-Concluded- 

Dr. Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat,

Kathmandu, Nepal

Many people in Nepal consider that the initial phase of unification was only territorial expansion of Gorkha. But later it was turned into real unification of Nepal with dedication and strong resolve of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, which ultimately created a unified Nepal. It was King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s was most cherished goal. All the other castes and creed primarily in Gorkha and later, in all over Nepal, supported his campaign for the unification. There were a few resistances in some parts such as Pallo Kirant, Gandaki Region etc. but Gorkha succeeded in conquering these territories eventually and the unification of Nepal was possible. There is no doubt that the King may have been an inspirational and unifying figure to lead such a campaign but without the support of other political leaders, it would not have been possible to achieve such a gigantic task.
Historian Mahesh Chandra Regmi has observed that “Under the Gorkhali political system, the king, legitimized by association with the throne of Gorkha and buttressed by the right of con quest, was the ultimate source of authority. This has led some historians to give the entire credit for the empire-building to King Prithvi Narayan Shah. This view must be regarded as a sterile one. It seeks to place Prithvi Narayan Shah outside the Gorkhali milieu and “above” history. However, powerful and unchallenged he may be, no king can rule without aides, that is, without a supporting political leadership.”

In this respect, a famous historian of Nepal, Nayaraj Pant has said that King Prithvi Narayan Shah has spoken about his ancestor King Ram Shah, his three mothers, four brothers, his first marriage and his maternal uncle only in the Counsel. He has not mentioned about any other person from his family. But King Prithvi Narayan Shah has specially mentioned about the marriage between the son of Shivaram Singh Basnyat with the daughter of Kalu Pandey, which he had arranged. That means we need to give a thought on the sentence of the King in the Counsel about this marriage. Nayaraj Pant further elaborated saying that if Prithvi Narayan Shah did not have bit terness during the marriage with the princess of Makwanpur Indra Kumari, it was possible that his life would have taken a different turn. That marriage between the families of Basnyats and Pandeys was necessary to make bonds.26 King Prithvi Narayan Shah seems to have made it a point to em phasize the marriage between Basnyats and Pandeys. This may be because if Basnyats and Pandeys had also not worked harmoniously towards Nepal’s unification, Prithvi Narayan Shah could not have achieved what he did.

Mentioning the conquest of Kathmandu valley, in his Counsel, King Prithvi Narayan Shah has noted that Nepal (Kathmandu Valley) was conquered “with the shields of Pandeys and swords of Basnyats.” That was why King Prithvi Narayan Shah was of the opinion that the descendants of Kalu Pandey and Shivaram Singh Basnyat should be entrusted with the responsibilities of relations with the North (Tibet and China) and with the South, respectively. It shows that he was very conscious about each and every person and their various levels of contributions in making a unified Nepal possible. And thus, he wanted reward them for their contributions.

During the unification campaign of Nepal and in the subsequent years, not only Basnyats and Pandeys made sacrifices but several other prominent families and other general public con tributed to the establishment of a nation-state of Nepal. It was a manifestation of firm solidarity and the unity of the people for unification campaign initiated by their King. There is no doubt that the King may have been an inspirational and unifying figure to lead such an important campaign but without the support of other political leaders and general public, it would not have been possible to achieve such a gigantic task.

As for example, Kazi Kalu Pandey was not only chief Kazi of Gorkha but also a military leader and a seasoned diplomat who participated in several wars and negotiations since 1740 during the reign of King Narabhupal Shah to 1757. He died in the war of Kirtipur in that year. Bansaraj Pandey, Kehar Singh Basnyat, and Abhiman Singh Basnyat were instrumental in contributing to the organisational and developmental aspects of Nepali Army and many of their contributions still exist today. They were involved in the initial phase of Gorkhali or Nepali Army’s conquest in several of the fifty-two principalities of Nepal. Thus, the unification of Nepal was possible through the sacrifice of several such people.

