiya
1. Some lines of this chronology are wholly reproduced and some are
adapted from the chronologies by Citravilas and Gauridatta.
2. Hahamahopadhyaya Hara Prasad Sastri: A catalogue of palm-leaf &
selected paper mss. belonging to the Durbar Library, Nepal,vol.l,pp.242-4~
vlde 81so Preface bac-l:xxii.. .
3. Herearter abbrev~atea UV. It ~s publlshed in IP,vol.II,pt.iii,pp.
598-611.
4. History of Nepal, Cambridge,1877. He was for some time Residency
Surgeon at KathmanQ,u. Shey Shunker Singh was the NIr HunshI of the
Residency and ShrI Gunanand a native Pandit of Paitan, the southern
. .
sister town of Kathmandu.
97
.,
emperor of Delhi who conferred upon him the title of Sah and since then
his descendants began to be called Sans.
..
Kulamandan had seven sons. The eldest succeeded him on the throne
I
..
of KaskI. The second, Kalu , was asked for by the people of Durad~ra in
Lamjung who made him their king; but the Sekhantas the tribal people of
2 '
Lamjung, while escorting him to the forest for hunting, killed him with
a poisoned arrow. For some time after this the people of Lamjung remained
without a king but seeing that they could not do without one, they came
again to Kulam~qan to ask for another son. Grieved at the cruel death
of his son, he at first refused to comply with their request, but the
Lamjungites asserted their innocence and he was prevailed upon to allow
them to select anyone of his sons except the eldest, the choice to be
made while the sons w~re asleep. The Lamjungites found that the youngest,
Yasobrahma, possessed some divine power and so they selected him to be
Gorkha, all these in the Sapta G~~aki region of the central Nepal. It
qppears that the founder of the original line, who is unnamed, ruled
over Lasargha.. His two sons, JRita Khan and Mica. Khan, became rulers of
Bhirkot and Nuwruco1- respectively. JM.ita Khan had two sons, Surya Khan
and Dasarath Khan, the former became the ruler of Bhirkot and the latter
•
founded the principality of Garahu. The fourth king after Dasarath Khan I
had two sons, KarI}a Khan and Dasarath Khan (II), the elder of whom
succeeded his father whereas the younger went to be the king of J?hor.
.
Thus three independent lines, those of BhIrkot, Garahu and Dhor, ori- .
ginating from SUrya Khan, Dasarath Khan ~::'8.I).d Dasarath Khi\n II, came
into existence as branches of the original house of Lasargha. 111c8: Khan,
King of Nuwruco~, had three sons, Bhakti Khan, Sirabumba Khan and Vicitra
. Khan. Bhakti
.
Khan .
became king of Nuwakot, Sirabumba of Satahti and Vi citra
of Kask!. But this genealogy does not say how the house of Lamjung
sons, Narhari and Dravya, the houses of Lamjung and Gorkha evolved. A
later list gives the names of rulers of Garahu as being descended from
, 2
Stibhakta Khan whose ancestry is not, however, mentioned. Of these eight
1. IP,op.clt.,pp.67-68.
2. Ibid.,p.68,col.l.
3. Khw: s in modern times.
103
1
later on adopted SahI as their title. The house of Gorkha until Narbhupal 1 s
2
times were called Sallie PbthvinarayaI} and his successors are called Sall.
3
There is another chronology tb:.e.- ~~:h,:~'~~~ has no
'- of Gorkha-
historical validity at all. It traces the origin of the Sabs
to the ancestors who had S1m i.e. S1mha as their title. The ancestral
11
seat is said to have been in Raura, a mountain country in the west of
Nepal, where the first ancestor was born of a pure K~atriya bride. Their
youngest son, Harinaray~stffiha c~e to Gir Fort. His youngest son,
Ramnaray~siIDha (otherwise Ramstmha) came to Chitor Fort and took the
title of Rana. He had two sons, J~imalsirD.ha Rana and PhattesirDha Bana,
and one daughter, Padmakumari. The emperor of Delhi demanded the hand
of FadmakumarI, and the refusal resulted in the fighting that took
place between the emperor and the Hanas. The Hanas held out for twelve
years. Seeing that his defeat was inevitable, Jgimals1IDha P~a sent his
wife and son, Vi~I}usiffiha Bana, out of his country for tlleir protection,
saying that if he survived in the fighting with the Huslim emperor he
would have them searched out. J~imalsiffiha fought but was defeated. Padma-
kumari was sacrificed. J~imalsi.Illha and a host of other Ranas were killed.
Their fort was destroyed. Vi~I}.usiIUha Rana came to V~igha Lasargha.
1. The kings of Nuwakoh Satahu, Mski and Lamjung, who were contem-
poraries of PtthvInarayaI}. are also called Sabs (IP,vol.II,pt.iii,p.586).
11,
"
-,
-- , ,- .
2. P~thvinaray~ used the title sat for himself but as far as it can be
ascertained not before 1754 (vide p.g~,n.6). The use of this title by
later chronologists is however not consistent and the spelling seems to
vary between SUb and Saha (IP,vol.I,pp.126-28, 161-63, vol.II,pt.iii,
pp.418-19, 433-46).
3. HP, vol.5l,fos.1ll-13, vol.52,fo.52; IP, vol.I,p.98.
104
His son was Atalstmha Rana. He had two sons. The elder, Haristmha, became
king of Garahu and took the title of Khan. The younger, AjapsiIDha, became
1
king of Nuwako~ (the central) and took the title of Sah!. His younger son,
Jasbam Sihi, became king of Lamjung. His younger son, Darbe Sah, became
king of Gorkha in 1559.
Howsoever confusing the earlier portions may be, the accounts
,
in all chronologies from Dravya Sah onwards seem authentic although at
places they are slightly blurred by myths and legends. There is unaminity
,
among them in giving 1559 as the year when Dravya Sah became king of
Gorkha. But accounts of the kings previous to him cannot be accepted
without reservation. We have seen how chronologies and genealogies
differ in referring to the founder of the San family of Gorkha, his
original seat, the branching off of the collateral families, their
migration and settlement, the order of names and their spellings and
the boundary between KumaD. and Nepql, and included Sira., Sor, Askot, .
and the valleys or Darma and Juhar, inhabited by people of the Tibetan
origin. There fighting often took place between the kings of ~o~i and
KumaTI as late as the eighteenth century in the course of which territories
often changed hands and each side often accepted the suzerainty of the
other. The senior branch of the royal house of ~o~I was YJlown as RMiruca
1
Raja and ruled over !lot.I with its capital at Q~eldhura. The junior
branch was known as Bam or Halla sati and ruled over Sira and Sor. ~o~i
,
was annexed to Nepal in 1790 during the reign of Ra.I].a Bahiidur Sah..
The state of Jumla was far more prosperous. Its kings
2 3 4 5
Nagraj, Kracalla, Asokacalla,,~.Ripu:'}Ja.lla~:.P£thvi Halla, etc., are well
known. The kingdom reached the zenith of its power during the times of
P:sthvI MalIa (1338-58) whose dominion, including almost all the Daras
of modern Jumla, and comprised a large area beyond the Himalaya, now
After him the regular line of the Mallast We s~e his successors Samsar-
<. .-, ,. ,.1....
..
the rulers of Dot! and Jumla were originally Khases whose forebears had
come to settle in the eleventh century from the neighbouring region of
Garhwal and Kuma~. These invading Khases appear to have conquered the
local tribal peoples and established domains over them. Most of the
ministers and counsellors of the earlier Khas Mallas and Kaly81s were
Khases and some were possibly Magars. Their surnames, which are mentioned
in inscriptions, royal donations and grants, are even now used by various
3
clans of these two tribes. The Magars were the first tribal people to
be converted to Hinduism. Some of their clans were subsequently up-
4
graded to be K~atriyas. Vanquished Qy the new intruders, some of the
5
Magars left their original homeland in the KarnaJ.i region and went
towards the east to dwell and establish their chieftainships in
initiated. But since the Magers were Hinduised at an early date the
possibility of intermarriage between them and their rulers' families
cannot altogether be ruled out. The victors must have endeavoured to
adapt themselves to the social institutions of the vanquished and to
have become firmly rooted in the soil of their domains, thereby achieving
a lasting political supremacy. The similarity of physical features
between the Magars and Thakuris, both of whom are decidedly LVlongoloid,
is a further support for ~his hypothesis. Even the custom of cross-cousin
marriage which is prevalent amongst these two tribes may have been
adopted by the !hakur!s, because it was acceptable to the It.agars, and
to make the texture of the society more homogeneous. More striking by
contrast are the decidedly Aryan features seen in the Nepalese Khas
1
.
Chetr!s. Perhaps the Khases did not establish for themselves a status
equal to that of the Thakurrs, and came to be regarded as inferior to
them. In Hindu society in Nepal and elsewhere the question of caste
supremacy is political as well as social and it also tends to be affected
by material affluence. We see how Janga Bah'adur Kavar, a Khas of the
2
Kharka
•
clan, after becoming Prime Minister of Nepal in 1846, took the
ti Ue of R.ar:a and managed to marry his sons and daughters into the
royal sat family of Nepal regarded by that time as superior ~hakurI,
and purest amongst the K~atriyas of Nepal. He laid the foundation of
1. Although they themselves do no~ now use Khas as their name, their
wives are, however, called IChasini (feminine of Khas).
2. Considered inferior to the K~atriyas as late as 1559 (GVY, pp.5-7).
3. Wright, op.cit.,p.285. Even if we accept the Ranas 1 claim to the
Sisodiya Raj~~t origin; w~ ~ail to account for the"endogamous marriage
between the Sat and the ~a fqmilies, for the Hindu society does not
sanction this. Fergaps their dissim~ar gotras made this possible. Th~
golras -C!f'~t.he:.LSan.s: ~d ,.Ranas -a:r::-Ei~K.asyapa and Vat~a respectively
- '- ' t..
112
,
amongstthe Khas ChetrIs as well as social equality with the Sahs on
the ground of their homogeny. After coming to power the ~a:s endeavoured
,
to be matched with the Sabs in all respects: politically they did so
by being de facto rulers of the country, and socially by intermarriages
with the SShs and other !hakurI families. The reason of the inter-
marriages with the royal family was political in another respect also.
The R~as by such intermarriages aimed to Ra~aise the royal house so
much so that they even framed a roll of succession for the throne of
Nepal which under certain conditions provided for the daughter of a
1
Rana
•
or her son to be the ruler .
It is however very strange that we do not find in the
Hodgson Papers any genealogy of the ~as although there are m~
that the Raqa genealogy was compiled after the assumption of power of
Janga Bahadur. This assumption would seem to be confirmed by the fact
that volumes of Itihasprakas which contain details of so many of the
ruling families and principal tribes of Nepal make no mention of the
~as.
.
fact he married a princess of Husikot. She was a niece of the King of
.
Galkot whose ruling house was a collateral branch of Parvat. Narbhupal
Sah, Prthvinarayan's
o • father, had four wives: they were princesses of
Kh~cr, PaIpa, Parvat and Tanahu. Prthvmarayan
o •
was the first of the
Gorkha rulers to marry a bride from outside the Nepal Himalaya. His
second wife was the daughter of Ahimansiffiha, a Bgis Rajput of Banaras,
into whose family his brothers were also married afterwards. P~thvi-
Of the concubines, two were ~ithil Brahmans, one a widow and the other
1 •
her own younger sister. From the Brahman widow concubine Glrb~&lyUddha-
vikram was born. ~a Bahidur went against all Nepalese traditions in
making this illegitimate son his successor, a fact which perhaps induced
Bhimsen Thapa, ~a Bah8dur' s favourite, to prepare the genealogy which
claimed an illustrious pedigree for the royal family. The present line
,-
of the Sah kings of Nepal is the continuation of the descendants of
Glrb~ayuddhavikram S8.h.
In 1838 emissaries were sent by the Nepalese Court to ..
various Indian Native States in search of a suitable bride for the nine-
year-old Crown Prince, Surendravikram, son and successor of Rajendra-
vikram ~
SOh.
2
--
One of these went to Udayapur, the ruler of which, MaharaI}-a
Sardar Singh (1838-42), stated in a letter written to the Nepalese
3
king, Rajendravikram, that the latter belonged to his family. Perhaps
are the descendants of the Khas tribe who migrated from their earlier
home in the north-west of India and in subsequent times spread in the
.3
Himalayan regions and were Hinduised by Brabmans.
From what has been discussed it seems clear that since all
traditional Nepalese chronologies and genealogies, which are veritable
conglomeration of mythology and fiction, vary in their statement, it
is impossible to accept the lineage claimed Qy the !hakurI royal houses
of the Nepal Himalaya. As the later portions of the chronologies and
1. Tucci, op.cit.,p.66.
2. George Grierson: Linguistic Survey of India, vol.IX,pt.iv,pp.8,17.
3. Levi: Le Nep~, vol.I, pp.227, 257 ff.
116
-
'- family of Gorkha contain a good deal of veri-
genealogies of the Sah
fiable historical materials, it can be assumed that the ancestors from
whom the ~ah dynasty and other dynasties of the A!-ht.lka royal families
descended were inhabitants of the Kali (Kb~~a) G~~aki region inhabited
mostly Qy Magar and Gurung tribes, and that after establishing their
sway over these tribes and their principalities, their descendants had
come into prominence b.7 the sixteenth century when they were tempted
to connect themselves with the illustrious Rajput clans of India.
We find other inconsistencies in the Nepalese chronologies,
inconsistencies of date and historical fact. It is an historical fact
that Chitor was attacked and destroyed by Alauddin Khilji in 1)03 though
Ratnastmha, and not Bhupati as mentioned in Nepalese accounts, was then
its ruler. The attack of Alauddin has been attributed to the refusal of
Ratnastmha to hand over his wife, PadminI, to the Muslim ruler. Other
Nepalese chronologies eay that Akbar demanded the hand of Sandal or
Sadal, daughter of Bhupati, the ruler of Chitor, and that the refusal
led Akbar to attack and destroy Chitor. As a consequence of the fall
of Chitor, Bhupati's two sons, Udayabam and Manmath, left their ancestral
home and settled at Udayapur and Ujjain respectively. Bhup81, the
younger son of ~~ath, is said to have entered the Hills and settled
1
at Ri~I from where he migrated to Khilung in 1495. Even if we accept
the errors in the names of the persons of Cbitor, i.e. Sandal (otherwise
Sadal) or PadminI., and the different names of the kings, we still cannot
reconcile the dates. The invasion of Alauddin was in 1)0), Bhupati is
1. Vide p.99.
117
and from where his family spread to P8J.pa, Tanahu and the land of the
2
Kiratas. The reference is to the supposed ancestor of the Sen house
which in the course of time established the principalities of P81pa,
Tanahu, l·1akwanpur, CRudru:~I and Morang. Nowhere in Nepalese accounts
mention has been made of the migration of the ancestors of the Sabs
....
from Kumau. and Jumla. In all the accounts so far known the migration
of the ancestors of the Sahs is claimed to have been into the Sapta
..
GandakI region •
~~lP~eJ a Pandit in his Court, had officiated as the Dik~a guru for
Narbhupal at the time of his holy thread-giving ceremony when the gotra
2
of the Sabs, Bharadvaja, was changed to Kasyapa, that of the Pandit.
3
Kings have the option to change their gotra to those of their priests
and hence it does not matter whether Narbhupal or P~thvInaray~ changed
the original g~. The Sisodiyas on the contrary belong to the Solar
race, and belonged to a different gotra, Baijavapa, though they have
the same pravara, Angirasa, Barhaspatya and Bharadvaja, as previously
the Sabs had. Though the race and gotra should not be made the basis
on which to accept or reject the genealogical claim of a particular
dynasty, they provide an ancillary argument for treating the tradition
of the origin of the ~ah dynasty of Nepal with reserve.
.
the last amplification took place, the Ksatriyas of the Nepal Himalaya
had not been accepted into the social order of the Indian Rajputs.
How strong is the desire of the Nepalese K~atriyas to
claim descent from the Rajputs of India can also be seen from their
chronologies and genealogies which are jumbles of fact and fiction
rather than historical documents. The Canda Thakuris of Pyiithana claim
2 • .
, - ... t1
to be Candels; the Srinet of Puiyu state that they came from
Thakur~s
3
a mountain south-west from the Yamuna; the Sen !hrucuris of Palpa,
and later of Tanahu and Hakwanpur claim thE;ir origin from the Sisodiya
1 2
.
clan of Chitor; the rulers of But~ul claimed to be C~uhans; the ~as, .
originally KS:var Khatkii, a clan of the Khases, also claim their descent
3
from the Sisodiya clan. Of the other Khases of Nepal, the Bis}as of
4
Acham state that they were Pamars, the BogatIs of ~o~I claim to be
5
Raghuvamst (the ~nasty of Raghu in which R8..1l was born), the KhillSls
6 7
state'that they are Candels, the Dul8J.s claim to have come from Ujjain,
the Khas Thapas claim their origin from udMi Bhattacarya, a Brahman of
8
Dharanagari. Even some of the tribal people claim an origin in different
parts of India. The Kiratis say that their original home was KaS1, and
instance their gotra Kausika, though it is more likely that the term
Kausika is connected with KosI, the name used for the rivers in their
region. It is also said that they migrated from Simr:ung~h, .near
9
l'f.akwanpur, to the land where they are now settled. The Qurungs gave a
1. IP, vol.I, p.164, col.l. The spuriousness of the claim may be seen
from its hazy geographical description.
2. HP, vol.58,fos.37-38.
122
CHAPTER V
EARLY CAREER OF PRTHvINARAYAN
o • SAH (1722-42)
By the second half of the sixteenth century a number of small
principalities had come into existence in western Himalayan region of
what is now the kingQom of Nepal, co~prising the catchment areas of the
1
Karnali and Sapta G~4akI rivers. In the tract from Bajhang to Sallyana
in the east there were alleged to be as many as twenty-two principalities.
This tract stretched from the western bank of the KarnalI to the Sanl
BherI and Sarda rivers, th~t is to say the catchment area of the KarnalI
and its tributaries from the Himalaya mountains in the north to the
plains in the south. In the tract from Pyu~hana to Lamjung and Tanahu
in the east there were Similarly alleged to have been as many as twenty-
four principalities. This tract formed the catChment areas of the
..
RaptI (the western) and Sapta GandakI rivers. This tract also comprised
part of the higher Himalayan mountains in the north and the plains in
the south. Gradually the rulers of all these principalities assumed
royal status. They maintained their states as separate entities and
paid tribute to none. Many of these principalities comprised only a
few straggling villages within a radius of five or six miles. These
two groups of twenty-two and twenty-four principalities were respectively
2
called the BaIsI and C£ubIsi kingdoms in Nepalese accounts. The king-
dom of Jumla was the oldest of them. In earlier times its domains
extended into eastern Kumau and Tibet, but it was confined in later
times to the region from the eastern bank of the Karn81! to TibrIko~
in the east. The kings of Jumla were Khas Mallas. They ruled from the
eleventh century for more than four centuries when the kingdom splintered
into several minor kingdoms ruled by their collateral branches who
extended their power over the whole of the Kamal! region as far as
1
Parvat (afterwards known as Malebam) in the east. Although in later
times Jumla was reduced in si~ey its oldglor,Y had not altogether
vanished and it continued to exercise some sort of spiritual hegemony
2
over the BaIsI and also over a number of kingdoms in the C~ubIsi area.
The most prominent kingdoms in the Sapta G~4akI region were PaIpa,
Tanahu, Parvat, KaskI and Lamjung. Not included in the C~ubIsI was
Gorkha, the newest and easternmost in the Sapta G~~ak! region. It was
founded by Dravya ~ah on 26 July 1559 and enlarged further by his
grandson Ram ~ah. Many principalities in both the regions were probably
ruled over previously by ¥~gar and Gurung tribesmen, but in the course
of time they were gradually overrun by Khases who subsequent to their
.
coming to power began to be known as ThakurIs, a title which seemed ,
locked country. It was bounded on the north-west and the west by Lamjung
and Tanahu, the boundary with the former being the confluence of the
1
Cepe with the MarsyangdI, and that with the latter the confluence of
_ _2
the TrisUli with the Marsyangdi. To the south lay the Tarai sector of
.
Tanahu and Patan; the boundary here being the TrisUJI river. To the
east lay Nuwako~, the north-western frontier province of the kingdom
of Kathmandu from which Gorkha was separated also b,y the TrisUlI river.
- -
To the north lay the Himalayan range, a region usually known as Bho~.
