Dr. Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat
Kathmandu, Nepal
After the victory of Gorkha over Kantipur, King Jaya Prakash Malla left for Patan on the night of Sunday 25 September in 1768 and then went to Bhaktapur next day on 26 September from Patan. He did so because he did not trust the six Pradhans of Patan. In Bhaktapur, people reported to King Ranajit Malla that Jaya Prakash Malla had arrived and was staying at a Dewal in Haandi area at the premises of Dattatraya Temple. King Tej Narsingh Malla of Patan fled to Bhaktapur only on Saturday 8 October 1768, two days after the capture of Patan on 6 October. This is revealed by a recently published book. Until now, historians had believed that both of the kings left together for Bhaktapur on the same day from Patan.
At first, they had to stay outside Bhaktapur palace. Jaya Prakash Malla was arranged to live at a house vacating the prison building of Ipachhe Tole. Prisoners were transferred to Hitilibi. Tej Narsingh Malla was lodged in one Brahmin’s house in Ipachhe Tole for a few days. Then King Ranajit Malla consulted with the public of 24 wards (areas) of his kingdom regarding asylum of two kings in the palace. The general public of Bhaktapur advised the king to take them at the palace.
Kehar Singh Basnyat also had returned from Tibet to make preparations to capture Bhaktapur.
The king had taken the help of trusted courtiers in this battle particularly the four sons of Shivaram Singh. The king entrusted this job jointly to his youngest brother Kazi Shoorptratap Shah, late Kazi Kalu Pandey’s son Kazi Bansaraj Pandey, and late Shivaram Singh Basnyat’s son Kehar Singh Basnyat.
Kehar Singh with the consent of the king enlisted Gajabal Bista and Atibal Bista of Bistachhap, Patan as Subedars prior to the battle. As preparations for battle were over, Astrologer Kulananda Dhakal made calculations and said that Friday 10 November, 1769 would be an auspicious day for an attack. There was a fierce battle from both directions of the ancient Kingdom of Bhaktapur for three days (10, 11, and 12 November). First, troops led by Shoorpratap Shah entered from the eastern gate of Bhaktapur and courtiers who had come from Patan with King Tej Narsingh Malla set ablaze ten to twelve houses so that Gorkhalis would face difficulty in entering the city. Gorkhalis took a cover of Jagannath Temple. There was havoc among the general population. Military Leaders (Senapatis) from Bhaktapur, Thakur Singh Pradhan and Saikhwat of Patan, were arrested by Gorkhalis.
In this battle, King Ranajit Malla had asked for some military assistance from Pyuthan and Chaudandi. King Karna Sen of Chaudandi had sent some Khumbu troops for the aid of Jaya
Devichandra Shrestha (Compiler), Bhaktapurma Gorkhali Hamala (Gorkhali attack on Bhaktapur).
Prakash Malla and Ranajit Malla during the Bhaktapur battle. Gorkhalis had to fight against some Khumbu troops in Bhaktapur.
Sworup Singh Karki, who was a courtier in Chaudandi, had some differences with Dewan (minister) Ajit Raya of that kingdom. Thus, before the Bhaktapur battle, Harinandan Upadhyaya Pokharel of Kharpa and Sworup Singh Karki took refuge under the protection of King Prithvi Narayan Shah in Nuwakot. Karki was appointed Subedar by the king, and Pokharel pledged all his money and material support to the Gorkha king. Thereafter, the king sent Bangya Basnyat to eastern Nepal, particularly to Chaudandi and Bijaypur to garner the support of Khas people of the region, and report about the situation there. There, some Kirat leaders were against Gorkhalis. He gave a positive report for Gorkhali attack after the visit.
It is worthwhile to mention here that all of Senapati Shivaram Singh’s four sons played a pivotal role in this battle.
While his second son Kehar was at the forefront leading the attack, Nahar, Abhiman, and Dhaukal were spearheading the attacks from different directions. Sardar Amar Singh Thapa (Bada) and Sardar Ramkrishna Kunwar also participated in this battle. It was a great day for the sons of Shivaram Singh. Shivaram Singh had to sacrifice his life because of the betrayal by Bhaktapur twenty-two years ago in 1747 in Sangachowk.