We can say that among the courtiers, some families played leadership roles in that endeavors in which Basnyats and Pandeys were prominent. But we must not forget that the governments under King Prithvi Narayan Shah, King Pratap Singh Shah, Regent Rajendra Laxmi, Regent Bahadur Shah, King Rana Bahadur Shah, Regent Rajrajeswori, Regent Suvarnaprabha, and King Girvanayudha (in the initial period) were inclusive as there were also Rana (Magar), Khadka, Gurung and Khawas as Kazis or Ministers.

If we look at the list of fighters, (which was published in a book) who went to attack 27 Nuwakot in 1744 and Kathmandu Valley kingdoms in 1768, there were all castes and creeds who were ready to sacrifice their lives for the unification of the country. The author believes that this book was written by Kazi Kulman Singh Basnyat, a descendant of Kazi Kehar Singh Basnyat, on 14 February 1858 when he was posted in Jorayal, Doti, as Administrator. It is considered as a good historical account. Later, it was discovered and published by Yogi Naraharinath in 1954.

The courtiers and their families struggled very hard to protect the independence and sover eignty of the country. They had great attachment to their country. In this context, Brian Hodgson, who was a British resident in Kathmandu later during the time of Bhimsen Thapa, has noted this strong patriotic sentiment among the courtier families.

The king was particularly sensitive that his troops not indulge in the looting of villages, important monuments, and places of worship at the time of battle and after victory. He was oncerned about the possible killing of innocent civilians in the battle. So, he used to give special instruction to avoid killing and bloodshed in enemy territories. During the Bhaktapur attack, Prithvi Narayan gave such instructions to the military leaders including his brother Shoorpratap Shah. But his advice seems to have been ignored, which angered Prithvi Narayan. Before every attack, he used to write to the leaders of that area asking them whether they would like to surrender to Gorkha. If they sur rendered, there would be no battle. One example is the capture of Patan, Dolakha, and Chaudandi without any battle.

After the conquest of Makwanpur, Chaudandi, Bijayapur and Palpa, all the Talhatti (plain) areasalso came under Nepal. Mahesh C. Regmi has also observed that the Tarai cannot be separat edfrom the Himalayas. “South of Siwalik range, the terrain merges into the Tarai region, a long and narrow strip comprising the northern most fringe of the extensive basins of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. While no physical boundary separates the Tarai region from the Indo-Gangetic plains, geopolitical considerations justify the inclusion of the Tarai in the Himalayan region.” In 29 this context, Makwanpur was sizable and after the death of Mukunda Sen (First) of Palpa in 1553, his younger son Lohang Sen declared himself king with the territories east of Palpa, making Mak wanpur as capital. Likewise, his descendant, son of King Shuva Sen, Mahipati Sen took Bijaypur in 1713 and became king. Two sons of King Manik Sen, Hemkarna Sen and Jagat Sen, further frag mented Makwanpur becoming kings in Makwanpur and Chaudandi in 1727. Similarly, after the death of King Yakchhya Malla in 1477, his sons including Ratna Malla had distributed Bahktapur, Patan, and Kathmandu among themselves.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah might have known about the facts of history. So, he must have realized that conquering territories all over Chaubisi and Baisi kingdoms should not be for Gorkha’s expansion only but eventually for the formation of a strong and united country so that foreign interference could be faced strongly and avoided. If the policy had been the only expansion, Nepal would not have remained intact until now after 252 years. The capital of Nepal could have been also Gorkha not Kathmandu in that circumstances. King Prithvi Narayan Shah would have also distributed his newly own territories to his brothers and his sons.

So, King Prithvi Narayan Shah was a visionary leader who never agreed to divide and disintegrate his newly won territories. By this action, all his brothers except Daljit Shah deserted him. We now know how patriotic and nationalist he was. The present leaders of Nepal should also feel inside their hearts about this reality.
Ludwig F. Stiller has observed that King Prithvi Narayan Shah had used his language in clear and strong terms.