4
beyond which was the territory of Tibet which was also known as Bho~.
from neighbouring countries could come with their wares. The traditional
lucrative trade with Tibet was mostly monopolised by the traders of the
Nepal Valley, a sizeable bulk of which passed through Nuw~o~ only a
few miles east of Gorkha. Lamjung also to some extent enjoyed commerce
1 2
with Tibet, the goods being carried through Tarku, Tanahu, Deugha~ and
3
Bakra. into the provinces of Bihar and Bengal. Valuable goods were also
4
carried from ~arzapur and Patna into Tibet via Mustang. The mart of
Pokhra (in Kaski) was frequented by merchants from the Nepal Valley,
5
P8.lpa and Parvat. Although relatively a petty principality in the
6
.
C~ubIsI, GulmI had. a famous mart at RirI. Moreover, Gorkha had no mines
worth the name:, and it lacked navigable rivers though a few flowed
through its territory and became tributaries to others flowing near
in other principalities.The people of Gorkha had thus of necessity to
--- Qy
1. Hamilton, op.cit.,p.239.
127
generated in the first place by Pothvlpati Sab (J,.669'-1?1&) who was quick
to contrast the indiscipline and lack of training of the troops of the
neighbouring kingdoms with his own small though well-disciplined and
organised army. This superiority of Gorkha fired him with ambition to
1
conquer. He died however before the possibility was realized. Nevertheless
it was his apprisal of the contemporary situation that emboldened his
years 1725-32 when the Malia kings of the Nepal Valley \tere engaged in
domestic quarrels, Jayanta Hana, a Gorkhalese officer, captured and
..
held a portion of the L8mid~a district which lay only a few miles to
the west of the Nepal Valley. This place, which lay in the north-western
.
extremity of Patan's territory, formed a coterminous boundary with the
territories of Tanahil, Gorkha and Kathmandu. Meanwhile Kamrajdatta Sen,
2 • •
King of Tanahu, annexed JogImara, the Tarai part of the Lami~~a district,
. .
with the support of Jagaj jaya MalIa, King of Kathmandu (1722-35) and
Gauresvar Pan9-it, royal priest of Tanahu. Thus forestalled Narbhupal
- , ..,. , ... ,
1. Baburam Acarya, 'Srl. Srl. Jayaprakas Halla', Pragati, year 3,no.l,
pp.37-38.
2. Acarya gives his regnal period as 1694-1741 (, TanahUko Sen-vamsa',
Bhanubhakta-smarak·grantha, ed. SUryavikram JnavalI,p.72). Once he had
attacked some territory of Narbhupal. But both came to terms. After the
conclusion of a treaty Kamrajdatta gave his daughter in marriage to
Narbhiipru. and thus bought the friendship of the Gorkhalese king (Acarya,
ibid. ).
128
..
had with great reluctance to give up his hold on the LBm1d~a district
in favour of ~amrajdatta. Out of spite he planned in 1737 an invasion
of Nuwako~, but this miscarried. The Gorkhalese troops led by Jayanta
1
Rana were repulsed by Kasiram Thapa, officer in charge of NtiwRkot. Nar-
bhupal's third and last attempt at expansion was to conquer Tanahu but
foolishly he aimed to achieve it without adequate preparation and was
therefore advised by his men to desist until he had made suitable arrange-
2
ments. Heart-broken at his failure, he ultimately became insane and
lived as a recluse for the rest of his life. When Narbhup81 retired
from active life, the chiefs of Gorkha proposed that PrthvInaray~ be
o
made king but he refused on the ground that his father was alive. He
insisted that Candraprabhavati, his senior step-mother (first wife of
Narbhupal), be made Regent, an office which she accepted. She became
She preserved Gorkha from internal disunity, which could have happened
in view of the climacteric phase it was passing through, and kept the
peace until the omens were more favourable. She understood the limitations
which cramped her country and realized that if Gorkha were to make any
headway, the only course left to it was that of tactful diplomacy and
shrewdness of timing.
mati of Parvat, 'Were born t'Wo sons: \J1Y\.~tU.te..~~ and -s'%'tQ..ftCl.to,p, and four
daughters: Padmavadana, Induvadana, SarpavatI (Sarvavati) and Hemanta-
kumarI; and from the fourth, Princess Subhadravatr of Tanahu, w~r~ born
Besides these four legally married wives, Narbhupal had two concubines
also. One was issueless and from the other were born five illegitimate
born after seven months and was regarded by them as a usurper. Neanwhile
Vtndakesar died and the succession passed to P~thvinaraya~ without
2
contention.
P~thvInaray~ was fortunate enough to have so many brothers
who took leading parts in almost all his campaigns. That is why he
proudly said that the five brothers were like a reincarnation of the
3
..
Pandavas of Mahabharata fame. He was still more fortunate to have a
step-mother like Candraprabhavati for whom he had a profound respect.
1767 to 1775, culminating in the conquest of the rest of the Nepal Valley
and of CgudaJt9-i and Vijayapur (also called Morang). Thus in a career of
thirty-three years he raised the status of Gorkha from virtual obscurity
to a position of strength hitherto unattained by any state in the Nepal
Himalaya. To begin with he was the king of a minor principality, but he
built it into a kingdom roughly five times bigger than it had been in-
expansion, he succeeded in preparing the ground for what bad never been
achieved before, the unification of the many tiny states into which the
Nepal Himalaya had for centuries been divided. The formation of one
Nepalese kingdom was carried out qy his successors, but it was his work
which had made such a consummation possible.
According to Hindu custom K~atriyas are given the holy thread
at the age of ten. It is quite likely that Pgthvinaray~ was given his
1
at this age in 1732. From the times of Ram ~ab. the holy thread-giving
ceremony of the royal house of Gorkha was performed by the members of a
2
Misra family of Banaras. But since NarbhupaJ. had been born and brought
1. GVY, pp.92,94-95,127-28.
2. HP,vol.5l,fo.92; GVY,p.127; IP,op.cit.; also Jfiav811,op.cit.,pp.46-47.
3. This friendship is performed by some religious rite. The forming of
the friendship is called miteri launu or mit launu (q.v. mit launu,
R.L. Turner: Nepali Dictionary), and the persons who form this ritual
friendship are called mit or mitinI meaning "artificial brotherhood or
sisterhood". This institution is vridely spread in Nepal. For the details
vide Le[.iliard Adam, 'The social organization and customary law of the
Nepalese tribes', American Anthropologist, New Series, vol.38,no.4,
October-December 1936, pp.540-44.
4. HP,ibid.; GVY,pp.137-38.
133
his father for the enlargement of his territory, and ambition had been
awakened in him at a verJ early age. This ambition was strengthened
when he was sent to Bhatgau, where he first gave proof of that political
shrewdness which was to be his most prominent characteristic. Since
1725 1-1a:lla kings of Ka~hmanQ.u, Paitan and Bhatgau had been sharpl;)' divided
amongst themselves as a result of a number of petty domestic quarrels.
After seven years of feuds they terminated hostilities and composed their
3
dissensions. But the termination of hostilities was prompted more b,y
tiredness and futility of their desperate efforts than by a real desire
for unity. The legacy of bitter feuds still persisted and rivalry soon
.. .
led to further quarrels. The kings of Kathmandu and Fatan must have felt
uneasy at the presence in their country of an outsider with \-lhosa father
they had only recently fought; but astute politician as he was, PEthvi-
naray~ managed to avoid arousing their displeasure. He won the good
2. IP, op.cit.
3. Acarya, lpt;thvinaraYal}- Sawca jivanIko pUrv"arddha ' , Prap;ati, year 1,
no.4,p.71.
1.34
. .
he made a favourable impression on Jayaprakas MalIa of Kathmandu and
formed t\-.t ritual friendship with him too. After acquainting himself with
the situation in the Nepal Valley he came back to Gorldla.
Soon after his arrival P~thvinaray~ expressed to Candra-
prabhavatI his desire to invade the Nepal Valley. She realized that it
was utterly impossible. On the west there was the kingdom of Lamjung,
the sworn enemy, with which Gorkha had a traditionally hot frontier.
Any advance in any direction was sheer foolishness until the King of
Lamjung had become an ally or had at least been neutralized. Since
Gorkha was completely isolated and an alliance with other neighbouring
kingdom was also impossible, she formed a plan to develop friendly
southern highway to the Nepal Valley along which passed latter's ( .. " - -;
commerce with the provinces of Bengal and Bihar. Friendly relations
with such a prosperous and large kingdom had also a prospect of imposing
a check upon the Nepal Valley while at the same time maintaining a
balance of power with Lamjung, Tanahu, Kask! and Palpa.. vllth this aim
in viev CandraprabhavatI got PrthvInaraYaIt married to the Princess of
1
Makwanpur, IndrakumarI.
1. IP,op.cit.,p.124,col.l; HP,vol.51,col.92.
135
1 2
to take her home. Digbandhan Sen, Prince of Hakwanpur, and KanaksirD.ha
Baniy~, its minister, were in favour of detaining him until the Princess
3
gave birth to a son. The parents of the bride also did not like to send
her away from home until she came of age and could carry out the duties
prescribed by her mother-in-law, Candraprabhavati, and be capable of
competing on equal terms with her whom they thought of as an upstart,
4
and an arrogant and uncultured highlander. During his one year's stay
5
at Hakvtanpur, P~thvrnaraya.I}. had felt that he vtas not respectfully
treated. He must have felt insulted specially by the pranks and jokes
played upon him, for though such behaviour is usual in a father-in-law's
place, he could not tolerate it. He once saw some attendants of Kanak-
sooa salute their master by taking off their shoes vthich they did not·,
do while saluting him. He took this as an insult and killed them on
the spot. Hearing this Kanaksiffiha became violent. He remarked that
being the king of the land of the 11agars Prthvinarayan
"0.
vtas prone to kill
6
human beings. Hence Kana..1.csiniha was determined to take him to task. He
sought the support of Digbandhan in a plan to have PrthvInarayan
o •
killed.
1: ;IP, .op~eit.
2. After remaining for one year at Makwanpur pt;thvInarayaI). was again
asked to stay further (HP, op.cit.).
3. In the invasion undertaken by Narbhupal Bah in 1737 (vide p. 1 ~ ~) •
137
1
given to him. Hemkar~a tried to evade his demands and to defer sending
off his daughter one or two years more on the ground of her age. But
Kalu P~e and Bhiinu JosI Arjyal, the persons in attendance on--PBthvJ:-
naray~)said to Hemkar~a that since he had offered the hand of his
daughter to P~thvInaray~ it was proper that she should be entrusted to
her husband and not detained by her parents. They urged the propriety
.
of the demands as being marriage gifts. Hemkarna nevertheless regarded
the demands as unreasonable and refused to grant. The upshot was an
unpleasantness which was never resolved. P:gthvinarayru: told Digbandhan
. 2
Sen that if his demands were not met he would take the~ by force. They
were not met and the refusal provided P~thvinaray~ with the excuse he
sought to go back without the bride. Before his departure he told his
father-in-law that he would send his son, born of another wife whom he
1. DU, Tr.,p. \8, and GVY, p.130, mention two demands: a one-tusked
elephant and a Naval8.k:hi diamond necklace. According to HP, vol.5l,fos.
81-82, 92, it appears that even after one year's stay at lv1akwanpur
when the bride was not allowed to be taken qy him home, and he was
asked to stay further, PbthvInaray~, though exasperated, agreed to
do so provided KanrucsiIDha was given to him. This was refused by
Hemkarna. P~thvlnaray~ then asked for the one-tusked elephant and
the Na~alakliI necklace; both(of which were also refused. It is also
said that Hemkar~a did send a one-tunked elephant but it appears that
it was not that p~thvinaray~ demanded. Seeing his demands thus re-
pudiated, PrthvInarayaI). left for Gorkha. without even taking formal
leave of hig father-in-law. IP, vol.I, p.24,col.2, however, puts all
the three demands together: Kanaks~a, one-tusked elephant and
diamond necklace, and says that the refusal to hand over Kanaks1ID.ha
provided PrthvInarayan
o • with the excuse he sought for.
For the Navalakhi diamond necklace and the one-tusked
elephant vide also p. ~7, n.1S.
2. DU, Tr., p. 1 g.
138
1
had not yet married, to take IndrakumarI to his home. This threat was
an insult and destroyed any possibility of bring~g about closer relations
with Makwanpur. Both sides stuclc to their contentions for reasons of
2
prestige and relations consequently became very strained. So Candraprabha-
vatI's plans remained unrealized. As retaliation for what had happened
1
she had pt;thvInarayar: married in the same year with a daughter of
Nepal Valley, from where he surveyed the whole region of the Valley
and saw the possibility of conquering it. An alliance with the King of
Hakwanpur now being out of the question he had to find out some other
reaching Gorkha he heard that his maternal uncle, Prince Udyot Sen of
and on his way back home was to pass through Gorkha to visit the temple
1. DU, Tr • , p. \ 9 .
2. According to Regmi,op.c~t.,p47,_who says that Pl)thvinarayaI]. ascended
the throne on the day of Ramanavami of that year, which corresponds
with this Christian date.
141
CHAPTER VI
.
Valley, e.g. ThimI (which formed the frontier with Bhatgau and Patan), .
Lut.iko~ (B5J.aju), Thamel, H~igau, Nandigram, Haligram, Cabhel, Deva-
.
tract of the territory between the Indravati and Bhote Kosi rivers
tapering off to KutI, another frontier with Tibet. The kingdom of
Bhatgau, the eastern kingdom, had inside the Valley a small tract of
the land bounded from north to the south by the Bhadramati, HanUmati
and Kamsavati rivers; beyond the Valley its territories included the
Banepa Valley, Dapca and the land up to CisaUkhu vhere it vas bounded
- ~
by the Dudh Kosi, the latter separating it from Kirat, the land of the
Kir~t!s (Kiratas in learned speech). Pa~an, the southern kingdom,
possessed in the Valley the vhole tract south of the Bagmati river, and
it extended in that quarter as far as the MedinImalla forest which
later separated it from the kingdom of Makwanpur. Outside the Valley
it also possessed the fertile valleys of Dhunibesi, Jhil~ung, Palung,
Tis~ung, Citlang and GodavarI, vhich apart from being noted as granaries
of agricultural produce had rich mines of copper, iron and other
1
mineral ores. The people of Ka~hman~u were mostly traders. They con-
trolled almost the vhole of the traditional trade of the Valley with
Tibet by yay of Kerung and Kut!. The people of Bhatgau vere mostly
entrenched to be repulsed.
Soon after the succession to the throne of Gorkha, P5thv1-
naraya~ planned to invade Nuwako~ as a first step to entering the Nepal
Valley. It was also in accordance with the custom of Magarit, the land
of the Magars, which required the king to invade a neighbouring kingdom
1
in the year of his accession. A Nepalese chronology tells that when
rumours reached Jayaprakas that P~thvInaray~ was intending to invade
the Nepal Valley he sent him a letter to Gorkha threatening to reduce
his country if he made any such attempt. This threat only strengthened
.
Nuwakot in 1737. He appointed Viraj Thapa, a Hagar chief in the court
of Gorkha since the times of Prthvipati
o
Sah (1669-171~), and sent him
naray~ was passing through the plains for Banaras in order to fulfil
his mission, he sent some men and money to assist him. But Prthvinarayan
o •
refused the assistance, telling the men to return with the message that
~O~ 2
he would take what he wanted when he l CC'l.Dle to take IndrakumarI home.
P£thvInaray~'s entourage included KBlu P~~~ Viraj Bakheti,
N ,
Dh£ibung as a gift, although the place which was situated north of " .
.
Nuwakot, was not yet in his territory. He used to offer lands as gifts
and issue grants to people conferring on them emoluments and freehold
lands in others' territories, hoping possibly to honour his pledge when
the places or lands came into his possession. It is said that at Banaras
,
1. PEthv!naray~ Sahko jIvanI,p.4.
2. Ibid.,p.6
3. Ib~d.,pp.6-8; HP,vol.51,fo.93.
148
assisted b.1 his father-in-law Ahimans1IDha. He was escorted on his return
..... - - - ,- -
by Lak~mInarayru:: Pa~e, Gm:anidhi Panta, Viraj Bakheti and Ramk:s:;;r:a Thapa.
They were once held up by some toll collectors on the bank of the
trained to kill them in order to clear his way, an act which amply
The King of 1/ot.I and Balibhafijan :Halla, who were with him at the time,
I
assisted,him in the encounter. Apprehending danger to his person he
arranged for Jaya Ban1y~ to impersonate him, and had him carried in the
.
But~ul was then in the territory of Piilpa and was its winter capital •
1. It seems that the party of Balibhaiijan which also included the King
of ~otI had re~urned with P~thvInaray~ after visiting religious places.
Pt;thv!narayaIJ. Sahko j!vani, p.lO, mentions that the King of J;>o'tiI met
PrthvlnBrayan
o • at Banaras.
2. HP,op.cit.,fos.94,221; IP,vol.I,p.36,col.l; PrthvInarayan Sabko j Iv anI ,
pp.12-14; JfiavaI!, op.cit. ,pp.60-62. _0 •
149
disrespect b.1 them. Skirmishes took place betyeen the Gorkhalese and
the PaIpa soldiers. Gandharva Sen controlled the situation by appeasing
Prthvinarayan, and further made overtures to him to strengthen friendly
o •
relations betyeen Palpa and Gorkha. In order to yin the favour of the
People of But~ul
·0·
PrthvInarayan scattered coins for the poor and mendi-
cants to collect, such dispersal of coins being regarded as a religious
act in Hindu society. He then left for Tanahu on the way back to Gorkha.
..
At Tananu he parted ylth the King of Dotf, Balibhaffjan and other hill-
men wo were in his party • At the time of parting PrthvInarayan
o • is
said to have told the King of ~o~i that although he would undoubtedly
conquer his kingdom, he would nevertheless let him continue to rule,
1
and he gave him a royal grant to bear testimony to that assurance. To
Balibhafijan also he gave his kind assurances, telling him to come to
his service if he did not like to be in the service of Parvat. But
Balibhanjan replied that if he ate another1s salt he would then prefer
2
to serve him. After a few days' halt at Tanahu Prthvfnarayan proceeded
. o ·
towards Gorkha. At the frontier he yas received by his brothers and
ministers, Hahoddainkirti, Dalmardan, Silrapratap, Daljit, PtthvfpaJ.,
, N 3
Rudrr Sahi, Kalu P~e, Caturbhuj Panta and Govinda Josi Arjyill. This
4
yas early in the spring of 1744. Shortly afterwards he commenced the
.
Nuw8kot at an auspicious moment to be found by him in th~almanac •
Gorkha in 1559. The then King of Lamjung, who was the elder brother of
Dravya ~ah, had demanded the cession of Gorkha but Dravya Sah refused
.
with Ka:J..u P~re, ;the main architect of this treaty, and offered him a
ministership. He found out that ~alu P~~e was equally popular with his
subjects and with the kings of the BaIsI and CKubisi states. It was
hoped by all that as a minister he would maintain cordial relation-
ships with all the states and run the home affairs of Gorkha capably
as well. Though Viraj Bakheti was pt;thvInaraYaIf' s favourite and his
.
narayan did not dare go against the wishes of his subjects and those
of the other kings for fear of hostile reactions internally and exter~" ---
n~y. He knew how much Jayaprakas1s misfortunes were due to his
failure to keep his subjects happy and his officers under control.
Since his main aim was to invade the Nepal Valley, he could not, under
about a firm unity between the Pare and Basnet families, members of
which held high positions in his service, by arranging for Kalu P~~els
daughter, Citradevi, to be married to Keharstmha Basnet, son of Abhi-
2
mansimha Basnet.
There is another and slightly different account regarding the
3
appointment of Kalu P~~e to the ministership. It is said that while
he was making preparations for the second invasion of Nuwakoh Pt;thvi-
naraya~ was preoccupied with the problem of appointing a suitable
person as minister. He sought advice from Candraprabhavati. He told
her that since the Magars and Pantas had already showed their incompe-
. .
tence in the earlier invasions of Nuwakot, and since Kalu Pfu-e had
.
the offer was made to Kalu P~e. He was at first not very eager to
accept it but did so ultimately after consulting the members of his
ow family, those of the traditional families and all the influential
people of Gorkha. It is recorded too that he consulted the common people,
one of whom Bisya Nagarci, a drummer, was mentioned by name. All assured
1 .
him of their cooperation. Meanwhile Pt;thvrnarayaI} remembered his mater-
nal uncle's instructions and made arrangements for a meeting with the
King of Lamjung. The meeting resulted in the drawing up of the treaty
as stated above. It is quite possible that the ministership had already
_ c::
been offered to Kalu Pa~e and that his prudence in effecting the
treaty with the King of Lamjung made Prthvinarayan
o • confirm him in that
post. K8lu p~~e may have hesitated at first, perhaps apprehending
jealousy from Viraj Bakheti, the king's first favourite, but assurance
of cooperation from all, great and small, ultimately led him to accept
it. It is also said that before accepting the ministership Kalu Pi~e
requested Prthvinarayan to lay down that so long the descendants of
o •
KaJ.u P:~e remained loyal to the throne and were, ,ca.pabl~ .of. digcp.ar~ing··
their' duties' they: woUld: not:.1:>e- dismissed -f:r-om the post. or~ 'mlni-st:er~h::hp.
