Military History of Nepal

Some of the battles in the military history of Nepal

The Nepali Army fought many battles against the alien's armies as
well as against the soldiers of small principalities that were existed in
Nepal before its unification. King Drabya Shah (1559), the founder
of the Gorkha dynasty, had to fight repeatedly defensive battles
against his brother, King Narhari Shah of Lamjung. King Ram Shah
(1606) fought and won Dhading and Khairaini. He also invaded Tibet
and his soldiers captured some places there, but repulsed by the
Tibetan soldiers at Kukur Ghat. This chapter contains the battles
fought by the Nepali army at the time of unification of Nepal, against
the British army and against the Tibetan and Chinese armies.

During Unification of Nepal

The Battle of Nuwakot
King Ram Shah extended the territory of Gorkha in the east by
winning over Dhading. As a result, the border of the Kingdom of
Gorkha touched the border of Nuwakot.

Nuwakot was under the Kingdom of Kantipur. The border of

two Kingdoms i.e., Gorkha and Kantipur, met at the Trishuli river.
Nuwakot exists at approximately 26 kilometres west of the
Kathmandu valley. From the side of the Gorkha Kingdom, Nuwakot
is on the other side of the Trishuli river. The town of Nuwakot exists
at the ridges that run southwest from the Dhaibung hill, which has a
height of about 3 kilometres from the foothill. The highest peak of
Nuwakot is Mahamandal. Kalika and Malika religious places exist
there. The Trishule river lies at a distance of 2 kilometres west from
the town of Nuwakot and the Tadi river lies in the east. The
approaches to the town of Nuwakot from both sides of the rivers are
very steeply vertically slopped up-ward. The route to Nuwakot from
the side of Gorkha at the earlier time was to cross over the bridge that
existed on the Trishuli river and then climb up the steep slope of the
hill. In the medieval period, the main villages were built as Gadhi
(fort). The villages were protected by erecting high walls, making
deep ditches or defensive structures around them. In the similar way,
Nuwakot was converted into a strong Gadhi. These facts about
Nuwakot were corroborated from the description given in
Prithivindra Warnodaya written by poet Lalita Ballav. Nuwakot was
the western gate to the Kathmandu valley, and had a great strategic
importance for the security of the Kingdom of Kantipur. Moreover,
Nuwakot existed on the trade route between Tibet and Kantipur. So,
the King of Kathmandu had no option but to keep the fort of
Nuwakot under his possession. The Kingdom of Gorkha could attack
against or capture over the Kingdom of Kantipur only if the former
could capture Nuwakot.

The First Attack against Nuwakot

King Nar Bhupal Shah of Gorkha was an ambitious King. He wanted
to capture Nuwakot. With this end in view, in 1739, he entered into a
peace treaty with the King of Lamjung thereby making the eastern
flank safe. Then Gorkha moved east without any threat coming to it
from the west. In 1739, the Gorkhali forces under the command of
Maheswor Pant and Jayant Rana were sent to invade Nuwakot. But,
the Gorkhali forces met strong resistance from the forces of Kantipur
and suffered a defeat. Whole blame of the defeat of the Gorkhali
forces was put on Jayant Rana by the King of Gorkha. Jayant Rana
was removed from the command, so he went in the shelter of King
Jaya Prakash Malla of Kantipur. Moreover, Jaya Prakash Malla
deputed him to defend Gorkha. This helped Kathmandu to formulate
an effective defense policy and take measures against the attack of
Gorkhali forces,as Jayant Rana had inside knowledge of the war
techniques, organization, and strengths and weaknesses of the
Gorkhali forces.

The Second Attack Against Nuwakot

After the death of King Nar Bhupal Shah, Prithivi Narayan Shah
became the King of Gorkha in at the age of years. Like his
father, he was very ambitious. After becoming the King, He

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immediately began to prepare for the invasion over Nuwakot. He
had given the command of invading Gorkhali forces to Biraj
Thapa in order to win over the loyalty and good will of
dissatisfied Magars. The Gorkhali forces led by Biraj Thapa
remained camped at Khimchet. He did not want to repeat the
mistake committed by Jayant Rana. In the meantime, Bhardars,
who were supporters of Maheswor Pant, complained that Biraj
Thapa, because of his cowardliness, was prolonging the time of
attack. They instigated the King by exhorting that it was quite
possible to mount an attack immediately against Nuwakot and
capture it. The young King was also very impatient to mount an
attack against Nuwakot and win over it. So, he was swayed by
their instigation. Conequently, another group of Gorkhali
soldiers led by Maheswor Pant was sent to invade Nuwakot.

The Gorkhali forces led by Maheswor Pant reached the

Trishuli river, crossed it and began to climb up the steep slope of
the hill. On the other side, the combined forces of the
Kathmandu valley states were assembled at Nuwakot to defend
it. They chalked out plan to let the Gorkhali forces to cross over
the bridge of the Trishuli river and climb up the the steep slope
of the hill, so that they could suddenly mount an attack against
them from above the hill and beat the Gorkhali soldiers. The
advancing Gorkhalis were not aware of such plan of the
defending forces. Moreover, the strength and fighting capability
of the defending forces were far superior to that of the attacking
forces. The defending forces also had the means and techniques
of using gun powder. The forces led by Biraj Thapa did not join
the advancing forces and remained at Khimchet. As a result, the
strength of the Gorkhali forces remained weak because of the
personal animosity and discord between the Commanders. While
the Gorkhali forces were climbing up the steep slope of the hill
and proceeding towards Nuwakot, the combined forces of the
Malla Kings fiercely attacked them and gave them a crushing
defeat. The Gorkhali forces fled back and crossed back the
Trishuli bridge. They destroyed the bridge setting fire on it in

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order toward off the possible attack against them by the pursuing
defenders. This defeat greatly shocked King Prithivi Narayan
Shah. He raalised the need of more preparation for the war in
respect of manpower and war materials in order to defeat the
defending forces of Nuwakot. The Gorkhali forces suffered
defeat because of, firstly, division in their strength, secondly,
insufficient preparations, thirdly, repeating the past mistake, and,
finally, lack of information about the strength and logistics of
the enemies.

The Third Attack Against Nuwakot

Preparation
The defeat in the battle of Nuwakot opened the eyes of King
Prithivi Narayan Shah. He began to concentrate on the
preparation of war in respect of following aspects: (a)
procurement of war materials, (b) increase in the military
strength and restructuring its organization and training (c)
establishment of friendly relationship with the neighbouring
states, and (d) mobilization of local resources.

(a) Procurement of War Materials

King Prithivi Narayan Shah visited Banaras to fulfil two
objectives, i.e., firstly, pilgrims and, secondly, procure arms,
ammunitions and other war materials and to avail the services of
aliens to train his soldiers. He procured some guns from
Banaras. He employed Shekh Jawar, Mohammad Taki and
Bhekh Singh to train his soldiers to use the guns. He availed
himself the help of these artisans to manufacture gun powder,
arrows, shafts, Khundas (a kind of sword), Khukuris and
perform maintenance of these arms. He established
manufacturing units for these activities. He collected old
Khundas, Khukuris, Swords, Spears, etc. form the houses of
Bhardars, Palace and common people and converted them into
new arms. He did not favour import of raw materials to fabricate
new arms on the reason that this move would alert his enemies.
All these activities were carried out very secretly.

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5
(b) Military Strength, Organization and Training
King Prithivi Narayan Shah decided to augment total
military strength. He made arrangement to impart them proper
training in the art of warfare in order th build up an efficient and
effective fighting army. He made arrangement to provide
military training to all able bodied and physically fit youths
between years and years old. He did not discriminate against any
caste while raising the army. He included able bodied persons in
the army belonging to four castes and thirty six tribes (Char
Barna Chhatish Jat). Even blacksmiths, cobblers, sweepers,
tailors (Damai) etc were enlisted in his army giving them works
according to their ability and profession. He had mobilized the
whole population of Gorkha in furthering his noble aim of
unifying the country. He used to pay his visit to every household
and asked everyone about his well beings. Moreover, he gave
commanders and Bhardars in respect of works and duties to be
performed by them during a battle in order to make them more
capable and proficient. His written instructions were related with
particulary in the areas such as construction of Gadhi,
garrisoning of the force, and construction of defensive structures
or ditches etc. All brothers, Bhardars and commanders were
provided with appropriate training to conduct any kind of
warfare. King Prithivi Narayan Shah made serious effort to form
a well-organised army.

(c) Friendly Relation with Neighbours

King Prithivi Narayan Shah was well aware of the
danger to Gorkha coming from neighbouring states if he would
move the east towards Kathmandu. So, it became indispensable
for him to establish friendly relations with neighbouring states.
He sent envoys to different states to solicit their military
assistance in his effort to invade Nuwakot as well as to establish
friendly relations with them. The Chaubise Rajyas including
Tahahun and Kaski disagreed to extend military assistance to
Gorkha, but they committed that they would follow the footsteps
of Lamjung. Therefore, establishment of friendship with

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Lamjung for Gorkha become necessary if it wanted to move
east. Because of the shrewed diplomacy of Kazi Kalu Pande, a
meeting was arranged between King Prithivi Narayan Shah of
Gorkha and King Ripu Mardan Shah of Lamjung and they
entered into a friendship agreement. The agreement contained
the provision that Lamjung would not attack Gorkha when
Gorkha moved east. King Prithivi Narayan Shah gave his
commitment in writing to Lamjung that he would provide one
lakh twenty thousand (i.e. Lakh Bisi) after winning over the
Kathmandu valley. This commitment letter was considered then
as solemnized document (Dharma Bandi Ko Kagat) and handed
over to a Chautaria of Lamjung to be delievered to his King.
King Prithivi Narayan Shah secretly employed spies to
communicate him about the activities of Chaubise Rajays. By
tactfulness and diplomacy, Gorkha established friendly relations
with neighbouring states and, thus, could proceed to make final
arrangement for the military operations in order to move the
east.

(d) Mobilization of Local Resources

King Prithivi Narayan Shah made every effort to receive
the man, material and moral support of the people for the
impending military operations. He appealed to the people to
extend help to the war efforts according to their capacity. The
people of Gorkha extended help according to their capacity. He
sought the help of businessmen to provide finance for the war
effort. Because of spontaneous co-operation received from the
people, King Prithivi Narayan Shah could arrange sufficient
food, clothes, medicines etc. He became very successful in
arousing the national feelings in the minds of the people of
Gorkha to an amazing extend. That was his secret of success in
his efforts of unifying Nepal.

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Final Battle of Nuwakot
King Prithivi Narayan Shah ordered Kulanand Dhakal, an
astrologer, to find out the auspicious hour to set out for the battle
of Nuwatot. Additional soldiers were posted at different
Gaundas (forts) situated at the western border of Gorkha in order
to make the flanks more safe and secure. The King gave
responsibility to run state affairs to some trusted Bhardars and
Commanders. King Prithivi Narayan Shah along with 1,300
soldiers and retinues left Gorkha to invade Nuwakot on an
auspicious day in September 1944 as fixed by the astrologer.
The King wanted to mount an attack against Nuwakot in the
rainy season so that the enemies should be caught unaware
because they did not except any attack in the rainy season. The
month of September touches the last phase of the rainy season in
Nepal. Moreover, King Prithivi Narayan Shah had attempted to
camouflage his move to keep the impending attack over
Nuwakot secret. The Gorkhali soldiers, disguised themselves as
farmers, reached at the bank of the Trishuli river. When they
reached at Khimchet they pretended as they were digging a canal
from the Trishuli river to irrigate water to the field. Their
adversaries could not comprehend the true motive of these
disguised farmers. The soldiers also used to do military exercises
secretly and without making any noise. According to
Dibyopadesh, the Gorkhali soldiers led by King Prithivi Narayan
Shah reached at Borlang in the first day from Gorkha, Charange
in the second day, Tambai in the third day and Khimchet in the
fourth day. He along with other commanders and Bhardars
waited at Khimchet for the auspicious day (i.e. sait) to launch an
attack.

In the meantime, King Prithivi Narayan Shah wrote a

letter to Jayant Rana, Commander of Nuwakot defenders, to
come to his side. The King referred about Jayant Rana's previous
relation with Gorkha. But he rejected to betray King Jaya
Prakash Malla of Kathmandu and declined to accept the offer.
King Prithivi Narayan Shah then visualized that Nuwakot could

8
not be won without waging a fight. Thereafter, he entrusted Kalu
Adhiakari, a Jaisi Brahmin, to peg a nail given by him at the spot
of future attack in Nuwakot to fulfil the belief, prevailing then
according to the Tantrik ritual, that the victory would be gained
in the battle from the performance of such an act. Kalu Adhikari
reached Nuwakot and pretended that he was discharged from the
Gorkhali side, so he came to Nuwakot to find a shelter for him.
He was given shelter there. Later he pegged the nail at the
stipulated time at Mahamandal and came back to his section of
the Gorkhali forces. The Gorkhali forces were highly
encouraged form this initial success.