“In 1746, Prithvi Narayan began to speak of the state as a rock (Dhungo); something apart from himself; something strong enough to build on. It was typical of Prithvi Narayan to use a strong, concrete term to express his vision. He spoke of it often and communicated it to his followers. Nothing can more illustrate what this concept meant to Prithvi Narayan Shah than his response in the 1770s to the demand of his own brothers for personal honours and provinces to rule in the newly won territories. Although earlier kings in Nepal had freely given such favors to sons and relatives. Prithvi Narayan absolutely refused. To him, a rock was not a rock when it was split. Men served the State to strengthen it, not smash it to fragments for personal gain”. Stiller further added, “he spoke of Nepal as a garden in which all castes and groups and peoples lived together in harmony and peace. This was the ideal he worked to achieve.”

In this connection, it is worthwhile to mention here the excerpts from the book by Ludwig F. Stiller on the success of foreign policy of King Prithvi Narayan Shah: “It seems sufficient to add here that the foreign policy evolved by Prithwinarayan Shah and incorporated in his ‘Dibya Upadesh’ (Divine Counsel) was sufficiently sound to bring the newly born kingdom of Nepal safely through more than thirty years of very troubled times before the clash between Nepal and the Company occurred. This was no small achievement in the subcontinent in the eighteenth century.”
About the character of King Prithvi Narayan Shah as a ruler, Hamilton has said “He was …a man of insatiable ambition, sound judgement, great courage, and ceaseless activity. Kind and liber al, especially in promises to his friends and dependents, he was regardless of faith to strangers and of humanity to his enemies….”.

A British writer and journalist Perceval Landon who was hired by Rana Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher to write about Nepal had written that “Prithvi Narayan Shah was above all things a dogged man. There was no turning back for him when once he has set his hands to the plough…. One of the most notable aspects of his administration was his intense suspicion of European influence.” The author found the first part of statement of Landon malicious and baseless against the great founder of Nepal. In the historical documents, it is abundantly found that he was not a stub born man rather he was a highly able statesman who introduced participative management in the conduct of state affairs. In each and every difficult situation or while taking a major decision to go to the battle, he used to freely discuss the matter in the Council of courtiers and listen to every body’s views. This was a fact that he even visited the house of Bishe Nagarchi to know about his views regarding the fund-raising before he left for Banaras for buying weapons. However, there was only one exception during his reign of 32 years. This was the decision to attack Kirtipur in 1757 which he took against the advice of his best advisers, where his principal aide Kazi Kalu Pandey had to lose his life. It was true that he had suspicion on the activities of Europeans in Nepal, which obviously was for protecting the long-term interests of the country.

Ludwig F. Stiller has rightly concluded with his balanced appraisal that King Prithvi Narayan Shah was a dynamic King who was successful in the difficult task of unifying Nepal. He further said that “…. when the accusations against Prithvinarayan Shah and his failures are placed together in one side of the scales and weighed against his achievements, the scales show clearly that he was a great man.”

There is no doubt that he was immensely impressed by the works of his own ancestor King Ram Shah and senior Queen Mother Chandraprabhavati. King Prithvi Narayan Shah was also in spired by the lives and works of two Hindu kings of India who were ruling in their respective kingdoms much before him. They were famous for fighting against Mughal Emperors, Akbar and Aurangajeb, respectively. According to historical documents, King Prithvi Narayan Shah was very fond of Maharana Pratap of the Kingdom of Mewar (b. 1540-d.19th January 1597) and Chhatrapati Shivaji of Maratha Empire (b. 19 February 1629-d. 3 April 1680). He might have read or heard about their gallantries against foreign aggressors in his youth. It is said that Queen Chandraprabha vati reiterated the heroic deeds of these Hindu kings to Prithvi Narayan Shah in his childhood. But these brave kings of India and their successors could not sustain their fight against the British East India Company.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah not only unified the country of Nepal but he contributed a lot to the process of consolidating its language, culture, and civilisation. As we can see that the language spoken in far western Nepal and to the east up to Gorkha was called Khas Kura or Parbatya, which has been in practice and currency for a long time. This language turned into a national language and got the recognition in official communications since those days. The language of the Counsel is also the testimony to this fact.

