Bahadur Shah of Nepal

Prince Bahadur Shah (Nepali: बहादुर शाह) was the younger son of King Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723–1775) of modern Nepal.

Early life

He accompanied his father King Prithvi Narayan Shah on battlefields and in negotiations. Unike his brother Pratap Singh Shah (r. 1775–1777) who was a luxury loving and indulgent king more interested in tantrism; Bahadur remained a disciplined and farsighted statesman.^[1]

He remained in self-exile after his father's death in Bettiah, British India, until called upon by the Nepal Durbar after the death of his brother.

Regency (1785–1794)

He made Nuwakot his capital. Shah took a hardline approach to unification offering one of the options to state kings and princes: accept Gorkha sovereignty while continuing to rule themselves or battle to the death.

Many minor states accepted annexation with notable resistance from Jumla and Doti. The king of Jumla, Shovan Shahi, fled to China, later assisting China in the Sino-Nepalese War. The king of Doti fled to British India and assisted them in the Anglo-Nepalese War. The powerful kingdom of Palpa was made an ally and some territories were given to it as a reward.

Bahadur Shah crushed the Limbuwan rebellion on his eastern front and annexed Sikkim with Damodar Pande and Amar Singh Thapa as his military generals. Amar Singh Thapa annexed Kumaon kingdom upon invitation of its minister Hari Singh Dev. However resistance followed and then a battle. Later the deposed Kumaoni king aided the British in the Anglo-Nepalese War but could not restore his Kingdom.

In 1788 Nepal attacked Tibet over issues of counterfeiting and granted asylum for Samarpa Lama (Karmapa Lama), who died during the war. His title was abolished and restored only in 2010. Chinese Amban stationes in Lhasa dragged China into war, turning it into Sino-Nepalese War in 1792. Nepal asked for British arms which mediator Colonel William Kirkpatrick refused. Nepal was defeated and a peace treaty was signed with China.

After the war, Garhwal submitted to Gorkhan sovereignty with its King continuing his rule. From then, Nepal began to see itself as the pan-Himalayan military Hindu kingdom demanding that hill Hindu kings surrender. However as Kangra resisted with Sikh assistance, deposed kings began to ally with the British against Nepal.

Late years

Bahadur Shah's power and influence gradually declined so he retired to Bettiah once again. However palace plotters invited him to Kathmandu where they imprisoned and executed him, accusing him of trying to declare himself King of Nepal. According to historian Baburam Acharya it was the king Rana Bahadur Shah himself who killed him by ordering hot oil to be poured on his body.

References

1. ↑ Royal Ark

• Failure of Captain Knox's Mission
• Bahadur Shah: the Regent of Nepal, by Bhadra Ratna Bajracharya. South Asia Books, 1992. ISBN 8170416434.