The defenders of Nuwakot became fully alert from the

letter of King Prithivi Narayan Shah to Jayant Rana and episode
of the pegging of the nail. Jayant Rana alerted his forces. He
entrusted the task of defending Mahamandal and Nuwakot to
Shankha Mani Rana, his son. Jayant Rana, then, went to
Kathmandu to procure additional soldiers from King Jaya
Prakash Malla. Meanwhile, King Prithivi Narayan Shah
concentrated his attention to find out the exact place from where
attack could be launched against Nuwakot. He did not want to
repeat the past mistake of mounting attack by crossing the
Trishuli river through the existing bridge. He located the spot
namely Shubha Ghat from where Gorkhali forces could advance
up-noticably. The Ghat was north of the Trishuli bridge. The
Ghat could not be seen from the main habitat of Nuwakot.
Moreover, it was much easier to climb up the hill and reach
Mahamandal after crossing the Trishuli from the Shubha Ghat.
This decision of the Gorkhali forces was an important strategic
decision. They approached Jaluwa Manjhi and he agreed to ferry
them across the river, Kulanand, astrologer, gave the auspicious
day for launching the attack. Therefore, one day before the
attack i.e., on 25th September 1994, the King ordered Kazi Kalu
Pande to make final prepatation for the assault. All soldiers were
assembled along with their arms. The King divided his forces
into three groups. He made a plan to mount attack against

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Nuwakot form three directions. He though that there existed a
strong possibility that the defenders of Nuwakot ridge might
remain fully un aware if the attack were launched from the north
and north east, because the soldiers of Nuwakot had the
conviction that the west and south directions were the
appropriate directions for the Gorkhalis to mount attack against
them. Therefore, King Prithivi Narayan Shah prepared the plan
to surprise the enemies by mounting attack from the unexpected
direction and win over them. He made a plan that the first group
of forces should reach Mahamandal through the northeast route
of Gorkhu crossing the Kachar hill, which existed in the north of
the Nuwakot ridge. The second group should attack through the
direction of Dharampani and third group should climb up
directly to Nuwakot through the route of Tindhare.

The first group of Gorkhali forces was led by Kazi Kalu

Pande. Many able commanders were associated worth this
group. The King had given the top most priority to the attack
against Mohamandal. The second group was led by Chautaria
Mahodam Kirti Shah. Many able commanders were also in this
group. The third group was led by King Prithivi Narayan Shah
himself and consisted of many able commanders. On the
auspicious hour, total Gorkhali forces were assembled at the
Ghat. Jaluwa Manjhi began to ferry them across the Trishuli
river. In the invasion forces, Dal Mardan Shah, the brother of the
King, also took part, who was then only 12 years old. The
invasion forces consisted of Raj Guru, priest and astrologers and
they were also equipped with weapons.

The numbers of defending soldiers of Nuwakot were

few. They were at alert to face the attacking Gorkhali forces
from the prepared defensive positions. These defenders had few
guns, but they possessed mainly traditional weapons such as
bows and arrows, Khundas, Swords, spears etc. Because of
difficulty in procuring ammunitions, guns were sparingly used in
the battle. The battle was fought mainly with the traditional

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weapons. Jayant Rana failed to get any additional troops from
Kathmandu as the people were busy there in rejoicing the
festival "Indra Jatra". The King was also busy in the festival.
Meanwhile, the Gorkhali forces attacked Nuwakot. Though this
attack against Nuwakot at the time of "Indra Jatra" was a co-
incident, but it provided a clue to King Prithivi Narayan Shah to
think that Indra Jatra would be the best time for attack against
Kathmandu, which he did later.

Attack and Victory Over Nuwakot

The highest peak of Nuwakot, Mahamandal, was the most
important strategic place. Because of this reason, King Prithivi
Narayan Shah called Mahamandal as a step wife of Nuwakot.
Those who could control Mahamandal would also control
Nuwakot. Therefore, he ordered and sent two groups of Gorkhali
troops to mount attack against Mahamandal from two directions.
He led himself the third group.

Attack by the First Group

On 26th September, 1744, while the defenders of
Nuwakot were sleeping, the Gorkhali forces led by Kazi Kalu
Pande crossed Gorkhu and began to climb up the hill to reach
Mahamandal from the north direction. Kazi Kalu Pande chlded
out a strategy to mount a sudden attack against the defenders
from the unexpected direction and not let them any opportunity
of counter-attack and, second, to capture or kill Shankhu Mani,
the Commander of the defenders, as early as possible.

The tacties pursued by Kazi Kalu Pande were appropriate

and made him victorious in the battle. The Gorkhali forces
reached Mahamandal and suddenly jumped up against defenders
making a war cry "Jai Kali, Jai Gorakhnath, Jai Manakamana."
The defenders were surprised. As they were caught unaware and
unprepared in the darkness, they began to flee in all directions
without fighting against the attacking Gorkhali forces. Seeing
the plight of his soldiers, Shankhu Mani began to encourage his

11
panic stricken soldiers to stand up and fight against the Gorkhali
soldiers. But his soldiers did not give any heed to his
exhortation. He himself took a sword, charged forward and
wounded a few Gorkhali soldiers. In the meantime, the Gorkhali
forces surrounded him. He had already received wounds. He
advanced towards Dal Mardan Shah and challenged him.
However, Dal Mardan Shah swiftly struck Shankha Mani by his
sword. The sword struck Shankha Mani on his head and he
immediately died on the spot. Seeing the death of the
Commanders, the defenders began to run away. The Gorkhali
forces attacked more fiercely. Many defenders met death. Some
Gorkhali soldiers also died. As the decision of a battle was
determined by the death of a commanders, the laurel of victory
went to Dal Mardan Shah. The defenders fled away towards
Belkot.

Attack by the Second Group

The second group of Gorkhali soldiers led by Chautaria
Mahodam Kirti Shah crossed Dharampani and met with the
strong force of defenders. The battle continued for a while in the
midst of war cry "Jai Kali, Jai Gorakh, Jai Manakamana." But
the Gorkhali forces got victory. Many defenders died and
remaining defenders fled away.

Attack by the Third Group

The third group of Gorkhali forces led by King Prithivi
Narayan Shah began to advance swiftly towards Nuwakot after
receiving the news of the capture of Mahamandal and reached
Nuwakot Gadhi. In the darkness, the defenders could not
withstand the attack of the Gorkhali forces. The defenders had
already got the information of the death of their Commander
Shankha Mani. So they began to run away towards Belkot in
stead of fighting against the Gorkhali forces.

Kazi Kalu Pande reached Nuwakot with a small

contingent of forces through the route of Ashok Bari, Mahomad

12
Kirti Shah also arrived there. King Prithivi Narayan Shah
entered the Nuwakot Gadhi through the main road of Tindhara.
He assembled his all soldiers at one place and then went to pay
his respect to Nuwakot Bhairavi, a deity. After this, he entered
into the Nuwakot Palace according to the advice of astrologers.
The control of the Gorkhalis was fully establisged over Nuwakot
before the rise of sun in the horizon.

The Battle of Kirtipur

After the conquest of Nuwakot, King Prithivi Narayan Shah
decided to capture strategic places situated at mountain ridges
around the Kathmandu valley states than to mount a direct attack
against these states. In according with the plan, he conquered
one place after another namely Naldum, Mahadev Pokhari,
Lamidada, Dahachok, Tistung, Palung, Chitlang, Pharping,
Chapagaon, Thecho, Sunaguthi, Bode Gaon etc. The three states
of the Kathmandu valley were ruled by the Malla Kings. These
Kings became alarmed from the conquests made by the Gorkha
King over the surrounding areas. So, in 1757, King Jaya Prakash
Malla of Kathmandu hired the services of Nagarkoti experts of
Kangra to give training to the soldiers of the valley states. He
made arrangement for the fabrication of new weapons. These
attempts were made to check the advance of the Gorkhali forces.
The soldiers of the three valley states received military training
from which bolstered up the morale of these soldiers.
Experiencing these moves of the adversaries, King Prithivi
Narayan Shah felt that it would be prudent to attack and capture
the important strategic places within the valley before the rise of
their strength. He decided to launch attack against Kirtipur first
of all through the direction of Dahachok Gadhi.

Kirtipur lies at a distance of about 10 kilometers from

Kathmandu on a mountain ridge. Kirtipur had been used as fort
since long back. The other name of this place is Padamkastapuri.
The Kirtipur village was protected by erecting high walls around
it. There were gates in the southern side at the walls. The people

13
could commute through these gates only. It was very difficult to
climb up the walls from other sides. There was a dense forest
spreaded up to the foot hill. Beyond the dense forest, there were
plain and fertile lands. The residents of Kirtipur used to go down
at the field to do agricultural works at day time, and they used to
return to it in the evening and, after then, the village guards used
to shut the gates (Gopur). The people of Kirtipur used to make
their livelihood from the produce of these lands. The Balkhu
stream flows from the west of Kirtipur, then it proceeds to the
north and bends towards east and falls in the Bagmati river. The
Patan town was about 7 Kilometers from Kirtipur. As it situated
in a high ridge, the activities of both towns namely Kathmandu
and Patan could be seen clearly from Kirtipur.

Kirtipur had a great strategic importance in the

Kathmandu valley because of its location. Because of Kirtipur
situated at a high altitude and having a strong fort, if the
Gorkhalis could capture it once, it would be much easier for
them to continue its possession and, moreover, it would be much
easier to keep watch on the activities of Kathmandu and Patan
and to invade them. The capture of Kirtipur by the Gorkhalis
would greatly dishearten the soldiers of Malla Kings.

Plan of the Battle of Kirtipur

King Prithivi Narayan Shah sought the opinion and advice of his
trusted main Commanders in relation to launching attack against
Kirtipur. The opinion was divided among them about launching
the attack. Kazi Kalu Pande, Hari Bansh Upadhyay, Astrologer
Kulanand, etc, were not in favour of attack on the reason that
there existed a very high possibility of coming into unity among
the Malla Kings on account of attack against Kirtipur and it
would be very difficult to defeat the combined Malla soldiers,
and, so they advised the King to attack after sometime when the
situation turned favourable. But, Sur Pratap Shah, the King's
brother, and some other Bhardars gave their opinion in favour of
launching attack immediately against Kirtipur. King Prithivi

14
Narayan Shah was also in favour of attack as he did not want to
let the strength of the adversaries to grow by prolonging the time
of attack. He prepared two sets of plans for the battle of Kirtipur.
These two sets were alternative to each other. They were as
follows:
(i) Arrival at Kirtipur suddenly from Dahachok. By
force compelled the guards to open the gates at
Kirtipur and capture them before the arrival of
soldiers of Malla Kings or
(ii) If soldiers of Malla Kings arrived to block the
war, the Gorkhali forces should fight against
them and capture Kirtipur.

The Malla Kings became aware of the assembling of the

Gorkha forces at Dahachok. They also got the information about
the impending attack against Kirtipur. The Malla Kings had
formed an union to fight against the Gorkhali forces. King Jaya
Prakash Malla of Kirtipur (present Kathmandu) and King
Viswajit Malla of Patan encouraged the youths of their states to
form organizations and provided them military training. King
Ranjit Malla of Bhadgaon also followed them in this respect.

About 1,200 Gorkhali forces led by Kazi Kalu Pande

reached Bhajangal from the Dahachok ridge one day before the
launching of attack and remained there. The next day was
stipulated as the auspicious day of attack. On this day, the
Gorkhali forces made a plan to launch a direct attack against
Kirtipur by crossing the Balkhu stream. The defending forces of
Malla states were about 3,000 persons. Their combined forces
had a plan to destroy the invaders by attacking from three
directions. It was rear of the Gorkhali forces while the forces of
Bhaktapur would attack in the centre.