He continued with the religious tradition and practice by establishing several trusts in the protection of Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries. He did not intervene in the day-to-day economic and social activities of the people in the territories he conquered. However, King Prithvi Narayan Shah was determined to protect Hinduism in Nepal to stop the possible invasion of Christianity and other religions in the country. Bhim Bhakta Man Singh in his book ‘Nepal,’ published from Calcutta in 1948, has said that King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s main purpose of the unification of Nepal was primarily to protect the country and people from the foreign influence on our religion, culture, and civilisation.

From the conquest of Mahamandal and Belkot (both in Nuwakot) in September 1744 to the victory of Bijayapur just before King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s death in January 1775, many political and military leaders of Gorkhali Kingdom participated in the battles and made their sacrifices. It was not an easy task which took 32 years of continued struggle to get to this stage since he became King of Gorkha. The leadership provided by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, and his military and political leaders were exemplary in the history of South Asia. Thanks to their sacrifice, Nepal has remained an independent country throughout its history.

The other examples in unification campaigns in world history are found in Europe and Latin America. Italy was unified by Gueseppe Garibaldi in 1860. He was the famous military leader and popular hero of Italian unification. It was one of the big events in Europe. The unification of Ger many was accomplished by Otto Von Bismarck in 1871. Similarly, struggle for independence from Spanish colonisers and unification of many countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama in Latin America by Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) is an important historical event. Bolivar became the President of unified Gran Colombia from 1819-1830. But these events happened in history many decades after the unification of Nepal by King Prithvi Narayan Shah. So, he must be considered as pioneer in unifying a country in world history.

In foreign policy front, he was the first Nepali ruler to appoint the envoys or ambassadors of Nepal to foreign lands. For example, after the city of Kathmandu was declared the capital of newly formed sovereign Nepal on 21 March 1770, he appointed Subba Dinannath Upadhyaya to negotiate with East India Company in Calcutta, who was considered very clever in diplomacy and a competent person. Gajaraj Mishra, who belonged to the family of King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s priests, was already appointed as the head merchant in Banaras by the king before he died. Before Birbhadra Thapa was sent to Kaski,

Gangadhar Panth was in Kaski as envoy of Gorkha for a long time since 1743. Similarly, he had sent Laal Giri, brother of Bhim Giri, to Lhasa to improve relations. Biswamitra Upadhyaya and Gangananda Acharya were in Sikkim. He had sent Brihaspati Pandit to Purniya to negotiate with British officials there. Kiritmali was in Patna. Biakuntha Upadhyaya was in Lucknow to the court of Nawab Sujau Ud-Daula. Shiva Ghimire and Bisheswor Upadhyaya were in Lamjung. Birbhadra Thapa was in Kaski and two Bahmins from there were in Kathmandu as envoys.
Once King Prithvi Narayan Shah had sent Kazi Tualaram Pandey and some of his officials to Kathmandu as envoys. But they were accused of spying against the state and King Jaya Prakash Malla. Many of Pandey’s assistants were killed but he escaped through the timely intervention of Kalidas Pradhan of Patan. The reason given was that he was a big Kazi of Gorkha so he could be of a good help for Kathmandu in future so his life should be spared.

It is clear that King Prithvi Narayan Shah was well aware of the news on political develop ments that were unfolding in neighbouring countries and states through the periodic reports sent by his envoys. Thus, he was also the pioneer in the institution-building of the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal. We must not forget this important fact.
King Prithvi Narayan Shah had rightly envisioned about the future. Actually, the British came for attack again in 1814 after their defeat in September 1767 in the Sindhuli Gadhi battle. But his successors could not anticipate the impending danger and tackle the enemy tactfully. Thus, Nepal was compelled to lose one-third of its territories as per the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816.