Surrender by King Ranajit Malla:
In a recently published (2020) historical account of Garudnarayan Gongal (written in 1789), it was reported that King Prithvi Narayan Shah was actively participating in the attack against Bhakatpur. On the second day of the attack, on Saturday 11 November 1769, King Prithvi Narayan Shah, Kazi Shoorpratap Shah and several Gorkhali troops entered Bhaktapur on the night through the western gate of Itachhen. Until now, historians believed that King Prithvi Narayan Shah was not personally involved in the attack against Bhaktapur.
From the eastern side, some prominent people of Bhaktapur, who supported Gorkhalis, are believed to have helped a major section of Gorkhali forces to enter from the Main Gate (Mul Dhoka) of the city. On Sunday 12 November 1769, when battle was about to end, Chhadidar” (an important official post), Hemnarayan Malla of Bhaktapur asked Bahabal Thapa (the soldier of Parshuram Thapa) to bring Bhaju Thakur Joshi and Parshuram Thapa to the palace. Both Joshi and Thapa came near the window (of the palace). Instead, they told Hemnarayan Malla to bring King Ranajit Malla with him for talks with Kazi Shoorpratap Shah. They were actually relaying a message from Shoorpratap Shah. One of the Commanders of Gorkhali forces Shoorpratap Shah was at the front of Batulya Dewal at that time. Batulya Dewal (with round roof) was located in Khauma Tole near western side Itachhen gate. After that, Dhana Juju (Dhana Singh Malla-son of King), Daatimha Juju (Achyut Singh Malla-son of King), Jasraj Bhadel, Jagana Singh and a few others went to meet Kazi Shoorpratap Shah at Batulya Dewal. All others returned but Jasraj Bhadel and Jagana Singh remained with Kazi Shoorpratap Shah.
Then Subedar Kirti Singh Khawas, Subedar Bishram Thapa, Jamadars and other Hudda (junior sergeant) and soldiers came to the Palace. They escorted the old king and others to Mulchowk. King Ranajit Malla’s son, Birnarsingh Malla, who was an heir apparent of Bhaktapur had already died due to the suspected poisoning by other illegitimate sons of the king.
This was the last time Parshuram Thapa was seen. He had been negotiating on behalf of Gorkhali forces. In the meantime, it was found in one historical account that Parshuram Thapa had already joined King Prithvi Narayan Shah during the battle against Bhaktapur. According to a history book, Parshuram Thapa was the one who shot King Jaya Prakash Malla hitting the king on his right leg during the last scuffle when he was climbing the stairs inside the palace. However, no document has been given as reference about this account by the author Lalit Jung Sijapati. ‘Bir Gorkhali’ published in 1947 is the only history book which mentions the involvement of Parshuram Thapa in shooting King Jaya Prakash Malla.
There was a discussion amongst three kings as to what to do next after Jaya Prakash Malla was injured. In the meantime, Chhadidar Hemnarayan Malla informed King Ranajit Malla about the huge loss of life and property. The situation was chaotic among the Bhaktapur population. Several times, he requested the king to surrender and so as to stop further loss of life and property.
Hemnarayan looked at the face of King Ranajit Malla expecting a reaction. Nobody including the king uttered a word. And finally, it seemed that King Ranajit Malla gave his nod for the surrender.
Then, Hemnarayan Malla lowered his own white Pagri (turban) from one of the holes of a small palace window as a sign of surrender. Immediately thereafter, the Gorkhali leader Shoorpratap Shah ordered that the battle be stopped and it came to an end. But it is surprising to find that in another page of the same book, a different narrative of this episode about this important moment in the history of Nepal has been given, stating that King Ranajit Malla lowered the turban himself. When this author compared the original text of Garudnarayan Gongal, a personal assistant of King Ranajit Malla, it was found that it was in fact Hemnarayan Malla, not King Ranajit Malla, who lowered his own turban for surrender.