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The First Battle of Kirtipur
Astrologer Bal Krishna Joshi calculated and stipulated 28th May,
1747 as the auspicious date of launching attack against Kirtipur
by the Gorkhali forces. It was a festival day of Bijaya Dashmi.
The Gorkhali forced led by Kazi Kalu Pande advanced
Bhajangal from Dahachok. The defending forces of three Malla
states took their positions. All gates of Kirtipur were closed. The
inhabitants of Kirtipur took position at different places hiding
behind the walls and taking weapons with them. On the
auspicious day as stipulated for the launching of attack, the
Gorkhali soldiers advanced towards Kirtipur by crossing the
Belkhu stream. The forces of Kantipur led by King Jaya Prakash
Malla marched towards Kirtipur through the route of Tandeswar,
King Viswajit of Patan marched through the route of Ganesthan
and the forces of Bhaktapur also advanced through the main
road that existed between Patan and Kirtipur. As and when the
forces of the two opposing sides approached the Jhamsikhel
field situated at the north-west of the Kirtipur village, the drums
were begun to played, and the battle started. The Kantipur's
soldiers attacked the Gorkhali soldiers at the rear, the
Bhaktapur's soldiers at the centre and the Patan's forces at the
front. Thus the Gorkhali soldiers had to fight the battle in three
directions at the same time. This situation put them in a
precarious position. Though the Gorkhali soliders were more
adept in the warfare, yet they had to fight against far large
number of trained soldiers than that of theirs. The battle
continued whole day. Kazi Kalu Pande led the Gorkhali forces
in the battle. Suddenly, an arrow stuck at his head. He fell down.
The enemy soldiers immediately beheaded him and they took
away his head. The Gorkhali forces began to fled away in the
absence of their Commander. Swords and other weapons of Kazi
Kalu Pande were taken away by the enemies and kept at he
temple of Bagh Bhairav, and these watching from a proximate
place. He ordered his soldiers to retreat from the battle-field in
the evening.

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 Both sides suffered serious losses in the battle of
Kirtipur. The forces of the Malla Kings suffered 800 deaths and
many wounded. On the side of Gorkhali forces, 400 soldiers
including some able Commanders had died and many soldiers
also received wounds. The death of Kazi Kalu Pande was a
serious blow to the Gorkhali forces. This severe defeat and death
of Kazi Kalu Pande greatly shocked King Prithivi Narayan Shah.
He gave up fighting completely for two years. The europhia that
arose out of victory over Nuwakot made the King of Gorkha
over ambitious. He made the mistake of not fathoming and
acquiring the correct assessment of the strength and weaknesses
of the adversaries. But the Malla Kings were jubilant on this
victory. They could realize and visualize distinctly the advantage
of unity among them, though this unity in true spirit did not last
long.

The Second Battle of Kirtipur

King Prithivi Narayan Shah could not give up his determination
to conquer the Kathmandu valley states. He made an attempt to
improve economic conditions of Gorkha by fostering trade
relation between it and Tibet. Gradually, he went on restoring
and replenishing the depleted, and strengthening military
organization. He appointed Bansh Raj Pande, son of Kazi Kalu
Pande, in the past of Kazi which had become vacant on accont
of the latter's death. The King had given the vacant post of
Cardar to the middle son of Commander Shiva Ram Singh, who
had died in the battle of Sangachok. Thus, he had entrusted the
responsibility for the preparation of war and improving military
organization to the new generation. In 1759, King Prithivi
Narayan Shah had made up his mind to launch military
operation again. He had chalked out following plans in order to
defeat the Malla Kings.

17
Imposition of Blockade Against the Malla States
In order to be able to impose blockade effectively against the
Kathmandu valley states, King Prithivi Narayan Shah captured
the Shivapuri ridge, the north-west gate-way to Kathmandu in
1761, Kavre in 1760 and Dhulikhel and Chautara in 1761. Later,
the Gorkhali captured Panuti and Banepa. The military
operations against Bhaktapur were discontinued after the capture
of Sanga and Nala. Then, the Gorkhali forces captured Pharping,
about 10 kilometers south of Kirtipur, in 1763 with a view to
mounting attack against Kirtipur later. In 1764, Chobhar was
won. The Gorkhali forces won Panga village situated about 2
kilometers south of Kirtipur. By this way, the Gorkhali forces
won the surrounding areas of Kirtipur and took position there.

Spying of the Malla States

King Prithivi Narayan Shah sent a good-will team to the Palace
of King Jaya Prakash Malla. During its stay at Kantipur, this
team collected necessary information and instigated authorities
of the Kingdom of Kantipur against Jaya Prakash Malla.
However, when this matter became known to him, he gave
punishment to all.

Creation of Disorder in the Political Situation of Kantipur

King Prithivi Narayan Shah used to send letters to the higher
authorities of the Palace of King Jaya Prakash Malla in such
language that used to exhibit their very close relationship with
the former. Knowingly and purposely, King Prithivi Narayan
Shah used to send letters in such a way that they should fall in
the hands of Jaya Prakash Malla. Jaya Prakash Malla acted in a
fashion that King Prithivi Narayan Shah intended to him to act.
On suspicion, he gave punishment even to his mother as well as
to his other loyalists.

18
Imposition of Economic Blockade
In 1759, King Prithivi Narayan Shah made a plan to impose
economic blockade strictly against the Kathmandu valley with
an objective to instigating the people to rise against their rulers.
Total prohibition was imposed on the entry of salt and cotton
into the valley. The people began made a plan to impose
economic blockade strictly against the Kathmandu valley with
an objective to instigating the people to rise against their rulers.
Total prohibition was imposed on the entry of salt and cotton
into the valley. The people began to fell the pinch severely
arising out of the shortage of food articles. They even began to
raise voice against the King.

Against this background, King Prithivi Narayan Shah

made a plan to launch an attack against Kirtipur. The comman of
the invading Gorkhali forces was given to Shur Pratap Shah, his
brother. Astrologer Kulanand could not dare in stipulating the
auspicious day of attack. While Kazi Bansh Raj Pande and Hari
Bansh Upadhya did not favour the attack, Daljit Shah and Sri
Hansha Pant spoke in its favour. Again, Bal Krishna Joshi fixed
the auspicious day of launching attack. Kirtipur was surrounded
by high walls, so the Gorkhali forces prepared ladders out of the
bamboos in order to climb the walls, Sri Hansha Pant and the
soldiers under their command laid a siege of Kirtipur. The
inhabitants of Kirtipur made preparations for the coming battle.
They had collected a large quantity of stone boulders. They also
took the help of Bhotes who knew the use of slings. The
inhabitants of Kirtipur had also bows and arrows. They were
assisted by the trained soldiers of Lalitpur. Astrologer Bal
Krishna Joshi stipulated 16th September 1768 as the auspicious
day of launching attack. Yogi Bhagwant Nath had given a
charmed bird and said that this bird should be flown inside
Kirtipur fort before taking place of the battle. The Gorkhale
forces reached Kirtipur before the stipulated day and they made
a plan to lay ladders at the walls and enter into Kirtipur through
scaling up the ladders. First of all, the Gorkhali forces threw the

19
charmed bird inside the Kirtipur fort, but the inhabitants of
Kirtipur threw the bird outside the wall. Shur Pratap Shah did
not want to let the auspicious time of attack to slip. Therefore, he
gave an order to attack. He himself attempted to climb up the
wall through the bamboo ladder. Daljit Shah and Sri Hansha
Pant, also followed him. As Shur Pratap Shah climbed up the
wall, an arrow came flying from inside the Kirtipur fort and hit
his left eye. Daljit Shah also became wounded when an arrow hit
him. The defenders of the Kirtipur fort began to hurl boulders
and shoot arrows against the Gorkhali forces who were trying to
climb up the bamboo ladders as well as to climb upward from
the foot hill. The Gorkhalis suffered heavily and retreated to
Dahachok. The Gorkhali forces did not have an adequate
training and expertise to overwhelm a strongly fortified place.
Their this weakness put them at a disadvantage when they
attacked to capture a fortified place like Kirtipur.

Victory Over Kirtipur

King Prithivi Narayan Shah decided to tighten the siege over
Kirtipur. In 1765, Kazi Bansh Raj was entrusted with this task.
The Gorkhali forces made temporary defense position around
Kirtipur and they took position in these places. The defenders of
Kirtipur led bySikhwal Pradhan strengthened their defense
arrangements and were awaiting for the attack. The Gorkhalis
did not allow either coming out from or entering into Kirtipur to
any one. In the month of October, paddy crops were ripen in the
fields near the foot-hill of Kirtipur. But the Gorkhali soldiers did
not permit its inhabitants to harvest the crops. As a result,
serious food shortage appeared at the Kirtipur village. The siege
of Kirtipur by the Gorkhali forces created a panic among its
inhabitants. The Commander of the Kirtipur defense asked for
help secretly from the Kings of Kantipur, Patan and Bhaktapur.
To take the benefit of the panic stricken situation in Kirtipur,
Bansh Raj pande had sent some quantity of foodgrains inside the
fort and encouraged its inhabitants to surrender. Seeing no hope,
the Kirtipur defenders surrendered to the Gorkhali forces. On

20
this occasion, King Prithvi Narayan Shah issued a public notice
stating that the Gorkhalis should not inflict any damage to the
life and property of the inhabitants of Kirtipur who had
surrendered.

The Gorkhali forces kept their siege over Kirtipur for six
months continuously. Because of severe hardship as well as
difficulty in prolonging the fight, Commander Silwal decided to
surrender to the Gorkhali. He secretly negotiated with Bansh Raj
Pande to surrender. Accordingly, on 12th March, 1766, Pradhan
opened the gates of the Kirtipur fort at mid-night and
surrendered to the Gorkhali forces.

Some of the Gorkhali forces committed brutal activities

and cut off the noses and lips of some of the inhabitants of
Kirtipur. Why this awefull episode took place and who ordered
to commit such activity, there is no record available on the
Gorkhali side. King Prithvi Narayan Shah expelled all
missionary people from Nepal. One of the expelled missionary,
Giuseppe, much later maliciously wrote that King Prithvi
Narayan Shah issued order to Shur Pratap Shah to commit such
crime. It is a fact that the aweful episode took place in Kirtipur
but there is no conclusive evidence on the record that King
Prithvi Narayan issued order to do so. King Prithvi Narayan
Shah used to issue orders in writing, so if he had issued the
order, the document would have been available at present as
many documents of his period are available. Moreover, when the
Kirtipur fort fell, King Prithvi Narayan was in Nuwakot.
Kirtipur could be reached only after two days walking from
Nuwakot. So, the King could issue order in writing o the
Commander of Gorkhali forces in Kirtipur. The King reached
Kirtipur from Nuwakot after a few days. Why the aweful
episode occurred in Kirtipur that remained a mystery. Giuseppe
did not write that he himself or his men heard the order or read
the order in writing issued by King Prithvi Narayan Shah. So
Giuseppe's charge against King Prithvi Narayan Shah was his

21
after thought, as Giuseppe could not return to Kathmandu in
spite of his repeated request for such permission with King
Prithvi Narayan Shah. So in order to malign him and win the
favour of the British in India, with whom the King was not
popular because of his refusal to give permission to British to
come and stay in Nepal for commercial purpose, Giuseppe wrote
about the King's order on the basis of hearsay.

One can draw some logical inference that the aweful

episode took place either Shur Pratap Shah took revenge with
those persons of Kirtipur who were instrumental in hitting an
arrow in his left eye during the previous battle or some
defenders of Kirtipur might have refused to abide the terms of
surrender and charged suddenly against the Gorkhalis after they
entered into Kirtipur and the Gorkhali forces might have treated
brutely with those. One year later, the Gorkhali forces
commanded by Shur Pratap Shah burned 501 thouses and Killed
2001 persons in Bhadgaon in spite of the order of King Prithvi
Narayan Shah not to kill or damage extensively there. Therefore
King Prithvi Narayan Shah did not appreciate him for the victory
order Bhadgaon, but bestowed Sirpau to Bansh Raj Pande in
appreciation for this victory. Afterward, Shur Pratap Shah was
not given the command of any Gorkhali forces and he left
Kathmandu. Thus, it can be inferred that there might exist some
close connection with the awful episode of Kirtipur which Shur
Pratap Shah allowed to take place without the King's prior
knowledge.

This episode opened the eyes of King Prithvi Narayan

Shah. He took special care to announce the security of the
people's lives and properties of Kirtipur, which he had not done
when he conquered Nuwakot previously. Afterward, he adopted
the policy of giving protection to the surrendered or vanquished
people and therefore, undesirable events did not take place any
where.

22
 The Gorkhali forces used explosive to demolish the fort
of Nuwakot and Bhadgaon but there was no record that they had
taken such a move to demolish the fort of Kirtipur. It seems that
the fort of Kirtipur was much stronger and the explosives that
were available to Gorkhali forces had not powerful enough to
demolish to Kirtipur fort.