At present, it seems that King Prithvi Narayan Shah made a few minor mistakes as he was also a human being born in the poor state of Gorkha. He was a product of a conservative society, culture, religion and civilization of that era. He had no formal education but he was taught by some pundits on the basis of available religious texts. He also performed his duties as per the traditions and practice of the time. Flaying alive of Jayant Rana was a cruel act. But we should not forget that at that time it was considered the appropriate punishment for a traitor. Thereafter, nobody could think of deserting Gorkha for 70 years. About the cutting of nose of some people of Kirtipur which has been already described in detail above, many westerners and some people inside Nepal still condemn him for that.
We should consider these incidents as a few minor exceptions by King Prithvi Narayan Shah. But we should not see the incidences of that time from the eyes of the human rights standards prevailing at present. There are many examples in history of Europe and America where millions of people have been killed by the victorious leaders and their forces. The colonial powers like Britain, United States, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal have brutally killed millions of people in Asia, Africa and Latin America in the last three centuries during their colonization period and the people’s independence struggles.

It wasn’t always a victory for him. He lost the war in Sangachowk because of too much trust in his adoptive father, King Ranajit Malla, and the military leader Parshuram Thapa of Bhaktapur. This is how he lost his military leaders Shivaram Singh Basnyat and Kaji Kalu Pandey, his best Gorkha hands in these battles. In the same spirit, he did not listen to the advice of his eminent courtiers, who advised him not to fight against Kirtipur at that time. He also had lost other courageous military commanders and capable leaders like Bagh Bhim Singh Thapa, Jahangir Shah, Tu laram Pandey and Kehar Singh Basnyat in the battles of Palanchok, Saanga, Kathmandu and Sa tahun respectively. Either way, there is no doubt that he was an excellent decision maker and a ca pable leader at the time. He was always aware of not harming the general public in battles with min imal material damage.

Historian Sujit Manaili has expressed his displeasure with some people who are writing biased history books and articles to create divisions among the Nepali people, exaggerating highly of some historical incidences. He has lambasted against such people saying that their selfish interests are not served by thinking about creative debate to build the strong country based on equality. People who take approach only through one side of the argument in view of distorting history would be suspected of being in their unsound academic basis. He further noted that only ‘empirical study’ is not sufficient but there was a need to apply the approach of ‘holistic study’. They cannot embrace truth if these ‘activists’ pretend to become researchers as they are enjoying with their own ‘selection bias.

’ One cannot call oneself to be learned by utilising the jargons like ‘Epistomology’ and ‘Ontology.’ For this, one must possess the research oriented academic eyes to think about any subject matter in a holistic manner to assess its merits and demerits solely on the basis of quality.

Nayaraj Pant has said “that Prithvi Narayan Shah was a very able politician, an excellent ruler and a brave warrior and not a sage or saint. We need to compare him with the persons of that same category……I humbly request that it is better not to compare him with the renowned sages or saints.”

The Counsel by the King has become more and more relevant in the present context of the policy adopted by India and China, and the western countries towards Nepal trying to involve themselves in the internal affairs of Nepal. In this context, we should not also forget that a lot of religious conversions, which is against the provision of our Constitution as per its Article 26 (3), are going on openly in our country for a long time. The Governments after 1990 were not bothered about controlling such activities. There is a tremendous pressure from southern neighbour to make their people Nepalese citizens. In the absence of satisfactory economic growth and surge in rampant corruption in the country, young people are leaving for work in the foreign countries. There is a huge trade deficit with almost all the countries and economy of the country is at the state of near collapse.

The struggle seems continuing for Nepal till now, even after almost two and half centuries. It is a fact that Nepalese people still suffer from a fear psychosis that the southern neighbour would occupy the country one day due to its continued hostile policy towards Nepal, though India remains one of the largest contributors in Nepal’s development efforts. The economy of Nepal is de pendent more or less on India’s economy. Furthermore, India has not yet fully recognized the Constitution of Nepal promulgated on 20 September 2015 saying that it was biased against Tarai people.

This sort of behavior of India indicates its ill design towards Nepal. For India, all Nepalese who have been discriminated against by the past governments including Newars, Rais, Limbus, Sherpas etc. should be of concern to it, not only the people of Tarai. In addition, India has just “taken note of the Constitution.” Thus, it totally undermined Nepal and economically blockaded it for five months after the new Constitution came into implementation. That was an inhuman act of a big neighbouring country against a small economically weak Least Developed Country when it was just hit by a biggest earthquake of the century. Furthermore, India went to the extent of mentioning about Nepal’s Constitution to be inclusive in the Joint Communique issued on 12 November 2015 after the Prime Minster Modi’s visit to Britain and to the European Union on 30 March 2016.

