Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana
Maharajah of Nepal
Maharaja Sri Teen Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana (8 July 1863 – 26 November 1929) was the Prime Minister of Nepal from the Rana dynasty. He served in this capacity from 27 June 1901 to his death in 1929 after he successfully deposed his liberal and reformist brother Dev Shamsher. Although generally perceived as despotic and conservative, he is credited with several reforms including the abolition of slavery and establishing the Nepal-Britain Treaty of 1923, which recognised Nepal as an independent nation and an ally of Britain. Chandra Shumsher was the sixth of the seventeen sons of Dhir Shumsher Rana (the youngest brother of Jung Bahadur Rana) through his Thapa wife Nanda Kumari, of whom he was the third son. He was educated in Kolkata and thus became the first Nepalese Prime Minister who had passed matriculation examination. In the convocation address of 1884, the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University praised him as: "a gentleman who has shown he can handle pen as efficiently as sword." Seto Bagh, a historical novel set on the early days of Chandra Shumsher, depicts him as an ambitious and cunning young man with an excellent command of the English language. He along with his brothers Khadga Shumsher and Bhim Shumsher orchestrated the murder of his uncle Sri
Teen Maharaja Ranodip Singh in order to rise in the line of succession for the hereditary Rana Prime Minister of Nepal. After the demise of his eldest brother Bir Shamsher in March 1901, he became the Commander in Chief of the Nepalese Army under the premiership of his brother Dev Shamsher. Dev Shamsher was a liberal and, fearing the rise in public awareness and eventual democratisation that his short rule had brought, Chandra Shamsher orchestrated a coup d'état and seized the power for himself in June 1901. Although opposed to reforms and public education, he would later bring numerous reforms, most of them unwillingly, after his visit to Europe, as he found Nepal to be far more backwards than Europe. In Chandra Shumsher's regime, Sardar Ram Mani Acharya Dixit was one of the mandarins to wield enormous influence by virtue of his proximity. Chandra used Ram Mani's native genius to keep the Mahila Gurujyu in check and ran the country with the advice of these two brilliant brahmins. With their help, Chandra amassed a fortune by making deals with the British over the recruitment of Gurkha soldiers and the mercenary services rendered by the Royal Nepali Army on the side of the British Empire. During the 28 years of his rule, Chandra Shumsher held the firm control of domestic as well as the foreign policy of Nepal. His ADC (Assistant Deputy Commissioner) was Nar Narayan Shah. He went to Britain under the guidance of his ADC. Nar Narayan Shah worked as ADC for 20 years. After his return from the European tour, he is said to have been embarrassed by the backwardness of his country, so he executed noteworthy reforms. He abolished Sati custom, and made it illegal for a person to be killed for witchcraft. He was counseled by Sardar Ram Mani Acharya Dixit, which further assured him to ban the ritual suicide, and make additional reforms such as abolishing slavery with the money from the treasury of Pashupatinath temple. He built the first college of Nepal, Tri-Chandra College. He established several canals in Terai region and established hospitals throughout Nepal. The first railway service in Nepal, Nepal Government Railway from Raxaul to Amlekhganj, started its service in his tenure. These reforms, however, were mostly brought for the benefit of his family.
Gorkhali Army. After the Gorkha Kingdom was founded in 1559, its army was established in 1560, and was accordingly known as the Gorkhali Army. The army later became known as the Royal Nepali Army (RNA) following the Unification of Nepal, when the Gorkha Kingdom expanded its territory to include the whole country, by conquering and annexing the other states in the region, resulting in the establishment of a single united Hindu monarchy over all of Nepal. The Nepali Army has participated in various conflicts throughout its history, going as far back as the Nepali unification campaign launched by Prithvi Narayan Shah of the Gorkha Kingdom. It has engaged in an extensive number of battles within South Asia. The Nepal unification campaign was a turning point in the history of the Nepali army. Since unification was not possible without a strong army, the management of the armed forces had to be exceptional. Apart from the standard Malla-era temples in Kathmandu, the army organized itself in Gorkha. After the Gorkhali troops captured Nuwakot, the hilly northern part of Kathmandu (Kantipur) in 1744, the Gorkhali armed forces came to be known as the Royal Nepali Army. Their performance impressed their enemies so much that the British East-India Company started recruiting Nepali troops into their forces. The native British soldiers called the new soldiers "Gurkhas".
The Rana dynasty were a Chhetri dynasty that imposed authoritarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making the Prime Minister and other government positions held by the Ranas hereditary. They are Kshatriya, whose ancestors were descended from the Ranas of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. The Rana dynasty is historically known for their iron-fisted rule. The Rana dynasty were descended from the Kunwar family, a nobility of the Gorkha Kingdom. Due to their marital lineages with the politically reigning Thapa dynasty (of Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa) from the early 19th century, Ranas gained entry to central Darbar politics. The Ranas were also linked to a minor faction of the Pande dynasty of Gorkha through the Thapa dynasty. The Rana dynasty descended from Kunwar Kumbhakaran Singh, younger brother of Guhila King of Mewar, Rawal Ratnasimha. During the first siege of Chittorgarh in 1303 A.D., Kumbhakaran Singh's descendants left Mewar to the north, towards the Himalayan foothills, according to the book "Rana's Of Nepal" where the preface is written by Arvind Singh Mewar. The Rana dynasty claimed to be Rajputs of western Indian origin, rather than the native Khas Kshatriyas despite the fact that they spoke Khas language and attempted to disassociate from their Khas past. Also, many historians are of
the opinion that ruling families in Nepal often claim Indian Rajput descent for political purposes. The Ranas claimed the Vatsa gotra. On 15 May 1848, a Lal Mohar (Red sealed document) was issued claiming descent from Ranas of Mewar and authorizing the Kunwar family of Jang Bahadur to style themselves as Kunwar Ranaji. On 6 August 1856, Jang Bahadur Kunwar (now Ranaji) was conferred the title of Maharaja (Great King) of Kaski and Lamjung, two former hill principalities, by King of Nepal, Surendra Bikram Shah. In 1885, the Shumsher family, the nephews of Jung Bahadur Kunwar Rana, murdered many of the sons of Jung Bahadur and took over Nepal in a military coup d'état thus bringing in the rule of the Shumsher Rana family also known as the Satra Bhai (17 brothers) Rana family. They murdered Ranodip Singh Kunwar and occupied the hereditary throne of Prime Minister. After this they added Jang Bahadur to their name.
Awards: Insignia, sash and star of the Most Puissant Order of the Gorkha Dakshina Bahu, star of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.