The Battle of Makwanpur (1762-63)

Prithvi Narayan Shah married Indra Kumari in February 1738,
the daughter of King Hem Karna Sen of Makwanpur, who was a
descendent of King Mukund Sen of Palpa. A discord arose in
respect of sending Indra Kumari immediately with her husband.
Much rancor transpired between Prithvi Narayan Shah and
Digbandhan Sen, brother-in-law of the former, from the episode.
After the death of King Hem Karna Sen, Digbandhan Sen
became the King of Makwanpur in 1758. The economic
blockade laid by King Prithvi Narayan Shah against the
Kathmandu valley could not be fully effective on account of the
existence of some trials to Kathmandu which passed through the
hilly regions of Makwanpur which he did not stop. After the
death of his father, King Digbandhan Sen permitted the trade
between the Kathmandu valley and Bengal through Makwanpur
in order to make ineffective the economic blockade imposed by
King Prithvi Narayan Shah. King Prithvi Narayan Shah had old
rancor against Digbandhan Sen. His policy also affected
adversely on the economic blockade against the Kathmandu
valley states laid by the Gorkha King. Consequently, a
compulsion arose before King Prithvi Narayan Shah to capture
Makwanpur to make economic blockade a success. So, he began
to make preparation to attack against Makwanpur.

In those days, the Kingdom of Makwanpur consisted of

both hills and Terai (Plain) regions. On the southern peak of a
ridge that extended in the southwordly direction existed the
Makwanpur Gadhi (fort). The Gadhi was surrounded by strong
strong and high walls. There were three defense positions

23
constructed on the three sides of the Gadhi. Below it, there was a
defense forest of sal woods, which made the Gadhi as the forest
fort (Ban Durga). There were plain lands at the foot hill of the
Makwanpur ridge. The village situated at the plain land was
called by the name Harna Madi. The Karra stream flowed at the
southern side of the ridge. South of it, the plain land was
extended up to the Churia hill. Bara, Parsa and Rautahat districts
were under the Kingdom of Makwanpur. The Hariharpur Gadhi
was situated at a distance of 20 kilometers east from the
Makwanpur Gadhi. The Hariharpur Gadhi was also under
Makwanpur.

Preparation for Attack Against Makwanpur

Makwanpur was not weak as regards its military strength. So,
King Prithvi Narayan Shah started to make exhaustive
preparations before the attack against Makwanpur. In 1762, he
decided to attack Makwanpur in the rainy season and the
preparations proceeded accordingly. It was a very difficult job to
send forces, foods and weapons through the mountain trials in
the rainy season. In order to avoid the crossings of the streams
and rivers, it was necessary to take routes that passed through
hills and ridges. He fixed the routes for Gorkhali forces in their
march towards the Makwanpur Gadhi. The route as laid by him
passed from Dahachok to Chitlang, Kulekhani mountain pass
near Tekan on the Mahabharat ridge, and then to Makwanpur
Gadhi. He made a plan to lay a siege over Gadhi when his forces
reached there, then afterward mount an attack against it and
capture it. He made arrangement for the transportation of
weapons and food commodities by engaging porters as well as
for the movements of letters and informations by establishing
hulaks (carriers of letters) between Dahachok and the
Makwanpur Gadhi. Arrangements were also made at different
places to supply foods to the soldiers. The military officers were
provided with horses whereas other soldiers were to march on
foot. As regards weapons, majority of soldiers had bows and

24
arrows. The military officers had Khundas (a type of sword),
swords and shields. Few guns were also with them.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah deputed Chautaria Mohodam

Kirti Shah, Chautaria Dal Mardan Shah, Kazi Shur Pratap Shah,
Kazi Rana Rudra Shah, Sardar Nandu Shah, Kazi Bansh Raj
Pande, Baksi Kehar Singh Basnyat, Baksi Nahar Singh Basnyat
and Baksi Abhiman Singh Basnyat for the invasion over
Makwanpur. Thus, many experienced and war-tested
commanders were associated with the attacking Gorkhali forces.
About 1,000 soldiers, under the command of above persons left
Dahachok for Makwanpur on 17th August, 1762. The Gorkhali
forces laid a siege over the Makwanpur Gadhi by 20 th August,
1762 and took position at different places.

The Battle of Makwanpur

King Digbudhan Sen of Makwanpur got information in advance
about the attack, so he sent all valuable and members of his
family to the Hariharpur Gadhi before the attack. The astrologers
had stipulated the 21st August, 1762 as an auspicious date of
attack against Makwanpur. So, the Gorkhali forces mounted an
attack against it in the morning of this day. The battle continued
fiercely for eight hours. When the night fell, Digbandhan Sen
and Kanak Singh fled away to the Hariharpur Gadhi. The
Makwani soldiers suffered a defeat. The Gorkhali forces
captured some wealth and few guns inside the Gadhi. They
suffered casualities of 60 soldiers, death while the figure was
400 soldiers, death on the side of Makwanpur.

The Battle of Hariharpur Gadhi

The Hariharpur Gadhi was situated at a mountain ridge of the
Mahabharat range. It was situated at the height of 2,500 feet
above the sea level. The Bagmati river bends south and flows
near the ridge. This place had a great strategic importance,
because the route to the Kathmandu valley, which passed
through its south, was the shortest one and, secondly, there were

25
no dense habitations on the route. The west and the south-east
directions were open.

The Gorkhali forces stationed themselves at Makwanpur

Gadhi and began to make preparation for attack against the
Hariharpur Gadhi. They decided to launch attack after the
festival of Bijaya Dasami. A contingent of troops under the
command of Sardar Nandu Shah were left there for the defense
of the Makwanpur Gadhi and the remaining Gorkhali forces and
other Bhardars proceeded towards the Hariharpur Gadhi. They
decided to lay a siege over it and then mount an attack. As and
when they reached there, they imposed a siege over it. On 4 th
October, 1762, they launched an attack against its defenders.
The soldiers of Makwanpur fought valiantly against the Gorkha
forces, but the defenders suffered a defeat. They vacated the
Gadhi after mid-night. About 500 soldiers of Makwanpur met
death in the battle. Digbandhan Sen and Kanak Baniya could
fled away form there to the Khunda Ghat taking their family
members and wealth with them. The Gorkhali forces captured
the Hariharpur Gadhi.

Military Operations of Mirkasim's Force (January 1763)

Kasim Ali Khan (Mir Kasim) became the Nawab of Mursidabad
with the help of the British. He employed an Armenian named as
Gregary to organize the train soldiers on the British pattern.
Nawab gave him a muslim name and called him Gurgin Khan.
The soldiers trained by Gurgin Khan were stationed at Betia.
Mir Kasim had heard the rumor that there were lots of gold and
silver in Nepal. He came to know about the unstable situation
prevailing in Makwanpur and Kathmandu valley states on
account of armed conflicts and prolonged hostilities. In order to
take advantage of the unstable situation in Nepal, he gave an
order to Gurgin Khan to attack and capture the Makwanpur
Gadhi first, and then from there, proceed to attack against the
Kathmandu valley states, and capture their enormous wealth.

26
 The forces of Nawab leb by Gurgin Khan advanced
towards the Makwanpur Gadhi. The number of forces led by
him were quite large in comparison to that of Gorkhali forces at
the Gadhi under the Command of Sardar Nandu Shah. The
number of Gorkhali forces were about 400 soldiers only, but
they had a long experience of the mountain warfare. The force of
Gurgin Khan were equipped with the weapons such as cannon,
guns, swords, spears etc. They had sufficient quantities of guns,
ammunitions and gunpowder. The Gorkhali forces also had
guns, bows and arrows, Khundas, Khukuris, swords, sling etc.

The forces led by Gurgin Khan left Mursidabad for

Makwanpur in December 1762. In January, they took position at
Harnadi situated at the foot-hill of the Makwanpur hill. The
inhabitants of this village vacated it and went to the nearby hills.
The Makwanpur Gadhi was about 3 kilometers up on the hill.
Gurgin Khan made his base camp at Harnadi. He was planning
to launch an attack against Makwanpur Gadhi from there. The
Gorkhali forces had build three defensive positions around the
Gadhi. On 12th January, 1763, the forces of Gurgin Khan
captured one of the three defense positions of the Gorkhalis. In
the meantime, Sardar Nandu Shah sent information about the
Gurgin Khan's attack to King Prithivi Narayan Shah at
Dahachok. After receiving the information, he sent
reinforcements under the command of Kazi Bansh Raj Pande
and Baksi Nahar Singh Basnyat to help Nandu Shah. The King
also directed his remaining forces to remain alert to fight against
the foreign invaders.

The forces of Gurgin Khan took rest for few days after
the capture of Dadhuwa position. He sent about 3,000 soldiers to
mount an attack against the Makwanpur Gadhi on 20 January,
1763. They climbed up the hill and afterward, began to attack
the Gadhi. The Gorkhali forces fought bravely whole day from
inside the fort. The attackers discontinued their attack when the
night fell. They decided to attack next day. In the meantime, the

27
Gorkhali forces sent from Dahachok reached at Taplakhar,
which was situated at two kilomenters north of the Gadhi. They
got the information that the attackers were taking rest at that
time. The Gorkhali forces decived to mount an attack
immediately against the invaders. They made a plan of attack.
According to the plan they should launch attack simultaneously
from three directions. Bansh Raj Pande should attack through
the route of Taplakhar and Bakshi Nahar Singh Basnyat through
the route of old Makwanpur. This plan was also informed to the
defenders of the Gadhi. While the soldiers of Gurgin Khan were
asleep, at midnight, the Gorkhali forces mounted a fierce attack
from three directions. The Gorkhali soldiers used all sorts of
weapons against their enemies. The Gorkhali soldiers slew many
invaders by using their Khukuris and Khundas. The invaders
became stunned by this surprise attack. They threw failed to
stand and fight. They became so much panic stricken that a
stampede took place. They threw guns and other weapons. The
Gorkhali forces chased the fleeing enemies and killed many of
them. Many alien soldiers fell down from the hill in the darkness
and died. The Gorkhali forces captured 500 guns and 2 cannons.
Few invaders could reach their base camp. Gurgin Khan did not
dare attack again. He returned to India with his remaining
soldiers. The fighting power of the Gorkhali forces increased
because of the capture of large number of guns and a few
cannons. This victory boosted up their spirit and morale.

The Battle of Sindhuli

King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu decided to seek military
assistance from the British as he did not see any other alternative
to contain the Gorkhalis' expansion. In March 1767, he wrote a
letter to Golding, the British Commercial Attache, at Betia in
India seeking British military assistance. The letter was
delivered by his representatives Mukhtar Umda and Fakir
Ramdas. So, on 6th April, 1767, he wrote a strong
recommendation letter and also attached Jaya Prakash's letter
with it and sent to Thomas Rambold at Patna. He sent both

28
letters to the Governor of the Company at Calcutta on 18th April,
1767. King Prithivi Narayan Shah knew all about this
development. Therefore, in a letter written to Rambold, the King
expressed his desire to come to Patna and meet him during his
visit, But Rambold had already made up his mind in favour of
Jaya Prakash. So on 30th April, 1767, Rambold wrote a letter to
King Prithivi Narayan Shah advising him to lift the blockade
against the Kathmandu valley and desist from attacking King
Jaya Prakash, otherwise the Company would declare him (King
Prithivi Narayan Shah) as his enemy. This letter gave a
premonition of the future event, so the Gorkhalis expedited their
military prepatations. Rambold did not receive any positive
response from the Gorkhali King, so the former wrote a letter to
the Select Committee of the East India Company decided to
launch military expedition against the Gorkhali King.