Similarly, the US Government also mentioned about the Constitution of Nepal on the same line in its World Analytical Report. This shows the increasing interference in Nepal’s internal affairs by the neighbours and world powers. This was clearly India’s diplomatic activism directed against Nepal.

India has recently published a map on 8 November 2019 showing Nepalese territory of Limpiadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh in its map. In response, Nepal Government also published its own map incorporating those three areas and it was included in the Constitution of Nepal on 18 June 2020. It seems that India is trying to bully us on this matter. In comparison to India, China has not given any trouble to Nepal yet but its interference in the internal affairs has been increasing in recent years. Thus, Nepalese leaders should follow the advice of Prithvi Narayan Shah to maintain a delicate balance between our two neighbours through maturity in diplomatic dealings.

If we compare the history of national unifications in Nepal and India, King Prithvi Narayan Shah and his successors had to continuously fight for conquering other states and uniting Nepal and for the protection of its sovereignty from foreign aggressors. Though Indian leaders had to fight for obtaining freedom of their country from the British colonial rule through their struggle for independence, they were lucky enough to inherit already unified big India from them in 1947. They had only to annex some of the territories still occupied by some kings and feudal heads. They also had to take military assistance of Nepal in annexing princely state of Hyderabad in September 1948.
There is a lot of new far reaching incidences that have happened in international relations more recently, which has brought changes in the existing world order. The present scenario has pre sented new challenges and opportunities in the implementation of Nepal’s foreign policy, particular ly after the outbreak of Covid 19 which is sure to reshape the contours of existing international po litical, economic and social relations.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah had unified all the small kingdoms numbering 52 states and made Nepal. He had multifaceted personality and he was able to give an all-round positive effect in every aspect of Nepalese society. An expert on culture and history of Nepal, Dr. Govind Tandon has said that King Prithvi Narayan Shah had actually regained the respect, esteem and grandeur of Nepal by his good efforts, otherwise these had been degrading and were at the state of decline since one thou sand years.

Therefore, Nepalese leaders and people must be alert about the fact that there is always a likelihood of foreign interference in our internal affairs by the powerful countries of our neighborhood and beyond. We should take lessons from the immortal words enunciated in the Counsel by the great King Prithvi Narayan Shah, founder of modern Nepal, inter alia, on Nepal’s domestic and foreign affairs.

At this juncture of Nepal’s history, sacrifices of people, who did not even hesitate to lay down their lives for the sake of the nation, should be brought out to the limelight so that our new generation will be inspired by the patriotism and honesty from the lives of such illustrious leaders.

Thus, no Nepali should disrespect King Prithvi Narayan Shah, creator of unified Nepal and political and military leaders of that era, who worked tirelessly under him to unify the country. They must be given high national honors and respects they fully deserve in our official festivities and ceremonies. The author firmly believes that as King Prithvi Narayan Shah was a unifier and creator of this country, he should be honored with the title of the “Father of the Nation” by the government without further delay.

# We are indebted to Dr. Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat for making available his book on “A short Biography of King Prithvi Narayan Shah and His Counsel to the people of Nepal”.

Concluded.

Chief Editor’s N. P. Upadhyaya’s note:
#The author of the book, Dr. Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat Basnyat, firmly believes that as King Prithvi Narayan Shah was a unifier and creator of this country, he should be honored with the title of the “Father of the Nation” by the government without further delay.

# Going one step further I, Narendra Prasad Upadhyaya, the chief editor of this online news portal having fifty-three years of uninterrupted journalism in Nepal hereby on my own capacity take the Nepal Unifier “King Prithvi Narayan Shah as the beloved FATHER OF THE NATION of Nepal henceforth. I politely suggest the Nepal Government to officially declare Unifier King as the Father of the Nation. I apologize with the author for having exceeded my media limits. Regards to the author Dr. Basnyat: Ed. Upadhyaya. N. P.

# Our own contact email address is: editor.telegraphnepal@gmail.com