Ptthvinaray~ made a pledge to that effect and Kalu Pa~e accepted the
1. HP,vol.5l,fo.94.
2. Pnthvinaray~ ~ahko jivani,p.2).
157
Now that the potentially dangerous enemy, Lamjung, had become
an ally, PothvInaraYaI}- sent his troops under two commanders, Bhadru
San! and Nandubisu Fanta, to assist Ripumardan, King of Lamjung, in
the conquest of Argh~u. The co~bined troops, however, met with serious
reverses. P~thvina:ray~ then sent word to Ripumardan that he had done
his part and it was now the latter's turn to help him in the campaign
against Sindhu. Ripumardan sent a very small force not more than 200
soldiers under the command of Sardar 11ahiman Khavas. CandraprabhavatI
fully understood the hazards that confronted Gorkha on the eve of the
invasion. Though comparatively well-equipped with arms and ammunition,
the army was not large, nor was financial position of the state sound.
She therefore felt it necessary to enlist some mercenaries fronl.the .. --,,:.
plain.13 'bven.,at. the risk of repercussions which seemed likely to ensue
in the state. They would have to be given better pay and that might
lead to discontent among her troops, which would be particularly
dangerous at a critical time when their complete loyalty was necessary.
In consequence she advised P~thvInaray~ and Kalu Pare to'delay the
recruiting the mercenaries until they had explained to the people why
such step was necessary. She suggested that the proposal would be.,
acceptable to the people if a definite promise was given to them that
it would be they and they only who would partake of the spoils. She
also advised PBthvinarayaI]. to tell the people of the seriousj·.situation
in which now the country found itself, a situation which only the
j
158
.
niriyan and ~alu Par&
. followed her instructions. They addressed them-
selves to the entire population of Gorkha, even the poorest were
approached and it would appear that the lame, the halt and the blind
were not omitted. The upshot was that the people agreed to the em-
1
ployment of the mercenaries and promised their loyalty and support.
Having secured the loyalty of his people, Pothvinaray~
.
began to make preparations for the invasion of Nuwrucot. He established a
1. HP, vol.51,fos.94-95 •
....;. /
2. !i\thvinarayw: Siihko j Ivan!, p. 38 •
159
1
working the fallow land there. I1;thvinarayal} also won over an influen-
2
tial and experienced person in the locality, one Kaly~ Upadhyaya Rim8l.
Kulananda had in the meantime found an auspicious day for the fixing
of a pole on the Mahama.It~al, the highest ridge of Nuwrucot;, where the
defenders had entrenched themselves. The fixing of a pole was an old
3
tantric custom, which implied success in the project if the deed was
done at an auspicious moment. At first 'nobody was willing to undertake
such a perilous task, Which involved going into the stronghold of their
adversaries. Eventually however one Kalu J:isi Adhikari offered himself.
He proposed that his face be smeared black and that he should feign to
have been ignominiously ejected from Gorkha. He would cross the river
and, enter the enemy camp all the time abusing Pt;thvinarayru:, as if out
of spite against him, so as to be taken into the confidence of the
enemy. Surprisingly enough the MalIa troops took him in and believed
that he was genuinely dissatisfied with his king. Without questioning
his identity, they welcomed him and provided accommodation for him in
their camp. He completed his hazardous assignment without discovery,
having left the camp on the pretext of attending to the call of nature.
Throughout the day he remained in the midst of the enemy gathering all
sorts of intelligence, and then at midnight he stole through their
ranks, and swimming the flooded TrisUlI, came back to the camp of
Pt;thvInaray~. The king was immensely pleased with him for his brave
rulers of the Nepal Valley were again at loggerheads. Pa~an had been
2
independent since 1729 and this time was ruled by Visnu Halla. He had ..
asked Prthvinarayan for help against Jayaprakas and had promised in
o ~
.
return to be neutral when he attacked Nuwakot. The latest cause of
estrangement between Pa~an and Kathman~u was on the question of the
Lamict~a district .··It~.ha'L.peen occupied by Gorkha and Tanahu, the
major part of the hilly area of the district remaining in the hands
of the former. Jayaprakas had supported Tanahu at this time. As a
result of this loss Pa~an's outlest to the west, through which nece-
ssary commodities were imported, had been closed. Kathmandu and Patan
" .
attempted independently to recover some of the lost territory. Jaya-
prakas sent his minister, Sikhvil KajI, to Tanahu to negotiate; and
a minister from Pa~an, Kalidas, solicited P;thvInaray~ for his help
in its recovery, whereupon the latter obliged the King of Patan by
•
_3
returning the tract held by Gorkha.
In the meantime the three MalIa rulers had assembled in Cobhar
in connection with a religious celebration; but at the same time Jaya-
prakas had sent some of his men to attack the fort of pa~an. This act
1. Acarya,op.cit.,pp.39-40.
2. Ibid. ,p.39.
3. According to Acarya, ibid.,p.40, it appears that Rajyaprakas fled
.
to Fatan in 1741 for a different reason .
4. He became king of Pat-an some time during 1745146 after the death
of yi~r:u l~la (leary-a, ibid.,p. 43; Jfiav3J.i: Nepal upatyakiiko rnadhya-
kalin itlhas,p.17Q).
5. Aearya, ibid.,p.40. There is, however, no agreement regarding the
name of his village. Palancok is mentioned in HP,vol.51,fo.97. A third
name Sipa is also met with (Jfiav81i,ibid.,p.170). Cagu was in the posse-
ssion of Jayaprakas and not of ~ajits~ha as mentioned by Acarya,ibid.
164
Nuw8ko~. Jayaprakas managed to save it, and fortunately for him he was
joined by Jayanta liana, who until 1737 had been in the service of
Gorkha. It was Jayanta R.8.na who had been dismissed by Narbhup8.1 for
the failure of the attack on Nuwako~, for which he was directly held
responsible. Thereupon he joined Jayaprakas, presumably to take revenge
upon Narbhup81. Jayaprakas appointed him officer in charge of NuwSko~
1
in place of Kasiram Thapa. In 1739 he also dismissed his minister
2
.
Jhagal Thakul whose capacity for intrigue he suspected. Nevertheless
the defection of KasIram Thapa and the other Khas officers was a
serious blow to the efficiency of Jayaprakas's army and the loyalty
of his troops.
While the Khas officers and their troops were in action
position. His relations with Bhatgau were bad, neither was there any
love lost between him and the King of Patane His army was disorganised
and his officers did not trust him. Such a situation vas particularly
favourable to Prthvinarayan's
o • plans, and there is no doubt that it
influenced his decision to attack at once. The objective was Nuwako~.
held, for the MalIa troops had vacated the low-lying land on the other
bank some time previously for fear of malaria. They had withdrawn to
.. .
Mahamandal. Thus Prthv1narayan was able to reach the Nuwako1:- Valley
. ~
.
Tho fort of Nuw3kot was beleaguered; and, there being no relief, it
fell to the Gorkhalese troops during the early aututlIl. PrthvInarayan
o •
1. JfiavalI,op.cit.,p.83.
2. There are conflicting accounts regarding the routes through which
the Gorkhalese troops were sent. Some mention three while some only two
(HP,vo!.51,fo.95, vol.52,fo.l08; PrthvInaraya~ ~ahko jlvanI,pp.4Q-41,43;
Jfiavali,ibid. ,p.84). It appears th~t PrthvInfu-ayan himself followed the
troops marching through TIndharya. 0 •
brink of defeat. They achieved victory in the end, but at the cost of
heavy casualties. Pr;thvinarayal} was sad to see so many of his men fallen.
He now realized his mistake. He praised Kalu Pfi~e for his superior
skill in the art of fighting and promised not to undertake a campaign
2
without consulting him. Jayanta Rana was captured and taken to Nuwakot.
2 .
.
There he was flayed alive. The pccupation of Belkot rendered Nuwakot .
secure. PrthvInaray~ fortified it and shifted his headquarters there
o 3
from Gorkha. Now he was just outside the Nepal Valley and poised to
fall upon it.
the other two MalIa rulers, for they were still divided even though the
enemy was literally at their gates. This time he succeeded, if only
temporarily, in composing their dissensions, by stressing the conse-
quences of p£thvinaray~'s presence so near their territories. Together
they reorganised their military establishment and concerted their
defence efforts. An allied army was prepared under the command of
RaI2-abhIm Thapa, a Khas officer of Jayaprakas. Meanwhile Jayaprakas
Nolche, and appointed KasIram Thapa in his place and sent him at the
..
y ' . . . . . . . . . . . .- - -""'" - .... ........... ....,.; ........ -' I '_... "' . ..- . \~_. .... .... - ~ - '
".::.;:' ..' ... I ' ... - ' .
'-:::""~:!.:-;"",;;':'.L._,:,,;' ;:i;
:.'. "-.' .-' . -"",:;.:_
.:.~::::':"'--"':'.:':':-;;;::-::':::".;;;o.;.-
bows alone but to fight also with swords if necessary. Some soldiers
1. HP, vol.5l,fo.97, which also mentions the number of the allied force
as 8,000. IP, vol.I,p.125,col.l, however, mentions the number 1,200.
The statements of the Nepalese accounts are perhaps considerably and
intentionally exaggerated. Presumably the strength of the allied force
was far in excess of P;thvinaraYaQ's army's strength. The population
of the Nepal Valley is alleged to have been 60,000 in 1767 (vide p.260).
Father Giuseppe, who was then Prefect of the Roman Mission in Kathmandu,
has mentioned that the number of houses in the Nepal Valley was 70,000
and that the King of Ka~hm8.n9-u, i.e. Jayaprakas, had always about
50,000 soldiers. Father Giuseppe seems to have exaggerated too.
2. JnavarI: !:t;thvlnarayar: 88.h, p.90.
3. I.e. Prataps1IUha (also known SiIDhapratap) Sah. He was born probably
in 1745 (DU, Intro.,p.5). IP, ibid.,says he was born soon after KasIram
Thapa was repulsed by the Gorkhalese.
4. I.e. the Junior, NarendralaksmI. The Senior, IndrakumarI, was still
at Makt.Tanpur (llide _,'p. 1~ i ,I'I. • i). .
170
were dissatisfied that he should have sent his family to a safe place
while they were expected to fight to the death. PbthvInaray~ assured
them upon his word of honour that he would never forsake them to save
his own life but would fight until the last. He appealed to their
loyalty and valour and stressed the crucial urgency of the action they
eloquent appeal restored their confidence. The Queen too played her
part by distributing provisions, which consisted of flat rice (cyura)
1
and sugar, with her own hands. Thus assured and confident, the men
It -
marched out to fight in an orderly manner. Battle was joined at Gairi-
theum where the ~~la troops had assembled. The Gorkhalese routed them
and chased them in retreat as far as Thapagau. As a result of this
victory ~thvInaray21}. was master of the whole of the Nuwa:{Qt Province.
his king. Though he was sent for three or four times he refused to go.
Jayaprakas was furious that he should have gone into the territory of
.
Ranajitsiffiha whose sincerity and trustworthiness he still doubted
despite the alliance between them. Kasiram later went to Ka~hman~u
.
himself a minister, fled to Patan to seek the protection of Rajya-
prakas, Jayaprakas's younger brother, who had recently become king
there. Once there T~uihik strove to strain still further relations
4
between the MalIa kings. ParaSuram Thapa, Kasfram Thapa's younger
brother, was then at Palancok. vfuen he heard the news of his brother's
death he fled to Ka~hre out of fear and hid himself there. From there
he went to Bisa.D.khu and afterwards to Patane There he aligned himself
• 5
)1 with its ministers, - -":-;
Dhanak~aya, Kt~!!adas,SaikhvaL ahd Dhanavanta.
1. HP,op.cit.,fos.97-98. 2. Acarya,op.cit.,p.43.
3. HP, ibid.,fo.98. 4. Acarya,ibid.
5. f:tthvinaraYaI) Sanko ';ivani, p.33
172
1
They entrusted him to the protection of RapajitsiIDha, the King of
Bhatgau, who made him his minister and chief of the army. Parasuram
Thapa was also determined to take revenge upon Jayaprakas for the murder
of his brother KaSlram Thapa. He did much to increase disaffection
2
amongst the hill-~en in-the territories of Jayaprakas. At this point
.
to Prthvinarayan
0 •
for the maintenance of his troops who. then had been
.
considerably increased. The acquisition of the Nuwakot Province was a
turning point in PtthvmarayBl! I s career. The experience of his campaigns
against it had shown him that even the combined strength of the Malla
kings was not as powerful as he had thought. But the ~ost important
feature of the possession of Nuwako~ was that it was an open door into
the Nepal Valley though some 33 years had still to lapse before the
CHAPTER VII
---
SECOND PHASE OF PRTHVINARAYAli'S
o • CAMPAIGNS (1746-56)
.
with Ranajitstmha in order to forestall the King of Lamjung. Without
this there was no prospect of his pushing further to the east. He
contemplated capturing Naldum and Nahadeva Pokhar! and handing them over
to ~ajitsiffiha. These two places formed the north-eastern extremity
of the Nepal Valley, and were in the territory of the kingdom of Ka~h
.
mandu. Being situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Bhatgau they
were strategically important to ~ajitsiIDha. As relations between
Ra.r}ajitsiIDha and Jayaprakas'l'ttrere not cordial, the handing over of these
places to ~ajitsiffiha would have the advantage for P~thvrnaraya~ of
creating wider dissension between the two V~a houses. With this aim
in view he captured Naldum and tf.l8.hadeva PokharI on Wednesday, 23 July
1
1746. In this operation he had the assistance of ~ajitsiIDha, and he
handed over both places to him in order to win his sympathies and
2
deprive the King of L8llljung of an ally in the Nepal Valley. But being
a shrewd strategist Pbthvinaray~ retained the forts in both places
for himself and stationed his own troops in them in order to establish
bases inside the Valley. He stationed C~utariya JahagIr Sah and Sardar
Maunu S8hI of Kh~cI at N8.ldum, and Devar~i Upadhyaya Adhikari and
Umrava Asajit Bh~ari at Nahadeva Pokhar!. After making this disposition
3
he returned to Nuwako"!i.
1. HP, vol.51,fo.98.
2. Jfiavali, op.cit.,p.lOl.
3. HP, ibid.
175
attitude towards him. Their opposition was such that it was iopossible
for the king on his part to reach an agreement with them. Many of them
were ready to respond to intriguers who were plotting to dethrone him.
The malcontents were secretly getting help from the nobles and ministers
2
of Pa~an and Bhatgau as well as from their kings. They even went to
the extent of asking Parasuram Thapa, minister of Bhatgau, to go to
P~thvIn8.ra.ya.If in order to invite him to attack Ka1-hma.nqu, knowing that
since the murder of his brother, Kasiram Thapa, Parasuram Thapa had
become hostile to Jayaprakas. They hoped that, as relations between
1. HP, op.cit.,fo.98.
2. In P£thvInaraya~ Sahko jIvani, p.3l, it is mentioned that Parasuram
wrote letters to the Quueen, concubines, priests and counsellors of
Jayaprclcas to arrest the king and enthrone the Crown Prince.
176
.
. It was
and Dolakha was at that time part of the territory of Kathmandu.
almost entirely inhabited by highlanders and Khases who spoke the same
language, Parbatiya [Nepali), which Parasuram himself spoke. This tribal
and linguistic affinity made it easier to him to provoke the people of
this area. It is said that P~thvinaraya~ called Parasuram to propose
to him a campaign to be jointly undertaken against Cagu and S~hu, the
two places in the possession of Ka~hman~u. He also said that if
conquered these places were to be occupied by Bhatgau. Parasuram vhs;~
determined to take revenge upon Jayaprakas for the murder of his brother
2
and so he obtained the concurrence of ~ajitsiIDha in this campaign.
.
object of occupying C~gu and S~hu with the assistance of Ranajitstmha •
He felt he could also count upon Parasuram, who had been favourably
disposed of late, to lend him effective help. The Gorkha1ese troops
captured C~gu after a brief engagement with the troops of Jayaprakas
though he himself led them against the invaders. Each succeeding crisis
which had overtaken Jayaprakas over the past months had been more severe
and dangerous than the one before. Gripped in a series of crises, he
could not check the Gorkhalese who easily defeating him marched on further
to occupy SEkhu. He was too stunned by the defeat to take appropriate
measures to check the advancing invaders. wnereupon his subjects took
the initiative themselves and approached Rajyaprakas of pa.tan for help.
1
and gettins it quickly marched with troops under his leadership. They
routed the Gorkhalese from the place where they had encamped. The people
. .
of Kathmandu, who were already angry with Jayapralcas because of the
loss of N8.ldum and Hahadeva PokharI, were still further enraged by the
loss of C~gu. T~u9hik, his former minister, besieged the royal palace
with the help of troops sent by Rajyaprakas; and Jayaprakas was de-
throned during the autumn festivals (DasRi) of 1746 and sent as a captive
2
to Patan where Rajyaprakas provided for his comfort. The intriguers
.. 3
put Jayaprakas1s infant son, Jyotiprakas, on the throne. Even his
- ...'" It
mother KumudinI, his wife Dayavat1, and a concubine Maiju had colla-
borated with the intriguers to preaipitate his downfall. DayavatI was
4
influenced by a Brahman called Dhan, Juju, and ~iju by a minister
called Mihma Pradhan, to side with them? The mother of the infant king
1. Jnaval.l: Nepal upatyak8ko madhyakalin itihas, pp.17Q ..'71 ,e1'th~J"e:",:, Scz.k- >
p.,f>. -,- J
2. Acarya, '~ri Sri Jayaprakas galla', p.45.
3. HP, vol.55,fo.67, and Wright, op.cit"p.224, say he was of eighteen
~-l..:-v..':t~\..~\ p.\10,months. According to Acarya, ibid.,p.40, and Jfiawlli;~pM~~~o.~a.IfQ.,~_Q.~~~-
-~ -' ~I..ewas
five. Walsh, op.cit.,p.696, mentions him to have been ~ years old.
, 4. Probably the eon of the royal priest who was also' .against" Jayaprakas
(~thvInaraya.r;. Sahko jIvanI, p.32).
5. HP, vol.50,fos.24-25; Jfi~r, op.cit.,p.200.
178
became Regent,1 and "
Tau~ik was made Chief 2 The latter was quick
~tlnister.
.
Nuwakot to serve as a base for future action •
In the meantime Jayaprakas escaped from Pat;an and began to
wander in desperation from place to place inside the Nepal Valley in
"
his having given shelter to Taughik. Unable to survive her cruel
punishment, DayavatI died in confinement. }lihmadhanc Pradhan, accused
of adultery with HRiju, was killed. Dhanc Juju, the Brahman also accused
of adultery with Dayavati, died as a result of wounds inflicted upon
3
him while undergoing punishment. Only the infant son was spared. Although
he had regained his throne, Jayaprakas had yet to bring peace and .,
security and establish law and order in his kingdom, but this he was
unable to do.
Taking advantage of Jayaprakas1s preoccupation Parasuram
took Sindhu Palcok and Dolakha and annexed them to the domains of
Bhatgau. Jayaprakas,who was very busy setting his house in order did not
attempt to retrieve the lost districts. The situation was calmer but it
was still too early for him to achieve stability and to grapple with all
the problems that faced him. The l~epal Valley 1-TaS full of jealousy and
he had to handle the situation with ereat care if he was to keep the
peace and make cooperation possible with the other ~~lla kings. What
was imported into the Valley through Kutr and Kerung. The other
co~~odities were imported from Nuwako~ and other places in the neighbour-
hood. As a result of the possession of Nuwako~ and Paitlbhanjyang by
whose income was mainly derived from trade with Tibet, were now in deep
1. Acarya, op.cit.,p.47.
182
Tis~ung and Citlang, all these places in the same district, and
4
annexed the whole of the district without any opposition. The loss of
the Lamr4~a district,which had fertile valleys and a few mines, further
.