Preparation for the Expedition

On the Side of British
Captain Kinloch was appointed to lead the British
Military Expedition Team against the Gorkhali King. Captain
Kinloch received an order to reach Patna via Munger, where he
would receive additional instructions through Rambold. Captain
Kinloch reached Patna and met Rambold there, where the former
received necessary instructions form the latter. In june, 1767,
Captain Kinloch sought information from the representatives of
King Jaya Prakash Malla about different aspects relating to the
Gorkhali forces. The representatives gave him information that
the total strength of the Gorkhali forces was 50,000 soldiers of
which 20,000 soldiers were engaged in imposing blockade
against Kathmandu valley and the remaining 30,000 soldiers
were performing agricultural activities who could be called up at
any time if necessity were arisen. Their main weapons are bows
and arrows and muzzle loading guns. These representatives
further gave information about the routes leading to Kathmandu,
arrangements of food supply, fortification executed by the
Gorkhali and their military tactics and strategies. This team

29
could face difficulty in their advance, if the expedition were not
started soon, because the rainy season was approaching.
However, they informed Kinloch that the Gorkhali forces had
made good arrangements to pursue military operations in the
rainy season too. Mukhtar Umda gave information about the
routes to the military expedition team, which showed 96 Koshs
(307 Kilometers) from Patna to Panauti, and eleven halts to
traverse the route. Routes were as follows:

Halt Kosh
1. Patna to Hajipur 3 Supply of food & water
available.
2. Hajipur to Darbhanga 22 ,,
3. Darbanga to Babaha 7 ,,
4. Babaha to Janakpur 12 ,,
5. Janakpur to Jeladbas 6 Water available food
supply not
available.
6. Jeladbas to Ranipawa 9 ,,
7. Ranipawa to Sindhuli 9 Supply of food & water
available.
8. Sindhuli to Khurkot 6 ,,
9. Khurkot to Jhanga Jholi 6 Water available food
supply not
available.
10. Jhanga Jholi to Dapcha 10 Supplies would be
provides
by Jaya Prakash
Malla.
11. Dapcha to Panauti 6 ,,

It was decided that food supplies for the British military

expedition team for 3 halts would be carried by porters. Captain
Kinloch's forces were composed of 18 companies consisting of
2,400 personnel. The forces had few officers. Some new recruits
were raised to augment the number of forces. The new recruits
30
had not undergone sufficient military training. Each soldier had
musket. Kinloch decided to carry few cannons. The British
soldiers had also traditional weapons.

On the Side of Gorkhali

King Prithivi Narayan Shah anticipated that the British
could mount an attack from the direction of the Sindhuli Gadhi.
So, he sent 500 soldiers under the command of Khajanchi Bir
Bhadra Upadhyay and Sardar Banshu Gurung to defend the
Sindhuli Gadhi. In 1776, the King took out 700 soldiers from the
Kirtipur garrison and sent them to Sindhuli under the command
of Kazi Bansh Raj Pande and Kazi Sri Harsa Pant. Moreover, he
sent additional 300 soldiers to the Hariharpur Gadhi to bloster up
its defense. King Prithivi Narayan Shah himself stayed at
Kirtipur and from there, he was making arrangements or issuing
directions in respect of the defense of Sindhuli. He also sent five
companies of soldiers namely Sabuja, Kali Buksh, Gorakh,
Shree Nath and Vajrabani to Sindhuli, which he raised only few
years back. Well arrangements were made for the supply of food
and water to the forces being in their own country, the Gorkhali
forces were well aware of the territories and knew the kinds of
supplies that were available at different places. As done in the
previous battles, an effective arrangement was made to the
movement of the messages through the hulak (postal) system,
which would enable the King to take appropriate decision and
communicate it to the concerned person. The Gorkhali forces
were equipped with traditional weapons such as bows and
arrows, swords, Khukuris, Kundas, slings etc. There was also a
company of soldiers, who were specially trained to use Kundas.
The Gorkhali forces had also muskets.

Captain Kinloch's plan of military expedition was

completely based on the information provided by the
representatives of King Jaya Prakash Malla. Kinloch did not care
to gather information through his own source. He was confident

31
of victory over the Gorkhali forces as came to know that they
did not have gun-bearing soldiers. He thought that his soldiers
by attacking and charging with guns against them would easily
finish them. He misadventured to lead a military expedition team
against the enemies in their own country without any first hand
knowledge about their strengths and weaknesses, tactics,
strategies, fortifications, territories, routes, availability of food
supply etc. His choosing of the time to lead the expedition just
before the on set of the rainy season clearly depicted his
ignorance of the true situation of the country. Kinloch's sins of
omission and commission are glaring proofs of his ignorance of
the country, he was attacking, and the enemy, he would oppose.

King Prithivi Narayan Shah made a very careful and well

thought plan for the impending battle against the invading
British Military Expedition Team. The plan was as follows.
Firstly, the villages that existed near the routes between
Janakpur and Sindhuli Gadhi should be shifted to distance
places, so that food supplies should not fall in the hands of
enemies. Secondly, the Sindhui Gadhi should be vacated and the
enemies should be allowed to reach there without any
obstruction. Thirdly, seeing the vacated Sindhuli Gadhi, the
enemies might think that the Gorkhalis had fled in fear. This
would raise the morale of the enemies and they would become
complacent. Against the expectation of the enemies, they should
not get any food supply at Sindhuli. Fourthly, because of the
scarcity of food, the enemies would attempt to reach Kathmandu
valley in a haste and advance toward the Pauwa Gadhi by
climbing up the hill from Sindhuli. In the meantime, the
Gorkhali forces should mount attack against the enemies
simultaneously from two directions, i.e., one from the direction
of the Pauwa Gadhi and another from the direction of
Dhungrebas, and then destroy them. By this way, King Prithivi
Narayan Shah devised a plan to lure the enemies up to a certain
place, entrap them and then destroy them.

32
The Battle
Captain Kinloch along with his 2,400 soldiers left Patna in 1767.
He used the representatives of the Malla Kings as guides. Most
of his soldiers were Indains. The British Military Expedition
Team reached Janakpur. The team did not get adequate food
supply there. This made Kinloch a little bit uneasy. But the
Expedition Team procured food from Darbhanga and continued
its advance. The rainy season had already set in. The condition
of roads became abysmally bad. Kinloch's forces were facing the
shortage of food and adverse weather condition. His forces
reached Sindhuli in September without any obstruction on their
route. He became very pleased to see the vacated Sindhule
Gadhi. But there was no availability of food. On the contrary, he
was told that sufficient quantity of food was easily available at
Sindhuli. His soldiers became very desperate. So, he decided to
advance further.

Kinloch soldiers had finished their morning meal. And

they and their porters began to climb up the hills from the
Sindhuli Gadhi to reach the Pauwa Gadhi, while was about 3
kilometers far. The British officer Hardy was entrusted with the
task of supervising porters. Who were carrying loads of foods.
The British officers were climbing up the hill in a file. They
reached near to the Pauwa Gadhi. In the meantime, the Gorkhali
forces led by Bansh Raj Pande and Bir Bhadra Upadhyay
suddenly made a charge against the Kinloch's forces from above
the hill. Hardy became wounded and turned back. Another group
of the Gorkhali forces led by Banshu Gurung mounted attack
against Kinloch forces at the rear. Kinloch's forces fell into an
ambush.

A gun fight raged between the opposing forces for some

time. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. In no tome, Kinloch's
soldiers became disheartened as they realized that the situation
was quite beyond their control. So, they began to flee and enter
into the nearby forest by throwing their weapons. The Gorkhali

33
forces continued their pursue to the fleeing enemies and slew
many enemy soldiers. One historian estimated that the Gorkhali
forces suffered death of about 1,600 soldiers. The Gorkhalis'
victory boosted up their morale and spirit.

34
The Battle of the Kangra Fort
The Kangra fort, now lies at Himachal Pradesh in India, was
kept under siege for four years by the Gorkhali forces during the
first decade of the 19th century. The Kangra fort was situated at
the peak of a hill. This place was about 64 kilometers far from
the Vyas river. The fort was impregnable and had a great
strategic importance. There was very good source of water
supply within the fort where about 5 thousand persons could stay
at a time. In 1788, Sansar Chand with the help of Sikh Sardar
Jaya Singh captured the Kangra fort, and later Sansar Chand
could establish his sole control over it. During the course of
time, Sansar Chand made many enemies. He imprisoned King
Iswari Chand and confiscated all properties of the King of Kutle.
Sansar Chand attacked twice against the Hoshiyarpur. He
perpetrated many barbaric acts against the principalities
proximate to his Kingdom. So, all these principalities formed a
fighting force under the leadership of Nepali Commander Amar
Singh Thapa to take revenge against him.

In 1805, the Nepali forces crossed over the Satlaj river

and began to attack against the Kingdom of Kangra. Many
Kings of small principalities of this region came along with their
forces and joined the Nepali forces. A commitment was made by
Amar Singh and other Kings that the Kargra (the other name is
Trigarta) would remain under the control of Amar Singh if it
were captured and, moreover, other principalities who were
under the suzerainty of Kangra would become independent.
Amar Singh Thapa set free Isware Chand from imprisonment
and returned his Kingdom. The King of Kutled also received
back some places previously won by Ghamand Chand and
Sansar Chand. Amar Singh Thapa camped his forces at
Jwalamukhi, from where, a contingent of the Nepali forces went
to lay a siege against the Kangra fort. The other small group of
soldiers went towards Tira-Sujanpur to lay Kangra remained
holed in the fort of Tira. The Nepali forces went gradually on

35
laying a siege against the fort. He did not feel himself safe there
and shifted to the Kangra Fort, a mare secured place.

The principalities of Mandi, Suket, Kutled, Chamba and

Guler joined with Nepalese. Amar Singh Thapa already won all
places surrounding the Kangra fort. He controlled all the hilly
areas that spreaded between Mahakali river and the Vyas river.
The Nepali forces laid siege against the Kangra fort, but the
could not won it. The soldiers of the hilly principalities began to
loot the villages of the Kingdom of Kangra and they inflicted lot
of pains to the local people. The Nepali soldiers also joined them
in the activities of looting and arson. This created panic among
the local inhabitants, and they began to fled away to the
Kingdom of Chamba. The lands became barren. No cultivation
was performed. The towns and villages became deserted.

Amar Singh Thapa repeatedly sent information to Sansar

Chand to surrender. As he had sufficient quantity of food stock
in the fort, he continued his struggle. His situation became
desperate on account of depletion of food stock. So, Sansar
Chand sent information to Amar Singh Thapa that he intended to
give up control of the Kangra fort and Tara Gadhi and hand over
these places to him. But Sansar Chand requested that the fort of
Teri Sujanpur should be given to him. He asked him for a period
of ten days to shift his family members and other belongings out
of the Kangra fort. Therefore, Amar Singh Thapa had withdrawn
the forces out of the gate of the Ganesh valley. But Sansar
Chand deceived him. While his family members went out of the
fort at the day time, soldiers used to bring food supplies secretly
at night. After the lapse of ten days, Amar Singh Thapa
informed Sansar Chand to vacate the fort. He again asked for
two days more which Amar Singh Thapa agreed to extend. In
the meantime, giving charge to Narud Patwal for the defense of
the fort Sansar Chand secretly went out of the fort taking
Mohmmand Khan Rohilla with him. He approached Ranjit
Singh for help. All these contents were unfolded by a letter of

36
15th December 1808, which Amar Singh Thapa wrote to
Ochterlony who was at Ludhiana.

Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa sent a contingent of large

forces under the command of his brother, Nain Singh Thapa, in
order to make a determined attack against the Kangra fort and
overwhelm it. Three years of siege had already elapsed. When
he reached Kangra, Nain Singh Thapa enforced a complete siege
against the fort and stationed his forces to every that place
including the Ganesh valley from where the movement of food
commodities used to take place clandestinely. Such complete
siege against the fort put hard pressure on Sansar Chand. Nain
Singh Thapa was in favour of launching an attack against the
Kangra fort. But Amar Singh Thapa had a reservation about the
success of such attack. However, Nain Singh Thapa mounted
attack against the fort. The gate of the fort was closed. He
reached near the gate along with his soldiers. Suddenly a cannon
roared from inside the fort/A shell brusted near him and he got a
mortal hit. He died after three days from receiving the fatal
wound. This episode took place in 1808. The sudden death of
Nain Singh Thapa greatly shocked Kazi Amar Singh Thapa. He
made up his mind to wage a final assult against the fort.

During that period, Ranjit Singh of Punjab was

organizing Sikhs to form Greater Punjab. Ranjit Singh returned
from Jwalamukhi when Sansar Chand did not agree to give him
the Kangra fort. In June 1809, Ranjit Singh came to Patharkot
and stayed there. In the meantime, Kazi Amar Singh Thapa
offered him rupees ten lakhs if Ranjit Singh would return
without extending help to Sansar Chand. But Ranjit Singh
declined to accept Amar Singh's offer. Slowly most of the hilly
principalities took side of Sikhs. Ranjit Singh kept Ani Udra
Chand, the son of Sansar Chand, in prison, so Sansar Chand
reluctantly agreed to give the Kangra fort to Ranjit Singh. After
this episode, Ranjit Singh along with his forces advanced toward
the fort. He had 1,500 soldiers. The Sikh forces attempted to

37
reach the Kangra fort by dodging the Nepali forces. In the
meantime, Sansar Chand disguised himself as a farmer and fled
away out of the fort along with his all family members.