King Jaya Prakash Malla and King Tej Narsingh Malla were also on the battleground to oppose the advance of Gorkhali troops. More than 2,000 people of Bhaktapur were killed by the Gorkhali attack. On the Gorkhali side, 300 to 400 troops lost their lives. At last, an important kingdom of Bhaktapur came under Gorkha on 12 November 1769, which culminated the first phase of unification campaign to an end. It was a major breakthrough for the Shah dynasty of Gorkha in their quest for Nepal’s unification. A long era of Malla dynasty, which lasted approximately 375 years in Kathmandu Valley, ended with this victory.
After the surrender of Bhaktapur, Kirti Singh Khawas, and Bishram Thapa, other Jamadars and soldiers escorted three kings from the courtyard of Chaukhwat (Chaukot) palace to Mulchowk by the order of Gorkhali leader Shoorpratap Shah, along with their courtiers namely Krishnadev Pradhan, Satyun, Gaadhuman, Bhajudev, Garudhnarayan, Chhadidar Bhagiram, Hemnarayan Malla, Sakul Joshi, and others. Ranajit Malla’s two sons from concubines, namely Ajit Singh Malla and Achyut Singh Malla, were also there. A beautifully decorated pistol was recovered from Jaya Prakash Malla. There were altogether 51 important personalities of Bhaktapur, Kantipur, and Patan gathered there in the room of Chaukot at that time.
Shoorpratap Shah and King Prithvi Narayan Shah had entered from the eastern gate of Bhaktapur with the troops. On the other side of the city, in Sukuldhoka area, Abhiman Singh was engaged in fierce fighting with the Bhaktapur forces led by Senapati Sardar Singh. The Bhaktapur side brought canons from Sundhoka and used it against Gorkhalis. Abhiman Singh Basnyat bravely captured the canons and also captured Senapati Sardar Singh and brought him to Hitichowk. Sardar Singh’s hands were tied and he was laid down on the floor. All the three kings who were under the control of Gorkha after the surrender were brought to Mulchowk. It seems that King Prithvi Narayan Shah already knew about this surrender and the subsequent gathering of all three kings and he came to Mulchowk. Actually, he was in Bhaktapur. Because he was believed to be somewhere inside the city giving necessary directives in this decisive attack.
It is worthwhile to mention here that King Prithvi Narayan Shah, when he finally won the battle of Bhadgaon, asked Jaya Prakash Malla what he had to say about his defeat, then Jaya Prakash replied that he was destroyed by his own people (thari) from Bhaimal, it was not a matter of rejoicing by Gorkha. Bhaimales were all ungrateful people and deceived me, he said. They are all “nun-harami” (not loyal to the salt eaten). Actually, he was referring to Kashiram Thapa and Parshuram Lalit Jung Sijapati, Bir Gorkhali, (Brave Gorkhali), Thapa (It is believed that earlier both Thapa brothers were residents of Bhaimal), as well as people like Kazi Taudhik. In the beginning, Kashiram Thapa, Parshuram Thapa and their father were actually the courtiers of Kantipur. Also, all six Pradhans of Lalitpur, who were once loyal to King Jaya Prakash Malla had gone against him. Thus, King Jaya Prakash aired his frustrations against his own courtiers (thari) and people just some days before he died.
Interesting Meeting between King Prithvi Narayan Shah and Ranajit Malla:
After more than one month of surrender, Kehar Singh Basnyat went to the Bhaktapur palace and informed Ranajit Malla that King Prithvi Narayan Shah would like to meet him. Ranajit Malla was escorted near to the side window (sanjhyal) of Toon Chowk. King Prithvi Narayan Shah came and met him there. Both seated face to face. While Ranajit Malla faced the east, King Prithvi Narayan Shah faced the west. Kehar Singh Basnyat was standing to the north side. Guardnarayan Gongal, a personal assistant (who wrote a memoir in 1789), was seated behind his former King Ranajit Malla.
