History

King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the small principality of Gorkha, initially drafted the Gorkhali Army.[21] The Chief of the Gorkhali Army were drawn from Chhetri noble families of Gorkha such as Pande family, Basnyat family and Thapa dynasty before the rule of the Rana dynasty.[22] However, the first civilian army chief was Kaji Kalu Pande who had significant role in the campaign of Nepal.[21] He was considered as an army head due to the undertaking of duties and responsibilities of the army but not by the formalization of the title.[21]

Battle of NuwakotEdit

Main article: Battle of Nuwakot



Kaji Vamshidhar "Kalu" Pande; commander of Gorkhali forces at victorious battle of Nuwakot

The first battle by Gorkhali forces united under King Prithvi Narayan Shah was the Battle of Nuwakot. The first army commander was Kaji Kalu Pande of the Pande noble family of Gorkha. Pande put up tactics to attack Nuwakot, a strategic fort of Malla king of Kathmandu, from multiple sides by surprise. On 26 September 1744, Pande with a contingent of soldiers climbed from the northern side of Nuwakot city at Mahamandal. He led the surprise attack with a Gorkhali war cry of "Jai Kali, Jai Gorakhnath, Jai Manakamana".[23] The panicked soldiers of Nuwakot under commander Shankha Mani tried to defend but lost after their commander was killed by the 13-year-old Prince Dal Mardan Shah, brother of the king.[24] The second contingent of Gorkhali forces led by Chautariya Mahoddam Kirti Shah (also a brother of the king) passed Dharampani and faced strong tussle but ultimately won over the defenders.[24] The third part of the forces, led by the king himself, advanced to the fort of Nuwakotgadhi after the capture of Mahamandal. The soldiers panicked by death of their commander fled to Belkot from the Nuwakot fort and Nuwakot was annexed by Gorkha.[24]

Battle of KirtipurEdit

Main article: Battle of Kirtipur



Gorkhali soldiers preparing war against Kathmandu Valley

Despite his initial resentment that the valley kings were well prepared and the Gorkhalis were not, Kaji Kalu Pande agreed for a battle against the kingdom of Kirtipur in the Kathmandu valley on being insisted by the king. The Gorkhalis had set up a base in Naikap to mount their assaults on Kirtipur. They were armed with swords, bows and arrows and muskets.[25] The two forces fought on the plain of Tyangla Phant in the northwest of Kirtipur. Surapratap Shah, the king's brother, lost his right eye to an arrow while scaling the city wall. The Gorkhali commander Kaji Kalu Pande was surrounded and killed, and the Gorkhali king himself narrowly escaped with his life into the surrounding hills disguised as a saint.[26][27] In 1767, King Prithvi Narayan Shah sent his army to attack Kirtipur for a third time under the command of Surapratap. In response, the three kings of the valley joined forces and sent their troops to the relief of Kirtipur, but they could not dislodge the Gorkhalis from their positions. A noble of Lalitpur named Danuvanta crossed over to Shah's side and treacherously let the Gorkhalis into the town.[6][28]

Annexation of Makwanpur & HariharpurEdit

King Digbardhan Sen and his minister Kanak Singh Baniya had already sent their families to safer grounds before the encirclement of their fortress. The Gorkhalis launched an attack on 21 August 1762. The battle lasted for eight hours. King Digbardhan and Kanak Singh escaped to Hariharpurgadhi. Makawanpur was thus annexed by the Gorkhali forces.[24]

After occupying the Makawanpurgadhi fort, the Gorkhali forces started planning for an attack on Hariharpurgadhi, a strategic fort on a mountain ridge of the Mahabharat range south of Kathmandu. It controlled the route to the Kathmandu valley. At the dusk of 4 October 1762, the Gorkhalis launched an attack. The soldiers at Hariharpurgadhi fought valiantly against the Gorkhali forces but were ultimately forced to vacate the Gadhi (fort) after midnight. About 500 soldiers of Hariharpur died in the battle.[24] Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal extended his help to kings of Kathmandu valley with his forces to attack the Gorkhali forces. On 20 January 1763, Gorkhali commander Vamsharaj Pande won the battle against Mir Qasim.[29] Similarly, Captain Kinloch of British East India Company also extended his support by sending contingents against Gorkhalis. King Prithvi Narayan sent Kaji Vamsharaj Pande, Naahar Singh Basnyat, Jeeva Shah, Ram Krishna Kunwar and others to defeat the forces of Gurgin Khan at Makwanpur.[30][31]

Conquest of Kathmandu valley and Declaration of Kingdom of NepalEdit

Main articles: Battle of Kathmandu, Battle of Lalitpur, and Battle of Bhaktapur



Sardar Ram Krishna Kunwar, senior military commander of Gorkhali forces

The victory in the Battle of Kirtipur climaxed Shah's two-decade-long effort to take possession of the wealthy Kathmandu valley. After the fall of Kirtipur, Shah took over the cities of Kathmandu and Lalitpur in 1768 and Bhaktapur in 1769, completing his conquest of the valley.[6] In a letter to Ram Krishna Kunwar, King Prithvi Narayan Shah expressed his unhappiness at the death of Kaji Kalu Pande in Kirtipur and thought it was impossible to conquer Kathmandu valley after the death of Kalu Pande.[32] After the annexation of Kathmandu valley, King Prithvi Narayan Shah praised in his letter about the valour and wisdom shown by Kunwar in the annexation of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur (collectively known as Nepal valley at the time).[33] Vamsharaj Pande, Kalu Pande's eldest son, was the commander of the Gorkhali forces who led the attack during the Battle of Bhaktapur on 14 April 1769.[34]