The Sikh forces led by Ranjit Singh entered into the

Kangra fort. No shots were fired from any side. The defenders of
the fort welcomed them. As and when Ranjit Singh entered into
the fort, the sent a communication through a letter bearer to
Amar Singh Thapa to lift the siege against the fort and the
former attempted to lure him by offering a proposal to fight
against the British jointly. But Amar Singh Thapa became
furious and imprisoned the letter bearer. Thus, Ranjit Singh got
an alibi to launch attack against the Nepali forces.

Ranjit Singh launched attack against the Nepali forces at

all places. The first battle was fought at Ganesh valley, second at
Gorkha Tila and the last at Malkanda. A fierce battle raged in
the Ganesh vally, where both sided suffered heavy causalities.
The Sikhs made a retreat but again attacked in the evening. The
Nepali forces had to give up some positions in the battle. The
battle continued for many days. Many soldiers of both sides bled
to death. The Sikh forces were far more in number than that of
the Nepali forces. Ultimately, a peace treaty was signed between
the opposite camps. The Nepali forces had to withdraw and
cross back the Satlaj river. This episode took place on 24 th
August 1809. The battle of Kangra ended and it went in favour
of Ranjit Singh.

Nepal British War (1814-1816)

The British became quite successful in India to extend their
areas of control and influence. They repeatedly sent their envoys
to Kathmandu and communicated through other channels to get
permission to enter into Nepal, stay there and trade with it and
Tibet. But King Prithivi Narayan Shah did not give any
opportunity to them to become successful in their objective. The
territory of Nepal extended upto the Satlaj river in the west and

38
the Tista of the British territory, or their area of influence. Some
sort of disagreement between Nepal and British was going on
before sometime. In the meantime, a dispute across between
them about the question of control of some border areas in
Seoraj and Butwal. Ultimately, British Governor General
Hastings decided to declare war against Nepal on 1st November
1814.

Preparation for the War

On the British Side

The British had the information that sizeable portion of
the Nepali army was in the west to fulfill it objective of
territorial expansion. So the British made a plan to attack
simultaneously in the western and eastern sectors, which would
enable them to gain victory easily. Accordingly, Hastings
decided to divide Nepal into two battle sectors making the
Mahakali river as the dividing line between the sectors. He also
divided the British invasion forces into two groups in the east.
Out of them, it was planned that Major General Marley should
start from Dinapur leading 6,500 soldiers. They should reach
Makwanpur and capture it and then they should advance further,
and capure Kathmandu. The other contingent of 4,000 soldiers
would be led by Major General Wood, who should start from
Gorakhpur. He should capture the dispurted areas of Seoraj and
Butwal, advance further and capture Palpa, and then block the
communication links of Kathmandu with the west. In the
western sector, Major General Gillespie would lead 4,500
soldiers. They should start from Saharanpur and capture
Dehradun and Kayardadun and also extend help to the British
forces of the west. Major General Ochterlony would lead 6,000
soldiers. They should start form Rooper and give a defeat to the
Nepali forces led by Amar Singh Thapa. A small contingent of
Captain Letter at Rangpur. Besides, in the western sector,
arrangements were made to recruit temporary soldiers. By

39
March 1815, some 35,000 regulars and 13,000 irregulars were
involved in the war.

On the Nepali Side

The numerical strength of the Nepali army was far below
than that of British. It was an estimate that the total strength of
the Nepali army was 14,000 soldiers. Most of them were new
recruits. The Nepali army had shortage of arms and
ammunications. The preparations made by Nepal for the
impending war were as follows: Firstly, about 2,000 soldiers
under the command of Kazi Bakhatawar Singh Basnyat were
stationed in the eastern region. These forces took positions at
different forts. They would face the enemy from Vijayapur.
Secondly, about 4,000 forces under the command of Colonel
Ranavir Singh were stationed at Makwanpur to face the enemies.
Thirdly, about 3,000 soldiers under the command of Colonel
Ujir Singh were stationed at the Butwal and Palpa sector to face
the invaders. Fourthly, Amar Singh Thapa was leading the
Nepali forces in the newly won territories in the far west beyond
the Mahakali river. They would fact the British invasion forces
there.

The Battle of Nalapani

The Nalapani Gadhi or the Kalanga fort was situated at the peak
of a ridge on the eastern side of Dehradun. The eastern and
western sides of the ridge had very steep slope of about1000 feet
deep each, so it would be very difficult to climb up form these
sides and reach the fort. Therefore, it could be approached only
form the southern side. The foothill of the Nalapani ridge lies at
a distance of about 7 kilometers north-east from Dehradun. After
Tapaban, there was a dense forest of sal woods which was about
3 kilometers in length and beyond it there was a pool of water
which also flowed out from one side. This stream was called by
the name of Nalapani. The Nalapani Gadhi or the kalanga fort
was situated at the peak of a hill which was about 200 feet above

40
from the Nalapani. In 1814, the Nepali forces had garrisoned at
this Gadhi.

The First Attack Agaisnt the Nalapani Fort

The Nalapani Gadhi had a great strategic importance. Without
taking control of this Gadhi, the control over Dehradun valley
could not be complete. Therefore, the Nepali forces gave utmost
importance to defend the fort. They vacated plain lands of the
Dehradun valley and moved to the Nalapani fort. Captain Bal
Bhadra Kunwar was the commander of the Nepali forces. He
had about 600 Nepali personnel, among them more than half
were women and children. The soldiers from the Gorakh Jang
Company had taken position to defend the fort. They had few
guns, cannons, gunpowder and ammunitions in addition to
traditional weapons namely bows and arrows, Khundas,
Khukuris, spears, shields and swords. The condition of the
Nalapani fort was worn. Some of its portions were fallen and
there were cracks developed on the walls. So, Bal Bhadra
Kunwar had to repair the fort and moreover, build some
defensive structures to make it strong and useful. The Nepali
soldiers, women and even children began to work day and night
to strengthem the fort. They started to build a twelve feet high
wall around the fort made out of mortars, stones and wooden
logs. They were working on the construction of the walls even
on the day when the fighting had started.

Major General Gillespie gave order to Lieutenant

Colonel Carpenter on 19th October 1814, even before the formal
declaration of the war against Nepal by the British, to advance
with one native infantry battalion and three cannons to capture
the areas up to the bank of the Yamuna river by entering into the
Dun valley crossing through the Timaulli mountain saddle. On
the next day, Gillespie ordered Colonel Mawby to lead 1,000
soldiers and advance through the Mohan mountain saddle, then,
enter into Dehradun and capture both Dehradun town and the
Nalapani fort. The forces led by Colonel Mawby captured the

41
Dehradur town on 22nd October without any resistance. The
British foces became very happy when they captured Dehradun
town easily. The another objective of Mawby was to capture the
Nalapani fort, so he immediately sent a small team to servey its
area. The team could reach near the fort when the darkness had
already set in, it could not comprehend about the fort. On 22 nd
October, Colonel Mawby wrote a letter to Captain Bal Bhadra
Kunwar to vacate the fort. But Bal Bhadra became furious when
he read the letter and tore it before the letter bearer. Bal Bhadra
sent a reply that he would meet with Colonel Mawby at the
battle field. Mawby became furious when he heard his such
reply. Mawby surveyed the fort and its surroundings on 23 rd
October. He made up his mind to launch an attack nes day.
Lieutenant Carpenter Colonel Carpenter returned same night
executing the tasks that were entrusted to him. Colonel Mawby
became very happy as his strength had gone up to 1,300
infantry, 300 cavalry and 5 light cannons.

On 24th October 1814, at 4.30 in the morning Colonel

Mawby leading his infantry and taking cannons with him set-out
to mount attack against the Nalapani fort. He sent the cavalry to
Rajpur in order to block road to the Nepali soldiers if they would
flee from that side. The British forces assembled at the open
space, which was at a lower level near the fort. The advance
guard of the Nepali forces immediately informed Bal Bhadra
about the arrival of the British forces. He began to prepare for
the defensive battle. The British began to fire two 6 pounders
upon the fort in the early morning. But the wall of the fort was
outside the range of the cannons fire. The Nepali defenders also
began to fire cannons upon the British forces in reply. The
British continued firing of cannons for many hours, but they
found that their firing had not any effect on the other side.
Colonel Mawby ordered at 11 A.M. to shift this cannons could
not be taken acrsoo the stream. Experiencing a failure in his
effort to mount an attack against the fort, he thought that it was

42
not possible to capture the fort without heavy cannons. So, he
discontinued the attack and ordered soldiers to retreat.

The Second Attack Against Nalapani

General Gillespie became furious when he heard the news of
unsuccess. He decided to lead himself the attack against the fort
and came to Dehradun on 26th October. Next day he made a
survey of the fort. He thought that, though the location of the
fort made it very difficult to capture, yet he could capture it with
the strength of his large military force.

Gillespie began to supervise himself the military

preparations for the second attack against the Nalapani fort. He
shifted the Dehradun camp to the foothill. He ordered to make
ladders so that the walls of the fort could be climbed-up. He
ordered his troops stationed at Saharanpur to reach Dehradun as
early as possible. Gillespie had the objective of capturing the
Nalapani fort before 1st November. His observation to the fort
and its surrounding areas led him to conclude that the fort could
be captured if attacks were mounted agasint it from four
directions simultaneously as the defenders would then have to
fight in four directions simultaneously, their strength would be
scattered and their position would become weak. Therefore, he
divided his troops into five teams and ordered them to launch
attack from following places. Firstly, Captain Joha Fast would
lead 363 soldiers. This team should pass through the Lakhaend
village. As and when, the team would receive the signal to
attack, ti would climb up the fort from the north-west side and
launch its attack. Secondly, Major Kelly would lead the second
team of 521 British troops including 20 pioneers. The team
should move through the route of the Kharsali village and launch
an attack advancing toward the fort after receiving the signal to
attack. Thirdly, Captain John Campbell would lead the third
team of 283 British troops. The team should have to climb-up
from the Asthal village, which was situated near the Song river
in the eastern side of the fort. After receiving the signal the team

43
should launch attack. Fourthly, Lieutenant Colonel Carpenter
would lead the main invasion team of two companies of soldiers
from the 53rd British Regiment and 588 Indian soldiers. The
team should attack from the south. It should climb up the hill
form the route of Tharapani and reach the open field that existed
below the fort then advance, climb-up the fort with the help of
ladders and launch the attack. Fifthly, a reserve force of 100
Irish Dragoons, 991 Indian soldiers and Major Ludlow would be
kept ready to help Lieutenant Colonel Carpenter's forces, if need
were arisen. The British moved 3,700 Indian soldiers, 100 Irish
Dragoons and two companies of the 53rd British Regiment
against 600 Nepalese defenders of the Nalapani Gadhi. Gillespie
fixed 31st October as the date of attack. According to his battle
plan, the British forces led by Carpenter should occupy and
establish temporary camp at open field below the fort on 30 th
October and the cannons should be places at position during the
night, so that all cannons could be in operational condition by
the morning of 31st October. On the day of attack, other three
teams should move out from the main camp and reach their
destinations and wait for the signal. It was Gillespie's pre-
conception that if cannons were fired upon from the fort the
early morning, the walls of the fort might collapse upto noon.
Therefore, he fixed noon as the time of launching attack against
the fort simultaneously from four directions. He also fixed the
time of move at 10 A.M. Gillespie had informed the officers of
each term that cannon would be fired five times exactly at 10
A.M. and thereafter, with a breack of five times minutes each,
which would be the signal, to move. After receiving the signal
the forces should reach at the fort at noon and launch attack
simultaneously. It was planned to fire cannon at noon upon the
fort from the southern side at the very start of the main attack
and blow out the walls of the fort. The forces under the
command of Lieutenant Colonel Carpenter should join with the
forces arrived there from other directions and jointly mount an
attack against the fort. General Gillespie had devised this plan

44
very carefully taking into consideration of the possible reactions
of the opposing forces.

Operations of the Battle

On 30th October, the British troops under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel Carpenter and Major Ludlow left the main
camp at 3 P.M. and reached the open ground that existed below
the fort. They took position there. When the night fell, cannons
were transported up at the sites down the hills. The engineers
and pioneers led by Major Penigton, the Commander of the
Artillery, fixed the cannons working the whole night. In the
morning of 31st October, 5-1/2 inch howitzer two pieces, 12
pounder two pieces, 6 pounder four pieces and 5-1/2 inch mortar
two pieces were fixed at their position which were at a distance
of 600 yards from the fort.