As a foster son, King Prithvi Narayan Shah asked King Ranajit Malla with due respect about his wishes. He offered him to be a king or chief of one of the kingdoms except in the three cities of Kathmandu valley. The places offered were Banepa, Panauti or Sankhu, Chaangu or Thimi, Bode or Gramal of Patan or any village around Kirtipur. Ranajit Malla refused such propositions and said he did not have any such wish.
King Prithvi Narayan Shah insisted numerous times that he was ready to fulfil any other wish.
He said- “please tell me.” Then Ranajit Malla reluctantly said that he had a wish but the king of Nepal may not be able to fulfil such wish at this moment for a defeated king. King Prithvi Narayan Shah said-“first tell me, then I would say what I can do for you.” Then Ranajit Malla spread his shawl with both his hands underneath in a gesture of begging in front of King Prithvi Narayan Shah. King Prithvi Narayan Shah gently stroked his hand three times on the shawl. Thereafter, King Ranajit Malla finally stated that he had become old and death was approaching, so he wished to go on a pilgrimage to Banaras. To this, Prithvi Narayan Shah immediately said that this wish would be fulfilled. He told Ranajit Malla “Don’t worry, all expenses and logistics will be arranged.” Then, both the kings laughed in a loud voice.
In this episode, it was obvious that King Prithvi Narayan Shah was happy because he was a victor. It is surprising that King Ranajit Malla was also laughing by losing his kingdom. The author believes that it was a laughter of a loser with pain in his heart.
King Prithvi Narayan Shah asked Kazi Kehar Singh to make arrangements for Ranajit Malla’s departure to Banaras. Kazi Kehar Singh ordered Subedar Bali Baniya and eight other Gorkhali soldiers to accompany King Ranajit Malla for security to go to Banaras. As per another account, Sardar Pratiman Adhikari and Partha Bhandari had also accompanied King Ranajit Malla. He was already 67 years old. Some writers have incorrectly written that he was 75. His date of birth was Tuesday 28 November 1702. King Ranajit Malla left for Banaras in the third week of February with his youngest queen among the three queens. He died in Banaras on Thursday 23 May 1771 at the age of 70.
During this battle, King Jaya Prakash was injured by a gunshot on his right leg. Later, he was brought to Aryaghat, on the banks of the river Bagmati near Pashupatinath, on Friday 17 November and died there on Saturday 18 November 1769. King Ranajit Malla’s two sons were freed. King Tej Narsingh was imprisoned and died later in Laxmipur (inside Bhaktapur palace) under captivity.
The king asked Kazi Bansaraj Pandey and Shoorpratap Shah to remain in Bhaktapur for the administration and management of newly won territories. Kazi Kehar Singh was asked by the King to accompany him to Kathmandu.
Attempt on the life of King Prithvi Narayan Shah:
On Thursday 21 March 1771, King Prithvi Narayan Shah had gone to Bhaktapur to find out who was behind the conspiracy to overthrow him with the help of the Pradhans (chiefs) of Patan.
There was suspicion on Sworup Singh Karki who was working for Crown Prince Pratap Singh Shah. The king was returning from there and arrived near ’Hwan Hwan’ paati (a rest house). He was surrounded by Nagarkoti Sardar Bhawani Singh and his troops, who were riding horses, but King Prithvi Narayan Shah immediately ordered accompanying Kazi Shreeharsha Panth and his Gorkhali troops to be alert. Meanwhile, when Bhawani Singh approached the Palki of King, Singh took his sword out and stroked it aiming at the king but it hit the woodwork of Palki. In the meantime, Kazi Shreeharsha Panth, with lightning speed, aimed his sword on Bhawani Singh severely injuring and arresting him. Kazi Shreeharsha thus saved the life of the king. King Prithvi Narayan Shah appreciated his courage for his swift action in this episode. He gave him the nickname ‘Bijuli Panth’ (rapid like electricity) after this episode. An investigation was carried out and it was found that this assassination attempt was believed to have been planned by King Karna Sen of Chaudandi and the son of King Ranajit Malla, Avadhyut Singh who was residing in exile in Banaras with his father. Some Pradhans of Patan were also involved, including Devidas. Former King Ranajit Malla was still alive in exile in Banaras at this time.