N81dum and Mahadeva PokharI, still occupied by Ranajitsiffiha after
PtthvinarayaI]. had handed them over to him in 1746, and their forts
which were controlled by the Gorkhalese contingents stationed there.
Jayaprakas realized that by collaborating with PbthvInaray~ in their
possession, ~ajits1mha had endangered the security of Ka~hman4u, but
concealing his concern at their loss he made it clear to ~jitsiIDha
..
make a direct attack. On one side Dahacok linked up LamId~ra and Dhading,
and on the other the TrisUlI Valley and Nuwruco~. It also controlled the
commerce of Ka~hman~u with Tanahu; and with its loss the people of the
Nepal Valley were hard hit by the cutting off of the commodities they
got through it. The blockade in this direction was now almost complete.
Prthvinarayan
o • made arrangements to strengthen his hold on this strate-
King of Lamjung for a:n:y Gorkhalese expansion to the east of the Sindhu
Valley had to be secured in advance. The Lamjungi te Sardar left Nuwakot.
1. HP, op.cit.
2. Jfiavari: Nepal upatyakako madhyak8.lin itihas, p.201.
3. Vide p. 1S4.
186
owing to the overtures he made to the king that the Gorkhalese troops
were left free to march to the east without fear of any attack either
Qy Lamjung or the c~ubisi. FtthvInaraYaQ sent his troops accompanied by
RudrI SahI, Daljit §ah, Sardar Bali Panta, Jaya Baniy~, Ranya Baniy~,
Virbhadra Basnet, Bijya Khatri and Motya Khatri for the conquest of
1
the east.
2
There is a story that about this time PrthvInarayan
o • had a
dream that he was devouring the sea. Taking it as augury that he would
conquer the Nepal Valley, he summoned one of his priests, Ramkb~~a Jos1,
to interpret it for him. But the priest told him that it was caused b.7
,
flatulence. Not satisfied with this interpretation, he called Saktivallabh
Jos1, one of his astrologers then stationed~as the frontier officer of
..
Lamid~a. He said that the dream augured well for the conquest of the
1. HP, op.cit.
2. Vide p. 1~1.
3. About Jayamangal l<lisra and the mendicant vide p.147.
188
I
the priest and he made him the priest of his Queen Narendralak~mI. All
these divinations emboldened him to undertake the expedition for the
KutI, as well as to blockade the Nepal Valley from that quarter. PtthvI-
narayaI} sent his agents Hari (Harideva) Pandit and Jamadagni Upadhyaya
to Khasa and Kuti to buy gold· presumably to deprive the traders of the
4
Nepal Valley of the profit accruing from this commodity. This was another
1. Hp, op.cit.
I
2. JnavalI: ~t)thvInaruy~ 38h, pp.l05-6; Acarya, 'Sri SrI Jayaprakas
MalIa', p.49, wherein both say that the capture of the region took place
after 1755, i.e. after P~thvInaraya~ repulsed the CRubIsI invasion of
Sirhancok in this year (vide pp.199- S0 ). But the dates of some of the
letters written by Pt)thvinaray~ indicate that the capture took place
before 1755 (vide Letters nos. 1,.4, pp.5'"6-5ff, ~1-62,~
3. Vide pp.igO-rat.
4. Letters nos. 1 and 4, PP.S'6,~1. Vide also Acarya, ibid. 1'.
189
blow to the Ha.lla kings. The capture of Dahacok, Hil~Uce, Sindhu PaJ.cok
and Dolakha was clear proof of their inability to defend their territories.
Shortly after, p~thvInaraya~ planned to a.tta.ck Naldum for
the second time. He sent a large body of troops consisting of all his
brothers, ministers, chiefs, nobles and elders. It was captured on_
I
Thursday, 1 August 1754. He understood the necessity of keeping the
people of the lands he acquired under his control and of making them
contented as well. Accordingly he sent a letter from Nuwako~ on Wednesda.y,
7 August, to the headmen and principal inhabitants of Dolakha ordering
them to surrender and assuring them of security of life and property if
they came to terms with him. He also made it clear to them that the
people of Palung, Tis~ung and Citlang ha.d completely surrendered and
2
thereafter had been enjoying security of life and property.
The spectacular advances made by PothvinarayB.\l alarmed the
King of Parvat who feared that the CliubIsl and BaIsI '\lould be overrun
by the Gorkhalese king if he were not prevented from making conquests
piecemeal. He therefore suggested to the King of Lamjung that he should
take the lead to avert such a cata.strophe, and accordingly both of them
" -.,.. kings made a. combined attack on Sirhancok,
with the help of other Caubis1
a frontier outpost nea.r the boundary of Lamjung and 10 miles north-west
of Gorkha. Their main purpose was to distract Prthvinarayan
o • from the
3
1755. Shortly after P~thvInaray~ sent his troops to defend AjIrgarh,
one mile north of Gorkha. He further sent his troops from NuwUko~ accom-
panied by Ma.hoddamkirti Sah, Kalu p~te; KalRi Dvare and Ambar P~re, the
Dvare"of Sallyan 'Far to recover Sirhancok. Rudri SahI too went to fight
taking yith him troops from Gorkha. The Gorlmalese established a garrison
5
at RWncya on Tuesday, 22 July. It is said that RudrI Sahi I s wife went
herself as far Choprak with provisions where she made arrangements for
their distribution amongst the troops. Severe fighting took place on
Saturday, 26 July. Hany prominent Gorkhalese chiefs, such as Ambar P~e,
Kal~i Dvare and others, died. Ultimately however the Gorkhalese were
tunity was lost. Once Gorkha was safe PtthvinarayuI} acted with such
speed and skill that Juyaprakas had little time for such manoeuvres.
It was now more than thirteen years (since 1742) that
Pz;thvInaraYaI} had been ruling. His power was recognised but his ambition
to conquer the kingdoms of the Nepal Valley was as yet unfulfilled, and
he became someithat apprehensive. He realized that the Valley could not
be reduced unless spies were sent there to fraternise with the people
and sow discord among them. Accordingly he sent some spies to Kathman~u.
Ka~uvaJ. and Ra.I:ajit Thapa. They told Jayaprakas that PtthvinaraYaJ} had
sent them on a friendly mission to explore ways and means of establishing
peace and friendly relations with him. They were honorably received and
3
permitted by Jayaprakas to remain in Ka~hman~u for a couple of weeks.
In the meantime they had secret meetings with local persons. Jayaprakas
was informed of their fraudulent activities, and had tha~ arrested. Some
of the Gorkhalese spies managed to escape fro~ their prison. Jayaprakas
then felt it necessary to put an end to the lives of the rest. All were
brought to the temple of Bhairava to be executed sacrificially. Devaraj
Ka~uv81 and ~ajit Thapa shook their heads when lamps were placed on
their ears, an omen suggesting that the god had accepted them as a
sacrifice. Their weapons were hung on the wall of ~ulcok, the main
courtyard of the royal palace Hanu~anihoka. Jayak~~~a Thapa did not
respond to this sacrificial ordeal and was spared. But when being taken
.
to the prison, he overpowered the guards on its way at Dhoka Tol and .
..
escaped through a drain to the other side of the Visnumati river. He
reached Kahule safely and joined the Gorkhalese camp stationed there.
Being a Brahman Bali Panta could not be killed. He was therefore sent
handcuffed to be imprisoned in Lak~!pur, a courtyard in the royal
palace. On account of the ministerial rank and high prestige he held,
Jayaprakas was advised to make use of Tularam. In consequence he was
taken to the temple of the tutelar deity of the Hallas, Taleju (Tulaja
Bhavani), where Jayaprakas took an oath assuring him of every kind
consideration in return for his loyalty. Tularam also took an oath to
be loyal to Jayapraka3.He was forthwith made a minister and further
asked to send for his family to Kat~~an~u. But at heart he was not a
renegade. He was only outwardly pretending loyalty to Jayaprakas. He
193
therefore did not try to send for his family. When asked by Jayaprakas
why they had not joined him, he replied that it was impossible for them
to join him because he had defected to a hostile power. Tularam was
simply evading. He made one excuse after another to explain the inability
of his family to join him. In this way a couple of months passed and
Jayaprakas began to press him more often. Tularam realized that the time
for excuses had passed and that there was every likelihood of his
incurring Jayaprakas1s displeasure if he prevaricated further. Realizing
that his life was in danger, he one day managed to slip off to N81dum
with the help of Kaji Dhanavanta of Pa~an with whom he had formed a
1
ritual friendship. From Naldum he reached Nuw~o~ safely and reported
to PtthvInaray~. Bali Panta's health was fast deteriorating. He was
asked if he wanted to go to the temple of Pasupati or elsewhere, according
to the custom prevalent among Hindus who aspire to die in a holy place.
1. Acarya, 'SrI SrI Jayaprakas V~la', p.51, says that Tularam mingled
with a funeral procession and came out of the town. He then went to the
house of Kalidas,
- a minister
- of Pa~an,
, and with his help managed to reach
Nuwako~. Jfiavali: ftthvinaraya~ sat, p.l09, says that he escaped through
the help of Kalidas, and ~~gered at this Jayaprakas had the Pa~an minister
murdered later.
2. HP, vol.51,fo.10l.
194
to attack the Nepal Valley and promising support in the campaign. These
letters, with the usual royal seal, acknowledged the receipt of previous
1. HP, op.cit.
195
strategy. Unfortunately the other two kings were not prepared to trust
him and cooperate in his plans to present a united front to the common
foe. At this particular juncture Jayaprakasls position in his own kingdom
once his subjects but now P~thvinaray~ls. He suggested that they should
1. HP, op.cit.
196
invite PratapslIDha saIl, the Gorkhalese Crown Prince, to hunt wild boars
in the forest of Citlang, where he could be arrested by hj,'S' {Jayaprakas' s)
,..soldiers stat~oned for the purpose. The Brahmans prevailed upon Pratap-
siffiha to accept their invitation and march from Nuwako~ towards the
forest. P~thvInaraya~ was then away at Dahacok. He did not know what was
brewing. But the plot was discovered by Kaj! Dhanavanta of Fa~an who
told Jagesvar JRisI, Raghunanda Koir8J.a and other Brahmans of NU1,1ako~
of the intrigue. These Brahmans had been sent to Pa~an by FtthvInaray~
of the kingdom. The nefarious role played by these ministers was largely
responsible for creating an unhealthy political atmosphere in the
Nepal Valley.
seemed to him not to be concerned with the security of the Nepal Valley;
so he had no option but to turn to P~thvInaraYaQ, in spite of the fact
that the latter had already overrun much of Pa~anls territory.
1. Vide p. 178.
2. Vide p. 163.
198
~ajitsiIDha was more anxious to regain ~aldum rather than
stand united with Jayaprakas. Accordingly he sent a request to p;thvl-
naray~ asking him to hand over the place once again as he did when he
conquered it the first time. P~thvinaray~ replied that since he (~ajit-
1
s1mha) was incapable of retaining it, he would instead capture C~gu and
hahd that over to him. C~gu was in the territory of Kat.hmanQ.u and it also
pointed out to him that he had refused to give him Naldum though it was
in his power to do so. Parasuram objected to this alliance on the ground.
that it was only a means to aggrandize P:gthvinarayal}. and was sure to
estrange Jayaprakas. ~ajitsiIDha was however confident that Ptthvi-
narayarJ. would give him C~gu if action yere jointly undertaken, and
1. Probably this place was vacated soon after 1746 when the Gorkhalese
first captured it (vide P.t16).
2. IP, vol.II,pt.iii,p.467, Letter no.lD.
3. A pass in the Telko~
rigge which is nearly 4 miles south-east of S~u
and c}miles due east of Cagu. From BhatgaU it is 4 miles in the north-east.
199
Parasuram was compelled to carry out his master's order to lead his
troops, but he purposely delayed the joining of his troops with those
of P:gthvInarayaI}.. From the place where he encamped Parasuram sent a
message to the kings of Fa~an and-Ka~hman~u about the intended attack
and warned them of the serious consequences which would befall all the
Vw.J.la kings if it were successful. Prthvinarayan
o • himself marched with
and for the loss of the action against C~gu. ~ajitstmha refused to
the direst consequences rather than surrender a person who had sought
1. HP, op.cit.,fos.102-3.
2. Ibid.fo.103.
201
CHAPTER VIII
"
Next to Lamjung the most powerful kingdom in the Caubisi --
were Tanahu, Palpa, KaskI and Parvat. Since in the course of PBthvi-
e.o.~
naraY~'s~no reference to an encounter between Gorkha and Falpa is met
with, it seems that he was on cordial terms with Palpa.. vIith the rest
his relations '\,rere mostly strained. Trivikram Sen, King of Tanahu, had
even sent his envoys to Kathman~u in order to plan an alliance with
Jayaprakas, but owing to the latter's deposition in 1746 this did not
1
materialize. Seeing PtthvinaraYaIf advance towards the Nepal Valley, the
King of Tanahu tried to keep pace with him by seizing some places in
2
the territory of pa~an.
Later he supported the kings of Lamjung and
3
Parvat in their joint invasion of Sirhancok in 1755. PtthvinaraYaQ
understood the dangers which threatened from this direction, but what
seems likely is that he avoided counter-action until he had established
his position in Nuwako~, and then as soon as he felt strong enough he
4
began to look around for a pretext to take action against Trivikram.
Some time after his return from Bhatgau to Nuwa:ko~ in 1756
P~thvrnaraya~ heard that one of his concubines, who had been procured
for him from Pa~an and who had been with him at Bhatgau during the year
3. Jiiav81i, ibid.
4.-:t iSm~s~ quite likely that PrthvInaray~ determined to take action
aga~nst lr~v~kram because the lat~er had permitted Christian missionaries
to preach in his count~ (L Pete h· I " . i . .
nel Nepal, ~art IV, p.23l).· c. m~ss~onar~ tal~an~ nel Tibet e
202
.
to send her to a holy place so that she could die there according to
Hindu tradition. Although a concubine, she was honoured as a legally
married wife. She was sent to KasI (Banaras) qy way of Cit£un. At
.
Deughat, the winter residence of the king of Tanahu, Trivikram Sen
uncovered the palanquin in which she was being carried, but he did not
1
detain her. She reached Kasi and died there. Whatever may have been the
reason for Trivikram's action P£thvInaray~ took it as a great insult
, 2
to his concubine and determined to take revenge. He sent for Gauresvar,
3
who was a priest both of his father and Trivikram, and requested him
to use his good offices to arrange a meeting with Trivikram at the
frontier of both the states, telling him that he wanted to discuss with
him the delay in the conquest of the nepal Valley, ask for his advice
4
in regard to its conquest and also talk about personal matters. Gauresvar
went to Trivikram with this proposal. Trivikram told him that Prthvi-
o
nfirfiyar: was very crafty and requested him not to meddle in what was
1. HP, vol.5l,fo.l03.
2. He was then perhaps in Banaras (vide GVY, p.132; also JnavSlI,
op.cit.,p.115).
3. GVY, p.102.
4. There is a variant story regarding the person whom P;thvinaray~
requested to arrange the meeting he contemplated. It is said that when
he heard the death of his concubine called Svabhabati ~ Sobhavatij
after she had been detained at Deughat by the King of Tanahu on her way
to KasI, PtiHhvInarayw: became very angry and d~termined to take revenge
upon the K1nJ of Tanahu. He sent one J1limkar Bara, a Newar, to arrange
the meeting to be taken place at Jyamirgha~. ~rthvInaray~ was pleased
with this B~a, and appointed him priest of }-~kamna temple situated in
a ridge called Kaphyak near Gorkha (IP, vol.I,pp.46-47).
203
nothing but a means to take revenge upon him for the uncovering of his
concubine's palanquin. The priest was not aware of the real motive of
Pc;thvlnarayaJ}.. On the contrary he told Trivikram that the Gorkhalese
king was only worried at the delay in the conquest of the Nepal Valley,
and that he wished to win Trivikram's confidence in order to seek his
advice regarding the plans and action to be taken for the quick success
of the campaign against the Valley, and further added that the Gorkhalese
king did not intend any intrigue against him. Trivikram still doubted
and so he again told the priest that the latter was completely unaware
of the workings of Ptthvinara:yaI}' s heart and his real intention. The
priest therefore came to Nuwakot- to find if there was any such intention
on PtthvinaraYaIJ' s part. He told the king about the fears harboured by
Trivikram. PrthvInarayan
o •
replied that he had to meet Trivikram I at any
cost, and since both the kings were closely related by marriage he could
c
never harbour any intrigue against him. He told the priest further that
he was willing to do anything that would reassure the latter. The priest
was back to Tanahu and assured Trivikram of Ptthvinarayart I s pure motive.
A letter was written to Prthvrnar~van,
o ....., • proposing the meeting to take
place at Jyamirgha~, on the banks of the TrisUli, and that both parties
should meet unarmed. P:sthvInarayaI} accepted the proposal. He encamped
at Phujel~ar. Trivikram also encamped on the bank of the TrisUlL P;thvf-
naray~ had ordered his men the previous night to hide their swords and
shields in the river close to the tent where the meeting was to take
place, and to remain there for a signal to attack. In the morning both
the kings proceeded to the venue. Escorted by Gauresvar, Trivikram came
tmarmed. Once the formal exchanges were over, the t,oJ'o kings retired to
discuss business. At the outset Pt;thvInarayaJt sought Trivikram's advice
regarding the appropriate course of action to be pursued in the conquest
of the Nepal Valley; but later he quarrelled and accused him of insulting
his concubine. He gave a signal to his men. In the struggle which ensued
many of Trivikram's men were slaughtered. He himself was arrested and
accused publicly by P~thvinaray~ of insulting his concubine. He was
taken by him to Nuwiikot as a captive by way of Gorkha. On the way
Trivikram saw Gauresvar whom he reprimanded for having led him into a
trap. Gauresvar was greatly distressed and at Gorkha he remonstrated
with Pt;thvinaray~ about his behaviour. In consequence he was ordered
to leave Gorkha. Gauresvar was constrained to leave for Tanahu with
1 2 3
his family. Trivikram was taken to Nuwakot and subsequently released.
This episode abundantly shows how PBthvinaray~ could without comptmction
resort to any act of betrayal to further his interests.
1. The sons of Gauresvar had been in the service of Gorkha from the
times of Narbhupal Siih. One of his sons was given as gift some freehold
land in Gorkhii (GVY, pp.116,132,134).
2. HP, op. cit. ,fos .103-4.
3. It is not kno\Vn when Trivikram was arrested and released. He was one
of the C~ubIsI kings who had invaded Sirhancok in 1755 (vide p. 201). It
is quite probable that P~thvinaray~ determined to take revenge upon
him from that time. From an inscription of Pt;thvInarayan (IF vol.I
p.36) it appears that Trivikram was released in or about 1762. Ther~fore
the arrest of Trivikram seems to have taken place some time between
1755 to 1762.
205
stmha to meet him at P8.lcok and then to arrest him on his arrival there.
On the way to Palcok however ~ajitsiffiha suspected a plot and did not
proceed further than Banepa whence he returned home. Kalu P~e did not
know how the secret had leaked out, and having failed in his mission,
he returned to Nuwiiko~. P:sthvinaraya:q. was very angry with him and demanded
an explanation. Kalu P~te explained what had happened, telling him that
as he had not been ordered to enter the territory of ~ajitsiiliha and
1. HP, op.cit.,fo.l04.
2. Vide p.2.19.
206
confronted them and their people. Their jealousy of one another rendered
them blind to the threat from outside, and none of them had the wisdom
to realize that their only hope of safety lay in unity. In the meantime
Jayaprakas's brother Rajyaprakas, who had been ruling in Patan since
1745, was murdered by his ministers: Jayaprakas once more acted Violently.
He determined to retaliate. At this Bhiilkhva.dhan, one of the ministers
in Patan, made it known that he would not be subservient to Jayaprakas,
but he later went to Jayaprakas when assured by the latter's agent of
the word of honour given to him. Jayaprakas got hold of the minister
by this artifice and imprisoned him. Bh1zlkhvadhan committed suicide.
Jayaprakas also got hold of the other ministers of Patan by subterfuge
and imprisoned them. In their captivity they were paraded in the city
of Kathman~u dressed as women and constrained to beg alms for their
subsistence at every shop. They were tortured daily. 'Their wives, who
out of love for their husbands, came to see them with food, were also
dressed as she-demons and paraded with them. After some time all were
released. But the ministers determined to dispossess Jayaprakas of
2
his throne.
In the meantime Jayaprakas had constructed an inn in the
temple of Guhyesvari. ~ajitsimha envied him his religious devotion.