Major Kelly along with soldiers started at 2 O'clock in

the morning from the main military camp on 31 st October
towards the Kharsali village. After one hour, Captain John Fast
and Captain Campbell departed along with their forces toward
the stipulated place. Gillespie briefed his plan in detail to the
deputed officers previous night and also he tallied the time of his
watch with others.

On 31st October, Gillespie ordered to fire upon the fort in

the early morning. The fire continued for one hour, but the fort
did not get any damage. Most of the cannon balls fired to hit the
fort. A few that reached the fort, did not do serious damage. The
Nepali forces were also firing backs their cannon. Gillespie
realized that his plan of breaking the walls of the fort did not
work well. He preparations to take a small fort, and, secondly his
initial plan of blowing out walls of the fort failed. So, he began
to give orders side-tracking the plan made by himself. He
suddenly ordered to give signal to attack at 8 A.M. in contrary to
at 10 A.M. But he did not agree. Moreover, he ordered to fire the
cannon at one minute gap instead of a five minute gap as

45
planned. However, the Commanders of the attacking British
teams did not recognize the signal.

The Nepali forces had seen the placements of the

cannons brought by the British on the previous day. Therefore, a
team of the Nepali forces came out of their fort in the darkness
and remained hiding in a ridge that was situated east from the
British position. The Nepali forces had the objective of capturing
the cannons. Therefore, they suddenly jumped up against the
cannons at 9 A.M. This suddenly attack stunned the British.
General Gillespie ordered to fire upon the Nepali forces. They
began to move back toward their fort. In the meantime, Gillespie
ordered the soldiers led by Carpenter and Ludlow to mount
attack against the Nepali forces and enter into the fort. The
British forces began to follow the Nepali forces. They quickly
scaled up the hill and the British forces failed to catch them.
Captain Bal Bhadra had issued a strict order to his forces that no
attacker should be allowed to climb up the wall through using
the ladder. If any one would attempt such a move, he should be
shot at immediately.

If any enemy soldier were succeeded to climb up the wall

and jump inside the fort, he would have been killed from the
sharp-tipped bamboo pikes that were expertly laid in the ditch
inside the fort.

Carpenter and Ludlow advanced. About 100 soldiers of

the Irish Dragoon were in the forefront of the attack. They could
scale up the hills quickly, but the infantry with the load of bags
and weapons on their back could not move swiftly and so they
remained quite behind. The Irish Dragoons reached near the
thatched structures that were made by the Nepali forces near the
fort. Irish Dragoons saw that the Nepali troops were advancing
towards the fort, and so the former began to advance with more
speed. In the meantime, a flock of Nepali soldiers came out of
the fort to help their incoming mates and attacked the Irish

46
Dragoons by charging with their Khukuri. A fierce fight took
place for a few minutes. Within a short period, 4 Dragoons had
died, and 58 became wounded. Remaining Irish Dragoons
retreated. The Nepali forces reputed the first attack of the British
soldiers.

Meanwhile, the teams of pioneers and infantry began to

advance toward the fort. There was a plan to lay ladders by the
pioneers and then the infantry should climb up the ladder and
mount an attack. As and when Lieutenant Alice led a ladder at
the side of the wall, a bullet came buzzing from inside the fort
and hit him in the chest. He died on the spot. The pioneer's team
began to flee seeing the death of their Commander. After a
while, 2 Companies of infantry had attempted to advance, but
they had to retreat on account of repeated barrage of arrows,
boulders and guns fires coming from inside the fort. Suddenly,
the thatched huts got fire and began to burn. Fire destroyed the
scaling ladders left by the fleeing pioneers.

General Gillespie got information about above episode.

He sent for additional 3 Company of soldiers and they arrived.
He ordered them to advance and carry cannons with them. In the
meantime, one Irish Dragoon had reported him that he had seen
an open space in the northwest side of the fort. He immediately
proceeded to observe the place taking with him Major Ludlow
and 3 Companies of soldiers. Captain Bal Bhadra Kunwar had
purposely kept open space to position a cannon. Gillespie
decided to capture the place and position his cannons. The
British fired cannons against the Nepali Cannon positional at the
open space a cannon. Gillespie decided to capture the place and
position cannons. The British fired cannons upon the Nepali
cannon position at the open space from a distance of about 40
yards. He thought that the cannon of the Nepali side might have
gotten damage. So, he ordered the British forces led by Ludlow
to forward. As the British troops advanced a little, the Nepali
forces fired the very cannons against them. The British troops

47
got a direct hit. Seven British officers died on the spot.
Remaining British troops to retreat. The barrage of bullets,
arrows and stone were coming from inside the fort. Major
Ludlow became wounded. A stone hit his thigh.

The British forces became panic stricken. In the

meantime, a group of Nepali soldiers suddenly came out from
the fort, damaged the cannon which was fixed by Lieutenant
Kennedy and went back to the fort. The British soldiers were
stunned from the episode. Gillespie withdrew his forces back.
After a while, Ludlow gave order to his soldiers to advance from
the left side and himself led them. He reached near the cannon,
but only four soldiers followed him. He ordered others to follow
him but dispirited British soldiers did not move forward. Having
seen this, General Gillespie became furious. He began to
advance towards the fort taking a sword in his hand, waving it
and encouraging his soldiers to move forward. Lieutenant Ohara
and Captain Byres followed him. When the British forces were
moving forward, the intensity of firing from inside the fort
increased. A bullet hit in the chest of Gillespie. He collapsed and
died on the spot. Lieutenant Ohara also died from a gun shot.
Captain Byres became wounded from a bullet hit. These events
took place at about 11.15 A.M. General Gillespie died in the
thick of battle near the Nalapani fort. He was a brave fighter and
General. His name will be remembered forever along with the
battle of the Nalapani fort. After the death of Gillespie, forces
led by him ran in panic. In the battle of this day, 5 British
military officers including General Gillespie had died and 15
officers received wounds. About 30 NCO and other ranks met
death and 225 soldiers became wounded. After the death of
General Gillespie, Colonel Sebright Mawby took the command
of the British troops. He ordered the troops to effect withdrawal
immediately. He sent a letter to Delhi to send heavy cannons. He
decided to withhold attack till the cannons were arrived. The
British side suffered heavily in men and materials in their second
attack against the Nalapani fort.

48
The Third Attack Against Nalapani
The letter written by Colonel Mawby on 2nd November, 1814 to
then Adjutant General of the Bengal Army contained his request
to send immediately four 18 pounder and their 400 shells to
Dehradun. He wrote another letter to the above mentioned
military authority sketching his plan of action to capture the
Nalapani fort. He stated that he would try to find out the sources
of food and water supply to the fort and would attempt to block
them. He expressed that, though these matters were very
difficult to carryout, yet he would execute them by exploring
their ways as far as possible. Governor General lent his support
and appreciation to the determination expressed by Colonel
Mawby. The former also expressed his opinion that the fort
should be captured by any means to save the prestige of the
British Empire and raise the morale of the British troops.
Colonel Mawby had realized well that the Nepalese were
determined to sacrifice every thing to defend the Nalapani fort.
So, he decided not to launch attack without sound preparations.
Colonel Mawby conducted a detailed survey of the topography
of the places around the fort. In the second weak of November,
he sent a team of soldiers to prepare a road in order to move his
troops from the northern side of the fort but the Nepali forces
chased it away. Again, he sent another team to make road to the
southern side. This team was also chased away by the Nepali
troops.

Captain Bal Bhadra became aware of the war

preparations undertaken by the British. So, he also began to
strengthen the defensive position of the fort. He stored adequate
quantity of food. He asked for reinforcements and more arms
and ammunitions. He increased the observation over the British
activities. Amar Singh Thapa dispatched the Kalanal Company
under the command of Subba Chandra Bir Thapa to Nalapani.
Two platoons the Gorkha Company led by Subedar Chamu
Basnyat came from Nahan to join the defense of the fort, one

49
platoon of the Jwaladal Company arrived at the fort. Some
quantity of arms and ammunitions sent by Chautaria Bam Shah
reached the fort through Kazi Rewant Kunwar. But the
defenders of the Nalapani fort could not receive assistance in
men and materials to the requisite extent because of the blockade
imposed by the British troops at different places. Two more
platoons of the Jwaladal Companies led by Jaspau Thapa and
Ranjang and Randal Companies led by Kazi Randip Singh
reached Nahan from Arki but could not proceed to the Nalapani
front because of the British blockade.

Much activities did not take place for a period of three

weaks on the British side. On 24 th November, 1814 a large
contingent of British troops and heavy cannons reached
Dehradun on Colonel Mawby's request. After their arrival,
Colonel Mawby had begun to implement his battle plan. He
decided to lay a siege over the fort. On 24 th November, 1814, he
issued an order to his troops to lay a siege over the fort. The
order stated that the team led by a Major Ludlow should capture
the open field that existed south and below the Nalapani fort and
then join with both east and west teams. Secondly, the second
team led by Major Baldock should take position in the south-
west side of the fort, spread to make contact with the soldiers of
other teams and block the enemy from fleeing; thirdly, the third
team led by Captain Bucke should take position near the
Lakhand village, spread its soldiers to west-south up to area
allotted to the team of Baldock and north-east hill and block the
enemy fleeing, and fourthly, the fourth team led by Captain
Coultman should take position near the Asthal village (east of
the fort), and spread its soldiers up to the team led by Major
Ludlow. He issued a strict order to all teams to take positions
around the fort and not let the Nepali troops to flee out of the
fort.

On 25th November, 1814, the four teams of the British

troops took position in their respective places. Colonel Mawby

50
had selected a different place to launch main attack this time
than previous one. He decided to launch attack from the
southern slope. In order to reach the place as fixed for jumping
up, the British troops were required to scale up the ridge from
Ansyas of the Asthal village. The village existed in the south-
east sector of the fort. It would be extremely difficult to move
cannons and troops on this route, but their movements could not
be observed from the fort. The main invasion team constructed
their camp on 25th November at a place that was about 500 feet
below the fort on the eastern side. The cannons and troops could
reach near the fort from this side, though the route to it had
slightly upward slant. Troops and cannons were moved to the
camp during the whole day. The cannons were placed in
positions under the supervision of Captain Carmichael Smyth
during the night. On 26th November, four 18 pounder were also
placed in positions. The British placed their heavy and light
cannons on the eastern slope of the fort at a distance of about
250 yards. The Nepali troops executed many measures to
strengthen the fort and not to allow the invaders to enter into the
fort.

The British cut the sources of water supply to the fort.

th
On 26 November, Colonel Mawby issued order to shoot
cannons at the fort afternoon. The cannon balls did not hit the
bull, but strayed. Colonel Mawby carefully thought a plan to
breach the walls of the fort through cannons fire and make holes
there at first and then batch of soldiers should enter inside the
fort through the holes and capture it. Therefore, on the one hand,
the cannons began to fire upon the fort, and, on the other, he
issued an order to the troops to keep ready themselves to launch
attack. A team under the Command of Major Ingleby was
formed to spearhead the attack.

The cannons, firing continued whole day and night. The

cannons fire failed to make a hole at the wall. The intensity of
cannon fire was raised. On 27th November, a hole was observed

51
at the wall at 1 P.M. Colonel Mawby undertook inspection of the
hole through using a telescope. Then he ordered his troops to
move forward to launch attack against the fort. The cannon
firing was stopped. The battle plan was that, under the
Command of Major Ingleby, the Grendiers team of the 53 rd
Regiment should move first followed by its battalion and then
the Grenadiers of the Native Infantry of battalion. The attacking
teams began to move forward accordingly.

Major Ingleby was wounded at the very start of the

operation. Captain Parker replaced him. The British troops
moved forward, crossed the stream, then climbed up 200 yards
of the less steep slope and reached near the breached portion of
the wall of the fort. Parker peeped inside the fort and became
stunned. He halted in consternation and horror. He saw
unexpected and very awesome scene inside the fort. The hole
was at a height. A five feet deep ditch just attached to the wall
was there, which should require to be cross first if anyone would
dare enter inside the fort from the hole. The ditch was planted
with sharp tipped bamboo pikes facing above. If any one would
dare jump down from the hole, he would be fatally get pierced
by the pikes. Beyond the first ditch, there was another ditch,
which was more deep. The Nepali soldiers were remained hiding
in this ditch in order to stop the enemies who dared come inside
the fort. Meanwhile, Grenadiers, who attempted to enter into the
fort, were met either death of serious wound. Lieutenant
Harrington came forward, put aside discouraged him saying that
it was impossible to enter into the fort. But Harrington continued
his advance. The scale of attack then was quite low. Harrington
began to himself was moving forward. But he stopped when he
to enter into the fort. As he turned back in despair, a bullet was
launched from inside the fort. Bullets, arrows and stones hit
many British soldiers. Many of them were dead. In the meantime
an arrow hit in the chest of John Campbell and he died. The
British forces suffered heavily. Their attack collapsed.