Conquest of the KirataEdit



Abhiman Singh Basnyat, a military commander and later Mulkaji

King Prithvi Narayan Shah had deployed Sardar Ram Krishna Kunwar to the invasion of Kirata regional areas comprising; Pallo Kirant (Limbuwan), Wallo Kirant and Majh Kirant (Khambuwan).[35] On B.S. 1829 Bhadra 13 (i.e. 29 August 1772), Kunwar crossed the Dudhkoshi river to invade King Karna Sen of the Majh Kirant (Khambuwan) and Saptari region[33] with fellow commander Abhiman Singh Basnyat.[36] He then crossed the Arun river to reach Chainpur (Limbuwan),[37] where he later achieved victory over the Kiratas.[38] King Prithvi Narayan Shah bestowed 22 pairs of Shirpau (special headgear) in appreciation to Ram Krishna Kunwar after his victory over the Kirata region.[38]

Political ConflictsEdit

In 1775, the King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who expanded the Gorkha Kingdom into the Kingdom of Nepal, died in Nuwakot.[39] Swarup Singh Karki, a shrewd Gorkhali courtier from a Chhetri family of eastern Nepal,[40] marched with an army to Nuwakot to confine Prince Bahadur Shah who was then mourning the death of his father.[39] He confined Bahadur Shah and Dal Mardan Shah with the consent from newly reigning King Pratap Singh Shah who was considered to have no distinction of right and wrong.[39] In the annual Pajani (renewal) of that year, Swarup Singh was promoted to the position of Kaji along with Abhiman Singh Basnyat, Amar Singh Thapa and Parashuram Thapa.[39] In Falgun 1832 B.S., he succeeded in exiling Bahadur Shah, Dal Mardan Shah and Guru Gajraj Mishra on three heinous charges.[41] The reign of Pratap Singh Shah was characterized by the constant rivalry between Swarup Singh and Vamsharaj Pande.[42] The document dated B.S. 1833 Bhadra 3 Roj 6 (i.e. Friday, 2 August 1776), shows that he had carried the title of Dewan along with Vamsharaj Pande.[43] King Pratap Singh Shah died on 22 November 1777[44] with his infant son Rana Bahadur Shah succeeding as the King of Nepal.[45] Sarbajit Rana Magar was made a Kaji along with Balbhadra Shah and Vamsharaj Pande[46] while Daljit Shah was chosen as Chief Chautariya.[45][46] Historian Dilli Raman Regmi asserts that Sarbajit was chosen as Mulkaji (equivalent to Prime Minister),[45] while historian Rishikesh Shah asserts that Sarbajit was the head of the Nepalese government only for a short period in 1778.[47] Afterwards, rivalry arose between Prince Bahadur Shah and Queen Rajendra Laxmi. Sarbajit led the followers of the Queen opposed to Sriharsh Pant who led the followers of Bahadur Shah.[48] The group of Bharadars (officers) led by Sarbajit badmouthed Rajendra Laxmi against Bahadur Shah.[49] Rajendra Laxmi succeeded in the confinement of Bahadur Shah with the help of her new minister Sarbajit.[50] Guru Gajraj Mishra came to the rescue of Bahadur Shah on a condition that Bahadur Shah should leave the country.[50][51] Also, his rival Sriharsh Pant was branded outcast and expelled instead of being executed as execution was prohibited for Brahmins.[48]

Prince Bahadur Shah confined his sister-in-law Queen Rajendra Laxmi on the charge of having illicit relation with Sarbajit[52] on 31 August 1778.[44][53][54] Subsequently, Sarbajit was executed inside the palace by Bahadur Shah[55][56] with the help of male servants of the royal palace.[55] Historian Bhadra Ratna Bajracharya asserts that it was actually Chautariya Daljit Shah who led the opposing group against Sarbajit Rana and Rajendra Laxmi.[57] The letter dated B.S. 1835 Bhadra 11 Roj 4 (1778) to Narayan Malla and Vrajabasi Pande asserts the death of Sarbajit under misconduct and the appointment of Bahadur Shah as regent.[44] The death of Sarbajit Rana Magar is considered to have marked the initiation of court conspiracies and massacres in the newly unified Kingdom of Nepal.[51] Historian Baburam Acharya points that the sanctions against Queen Rajendra Laxmi under moral misconduct was a mistake of Bahadur Shah. Similarly, the murder of Sarbajit was condemned by many historians as an act of injustice.[58]

Vamsharaj Pande, once Dewan of Nepal and son of the popular commander Kalu Pande, was beheaded on the allegations of conspiring with Queen Rajendra Laxmi.[59][60] In a special tribunal meeting at Bhandarkhal garden east of Kathmandu Durbar, Swaroop Singh held Vamsharaj liable for letting the King of Parbat, Kirtibam Malla, run away in the battle a year ago.[61] He had a fiery conversation with Vamsharaj before Vamsharaj was declared guilty and was subsequently executed by beheading on the tribunal.[48] Historian Rishikesh Shah and Ganga Karmacharya claim that he was executed on March 1785,[59][60] whereas Bhadra Ratna Bajracharya and Tulsi Ram Vaidya claim that he was executed on 21 April 1785.[61][48] On 2 July 1785, Swaroop Singh's opponent Prince Regent Bahadur Shah was arrested, but on the eleventh day of imprisonment, on 13 July, Singh's only supporter Queen Rajendra Laxmi died.[59][60] Then onwards, Bahadur Shah took over the regency of his nephew King Rana Bahadur Shah.