It is said that he sent some Bho~iya thieves to steal some jewelry from
the temple. But soon after the theft they were struck blind and were
.
and abused HarivaIDsa and Kulananda for having sided with I\alu pfu.e. He
1. HP, op.cit.
208
astrologer and the frontier officer, on W!lOm the king himself relied,
were also against it. But the opposition only angered him. Feeling
himself humiliated, Kulananda ,left for Lamjung. Batktf}I}a was ordered
to find an auspicious moment for the invasion against Kirtipur, and it
began on Saturday, 28 May 1757, the day declared auspicious by the
astrologer.
Neanwhile however the kings of the Nepal Valley had heard
between the MalIa kings first. But far from listening to his advice,
did not expect to survive the fighting he entrusted his eldest son
1. A Thakuri of 18 who had been made king in early 1757 (Acarya, '~ri SrI
Jayaprakas Halla t, p.51.
2. The name is not clear in HP, vol.51,fo.l04, but in vol.52,fo.l09, it
is SoEYa. Banuva. He w~s p~rhaps the Game Sobya. Banuva. Thapa mentioned in
Prthvinarayan
-0 •
Sahko jivani, p.2.
3. A Muslim who had trained Pf)thvinarayaI].' s artillerymen (DU, Tr.,p.SLt;n.14;)
4. Wright,op.cit.,p.227.
5. Ibid.
211
away by a Du'an (palanquin-bearer) and a Kasal (butcher), and lastly by
1
Jaya.lq;f}~a Thapa., a Gorkhalese officer, to Dahacok. Jayaprakas did not
chase the Gorkhalese troops on their retreat. He returned with the head,
...
scimitar and shield of ~alu Pare which he hung in the temple of Bag-
2
bhairavain Kirtipur. Next day he permitted the Gorkhalese to bury the
3
dead and carry away the wounded. He thought that the Gorkhalese were
4
now destroyed, and made great rejoicings. P6thvinaray~ realized his
folly for having repudiated the advice given by ~alu P~e. He was very
~'I'\,oL.
sad at the huge casualtiedlat the death of Kalu Pite. He stationed men
for the defence of Dahacok. Those who survived were sent to Nuwakot • .
Making these arrangements he also left Dahacok for Nuwiikot. He was so
o;t
sadLthe costly defeat of KIrtipur that he suspended his campaign for
5
two years.
Now PbthvInaray~ adopted other tactics. He concluded a
treaty of trade and alliance with Jayaprakas. The treaty contained the
1: !here are variant accounts regarding the person W?0 carried Ptthvi-
naraYaQ on his back to Dahacok and from there to Nuw~ot. In Wright,
op.cit., it is said that he was carried by a Dunn and a KasaI in one
night to Nuwako~. P~thvrnarayan praised the Duan with this exclammation
"Syabas put" (well done son !)'and from then on the bearer1s caste was
known as Putvar. In HP, vol. 50, fos. 26,27 , it is said that P:sthvinaraYaI}
was carried by a butcher and a Putvar on their backs. Butchers were given
landed propertyuand Putvars were made personal attendants by him fQp this
help. Acarya, op.cit.,p.52,says that P£thvInaraya~ escaped on foot to
Dahacok. In HP,vol.5l,fo.l04, the person who carried him on his back to
Dahacok is said to have been JayakE~~a Thapa. What seems likely is that
p~thvInaraYaQ was first carried to Dahaco~ and then to Nuwako~ by the
persons referred to above, perhaps turn by turn.
2. The weapons were there until 1956 and are perhaps there even now.
3. Acarya, ibid.
4. Wright, ibid.
5. HP, vol.5l,fo.104.
212
1
following provisions:
1) The two states, Ka~hma:nq.u and Go rkhii , were to exchange repre-
sentatives who would be stationed at Kii~hmanqu and Gorkha
respectively.
2) The dominions of fi~an were to be handed over to Gorkhs. and
~aldum must be restored to KRthman~u, and that either state
would assist the other to retain the areas so acquired.
The treaty was concluded with the formula "Aghika Gorkhako pachika
Kathma:d~Uko
• •
es kararma rahya dharmako vrddhi
0
hos (.) !\arm- narilkhya
paficamahapatak lagos (.)", which means " }~y virtue flourish if the
agreements made in the first place by Gorkha and in the second place
- -"_ 2
by Ka~hma~au are honoured. Nay ~ive great sins be attached if the ':.c'
agreements are not honoured."
from the surrounding hill districts who had hitherto served in his army
refused to do so. This is probably true tUaotfor.'.the Khas and Magar
. .
families who were at the time resident at Kathmandu. In these circums-
tances Jayaprakas had no alternative but to employ mercenaries. The
men he brought in to serve in his army are said to be Nagarkotis from
1. Wright, op.cit.,pp.227-28 •
. .
215
mercenaries strained relations between him and his people still further.
His personal treasury was empty and to pay for the mercenaries' service
he was obliged to seize the jewelry from the temples of Pasupatinath
4
and Jayavagesvarr~ This was an act of necessity not of impiety. Jaya-
prakas had earlier, and also later, given proof of pious devotion to
his religion. We find references to his repairing old temples, setting
up new images of different deities and performing other acts of religious
5
merit. On this occasion he promised to pay back twice the value of the
6
jewelry he had taken. It is most likely that the conwon people were
deeply offended and refused to accept his assurance, not only because
the removal from and utilization of jewelry of a temple was an in-
excusable profanation in their eyes, but also because the jewelry was
promise meant to him when it suited his purpose to break it. In spite
of the disorder in the kingdom of Ka~hmanQ.u PtthvInarayB.lJ. was not
.
dispooed to pursue his policy of armed attack. His previous attempts
had not been successful. He realized however that he could weaken the
t~la resistance without actually invading the Valley. He therefore
determined upon a more intensive policy of blockade. He turned his
attention therefore to the passes which led into the Valley and to the
outposts which controlled them. The first step was to the capture of
.< _1
~ivapuri. He called Kulananda, his astrologer, from Lamjung aplogising
for having acted against his advice and assuring him that henceforth
he would act as he advised. Kulauanda did indeed come back to Nuwakot
being apparently satisfied b,y PtthvInaray~fs reassuring letter. He
2..< _
was asked to find an auspicious moment for fixing a pole in ~iv~puri.
, -
1. For Sivapuri vide p.44, "'f\.'1~."
1 , VIrbhadra Basnet,
Ramlq;?!ia Kav Pratiman Adhikari, Syam AdhikarI,
2
BhImsen Thapa and several prominent chiefs to capture Palancok. They
captured it on Friday, 11 January 1760 after defeating a force of
Jayaprakao's troops in a pitched battle in which Bh1msen Thapa fell
, ... -
fatally wounded. These two places, Sivapur1 and Palancok, were outposts
of considerable strategical importance. The former formed a natural
northern boundary of the Valley, and the latter controlled the route
3
from the land of the Kira.tas to Bhatgau via the valley of Banepa. Thus
they were a great acquisition for P~thvInaray~. Next the Gorkhalese
4
troops further marched west and captured Kabhre, an important fort nearly
10 miles to the south-west of Palancok, where they defeated some troops
of ~ajitsiIDha, who were stationed there in defence. It appears that
Jayaprakas and Ra~ajits~a had been since their joint action for the
defence of KIrtipur become united to resist Prthvinarayan's
o • advances.
But one notices their inability to compete \.J'ith Pr;thvinaraYaI} in building
MahendrasiIDha) R2.I, its gallant defender, had been killed, -and his
1
companion, Namstmha Rai, had fallen unconscious with a severe wound
in his shoulder. After some time the latter came to senses but seeing
the Gorkhalese approach him and observing that V~IndrasiIDha was dead,
he fled away to safety. The villagers seeing their leaders fallen fled
also. The Gorkhalese set fire to the village. Next morning Ptthv!naray~
was satisfied with his opinion, and began to plan the conquest of
M8lcwanpur. To ensure the loyalty of the Thapa clan of which Jasram was
1
a member he arranged a marriage between ~ambar Thapa and the daughter
of Tuliiram P~e. This stroke of policy was apparently successful because
the members of the Thapa clan were now assured of Prthvinariiyan' s
"0 2'
favour towards them, and were content to remain at Nuwako~. This was
a shrewd act on the part of ItthvIniirayaI}. as certain members of the
large Thapa clan \-rere residents in Ka~hl'D.an~U and the treatment that
the Thapas had received in Nuwako~ was not likely to have passed
notice by them.
Hention has been made of one Thupa minister of Jayaprakas,
who was sent to attack the Gorkhalese troops stationed at KUhule. In
3
the course of the action he was arrosted by them. At the time the
Thapa minister made his surprise attack, the Gorkhalese troops were
busy cooking their food and were undressed as their caste regulations
.
1. HP, vol.51,fo.105, wherein it is not said who is this Dambar Thapa •
2. Ibid.
3. IP,op.cit., where the name of the minister is not given.
L
222
1. IP, op.cit.
2. He succeeded his fqther Hemkarn.a Sen l ' 1 6 (- " -
Jayaprakas Y~la', p.54). ear y ~ 7 2 Acarya, 'SrI Sri
223
1
time on friendly terms with one of the ministers in Pat-an. Furthermore,
the possession of !1akwanpur was an important ele.l1ent in the blockade
of the Nepal Valley which was noW' being planned. Outposts uhich Prthvi-
o
naray~ already held '"
~anteed that the routes from the south-west and
the south-east would not be available to the ¥m1las. But the route to
the south led through Makwanpur and was consequently' open to them.
Prthvinarayan
o •
determined therefore to isolate the Valley from that
quarter also •. He began by repeating his earlier demand for the NavalakhI
2
diamond necklace and the one-tusked elephant, this time asking for a
few elephants more to make sure that the demand would be rejected as
unreasonable. In actual fact Kanakstmha, who was still a minister in
Makwanpur, turned the demand down without even informing his king about
it. Thus provided with the pretext he needed, PrthvInarayan
o • quickly
drafted a sizeable body of troops, including MahoddamkIrti sat, Dalmardan
Sah, Daljit 8ah, 81irapratap 8ah, Vamsaraj P~e, Kulananda I?hak8J.,
NaharsiIDha Basnet, Kehars1rllha Basnet, Abhimansooa Basnet and Nandubisu
Panta, and sent them to Makwanpur, the capital of the kingdom, to
3
attack it. As the later course of events shows it appears that PrthvI-
o
.
narayan had also followed to supervise the operation. They laid siege
on Friday, 20 August 1762 and captured the place after one d~'s heavy
nearly 400 dead. Taking his Queen and Crown Prince with him, Digbandhan
after heavy fighting in which 300 Gorkhalese were killed. Another wing
500 men of the Makwanpur troops were killed. The Gorkhalese captured
a few elephants. The Queen and the Crown Prince were arrested and
observed to his men that they were the persons who should have been
saying that the king \-las sure to surrender out of love for his wife and
child. This indeed happened, for Digbandhan surrendered the same day.
Prthvinarayan
o •
was very pleased with B~gya Basnet. Digbandhan was taken
to Nuwako+ with his family. Prthvinarayan had not forgotten the treatment
~ o · 1
he had received previously from him, and so he imprisoned him at Nuwako~.
conquest wao a great gain for him. He got some 700 guns and the stores
which the state possessed, and it is said that with this possession he
formed within the year five companies of his army, ~rInath, Vajrav~i,
3
Sabuj, GoraYJl and Kalibaksa. He was also very happy that the blockade
he had planned to impose upon the Nepal Valley had been now achieved,
and was confident that the Valley would also be conquered. He permitted
4 5
Jasram Thapa and Campastmha Godar Thapa to send for their families from
Kathm8.nQ,u and to them he gave the revenues of Sidhuli to be shared
.
Pitan and Bhatgau, and the Nepal Valley was now almost completely
beleagured. In order to ensure that the blockade was fully effective
PrthvInarayan
o • stationed his pickets at the passes through which the
Valley's trade was transacted. He ordered the pickets not to let salt,
3
cotton, food grains, etc., enter the Valley. Early next year the
Gorkho.1ese captured two more outposts, Pareviiko1! on Sunday, 2 January
4
1763 and Kavilaspur the following Saturday (8 January).
No sooner had this stage of his campaign been completed
than PrthvInarayan
o • had to turn to meet another foe. Kanaks1mha's appeal
to the Nawab of Bengal and Bihar had hot been ignored. 1vlir Kasim had
been for some time on bad terms with the British and for this reason
had kept his troops mobilised. They were encamped at Bettia, a territory
reported that Mir Kasim had at that time come to Bettia to deal with
1
the zamindar of Bettia. The Raja of Bettia, JugalkisorsilDha, had fled
Kashmiri and Armenian traders about the fabulous wealth of Nepal, per-
army on European lines. The Victory was a rich gain and a great achieve-
ment for him. It was the first occasion that the Gorkhalesa troops had
1. Vide p. 1S4·
""'" Uar, p.225; also liP, vol.2,fo.27.
2. Papers respecting the Nepat
3. Riaz-us-salatin,op.cit.; Seir-ul-Eutagherin,op.cit.; O'Malley,op.cit.
K.G. Ghaudhury: Anglo-Nepalese relations,p.lO.
4. HP, vol.51,fo.l06.
5. Seir-ul-Mutagherin, vol.II,p.448; O'~~ley,op.cit.
- -,
6. Acarya, IPgthvinarayBl]. --
Sahka. jivaniko pilrvarddha' ,po 75.
I
230
ll b,.... .
the east, in the Tarai as well as in the Nepal Valley, the eau J.SJ. kJ.ngs
decided amongst themselves that the time was opport1h~e to disconcert
him and by so doing save th~dselves from the destruction which seemed
to them likely if he were victorious in his present campaigns and
allowed to advance unchecked. They therefore sent their troopp to
invade Gorkha. They crossed the lI.a.rsyangdi river and laid siege to Harmi,
1. HP, op.cit.
L
231
1
Sunday, 18 Harch 1763. In the 'engagement that followed the c£ubisi troops
were defeated and forced to retreat. The Gorkhalese pursued them, and
there being no boat the c~ubIsI troops jumped into the Narsy'Bngdi in
order to escape and the majority of them were drowned. The Lamjungite
troops too vacated their post at Harm! which they had of late established,
and retired to R.aginas in their O\m territory. The rest of the C~ub:rs:r
troops were also ultimately forced to raise the' ~iege:_they had laid.
As though these campaigns were not enough P;thvinaray~
was also planning to march against the Banepa Valley to the east of
Bhatgau by the middle of 1763. He was engaged in secret correspondence
with his agent in that district. A letter written by PBthvInaray~ from
3
Nuwakoit on Sunday, 2 July 1763 to the agent shows how the latter was
persuaded to come over to his side by a royal grant promising certain
... 4
holdings in Sagako~. The agent waS also asked to enter into negotiations
with the Bhoitiyas in PanRut!, and to enlist the brothers and sons of a
1. In all accounts the date given is Saka 1685 Caitra 9 Sunday, the Saka
year being erroneously written for 1684. Since Saka year, a lunar year,
begins on Caitra sukla 1 and Vikram year, a solar year, on 1 Vaisikh,
the corresponding Christian dates for the New Year's days of Saka 1685
and i ts equivalent Vila-am 1820 were Sunday, 1 April 1764 and l'ionday,
9 April 1764 respectively. But Caitra 9 Sunday of Saka 1685 or Vikram
1820 was not Sunday but Tuesday (19 March 1764). Beil'1.~ Caitra the Vikram
New Year 182l had not yet be~ and hence ~aka 1685 was written to
be equivc;lent to Vikram 1820 {Vikram year - 135 = ~aka year). Hence the
correct Snka year was 1684 whence the corresponding Christian date 18
Harch 1763.
2. HP, op.cit.
3. IP, vol.II,pt.iii,p.463 (Letter no.6, wherein the name of the agent
is not mentioned).
4. I.e. S~ga Fort, modern S~ga, a place near PanRut! in the Banepa Valley.
232
1
certain craftsman resident in that area. In return the agent was
2
promised nearly 300 sikkas, some gold bangles, a horse, a robe of
honour and a post carrying remuneration, in return for the accomplish-
ment of the assignment entrusted to him. The attention of the addressee
3
was drawn to the shortness of the time and he was desired to act
4
expeditiously.
After repulsing the " , - - came back
.,.... invaders, Surapratap
Gaub~s~
5
to Nuwako~
bringing with him YogI Bhagavantanath whom he wished to
6
introduce to PbthvInaray~. The YogI, who was said to be a Siddha, was
treated b.1
-
P~thvinaraya~
,
with great respect. SUrapratap, who had b.1 now
earned a reputation for himself in the previous campaigns, was again
sent with troops to lead the campaign against the Banepa Valley. The
troops were also accompanied by Kalu Kapardar, Ramkb~~a Kavar, Harivamsa
Upadhyaya AdhikarI and other prominent pfficers. They were instructed
n 7 "
to capture Cuukoh PanautI and Dhulkhel, all strategically important
places within the dominions of Bhatgau, with the express intention of
.
under the command of Jaskarna Khatri, ordering him to capture first
.
Dhulkhe1 and then C£ukot and PanRutLBut he too could not reduce
Dhulkhe1. PethvinaraYaI} was still I:lore angry with him, and then he sent
his brother Daljit to attack C£uko~. In the meantiI:J.e Jask~a deputed
the three officers, Kalu I\apardar, R.iirnlq;f}I}a Kavar and HarivaIDsa Upadhyaya
AdhikarI, to march in three columns of 500 men each. Tho arrival of
Daljit with further reinforc~~ents strengthened the GoryJaalese already
in the operation. They captured Dhulk."1J.e1 in the early hours of Sunday,
3
23 October 1763. After heavy fighting the troops under the command of
Daljit captured cRwco~ in the morning of the next day (Monday, 24
Octo ber ). In their forward thrust the Gorkhalese also captured PanRutI
and Kh~pu the same day. Shortly afterwards they captured Banepa and
S~ga. on Thursday, 27 October, and Nalii and Ran!ko~ the following day
1. It seems that the l1a11a kings had been united for some time in the
past in order to check pt;thvIn3.rayaI}.1 s advances into their country. : --: -
stationed there. After this intial success the l1agas of this batch went
on to Bhatgau. But the remaining batches which were following the first
were defeated b.Y the GorlChalese. All the Nagas were slaughtered to a man
in the seven villages they had gone to. The leader Gulabram could not
I
be traced.
The Banepa Valley was a fertile region and it was also of
naray~ his desire to come over to his side in return for protection.
When this approach was reported to Pbthvlnaray~ he acquired information
that the person concerned held great influence in the Nepal Valley. He
was interested to press the matter further. In his reply he pointed out
that he was prepared to offer protection to the applicant as to any
other person of high standing in Fa~an on condition that they would
take action to undermine the position of the then king of Fatan and
I
prepare the way for the offerinG of the kingdom to himself. Ptthvinaray~
was well aware that the nobles of Pat-an had the pOvTer to enthrone and
dispossess a king more or less at will, and saw in this approach an
opportunity to use the factions in the kingdom to his own adva.'1tage.
While the places in the Banepa Valley which have been
1. IP, op.cit.
2. HP, vol.52,fo.118, vol.56,fo.42; IP,vol.I,p.126,col.l,vol.II,pt.iii,
p.431.
237
very small as we are told that they withdrew before a mob who pelted
I
them with stones and brickbats. Nevertheless Prthvlnarayan
o • maintained
1. HP, vol.51,fo.221.
2. HP, vol.52,op.cit.; vol.56,op.cit; IP,vol.I,op.cit. But IP,vol.II,
op.cit.,mentions the Saka year 1685 instead of 1686.
238
which they attempted to climb under volleys of stones and arrows showered
down on them by the defenders. It appears that there was a wrangle
between ~Urapratap and SrIhar~a Panta as to who should climb the ladder
first. ~Urapratap had put the ladder in position and SrIhar~a attempted
to climb it only to find himself seized b.y the legs and dragged down by
the irate prince. ~Urapratap then proceeded to climb the ladder himself
I
only to fall wounded when he was struck by an arrow in the left eye. The
,
GorrJrullese casualties at the walls were very heavy. Daljit Sah was
seriously wolIDded by a sword blow on his shoulder. JIva 8ah, Virbhadra
Basnet and many others were so gravely wounded that they had to withdraW
from the battle. In time the Gorkhalese ranks broke before the constant
and gallant defence of the inhabitants of the town and they were
2
compelled to withdraw to Dahacok. Thus the second attempted assault on
K1rtipur failed. But Phthvinaray~ was not dalIDted. He reformed his
troops and attempted to obtain b.y siege what he had failed to gain by
a direct assault. He was able so to dispose his troops that they were
3
not exposed to attack from Ka~hmangu and pa~an.
the Prince 1 s aim was to punish and publicly disgrace the king t s favourites.