Next day, on 22 March 1771, it was discovered that it was a part of larger conspiracy to assassinate the king by Nagarkoti soldiers who became unemployed after the loss of three kingdoms of the valley to Gorkha. The six Pradhans of Patan including Kirti Laxmi Singh (a woman), Taubik and Khadga Dhar, revolted against Gorkhalis. Gorkhalis went to arrest them but Khadga Dhar escaped. Five Pradhans including Devidas and 300 Patan soldiers were executed by the Gorkhalis to suppress this revolt.
The Scandal of Chautaria Mohaddamkirti Shah:
King Prithvi Narayan Shah wrote two letters (one each to Abhiman Singh and Chautaria Mohaddamkirti Shah) explaining the scandal involving Chautaria Mohaddamkirti Shah. After the victory against Captain Kinloch, Senior (Jetha) Chautaria Mohaddamkirti Shah was appointed the administrator of Makwanpur by the king. In the meantime, Captain Kinloch sent a letter to Chautaria Mohaddamkirti Shah asking him to be the King of areas from Parsa-Bara to Mahottari, which were still under British control, just to create divisions among the royal house of Gorkha and Gorkhalis.
Captain Kinloch pretended that he was unable to control these areas. Captain Kinloch was stationed in Bara for two years after his defeat. It seems that Chautaria accepted this offer. The letter written by Chautaria was to give good news about this matter to his wife in Gorkha. Kehar Singh had intercepted this letter on the way from a person carrying it and sent it to King Prithvi Narayan Shah.
Abhiman Singh was deputed to take this letter to the wife of Senior Chautaria in Gorkha by the king. The king was very sad and at the same time became angry about the activities of his brother.
He warned his brother for siding with the enemy with the ambition to become king. He further warned his brother not to do any harm to Basnyat brothers for intercepting the letter.
These two letters were written by the king on Tuesday 19 November 1771 from his new station Bhaktapur.
In the letter addressed to Abhiman Singh, the king said “it was not you to be blamed having gone to meet the wife of Chautaria to give the news that Chautaria is becoming king. I sent you when I was in Nuwakot to find out what she will say to this? It was Kehar Singh who sent me this letter written by Chautaria. It was me who sent you to give this news. So, your duty is to abide by the orders of the king. So, it is Chautaria who is to be blamed. Because he is wrong. If he comes to argue with you, you may show this letter to him.” (Translation by the author).
The king sent another letter to Senior Chautaria Mohaddamkirti Shah warning him not to harm Kehar Singh. In the letter, he said- “if you try to harm Kehar Singh, your eyes would be plucked. Kehar only arrested the person who carried your letter. Kehar is right and you are wrong in your duty. Keep silence when you are wrong.” (Translation by the author). From these two letters, it seems that the king often felt the need to mediate conflicts and determine who was wrong. It further seems that the king used to take action to protect his loyal courtiers even going against his brothers.
Non-participation of three brothers of King Prithvi Narayan Shah in the battle to capture Bhaktapur:
Senior Chautaria Mohaddamkirti Shah, Junior Chautaria Dalmardan Shah, and Kazi Daljit Shah, the three brothers of King Prithvi Narayan Shah did not participate in the battle of Bhaktapur as they were not happy with the king because he did not make them kings of different newly conquered territories as per their wishes. They opined that they should be rewarded some territories after the capture of Kantipur. Thus, during this battle of Bhaktapur, they were staying in Nuwakot.
Mohaddamkirti Shah wanted to become the king of Makwanpur.
Dalmardan Shah wanted to become the king of Patan. Previously he was made king of Patan from Friday 17 February 1764 to Wednesday 1 May 1765. Some writers think it may have been a ploy by Parshuram Thapa and the Pradhans of Patan to make him king of Patan.
Previously, they had requested Prithvi Narayan Shah himself to be the King of Patan but instead he sent his brother Junior Chautaria Dalmardan Shah.