,
The original cause may ,be found in the wrangle between S-urapratap and
.
Sr'lharsa Panta in the course of the second attack on Kirtipur in 1764.
PothvInaraya~ agreed to comply with the demand but immediately took steps
why the priest had come and when the latter told him that he had come
to ask something the Prince assured him that he would grant him anything
he asked for. SrIhar~a Misra asked for Vlrbhadra Upadhyaya, and as the
,
vow had been made at the end of his worship hour, SUrapratap was morally
pious Hindus. The third victim SrIhar€la Panta was at the time stationed
,
at Naldum, and refused to be handed over to Surapratap. Pt;thvInarayaI].
therefore had to take him by force. Once he was handed over to Slirapratap,
SrIhar~a Panta was forced to undergo the public disgrace being carried
1
round the town of Nuwakot in a cage.
1. HP, 0 P • cit.
242
'-
It appears that this act of venegeance satisfied Surapratap -
Who then accepted the post of officer in command of one of PbthvInaray~'s
became unpopular, and the ministers expelled him during the monsoon
1
period of 1763. Jayaprrutas was angry with the ministers firstly because
2
of the murder of his brother, although one time his competitor, and
secondly, more seriously apparently, because they had offered the throne,
which he deemed to belong to him after the death of his brother, to
3
~ajitsiffiha. To pacify him they offered the throne a second time, but
once more they failed to give him their support and deposed him in
1+
December 1763 or January 1764. The throne was now vacant and it appeared
that there was no candidate of the royal line who was likely to satisfy
them. The position of the people of Pa:tan at this time was grievous on
account of the blockade imposed by Pt;thvInaray~. The ministers whose
solo ambition seemed to achieve power for themselves under cover of
appointing first one and then another man to the throne were far too
busy \-li th their own plan to pay any attention to the plight of the
populace.
This sorry and sordid situation played directly into PEthvI-
naray~fs hands. Realizing his opportunity he increased the tightness
of the blockade on Pn~an. Food and other essentials were so scarce that
famine conditions had been reached, and Dhanavanta, its Chief Hinister,
.
Gorkhalese were permitted to enter freely into Patane The ministers
were unwilling to allow this. P~thvinaraya.tt therefore was in no great
hurry to accept. He knew that he was dealing with treacherous men, and
that if he took up his residence in Pa~an he might be exposing himself
to assassination. Consequently he compromised Qy sending his brother
,
Dalmardan SBh in January 1764 to act as his deputy. Pt;thvInarayrut hoped
that once Dalmardan was there he would contrive to introduce Gorkhalese
into the Valley. The ministers for their part still hoped that they
.3
would be able to bring about relaxation of the blockade.
1. Vide p. ~Ob.
.
tion of the royal house of Patan, to the throne. The date of his en-
3
thronement is 2 Hay 1765. He was a cotton merchant by profession, and
the ministers had hoped that he would find some way of easing the
4
scarcity of cotton. The move was however unsuccessful. Pbthvinaray~
took very stringent measures against any who attempted to sm~gle food
/into the Valley. He ordered hiD pickets not to allow essent~al commodities
and other commoditie~to reach Thanko~ and Citlang as he believed that
once they reached there they would ultimately find their way to the
L
246
Valley. Brahman smugglers, who according to Hindu practice could not
be punished by death, were imprisoned. Hembers of other castes were
ordered to be publicly beheaded on the main roads leading into the
1
Valley, presumably to deter other smugglers from making further attempts.
p~thvInaray~ was so strict that even the children and women who
2
supplied the inhabitants of the Valley with cotton were not spareq.
P~thvinaray~ further tightened the siege over Klrtipur
and ordered his troops to attack the ¥~la garrison at Bha~igu where
a post had been established in defence of Krrtipur. In the skirmishes
that ensued many of the ¥~la troops were killed. Several prominent
officers were captured and sent as captives to Nuwako~. Among them was
VIrnarsiIDha, the son of Pat-an I s Chief l-linister, Dhanavanta. P:gthvrnaray~
forced him to write a letter to his father asking him to come to Nuwruco~
the heart of their stronghold, they were left with no option but to
4
surrender. They surrendered on Wednesday, 12 }1a.rch 1766. Prthvinarayan
o •
4. Various dates have been given for the capture ofiKirtipur, namely
i) Saka 1687 Caitra 3 Wednesday (HP,vol.52,fo.llO;lIP, vol.I,pt.iii,
p.431), corresponding with Wednesday, 12 }hrch 1766; i1) Saka 1687
Caitra 3 Friday (HP, ibid. ,fo.119) which works for Saka 1687 Adhika
Caitra sukla 3 Friday, corresponding with Friday, 14 }~ch 1766; iii)
Nepal Srunvat 886 Adhika Caitra sudi 3 (HP,vol.50,fo.27), corresponding
with the Christian date in ii); iv) Saka 1687 na~t.a Caitra sukla 9
(Acarya, ibid.,p.84), corresponding \lith Wednesday, 19 Narch 1766;
v) Pau~a lq;~I}-a 10 of Nepal Samvat 887 (Regmi: Hodern Nepal,p.79),
correspondine with Thursday, 25 December 1766, which apparently is
incorrect. Since the ~aka New Year begins on Caitra sukla (sudi) 1,
the year 1687 is in all cases erroneously written for 1688, presumably
with regard to the equivalent Vikram year which was then 1822 (Saka
year + 135 = Vikram ~ear). Being Caitra the Vikram year then had not
ended and hence the Saka year 1687 was written to correspond with the
Vikram year. vfuat see..ms most likely is that K'irtipur was captured on
rlednesday, 12 P.arch 1766 and occupied the following Friday (14 lI.arch).
L
21$
established an endowment for the worship of a Caitya (Buddhist monument)
1
in Kirtipur. Two days after the surrender (Friday, 14 l"..arch) he sent
~Urapratap to occupy the town. When he arrived there he ordered all the
males of the population above the age of 12 to assemble next day in the
fort to do honour to their new king, though Pbthvlnaray~ was not there
in person. When the people had assembled Snrapratap treated them with
savage cruelty. The principal inhabitants were executed and he ordered
his troops to cut off the noses of the majority of the remainder. Further-
more, he burnt down the fort and houses that were in it. It is said
that ~thvInaray~ was angry with the people of Kirtipur for the wound
that made Snrapratap one-eyed, and in retaliation he ordered him to
2
cut off their noses and lips, a fact which is clear on Father Giuseppe's
evidence, who further says that Father Michael Angelo, a Capucin
missionary then at Patan, went to Sfirapratap to intercede on behalf
3
of the people. The stor,y of cutting of the noses has also been narrated
Qy a contemporary poet Lalitavallabh who was also one of the principal
... _ _ 4
priests of Ptthv~aray~. Kirkpatrick, who went to Nepal in 1793, had
5
also seen such men whose noses had been cut off on that occasion. It
is also said that the Bho~iyas,who were ordered to cut off the noses,
cut off the ears and heads besides. PrthvInaraYatl
o
had them murdered on
1. HP, vol.52,fo.47.
2. Vide p.l1i~.
3. HP, vol.5l,fo.221, wheEe l-1at;!;khu, Jitpur, +oldla, Gaj~ol, Gokarl}a,
Deupatan, Battisputali, Cagu, Sakhu and Dolakha are mentioned to have
b~en captured by the Gorkhalese after their seizure of KIrtipur. Gok~a,
Cagu and Sakhu could have been possibly captured the~. According to a
letter written by Prthvrnaray~ (Letter no.8, pp.b7~6~, C~gu seems to
have been captured ~ome time early in 1767. Dolakha was already captured
(vide p. \~S). But the capture of Duupatan and Battlsputal!, the residen-
tial areas quite close to Kathman~u and not of easy access for the
Gorkhalese, soems doubtful. According to Acarya, Hurikhu (i.e. }I~ikhu)
was captured by the Gor~~alese after Jayaprakas applied to the British
authorities of the East India Company in Bengal for help with arms to
repulse pt;thvInaray~ (Acarya, op.cit.,pp.63-64).
250
of the Nepal Valley, the CKubisi chose again to attack Gorkha in the
rear. They made assaults on a number of places on the western perimeter
of Gorkha. Pbthvinaray~ could ill afford to raise the siege of Kirtipur,
so he had to recall troops from the Banepa Valley. Leavine some of them
in charge of the defence of the newly conquered places in that quarter,
he sent the rest under the command of Vanlsaraj P~:re and Srihar~a Panta
to check the CRubIsI invasion. They threw back the invaders in complete
disarray. They took possession of Salimpa on Wednesday, 14 Vay 1766
without any engagement, established a garrison at Ciha.n9-~ta on Honday,
25 August and captured Lalr..hajung on Friday, 18 September. Vamsaraj Pire
brought as captives some prominent enemy chiefs whom the Gorkhalese had
arrested in the course of fighting. Notable among them were Parath
1
Bh~1lrI and Kufijar Bh8.tarI. Suffering defeat at many points the C:ublsl
2
troops eventually had to retreat.
Thoro is a letter uritten by P,..thv1narayan to one Pandit
3 ~.
L
251
this matter however is confused, The Kaji's defection may have taken
place in 1765 before the capture of Lu~iko~. This incident yas mentioned
1
earlier, and it may be that it is this same incident which is referred
to in this letter to Rajivalocan. Nevertheless one must take note of
the fact that this letter was given the month and the d~ of the yeek
and not the year yhen it was Yritten, a usual practice of PrthvInarayan.
o •
From the calculation based on the month, the tithi and the day of the
week the possible date could be stated to be ~Lagh badi 9 Saturday,
,
Vikram year 1822, Saka year l68Q, i.e. 4 January 1766 A.D. The sequence
of events is clear. On 4 January 1766 P~thvinaray~ Yrote to R8.jivalocan
asking him to pacify the Kaj'I and secure the help of the King of MsId
in capturing C~gu and S~u. The Kaj! seems to have been pacified and
come back to rej oin Pl)thvInariiyaI}. yho then sent him to O~U;.~~ KIrtipur
2
on 14 March 1766. The capture of C~gu seems to have taken place after-
wards, i.e. before 1 March 1767, though yhether the King of Kaski
Sunday, 1 March 1767 A.D. The reference to C~gu from yhere the letter
tUY'e
yas Yritten suggests that P~thvInaray~ had encamped~after its capture.
It is not clear yho the I\ajI in question was. But it may
be conjectured that he was Pbthvinara~~'s brother SUrapratap. P~thvi-
1. Vide pp.240-42.
2. Vide p.24~.
3. Letter no.8, p.68.
L
252
1
" -
narayan had four brothers, Hahoddai::Ucirti, Da.ltlardan, vrho were Cautariyas,
Daljit, 'Who was at this time commander of the army, and Silrapratap, who
2
was a minister, i.e., a Kaji. Surapratap had defected from his brother
before and it may be that he did so again. There is no doubt that about
this time relations between P~thvlnariiy~ and all his brothers were
3
strained, and the way they could express their dissatisfaction best was
to join the CRubIsI kings who were always ready" to welcome them. Pethvi-
.
narayan, however, seemed able to pacifY them when it suited him. This
fact is supported by the information that one of the Gorkhalese commanders
sent in 1769 to capture Bhiitguu was SUrapratap.4 '.
' .......
,or " .
1. I.e. senior members of the royal family who were, in a distant line
of succession, and who were associated with the gov0rnance of the state.
In P:gthvinarayw:' s time they were like Cabinet ministers senior in
rank to their colleagues who were commoners.
2. Lalitavallabh: Bhaktavijayakaxyam, verse 8, p.4.
3. Vide Letters nos. 11, ll, PP.iO-r i .
4. Vide p. "~7.
253
CHAPTER IX
means whereby plans for the defence of the Valley could be unified.
Neither was he able to repair the low morale of his people. He 't-tas
prepared to lead but he found it difficult to ensure that his lead
,would be followed.
The loss of Kirtipur to P~thvina:raya.I]. was a great blow to
the Nalla kings. It VIas a signal of the misfortune which was presently
to overtake them. Their disunity had made their territories an easy prey
for the att~cker. They had precipitated their own fall by their constant
domestic squabbles. With the loss of Kirtipur they saw clearly that
total extinction at the hands of the Gorkhalese king was imminent; but
it waS too late for them to repulse him. He was now too firmly entrenched.
So they hurried to foregather in the temple of GuhyesvarI to attempt to
reach an agreement to mobilise all their resources and energies in
defence of the Valley. There was no poyer in the Nepal Himalaya with
which to conclude an effective alliance. Neither they themselves nor
any of Hill kings possessed arms and ammunition equal to those of Prthvf-
o
naraYalJ. The Nawabs of Bengal and Awadh were also incapable of giving
them assistance. The Halla kings kneu that the only power capable of
;:enderitfg:.:eff'ectlve.ass1stance was the English East India Company who
by defeating Nawab Nir Kasim of Bengal and Shuja-ud-Dawlah, Nawab Wazir
of Awadh, at the battle of Buxar in 1764, had emerged as a great
political and military power in northern India. So the l~la kings
255
1
-
sent two emissaries, Huktananda, a Mil
laithi1 Brahman . i
m~n s t er 0 f J aya-
1. HP, vol. 51, fo .10'7, 'I..J'herein it is said that the Halla kings jointly
decided to seek assistance of the English against P~thvinaray~. In
Company records of Bengal the person who sought the~r assistance is
mentioned to be the Kine of Nepal. The name Nepal though generally used
for the whole region compriSing the three states of Ka:t;,hmanq.u, Bhiitgau and
Piitan in the Valley was also used in a narrower sense to denote only the
territory in the Valley under the jurisdiction of Ka:t.hmanQ,u. Since .~- ..
the emissaries represented only Jayaprakas's distress urging English
officers for assistance, the Company records of Bengal have only men-
tioned the King of Nepal, i.e. Jayaprakas to have b2en the person to seek
their assistance. Kirkpatrick, op.cit.,pp.268 ff, mentions that Ranajit-
siffiha, King of Bhatsau, applied for English assistance, which however is
incorrect.
2. In Company records of Bengal names of these emissaries, of whom one is
designated Vakil (envoy) and the other Fakir, are written as Huktan Unda
and Ramdoss, which are apparently anglicised spellings of Nuktananda and
R8mdas. HP , ibid., mentions only one emissary, a l~i thil Brahman minister
of Jayaprakas, who was of Tirhut origin, but it does not name him. It
further says that the minister was sent qy Jayaprakas to the King of
Tirhut, the country in the neighbourhood of Bettia and Makwanpur, for
consultations, and: through the King of 'Iirhut sent a huge amount of money
to obtain, Znglish assistance .. In Bengal records the junior emissary is
mentioned as a Fakir, a title used for lvluslim mendic2.nts, although Ramdas,
as the name sum~ects, was a Hindu and not a r·luslim. Hendicants, whether
H~ndu or Euslim, were ,Q.t ]his period often employed by natj.ve rulers for
d~Dlomatic purpoces. Ramdas, pos~ibly one of the several Gosa! traders in
tho. Nepal Valley, 'l.-TaS sent to the Company which was itself a trading
company.
256
pondence alleged to have passed betwoen PEthvInaray~ " -
and the Phaujdars
(native subordinate officers of the Company) of those domains also aggra-
vated Golding's fears. The letters are lost but one can presume that they
represented P~thvinaraYaQ's demand for some villages which were occupied
b.Y the Company and which he claimed Qy virtue of his possession of
1
l~anpur with which the frontier of Bettia was contiguous. Moreover,
Golding was doubtful if the rulers of the Hills would be capable of
holding out on their own against P£thvinaray~, and he was alarmed that
the advance likely to be made Qy P6thvInar~y~ would interfere with the
Company's scheme of fir cutting which had been going on for some time in
2
the past in the Hills near Bettia. In Golding's view Nepal commanded
"a vast extent of country and the hills on the other side of it" and the
opening of communications with China Qy way of it would be a valuable
acquisition to the Company. In any case it was certain that before long
1. The question of the ownership of these villages was indeed j"':' ,~.
raised later. But it was resolved after some negotiations between the
Company and the Nepal Government (vide $~ of~ Re.wroLb J.I-\~ ..u.:~c..tUA.~
S~,~· 5'15', P·$l+S"l p"!'!czw.e.. c.~ccl;..:~,~ tt'\.~ {~14- ,
'\1,.G .6i).
2. J. Long: Selectlons, pp.480-8l, no.9l3, p.489, no.934, also p.28l,no.589.
3. Ibid., Appendix, p.537; Select Committee Proceedings, 21 July 1767.
257
the same time Rumbold wrote to the President that Nepal had been be-
sieged for a long time by Pothvlna.ray~, and that the King of Nepal
vayaprakas] ha.d;r:m8.del'r.~pe.a.tad solicitations for protection. Rumbold
If
also reported that a Nepalese Vakil was on his way to meet him, and
enquired Whether he might give him some encouragement on his arrival
nt Patna. Rumbold expressed his deep concern at the interruption of
the lucrative trade with Nepal. He was certain that a small force
would not only be sufficient to raise the siege laid by P~thvInar3y~
but also to reduce him to obedience. The latter, Rumbold observed, was
very apprehensive of English assistance to Jayaprakas, and had written
to him of late for permission to visit him at Patna and had requested
1
protection for himself. The communication from Rumbold induced the
Select Committee to promise protection to Jayaprakas.
The Select Committee entirely agreed with Rumbold's opinion
Company" yould compel the English "to treat him as a declared enemy".
The Select Committee also informed Rumbold that in case their remons-
trances yere not effective, they had ordered Capt. George Kinloch to
return "with all expedition" from Tippara to Honghyr and proceed from
1
there to Patna, and to obey orders as seemed to Rumbold necessary to
establish peace and tranquillity in Nepal and promote "free intercourse
and lL.'linterrupted trade". At the same time Rumbold was also authorised
to exercise his discretion in regard to the assistance needed should
Kinloch arrive "too late for the purpose required". Col. Richard Smith,
Commander-in-Chief of the Company's Army, was also informed of the
decision. To the Select Committee an expedition seemed likely to
contribute "much to the Riches & Welfare of the Country", and was
"the most convenient and expeditious Method of furnishing the proposed
Relief to the Rajah l!ayo.praka~ It. The Commander-in-Chief was instructed
to issue such orders to the Brigades as would least interfere with
2
those already given b.1 the Company Government itself.
Rumbold replied to the Select Committee on 28 V~y, reporting
that as ordered Qy the President he had written to PrthvInarayan,
o • and
1. Capt. Kinloch had been sent some time ago in an expedition against
the Raja of Tippara. He was ordered to march via Monghyr probably for
the reason that the route Qy way of it was then the shortest cut to
Patna from Monghyr.
2. Sel.Com.Pro.,op.cit.
3. Long, op.cit., p.538.
l.
259
and come to terms with PtthvIniiray~. There were many who had already
joined him but at any sign of success on Jayaprakas's part they would
return to him. The emissaries further said that about a month earlier
Psthv!naray~ had occupied two subdivisions of Lamboo GBa1amb~ and
Tapey (sic), the chief sources of food grain for Jayaprakas, and that
this conquest had enabled him to tighten the blockade and further
close communications. In consequence the entire populace of the Valley,
1
some 60,000 souls, would "soon be reduced to any Terms by Famine".
1. ttNarrative taken from the Rajah's Vakee1s b.1 Capt. Kinloch" in the
month of June 1767 at Patna (Se1.Com.Pro.,21 July 1767).
26l
and pointed out in an accompanying letter that the rains would make
no material difference to PbthvInaray~ as he had developed his strategy
Qy building up lines of small forts and closely situated redoubts around
the places bloCkaded wherein his troops were doubtless protected against
the monsoon. Kinloch also submitted to the President a plan of P~thvI
naray~'s strategical operation~,and he observed that they betrayed
the last extremity of distress" and he would not be able to hold out
I
Jayaprakas would meet the English force. The following was the itinerary:
From Patna to Hajipur 3 kos Water and provisions
to be obtained at
Darbhanga 22 tl these stages.
Bawah ( ? ) 7
"
Janakpur 12 It
It was remarked ~J Rumbold that from Patna to Jelandbass the road was
very good; from the latter point to SidhulI the way lay chiefly through
SidhulI to the Nepal Valley the road was excellent. It was also observed
that on this route there was no river to be crossed and no hills to be
passed. It was thought necessary to carry bullocks from Darbhanga to
, 1
Dumja where the troops were to be supplied with porters from Nepal.
The Select Committee were satisfied by the assurances of Kinloch
and Rumbold that an expedition to the relief of Jayaprakas could be
undertaken without danger and with every prospect of success. They
China Investment". They said that they were anxious that the expedition
should not fail but they had every confidence in Rumbold's prudence and
zeal and were sure that he would not allow himself to be deluded by
false reports and exaggerated statements. Nevertheless they warned
him that defeat would bring dishonour upon the British army and seriously
undermine the reputation of the Committee itself. They stated finally
that distance made it impossible for the Committee to be "competent
Judges of the Degree of Credit to be allowed to the Reports of the
1. Sel.Com.Pro.,3l July 1767. There were however some rivers and hills
on this route, of which Rumbold was ignorant; or perhaps due to over-
enthusiasm he did not regard them as of consequence.
264
Vakeel and Faquir", and instructed Rumbold not to launch the expedition
1
unless he personally was convinced that it would succeed.
The caution of the Select Committee is made manifest qy the
instructions they desired Rumbold to pass on to Kinloch, namely that
should Jayaprakas in the meantime have been forced to suhnit the
expedition should return to a position in Bettia; and that if weather
1. Sel.Com.Pro.,op.cit.
2. Ibid.
3. Sel~Com.Pro.,18 August 1767.
265
were none the less concerned with the threat to the security to Bettia.
Considering all these factors they were optimistic that the expedition
1
would reward them with "very flattering prospects". Their high hopes
miscarried. The expedition failed.
2
Meanwhile PtthvInaray~ had encamped at KIrtipur and wqs
strengthening his siege operations against Patane He had occupied
. 3
.
twelve outposts under the jurisdiction of Patan and been pressing the
inmates of the state to surrender. He had threatened that if they did
4
not surrender within five days he would cut off their lips and noses.
He was however diverted by the new threat from the English and had to
take hurried measure to forestall their design. He avoided giving any
direbt answer to Rumbold's letter, but wrote asking for permission to
visit him at Patna and for protection during his visit. The English
Chief realized that the Gorkhalese king had not replied to his proposal.
1. Long, op.cit.,p.539.
~. Acarya, op.cit., p.63.
3. Petech: I missionari italiani nel Tibet e nel Nepal, Pt. II, p.237.
4. Levi, op.cit.,vol.II, p.27l; Father Giuseppe, op.cit.,p.25l.
266
Deadlock was reached when PtthvInaray~ sent his vakil to demand the
cession of the Bettia country on the pretext of its having formerly
1
belonged "to his familytt. Rumbold reacted sharply. The expedition ~ould
no-,.longer be delayed.
The exact date when this expedition was ordered to set out
2
does not appear in the records of the East India Company. From Nepalese
accounts however it seems that ~he expedition occupied SidhulI on
Monday, 21 September 1767 from where it was repulsed by KajI Vamsaraj
3
p:re and SrIharsa Panta on Sunday, 27 September. The English troops
• • 4
were forced to retreat leaving 100 sets of arms behind.
,
The exact strength of the English expedition is also not known.
S
It appears that it consisted of 2,400 sepoys. It is also mentioned
6
that Kinloch had ten battalions under his command, of which four
7
companies were from the Patna Detachment. It is also apparent that the
1. Acary a , op.cit.,p.65.
269
1
drove them back in complete disarray. There were heavy casualties on
2
the English side. Only 800 out of the total strength survived. The
defeat of the English expedition was a rich gain for Pl)thvinaraya.I]..
With the great number of guns, cannon and stores which the English
troops had left behind in the course of their retreat he was able to
3
form and equip three new companies, Sabuj, VajraviltI and Purano Gorakh.
Rumbold informed the Select Committee of the failure and
requested sanction for a fresh attempt. To the authorities it appeared.
that "to attempt without being supported by a strong Reinforcement
would serve only to expose the Troops to the danger of perishing by
Famine and the Sword 11. The military establishment of the Bengal Presidency
had already been much reduced on account of detaChments sent to the
Madras' coast in operation against Haider Ali and further reinforcements
J '
272
the lowlands to check his march through them. Kinloch feared that under
274
those circumstances the recall of the English troops from the Nepalese
Tarai vould embolden Ptithvinirayw: to push on further. The latter had
already strengthened his army vith the seizure of above one hundred
sets of arms left qy the English troops in the course of their retreat
from Sidhuli. He could thus prove a very troublesome enemy in the low-
lands, and though his troops might be driven out of the plains they
vould entrench themselves in the passes baffling their enemies in
subdued them the hill kings would no longer be a match for him. He '","E.'2
1. Sel.Com.Pro.,op.cit.
277
military stores and if possible a few more artillery men for the guns.
He also stated that should Kinloch be in doubt whether the additional
force would be "equal to the service required" he should be ordered
not to proceed. Rumbold also submitted to the President sooe plans
which Kinloch had sent to him. They showed the route KinloCh intended
to take and contained particulars regarding roads and possible obstacles.
Rumbold's purpose in submitting the plans to the President was that
the latter after their perusal would himself IIbe able to form some
1
judgment of the probability of succeeding in the Attempt".
The Select Committee, however, decided to postpone the proposed
second expedition for the time being. The additional force required
for the purpose could not be spared because the Secret Department at
~~dras had requested reinforcements from the Bengal Presidency. Never-
theless Kinloch was directed to remain with his present force to protect
the newly acquired countries. In communicating their decision to
.
Rumbold on 16 February 1768 the Select Committee expressed the hope'
that the possession of the newly acquired countries would defray the
2
expenses of the previous expedition.
Thus ended the first phase of the encounters between the
Company and P~thvinaraya~. For the Company the outcome of the ill-fated
expedition was theiro~"i.~i~of the Tarai region bordering on Bettia,
a part of which was annexed later to Bettia though the rest was
.
He first moved against Thamel, one of the residential areas
in Ka~hman~u, which was not more than a mile to the north of the royal
_ _ _ :3
palace Hanuman~hoka. This was on Sunday, 4 September 1768. Shortly
and from the north via NardevI. PbthvInar8y~ followed the northern
4
wing of his troops. It vas the mi~~ight of the third day of the annual
Indrayatra and Kumariyatra festivals when the people had assembled in
the square in front of the palace to celebrate. Jayaprakas was present
5
near the chariot of the Kumari, a minor girl worshipped as the repre-
sentative of the goddess TulajabhavanI or Tulaja, the tutelar deity
of the Mallas. The chariot was in the temple of the KumarI which was
situated immediately to the south of the palae~,the only direction
from which the Gorkhalese had not advanced. The congregation was taken
1. This place seems to have been recaptured at this time (vide p.242
for its first capture). There is a letter written by P£thvInaray~ from
this place on Monday, 12 September 1768 (Letter no.lO,p.69) which
suggests that it was in his possession on that date.
2. Acarya, 'SrI SrI Jayaprakas lYJ8lla', p.65.
3. Perhaps then a residential area not covered qy the modern TudIkhel
area until recently a parade ground made qy BhImsen Thapa Prim~ }linister
of Nepal (1804-37), but now a jumble of parks, memorials,' etc., all
closely partitioned and enclosed.
4. IP, vol.I, p.126,col.2
5. acarya, ibid. ,p.66.
281
completely unawares by the advent of PbthvInaray~'s troops. As the
merry-makers were unarmed, and dazed at the unexpected presence of the
enemy, they put up no resistance. PbthvInaray~ seated himself on the
throne which had been placed there for Jayaprakas to occupy later in the
ceremony. The Gorkhalese offered their customary salute to their King.
The local people too followed suit, and the offering of a garland to
PtthvInaray~ by the KumarI was regarded qy them as a seal ratifying his
kingship of Ki~hman~u. Jayaprakas fought back for a while, but seeing
that defeat was inevitable, he escaped to Pa~an with about 300 merce-
1
naries. There he sought asylum of Tejnarstmha. With the flight of Jaya-
prakas the Gorkhalese had no difficulty in consolidating their position.
They had to face only a nominal resistance. The total casualties on
both sides did not exceed fifteen to twenty. Tularam N
.
narayan treated them with courtesy and asked them to meet him the next
. ..
day at Teku, the confluence of the Bagmati and Visnumati rivers. The
.
ministers returned to Patane One of them apprehended destruction at
took place in April, for it is said that eight months after this incident
3
PbthvInaray~ conquered Bhatgau. The date of the conquest of Bhatgau
was 10 November 1769 and according to this date when the ministers
were hanged comes to April 1769.
There is another reference according to which some Pradhans
(ministers or nobles) of Pa~an were decapitated on Thursday, 19 February
4
1771. It is probable that the persons murdered on this date were the
at that time he was busy with the plans for the conquest of the c£ubisl
states and the descendants of the ministers of Patan were probably
intriguing to forestall his move.
.
Patan for the royal investiture. Instead he appointed Dalmardan king
.
of Patane This supposition is strengthened by the fact that from some
time in the past Pt;thvInaray~'s brothers had been somewhat disaffected
2
towards him and b.1 this move he tactfully controlled their disaffection.
3
.
Dalmardan had once before been king of Patane It is also likely that
coins in the name of Dalmardan were struck to mark tpe occasion. But
4
the latter's kingship was only temporar,r, for it is mentioned that
pt;thvI'naray3.l1 assumed the kingship of Pa:~an some time during the winter
of 1768/69 and shortly after went there in state for the royal investi-
5
ture. This fact is supported by a Nepalese account which assigns to,'--
Tejnarstmha V~la,
King of Pa~an, a regnal period of three years and
6
eleven months, which calculating from 2 Hay 1765, the day when he was
7
enthroned, comes to December/January 1768/69. It is further confirmed
..
and the establisl:lt1ent of peace and security in Kathmandu and Patane .
Although ~ajits1mha, King of Bhatgau, had bought his safety so far
~ajitstmha and laid his plans for the capture of Bhatgau. He first
wooed the Satbahalyas b.1 promising them the throne and revenue of
Bhatgau, retaining for himself only nominal sovereignty over the
3 .
kingdom.A~e'W' months after reaching this understanding PtthvInaray~
was alarmed by fresh troubles which had been created in the eastern
fired from the cannon in front of the palace gate. Ultimately however
at midnight they captured the cannon to a great disappointment of
Jayaprnkas. He was still at the head of his troops, commanding them
and urging them not to lose their nerve. He himself fought with
desperate gallantry, but when he went inside the palace for his meal
his~ldiers got frightened, deserted their positions and withdrew to
1. Jfiav811, op.cit.,p.l57.
2. Acarya, op.cit.,p.68.
3. Wright, op.cit.; Levi: Le Nepal, vol.II, p.274.
• 288
place in one of the rooms off the courtyard. The ~~a troops were by
now completely exhausted. Only the Bho~iya mercenaries, who were in
:a
the service of ~ajitstmha and whom he had confined in a building
suspecting their loyalty, were cl~~ouring
to be let out to fight. But
:3
he set fire to the building and destroyed them., Seeing no way of
preventing the invaders from occupying the inner parts of the palace,
RanajitsiIilha hung his turban from a window. This was a symbolic
• z.. 5·
gesture of surrender. The date was Sunday, 12 November 1769. The
struggle of the V~la kings was over. The last kingdom of the Nepal
•
Valley had fallen to the Gorkhalese.
the rooms in the palace and sent the news of the victory to p;thvi-
narayaJ?, who was then in Ka1-hmangu. On receipt of the news PtthvlnaraYaI}
went to Bhatgau.. After calling on Ra.r:ajits1IDha, he went to the room
where Jayaprkas was lying, still in pain from his wound. P~thvrna:ra:ya.I].
asked him if he wished to remain in a village outside Ka:~hma:n~u, as he
was willing to allow him to do, but though defeated, Jayaprakas1s sense
to Aryagha~, one of the gha~s on the bank of the Bagmati river. PrthvI-
o
naray~ went there to see him. The next day he sent messengers to ask
Jayaprakas- if he wanted money and other things to distribute as gifts,
a practice with the Hindus at the time of death. But Jayaprakas was
not of the metal to bend. He refused to beg anything. He died on
Sunday, 19 November, leaving behind him his mother and daughter-in-law
... _ _ 3
to the care of Prthv~arayan.
o •
1. Acarya, op.cit.,pp.69-70.
2. HP, vol.50,fo.26 (reverse).
3. Acarya, ibid. HP, ibid.,fo.27, says that Jayaprakas died after one
hour of his arrival at the g~h
290
1
TejnarslIDha remained silent and refused to speak. He was
beaten severely and sent to Ka~hman~u, and imprisoned in the Lak~mIpur
2
courtyard in the royal palace. He passed his days in silence and in
3 4
worship. He died in chains some time during Harch/April 1771.
P~thvInaray~ was not vindictive with ~ajitsiIDha. He told
him that had he acted according to what was proposed nothing would have
happened to his throne, as it was only on account of the presence of
the other two Halla kings that he had been constrained to undertake
the campaign against Bhatgau. Pt;thvInaraYaJ} further told him that since
his chiefs and counsellors were not in favour of keeping him within
the three cities in the Valley, he would request him to reside, if he
wished, in some villages in the Banepa Valley, which he was willing
to offer him free from revenue. ~ajitsiffiha replied that he had no
ambition to fulfil except to go to Banaras and live there for the rest
of his life. In compliance of this request Ptthvinar8.yaIl- provided the
expenses for the journey, made arrangements for his maintenance for
5
the rest of his life and sent him accompanied by his two queens, a son
t
.
.V:'.
." ~::'1. : _L,) t' r:-. ::. _
~
1. Levi, op.cit.,p.275.
2. IP, vol.I,p.127,col.2.
3. Wright, op.cit.,p.258.
4. According to HP, vol. 55, fo. 38, which assigns to him :C'ttgnal period
of 3 years 11 months.
5. IP, ibid.; Jnav81I, op.cit.,p.159.
291
1 2
called Avadhuts:tmha and a minister Jograj Khatowta (sic). \fuile
passing through the Candragiri motmtain from where he had the last
glimpse of the Valley, ~ajitsiIDha sighed with grief and cursing the
Sitbah81yas all the time cried that the misery that had befallen him
3
was due to them. He then bade farewell to the temples of the gods and
4
goddesses of the Valley nnd left the COtmtry, never to return again.
Nevertheless once he was out of the Valley and free from the influence
of PgthvInaray~ he again cherished the ambition of recovering his
lost kingdom. He tried to obtain help from the authorities of the
English East India Company to whom he sent Avadhuts:tmha and the minister
5
to make overtures. But all was in vain. He died afterwards without
of her diamond necklace before her departure. The widow of her grandson
I
accompanied her. In this way P£thvInaray~ eliminated all possible
contenders to the thrones-:-'6fttheJN~p·8.l. Valley, though there were still
some Nagarko~Is who refused to acknowledge him. Once it so happened
that while he was coming back to Kathman~u from Bhatgau they saluted
him without getting down from their horses. Regarding this as an insult
he decapitated them on the spot and on his return to Ka~hman~u had all
2
the Nagarko~Is hunted down and murdered.
After the conquest of the Nepal Valley P;thvInaray~ decided
to suspend further campaigning for three years. He directed his attempts
to strengthening his position qy developing his financial resources,
reorganizing the military establishment and making adequate arrangements
3
for stores. He still desired to expand his dominions into the plains
of India. The situation however was difficult for him as certain British
officials continued to press the East India Company to take military
action against Nepal in order to restore Jayaprakas to the throne of
Ka~hman4u and to maintain and extend the timber industry they were
developing in the Tarai. One officer Logan by name assured the Company
that he would have every hope of success in a military venture against
PbthvInaray~ because of the assistance which he had been promised by
certain hill rulers including Karva Sen, the King of C£ud~~I. Fortunately
the first place to push on from the south and reduce the smaller states
which were scattered in the lower reaches of the Kall (Kt~~a) G~~ak!
1. For the details of the territorial disputes between the Company and
p;thvInaray~ and the decision of the Company not to send an expedition
against him, the timer trade and the Logan Mission vide respectively
A, B, and C.
A. Public Consultations, 9 July 1771; Fort William - India House
Correspondence, vol. VI, pp.367-68,603; India Office Records, Home
Miscellaneous Series, vol.648, pp.198-221.
B. Long: Narratives, pp.28l,480-8l,489; Sel.Com.Pro.,lO and 19 FebruarY
1766, 14 July 1767, 23 July 1768; Public Consultations, 11 Hay, 14
August, 14 September, 28 September 1767, 5 June, 8 June, 25 November
1772; Fort William - India House Correspondence, vol.V, pp.16,78,174,
332,508,541, vol.VI, pp.9,252.
C. Nandalal Chatterji, 'A forgotten English expedition against Prithivi
Narayan',p.63, n.l02; Calendar of Persian Correspondence, vol.II,pp.
430-31; Fort ,.alliam - India House Correspondence, vol.VI, pp.179-80.
2. Vide Letter no.6, p.65.
3. JnavalI, op.cit.,p.171.
295
river rather than to risk immediate encounters with Lamjung and Parvat.
The states he moved against were some distance from Lamjung and Parvat.
He judged therefore that they would not be in a position to hold out
by themselves without succour from their stronger neighbours. So in
on the bank of the Seti river which formed the boundary between Kaski
2
and some of the states in the Sapta G~gaki region.
In the course of their forward thrust from BhandarIdhik the.. .
Gorkhalese officer had to fight with Kaski in the basin of the SetI.
Here they achieved victory and were able to cross the Set!, whence they
.
marched forward by way of Barsamni to attack Nuwakot (the central) •
They were however defeated in the fighting that took place at Tekan . Ar.
in the territory of Nuwakot. Vamsaraj and Prabhu Malla retreated and
. 3
.
took up a position at a place close to Tekan Ar. .
1. Nepalese accounts only mention that Pt)thvIna.r~y8.I]. sent his troops
to extend his kingdom up to the banks of the Kali which presumably is
implied by the KaII (Kt;~I}a2'9'G~~aki and not the KalI (otherwise Mah.akalI)
the western limit of the Ba~si states.
2. !.e. the region ~f the seven (sapta) prominent tributaries of the
Kali (Kt~I}a) Grutciaki
3. IF, vol.I, p. l28,col.1, vol.II,pt.iii,p.432.
296
.
. At Grihakot (otherwise
its capture the Gorkhalese conquered BhIrkot.
Grimh8.ko~) the Tanahu troops deserted and joined the defenders, but
1. HP, vol.52,fo.120.
2. Acarya, tTanahUko Sen-vamsa', pp.74-75.
297
on ~1onday, 10 June, and Garahti and P:Iiyti were reduced on the same day,
.~ V\
the latter as a result of a Gorkhalese victory at Dhuvakot, a place
1
close by.
A little later hostile contact was made with the forces of
Honday, 16 December 1771 Vamsaraj and Prabhu Halla marched from one
front and Keharstmha from another to attack Satahu. But victory lay
with the C~ubisi troops. In the course of the fighting KeharstIDha was
3
killed and Vamsaraj severely wounded and taken prisoner. In all 500
1. HP, op.cit.
2. Jfiavali, op.cit.,p.l73.
- I
3. He was released by Kirtibam at the news that Pratapsimha Sah, succe-
ssor of P;thvInaray~, had sent to the neighbouring states informing
them of his decision of suspending his campaigns for the coming two
years (1775-77). Vamsaraj was murdered later in Kathmandu in June 1785
consequent upon palace intrigues (Acarya, I§ri 5 ffijenfu.alaksmI DevIl,
pp.12, 15). •
298
1
Gorkhalese were killed in these engagements. PtthvInaray~ appointed
2
Daljit Sah, one of his brothers, as his minister in absence of Vamsaraj.
The c£ubIsI troops pressed hard in pursuit, and the Gorkhalese,
now greatly reduced in number, retreated first to BhIrko~ and later to
" _ _ 3
Dhor. The latter place was surrounded Qy the Caubisi troops. Prabhu
. 4
Mall a , ~asUr P~e and a few other prominent Gorkhalese officers were
captured in the course of the siege which lasted two weeks. Gorkhalese
gunners were however able to release their officers on Wednesday, 22
5
January 1772. Nevertheless the Gorkhalese troops could not retain
Bhirkot, Garahu and pRiyU, and were forced to evacuate them the next
•
day. On 24 January Atibal Bis~a, another Gorkhalese officer with the
expedition withdrew from Rising. Thus the entire territory was lost and
the Gorkhalese retired towards Ka~hman4u with whatever stores they had
1. HP, op.cit.
2. Acarya, op.cit.
3. It is not known whether ~hor was earlier captured by the Gorkhalese.
It seems that at this time the ruler of this state was not an ally of
the CRubIsI against the Gorkhalese (vide IP, vol.II,pt.iii,p.432; also
Jnav8J.i, o:).cit. ,p.174).