The people of Patan had thought that after becoming king, Dalmardan Shah would solve the problem of the blockade of salt and cotton imposed by Gorkha. But it did not happen and Dalmardan Shah was chased by the chiefs of Patan and was compelled to leave. For days, he was secretly hidden by Kazi Dhanawant in his own house in Patan. He went to Palanchok and met with Ramkrishna Kunwar. On Thursday 2 May 1765, Tej Narsingh Malla was made King of Patan.
Junior Chautaria Dalmardan Shah created a lot of problems in order to become the king of newly acquired territory of Patan. Kehar Singh tried to convince him that the territory belonged to King Prithvi Narayan Shah and he would not distribute to anybody. He attempted to persuade the junior prince to stop objecting to his bigger brother. In such endeavours, Kehar’s younger brother Abhiman was also instrumental. Chautaria Dalmardan Shah became angry with his elder brother and left for Kaski. King Prithvi Narayan Shah barred him for entering Kathmandu Valley for life.
Daljit Shah must have also asked to become the king of some other state. The king’s only brother who participated in this battle was Kazi Shoorpratap Shah. Prithvi Narayan Shah had instructed the military leaders to win the battle with minimal loss of life and property. But around 2,000 Bhaktapur people including some women and children were killed and many houses were also set on fire by the Gorkhalis. The two main leaders in this battle were Shoorpratap Shah and Bansaraj Pandey.
After the war was over, Shoorpratap had expected a handsome reward from the king, most probably the kingship of Bhaktapur. Instead, the king rewarded Bansaraj Pandey on Saturday 6 January 1770. The king then scolded Shoorpratap because some of the troops under his command were involved in atrocities and arson. They harmed farmers and traders. There were reports that some women and children were also killed in crossfire which was not in line with the policy of King Prithvi Narayan Shah. After the reprimand, Shoorpratap became very angry with his brother and left Kathmandu for Chaubisi states by crossing Marsyangdi River on Saturday 6 January 1770.
First, he went to Dullu and remained there for some time. Then, he came to Palpa and Kaski. King Prithvi Narayan Shah was monitoring the activities of Shoorpratap through his envoys Kalu Pandey (Bahun) and Gangadhar Pantha from western Kaski. In February 1774, seven Gorkhalis were detained by Kaski on the charges of attempting to kill the Kaski king and six other Gorkhalis were killed by Palpa. Shoorpratap was also injured by an arrow from the opponents in this scandal and died after some days on Wednesday 30 March 1774. Among his brothers, only Kazi Daljit Shah was with King Prithvi Narayan Shah until his death. Daljit Shah died on Saturday 24 October 1789.
On Friday 13 January 1775, only two days after the death of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, Mohaddamkirti Shah signed a declaration of commitment (Dharmapatra) with Siddhinarayan Shah, King of Kaski, apparently to attack Gorkha or Kantipur. The witness in this commitment letter was Umrao Meghvarna Gharti of Pyuthan. But the plan according to this commitment could not be implemented due to the existence of the strong security system of already in place in Kathmandu.
Talking about the inner desire of King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s brothers, Stiller has given the following English translation of the incident explained in the Bhasha Vansabali:
“At the time the four brothers of the maharaja of Gorkha [Prithvi Narayan Shah] made a request of him. ‘By your glorious valour and our strength, you have made the kingdom of Nepal your own. Now give to the four of us younger brothers whichever cities and villages you think we should have.’ The maharaja considered this and decided upon this answer. ‘If I now show my love for you, my younger brothers, by telling you to take for yourselves these cities and these villages of the three kingdoms of Nepal, I will be laying a heavy burden on my descendants. Just as the kings of these three cities were continually quarrelling and could not live in peace, and so their kingdom crumbled and fell into my hands, so will it be if I divide the kingdom. My descendants will not be able to enlarge the kingdom. The kingdom itself will not be firm and stable. Therefore, it is better not to give what you ask than to give it.’ So the maharaja refused to give what his brothers had asked. The brothers were very downcast because, as they said, ‘we worked very hard, and now he will not give us what we ask.’ After this some of them remained in the city, while others went elsewhere.”
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Next issue to begin with “Battles against Chaubisi States”: Ed. N. P. Upadhyaya.