...
4. Younger brother of Vamsaraj Pare.
5. The date of retreat from ~hor as mentioned in HP,vol.52,fo.120,is
~a.ka 1693 Magh 2 Wednesday. lvIagh 2 is erroneously written for Vl8:gh 12.
}1agh 2 was not Wednesday but Sunday. Magh 12 which was Sunday also
corresponds with this day of the week for the equivalent Christian
date, 22 January 1772. Horeover, the Gorkhalese did not retreat to
I?hor on Magh 12 but earlier, for it is mentioned in IP, ibid., that
the CHubisI troops laid siege to I?hor for 14 days, and on Magh 13, as
mentioned in HP, ibid., the Gorkhalese retreated from Bhlrkot, Garahu
and P£iyU after holding out for a fortnight, and so the sieg~ laid by
the C£ubIsI was on Pau~a 28, i.e. 8 January 1772, and not on Hagh 12.
299
1
been able to save. Pothvinarayap demonstrated that he had lost nothing
of his old ferocity. Every soldier who had left his gun behind in the
retreat was fin&:l..Rs 60 and debarred from f'l.rcther service. The amount
was alleged to have been the cost of each gun. Besides, a fine of the
same amount was also imposed upon every soldier for his inability to
2
recover his gun.
. .
Troops were sent from Kathmandu as reinforcements under" the
the Dudh KosI, occupied Rava, Cisankhu and Dingle. and marched as far
1. HP, vo1.52,fo.120.
2. HP, vo1.5l,fo.222.
3. IP, vol.I, p.128,col.l,vol.II,pt.iii,PP.432-33.
300
1
as the Arun river. The commander of the Gorkhalese troops of this
2
expedition was p~~~a Kavar. In the couroe of his march he received
considerable assistance from an eminent Brahman, Harinanda Upadhyiya
Pokhrel of Knarpa. This is a further example of the manner in which
pt;thvinaraYaI} 's cause was served by Brahmans. Harinanda' s' _ellier brother
.
Narottom, was a. minister of Cllud&It<}.I and it seems both these brothers
were persons of eminence in this state. For some reason relations between
Karna Sen, the King of CMud8.\lQ.I,and Harinanda became strained and the
• n _ 3
latter left the Court of Caud~<}.i and went over to the Gorkhalese
taking with him what apperu:s::to have been a large sum of money which
Ramk;~~a Kavar used for the payment of his troops. The Brahman who
knew the terrain well also provided invaluable intelligence with regard
to routes and the position of possible enemies. In recognition of these
services he was confirmed in the ownership of the freehold lands which
had previously baan given to him by the King of CMuda.r:~I and was _
4
promised whatever other freehold lands he cared to have.
At the end of 1773 AmarsiIima Th'apa., an officer under the
command of Riimlq;~r:a Kavar drove the defenders out of Majhuva, Kalum
and Mahadigna PRuva and in February 1774 occupied CRudaJtgI, the capital
of the state. This was the first successful campaign of a young officer
who was to achieve extenoive victories under PrthvInarayan's
o • successors.
1. HP, vol.52,fo.120.
2. IP, vol. II, pt.iii, pp.466-67 (Letter no.8).
3. Kr~nacandra Upadhyaya Pokhrel: Pokhrelko vruUsavalI pp. 142,185-86.
4· 1~?Y-cL?ht·,\l-'\~. '
S. IP,'V'O'i ,p.LP6 (Letter no.7).
301
302. :l
Prthvinaray~ls
o
1
letter at this point contains certain ins- I
tructions to his commanders to press on as far as the river Tis~a which
was at that time probably the border of the Bhutan state. He instructed
them however to do nothing to provoke retaliation from the King of
Sikkim, who, he felt, might be assisted b.Y the Tibetan authorities if
2
conflict developed. On the other hand he instructed his officers to
defend themselves should Sikkim commit an act of aggression.
The inhabitants of the country which lay between the Arun and
Tamar rivers were principally Limbus. The region was divided into ten
parts, each being administered by a tribal chieftain. The Sen kings of
C£udandi and Morang seem to have held a nominal suzerainty over the
••
Limbus and the rest of the Kir~ti tribesmen~ The Limbus surrendered to
PtthvInarayaq1s armies mainly' because they had so often been attacked
3
and oppressed by the Tibetan ruler of Sikkim. P:sthvInaraYaJ} granted
4 5
some privilege to the Limbu chieftains which they enjoy till today.
They were designated Subbase
By the end of 177 4 P~thvInarayru: I s armies were virtually in
occupation of the whole area of central and southern Nepal between the Ne.pcJ.
Valley in the west and the Tis~a river in the east. Negotiations regarding
the possession in the Tarai from l--.lakwanpur to l10rang were however still
unsettled, though negotiations were still going on in a somewhat desul-
tory fashion between P~thvInaray~ and East India Company. This problem
was not to be settled until the Nepalese Wars (1814-16). On 10 January
1775 P:sthvInarayat: was taken ill and died leaving to his successor a
kingdom which wa~ rougbly half the area of the present state of Nepal.
304
CHAPTER X
.
time and security he needed to capture Nuwakot, the main gateway to
the Nepal Valley. L&~jung saw the danger and renounced the treaty, but
it was then too late. Pt;thvInaray~ had achieved his immediate objective.
At a Iter stage he bought off the King of Tanahil by a similar appeal
305
had the genius to kn01t1 vThen to 'vai t and vlhen to go. His timing was
seldom at fault. No detail was too small for his personal attention,
and yet he was able to plan and sustain two or more campaigns simul-
taneously to defend in one place while attacking in another.
His ambition to conquer was fostered by his step-mother
Candraprabhavati. She seems to have been a remarkably able and far-
sighted woman, and the young P~thvInaray~ had full confidence in her
wisdom. It was she who sent him while still a boy to live at the court
of Bhatgau. His residence there gave him valuable first-hand acquain-
tance with the Nepal Valley. He was attracted by its wealth and its
fertile fields, and formed what proved to be an accurate assessment
of its political instability. It was CandraprabhavatI who arranged his
marriage with the royal house of Hak:wanpur. The marriage was not the
success she hoped, but his stay there gave P~thvInaray~ a knowledge
of another and strategically most important area of central Nepal. It
revealed to him the topographical details of the terrain he was later
---------------------
1. Vide p. 47, n.96.
an overstatement; but even if accuarte, it is clear that the population
was small, and the number of men available for military service could
1
not have been much in excess of 1,000, if as many as that. With so small
a force at his command, internal loyalty and cooperation were essential
for PbthvInaray~. He took advice regarding the reliability of the
differentt~bes and clans that made up the population of Gorkha, and
concluded that the Khas and Hagar possessed the qualities he needed.
The tvo principal Khas families at the time were the P~~es and Basnets.
The former was an old Gorkha family traditionally numbered among the
Cha Thar; the latter were comparatively newcomers to the state, possibly
from other CRublsI states and Hagar~t. PtthvInaray8.l) also'ftiJppointed
certain Hagar officers, who had been dismissed by his father. In
Divya upades PtthvInaray~ records how, to ensure friendly relations
between the two Khas families, he arranged a marraiage between Kalu
step-mother, and which he "Tas uise enough to take, was to take his people
into his confidence and attempt to carry their support in any important
action he had in mind. This line of policy was obviously applied in two
actions he took. The first concerneq the appointment of his chief
mini3ter. His O\>Tn inclination was to appoint Viraj Bakheti; but being
given to understand that lQilu P~te was admired and respected by the
people, he gave the post to him, a move he could never have regretted,
for few monarchs can have been more wisely, loyally or courageously
served Qy any officer than he wa3 by Kfilu P~e. The second action was
only by recruiting mercenaries who demanded higher pay than his o\m
troops were receiving. He consulted the people and explained to them
that if his campaigns were to succeed he had no option but to take
mercenaries, who would join him only at higher rates of pay. pt;thvI-
narayar: explained that though he would pay the mercenaries more than
his 0\>Tn men, he would ensure that when he came to share out the spotis
of victory, he would share thoo only with the people of Gorkl:la. His
I
explanation was understood and accepted; and thus, Qy wise and politic
to meet his financial requirements b.Y floating loans from Brahman, Khas,
1. -PrthvInarayan
0 •
Sahko jivanI, p.2
310
1
nagar and even NeViar money-lenders.
The supply of Vleapons brought back from Banaras must have
been large, though no details are available except that his luggage Vias
so bulky that he Vias challenged at the frontier qy customs officers, and
had to fight his Vlay through. He employed foreigners to instruct his
troops in the use of these modern Vleapons. Nention is made of three
2
Muslims who were taken into service for this purpose, and tViO Frenchmen
:3
Vlho were employed to cast cannon and instruct his new artillery units.
Traditional weapons hOViever were not neglected. Artisans Vlere mobilised
to manufacture Khukurrs, sViords, lances, boVls, arrows, etc. It is said
4
that he inspected their Vlork himself: In this way he ensured that his
troops Vlere well-armed. The defeat of the Nawab and of Kinloch's ill-
planned expedition Vias a godsend to P~thvinaraYaQ, as Vlith the equipment
that waS left behind in the withdraVial he was able to make his army the
Vleapons, and had a greater fire power than any of their adversaries,
traditional weapons; the latter were equipped with muskets and cannon.
and to equip tho troops so mobilised. This cadre was a compromise between
tho new and the traditional. Their active .service duties were modern,
but other taoks assigned to thom were feudal in nature. The insignia of
1. HP, vol.ll,fo.224.
2. There are conflicting statements regarding the number . and the nariles
of tho companies formed by him. For all such statements vide p. ~07,~.1.
3. l'.a.rkhru:l: Narratives, p.155. The weakness which p;thvinarayan had for
elephants also suggests that he was eager to utilize them to c~ry
military stores during fighting, though there is no record that he
actually did so.
312
the Umravas's office were a white turban, a sword and a shield which
1
were presented personally by the king. The senior company officer was
the Subedar. His qualifications were meritorious service in four or five
engagements. Under the SUbedar were seven Subalterns, commissioned
officers, who had fought in two or three engagements. There were also
sixteen non-commissioned officers. Officers and troops together formed
2
companies about 100 strong.
Soldiers, whether commissioned or not, were genero.usly
treated in the matter of pay and allowances. It was a regular feature
of P~thvrnar8y~'s organisation that no man should lose efficiency by
worrying about the maintenance of his family. Hany of them received
grants of land and some of them annuities. A pension scheme was also
arranged for the support of the dependants of a soldier who died in
3
service. Sons were fully supported until they reached military age.
The use of mercenaries as expert instructors and auxiliary
to the requirements of the campaign and the terrain it was being fought
in. There were outlying fortresses at places like Sal1yan, Liglig and
Dhading, not to mention Nuw8ko~, the most important of thee all. In some
cases they were strengthened by trench employments and road blocks. Their
purpose was strategic: to protect P~thvInaray~'s rear while he was
prosecuting his offensive against the Nepal Valley. The defence of the
foothills against invasion from India was of the same kind. Smaller
posts were set up along the main routes to maintain strategical control
1
of the area and to enforce the blockade. The small offensive units,
consisting of infantry and artillery, were constantly on the move. They
were probably never more than company strength, and m~ often have been
considerably smaller. Their composition of officers, non-commissioned
officers and men made them effective fighting units, and their mobility
and adaptability made it very difficult for their adversaries, who were
schooled: in the warfare of the pitched battle, to know how to organise
defence a~ainst
'-'
them. In the course of a few years Prthvinarayan
0 •
had
organised a modern army and evolved a strategy ideally suited to mountain
warfare; and the ill-organised, medieval armies of the Hallas, though
much stronger numerically, ultimately were no match for them; nor could
the larger forces from India cope with PrthvInarayan
o • on his own ground.
his enemies I strength and weakness was almost invariably correct, and
he knew precisely how to exploit the latter to the full. No ethical
considerations of truth, honesty or the pledged word, ever deterred him
froI!l carrying through his plans.
His militar,r conquest commenced with a well calculated
piece of bluff, a mutual help treaty with Lamjung, which ensured the
1
safety of his rear while he reduced the V~la stronghold of Nuwakot.
He frequently made use of Brahmans and astrologers as agents,
knowing that their social and religious status gave them the right of
entry into any court or household, and that messages delivered by priests
were almost certain to be believed. lIe used Brahmans in his negotiations
with the kings of Tonahu and KaskI. The king of Tanahfi. "W'aS lured into
2
captivity by his own raj-guru, who unwittingly led him into an ambush.
It was a Brahman who bribed the king of KaskI to help in the campaigns
... 3
against Cagu, and there is no doubt that most of the information p;thvI-
narayru: obtained about the situation in the Nepal Valley was supplied
to him by Brahmans who were residents there. Huch of the confusion in
the VJ.alla courts was organised and developed by Brahmans in the pay of
4
the Gorkha king.
He was a past master in all the arts of duplicity and
subornation, and his tools included bribe~, false promises, and even
forgery. He split the court of Jayaprakas i·lalla by forged letters, which
Prthvlnarayan
o - ~M. as a Jurist and Administrator
.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the code of Ram Sah, King of Gorkha (1609-36) and those of Sthitiraj
MalIa and 11ahendra MalIa who were kings of KUt.hmanQ.u in the fourteenth
and sixteenth centuries respectively. The structure of Gorkha society
was according to the caste system as interpreted by the Br~~ans. The
,
judicial system was largely based on Ram Sah's code, which drew upon
Hindu and customary law. The enlargement of his kL~gdom made Pbthvinaray~
feel that it would be wise to dra'VT up a revised judicial code and pres-
cribe anew the duties'of the various castes. It is not known whether he
did prepare such a code, but Nepalese records make no reference to one.
It seems however that he did take some action to amend the systems of
justice and ad~inistration.
(a) the judicial officers (,Qitthas) should be chosen from the *hakurIs,
. .
elders (Jetha Burhas) belonging to the traditional families, Thar Ghar.
Other officers included Umravas (commandants), Hirs (army chiefs), Dvares
(frontier guards), Kharidars (foreign secretaries), Najikis (aides~de
camp), Dadas (personal attendants), the Khajanci (treasurer), the
Kapardar (keeper of the royal wardrobe and jewelry and manager of the
1
royal kitchen), etc. All these officials and officers met together in
2
a state consultative assembly.
.
Certain ramilies, the P~res, Basnets and Pantas and
collateral members of the royal family, and some }mgars, were given
position of authority in rotation. The Nemoirs lay down that as they
had proved themselves loyal members of the state they should be immune
from the death sentence. Pgthv!naraya~ held that if they committed a
crime which ordinarily carried the death sentence they should be sent
to the battle front. "If they come back alive, well and good and if
they die, it is better tnat someone else should have killed them than
3
that they should have been killed by the king himself."
1. GVY, p.32.
2. Vide ~.~S' )'7\.~.
3. DU, Tr.,p.~8.
319
}lahars to Tibet for the purchase of gold. j:1is idea \-las to provide trading
facilities for his people, and give them the monopoly of the trade with
Tibet. But his plan was a failure. Troubles developed with Tibet re-
garding the circulation of his coins and they continued even after
1
his death.
His aim was to exclude foreign traders from his country
had monopolised trade through Nepal to Tibet. They had been permitted
by t;alla kings to carry on trade "lith Nepal and Tibet and establish
their business houses in Ka~hmangu. They- also had business establishments
political dangers from the side of India where the English East India
had been sont by Warron Hastings, the Governor and President of the
from Nepal met Bogle in Lhasa and sought the Company's assistance to
continue their trade activities. Professedly ascetics, the Gosals were
revered in Tibet, a country where religion played a dominant role • . i~~ 11:·.
Kashmiri Muslims were also favoured in Tibet, apparently because of their
trade contact~ with Ladakh, so called the little Tibet. Bogle was very
much concerned by the interruption and decline of Bengal's trade with
1. l-1arkham, op.cit.,p.128.
2. Ibid.,pp.58-59.
322
not. glaos ond luxury goods. He oade it a condition that the Tibetan
Government should have no connections with the Firangis (Europeans) or
l10ghuls (M.uslims), and that foreign merchants should not be admitted
into Tibet. He also wrote saying that a Firangi, who had come to him
on some business and who was then in his country, was being shortly
1
expelled. Such heavy duties were exacted on goods brought in by foreign
traders that they could not continue their activities and ",rere forced
2
to leave Nepal. But two Kashmiris were allowed to remain in Kathm8n~u.
There was also one Gosa! who was PrthvInarayan's favourite and whom
3° .
he had sent as his envoy to Tibet.
Valley, he declared all the land within the former kingdoms of Kiil;-hm8n9-u ,
Bhatgau and Pa~an cro~n property. The personal estates of the previous
kings he retained for himself. The remaining land in the Valley itself
he allowed the .IJrevious owners to occupy subj ect to payment of revenue
in kind which he fixed at one-fourth of the gross annual production.
1. Markham, op.cit.,pp.156-57
2. Ibid.,pp.127,133.
3. Vide Letter no.14, p. ~7.
323
and classified the \-Thole area in four grades according to the crops
produced and fixed the revenue in cash payable to the crown accordingly.
He also levied revenue on the freehold land in the Valley and increased
it later by one-sixth more than had been paid before. Land outside the
1
Valley he parcelled out to his army as part of their total emolument.
He wan anxious to increase crop production and to effect this laid down
ab.'..edict concerning irrigation and cultivation, even to the extent of
Nepal, and the purchase of it involved the export of gold and silver
currency. It was this loss of precious metal that Prthvinarayan
o • deter-
mined to stop. The import of foreign currency into Nepal he did all in
his power to foster, and to this end encouraged the eA~ort of indigenous
commodities, including medicinal herbs and roots, provided they were
paid for in cash. To ensure that the ban on cloth export did not cause
hardship, he sent spinners and weavers into India to learn the technique
1. HP, vol.59,fo.72.
2. DU, Tr.,? '31.
3. Ibid •.
324
1
in use, and encouraged them on their return to set up indigenous industries.
National coinage was to consist of pure, or nearly pure,
metal. His instructions to agents sent to purchase gold in Tibet are
specific on this point. They were to take every care to ensure that the
gold was not debased, though he was prepared to allow some alloy in
2
large purchases. He was shrewd enough to realise the economic dangers
PrthvInarayan
o • Sah as a Hindu
\
326
are by canon law lilli~une from the death sentence. He behaved with asto-
nishing severity to the J~isl Brahmans. Some members of this caste were
Brahmans proved most useful allies. It would not be true to say that
ptthvInaray~'s conquest can be equated with a Hindu crusade in a
told in his favour when he came into conflict with peoples who practised
Buddhism or other religions.
1. Vide P.22~.
2. Vide P. -\~6.
3. Vide Ui.ol. •
328
Conclusion
to the Ganges.
The foundation of his success seems to have been his ability
to pacif,r conquered peoples. This is particularly true in the case of
the Newar inhabitants of the Nepal Valley. For gener~tions they hud
lived in political and economic uncertainty, mounting in the 1760's to
famine conditions. What they longed for most was peace and stability.
These Pbthv1n8ray~ gave them. The material prosperity of the Valley
APPENDIX A
TEXT ~
OF NEPALI 'LETTERS OF PRTHVINARAYAN
o • SAH -
LETTER NO.1
,
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335
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APPENDIX B
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary material
-0
-
Prthvinarayan
-.
,
S8:hko ~ - - -
jl.vani, Kathmandu,
. .
1963.
Tertiary material.
Published sources
. .
Kathmandu (n.d.).
(ed.) : Purana kavi ra kavita, Ka~hman~u, 1946.
'~rI ~rI Jayaprakas Mal1a', Pragati, no.13, Ka'!-hmanQ.u (n.d.).
'SrI 5 Rajendralak~I DevI', Ruparekha, year 5, no.6,
. .
Kathmandu, 1963.
'TanahUko Sen-vamsa', Bhanubhakta-smarak grantha, (ed.)
S1iryavikram JnavalI, Darjee1ing, 1940.
R.C. Hajumdar, tAn account of the Sena kings of Nepal t , Bengal past
and present, vol.XL, 1930.
N. Brooke Northey : The lAnd of the Gurkhas and the Himalayan kingdom
of Nepal, Cambridge, 1937.
W.Brooke Northey and C.J. Horris : The Gurkhas: their manners. customs
and country, London, 1928.
S.C. Sarkar, 'Some notes on the intercourse of Bengal with the northern
countries in the second half of the eighteenth century I ,
~~ast and present, vol.XLI, January-June, 1931.
E.H. Walsh, 'The coinage of Nepal', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
1908.
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