52
 Colonel Mawby was observing the scene of battle from a
distant place. He thought that his troops could not enter into the
fort on account of facing strong resistance. So he sent Lieutenant
Colonel Buckland with additional troops to reinforce the
storming party. Mawby ordered the troops to enter into the fort
at any cost. A few soldiers of the new team could reach near the
broken portion of the fort with great difficulty, but they turned
back from there realizing that it was not possible to enter into the
fort. The Nepali forces intensified their counter-attack and
completely withheld the advance of the British troops. Colonel
Mawby immediately sent a cannon on the request of Lieutenant
Colonel Buckland. Luxford began to set the position of the
cannon. Suddenly, he became wounded from the barrage of
bullets that came from inside the fort. Eleven British soldiers
died. Having failed in all attempts to take over the fort, Colonel
Mawby withdrew back his forces at 3 P.M. In his letter, Mawby
wrote to Adjutant General that he had no option left except to
raze the fort's walls to the ground completely through executing
continuous cannon fire upon it. In this battle, the British side
suffered heavily. Four British officers got killed and seven
wounded. Thirty six soldiers died and 431 soldiers suffered from
wounds. Some soldiers were missing. The British side suffered
causality of 487 persons in this fighting. Many important figures
of Nepali side had died in the battle. The names of some of them
were Subba Chandra Bir Thapa, Subba Nathu Majhi, Subedar
Daljit Kunwar and Jamdar Daljit Shahi. A few Nepali soldiers
with-stood like a rock against the storm unleashed by a very
large force of the British.

The British fired cannons continuously upon the fort

during the whole night of 27th November and continued even up
to the noon. The cannon balls hit the wall of the eastern side of
the fort. Suddenly, they stopped the fire. The British side asked
for the corpses of the soldiers who had fallen in the fight of
previous day. Captain Bal Bhadra Knuwar allowed the British to
take away the dead bodies of their soldiers and officers. After

53
taking out the corpses, the British again continued cannon firing.
The continuous cannon firing damaged the fort severely. Many
Nepali soldiers had already died and became wounded. There
was a great scarcity of water inside the fort. The British did not
allow them to fetch water from out side. Most of the pitches and
other vessels, in which water was stored, were broken from the
cannon-fires. The number of death and wounded gradually
increased inside the fort. The over all condition of the defender
turned from bad to worse. On 28th November, the defenders
could not cook rice because of unavailability of water. So they
ate uncooked rice. Many Nepali soldiers became desperate and
began to leave the fort. Bal Bhadra and other Commanders
persuaded the desperate soldiers to come back to the fort. But
the morale of the Nepali soldiers had already reached at the
verge of breaking.

On 29th November, the British continued cannon firing

upon the fort. All walls of the fort were already fell down. But
the British did not let up tin the cannon firing. The British
soldiers were so much scared that they lost courage to launch
another attack against the fort. Eighty five Nepali soldiers
promised to defend the fort up to their last drop of blood. They
also promised that they would not surrender live in any situation.
But the Kalanal Company after the death of its Commander
Subba Chandra Bir Thapa had left the fort with its Company's
Colours without anyone's notice. This news spreaded despair in
the remaining Nepali defenders. A team went out of the fort at
mid night to bring water, but the British did not allow them to do
so. The team returned to the fort. Panic and despair spreaded
there. On 30th November, Subba Ripu Mardan Thapa, Subedar
Chamu Basnyat, Subedar Ganj Singh Thapa, Jamdar Vijay
Singh Khatre, Jamdar Singh Bir Khatri and Jamdar Chandra
Mani Rana decided to leave the fort and escaped breaking out
the enemies' blockade. They compelled Captain Bal Bhadra to
accompany them, though he had no intention to leave the
besieged fort. In total about 60 Nepali soldiers came out of the

54
fort, advanced towards the southern slope, and escaped by
breaking out enemies' encirclement. Guns were fired from both
sides. Few soldiers of both sides received gun-shoots.

In the morning of 30th November, Major Kelly issued

permission to British soldiers to enter into the fort after the
Nepali soldiers voluntarily vacated it and escaped breaking out
their blockade. The team moved very cautiously to the fort.
There was complete darkness inside the fort. When no resistance
came, Major Kelly along with his soldiers entered into the fort.
The time was 4 A.M. of 30th November, 1814. The British
arranged for the treatment of 90 wounded persons. 87 dead
bodies were burnt to ashes. The British took possession of the
weapons lying inside the fort. The letter written by Colonel
Mawby to Adjutant General divulged the content that the Nepali
soldiers vacated the fort in the morning at 4 O'clock. After the
conclusion of the Nepali-British war, the British constructed two
memorial pillars at the bank of the Risna river which lies below
the Nalapani ridge. One pillar was constructed in the memory of
those British officers and soldiers who sacrificed their lives in
the battle of Kalanga fort. The other pillar was constructed to
mark respect and appreciation of the British to their brave
enemy, Bal Bhadra Kunwar.

The Battle of Jaithak

The British forces became more cautious after their bitter
experience in the battle of the Nalapani fort. On the other hand,
the Commander of the Nepali forces adopted the policy of
stationing their forces at move favourable place in the hills and
of fighting against the invading British forces at those places.
After the death of Major General Gillespie, Major General
Martindell was appointed in his place. The British camp was
established at Mojamand. The fort of Nahan was situated at a
height of 3,000 feet above the sea level and at the north of
Mojamand. The fort was protected by high walls. The north of
the Nahan town had a range of high walls. Many important forts

55
were existed at this mountain range. Among which, the fort of
Jaithak had a great strategic importance.

Major General Martindell sent Major Ludlow to capture

a low ridge situated at the north-east of Nahan in order to
establish his camp there. Meanwhile, Kazi Ranjor Singh Thapa,
vacated the fort of Nahan and shifted to the more secured fort of
Jaithak situated at the north of the Nahan fort. The British came
to learn about moved there on 24 th December, 1814 and took
possession of it. As a hindsight of the battle of Nalapani,
Governer General Hastings issued a directive stating that, as for
as possible, the hill fort should not be attacked directly, but these
forts should be surrounded and there a siege should be imposed,
so that the enemies should surrender in distress.

After taking the possession of Naha, Major General

Martindell began to ponder over the question of capturing the
Jaithak fort. The fort of Jaithak was small, situated at the summit
of a hill, and surrounded by stone walls. Both the east and west
sides of it had ridges. Therefore, Martindell decided that, instead
of laying a siege against the fort, it should be captured by
directing fires upon it from both ridges. In order to carry out his
plan, he sent about 800 soldiers under the command of Major
Ludlow to the eastern ridge and establish a camp there. Similarly
Major William Richards was sent with 500 soldiers to capture
the western ridge. Each group had two light cannons and two
small howitzers. Elephants were used to transport these
weapons. Both teams received command that they should have
to reach the destination before dawn. The route that Richards
had to take was long, so he started early at 10.45 P.M. Ludlow's
route was short, so two hours later he set out. Major Ludlow had
to climb up a steep slope of 10 kilometers from Nahan. Before
dawn, the advance team of his force reached at the height of 3
kilometers below from the summit of ridge. When they moved
from there, they located small defensive positions of the Nepali
troops at 3 places, and the Nepali troops fired sparingly at them.

56
But Ludlow, did not engage himself and his forces moved
forward. In the morning at 8 O'colck, they were only 200 yards
below the summit of the ridge. They located the fourth defensive
position of the Nepali troops. The British spy informed Ludlow
that mare Nepali troops were coming to their this defensive
position. So, he decided to capture the place before their
reinforcement would arrive and ordered to mount an attack to his
400 soldiers. Major Ludlow's half of the forces and cannons
were still far behind. The British forces captured the defensive
position of the Nepali forces easily. The Nepali forces withdrew
and took position at another place. Having tested victory earlier,
the British troops asked permission from Ludlow to mount and
attack against the new defensive position of the adversaries. In
the meantime, Nepali forces had made preparation for the
counter attack. They allowed the British forces to reach near to
their defensive position. Then, the Nepali forces came out of
their defensive position and suddenly charged the British forces
with their Khukuris from three directions. The Nepali forces
slew many British soldiers. A stampede developed among them.
Ludlow had attempted to stop his fleeing forces, but the British
forces became so much dispirited that they refused to obey him.
The Nepali forces increased the intensity of attack against the
fleeing British forces. This events occurred at 8 O'clock in the
morning. The fleeing British forces reached their camp at 10
A.M. In this operation, 151 British soldiers suffered casualities,
of which one dozen soldiers including Lieutenant Munt met their
death. The operation of Major Ludlow turned into a failure.

Major William Richards along with his troops left Nahan

at 10.45 P.M. They were required to cross 26 kilometers to reach
to the Peacock hill. At the time of departure, they did not have
sufficient ammunitions. But Major General Martindell assured
him that he would sent him additional ammunitions in time.
Martindell received ammunitions after 4 hours and immediately
dispatched the same to Richards, but 60,000 rounds of bullets
fell into the hands of the Nepali soldiers by mistake. However,

57
Richards did not know about this episode. He trekked whole
night. The advance group of the British forces reached the
Peacock hill at 8 O'clock in the morning. The ridge was about 3
kilometers north of the Jaithak fort. The Nepali forces had not
taken any defensive measures in this direction. Richards' troops
took position. The Jaithak fort was only 1,000 yards away from
his northern defense position. He made there his temporary
camp.

The Nepali forces saw the British forces on the northern

eastern ridge. The former fired gun-shots, but could not inflict
any damage to the latter. Kazi Ranajor Singh Thapa decided to
mount an attack against the second group of the British troops.
At 1 P.M., sound of drums for war could be heard inside the fort.
About 1,500 Nepali soldiers assembled in side the fort. All
agreed to launch attack and destroy the enemies. Every soldier
moved toward the ridge with his weapon.

Richards did not see Ludlow and his troops on the other
ridge. He saw that the Nepali troops were moving down towards
him from the Jaithak fort. The Nepali forces consisted of Purano
Gorakh, Shardul Jang and Barakh Companies. As these forces
reached near the enemies. They launched attack against the
British. As Richards did not receive additional ammunitions so
his soldiers were firing sparingly in order to economize the
ammunitions. He had already sent a request to Martindell for
reinforcement. But reinforcement did not arrive up to the
evening. The night began to fall. British forces began to feel the
pressure of the attack of adversaries. The Nepali forces moved
forward as the darkness began to spread. They had already
launched attack nine times till then.

The stock of ammunitions of the British troops reached

near the point of exhaustion. It was 7.30 in the evening. Major
Richards received order from General Martindell for immediate
withdrawal of his troops and return to the camp. It was not easy

58
to carry out safe withdrawal of the troops when the adversaries
were on the action. Major Richards made a plan of withdrawal.
He divided his troops into two teams. One team should continue
to fight to stop the Nepali forces, and the remaining troops
should return to the camp as quickly as possible. Lieutenant
Thomas Thackeray took the difficult responsibility of rear-guard
fighting. William Wilson, William Turner and Stalkert stayed
with him. As the pressure from the British began to subside, the
Nepali forces intensified their attack. Thackeray troops
attempted to counter the attack. Many British soldiers died from
the bullets fired by the Nepali troops. Lieutenant Thackerey
himself died from a bullet wound. Wilson took the command in
his place, but he also received a gun-shot in his thigh and
collapsed on the ground. Then Turner assumed the command of
the British soldiers. He realized that it was futile to withstand
and fight against the Nepali forces, so he ordered the troops to
scatter themselves, and fight-against the Nepali forces, and final
their own way to escape. Accordingly, the British soldiers
scattered themselves and continued their retreat. The Nepali
forces pursued them, killed many of them, and only a few
British soldiers could reach at the camp. However, Richards
with main portion of his troops safely came down from the hill
and reached at the camp. In this action, the British side suffered
heavily. About 81 British soldiers including 3 able British
officers were killed and 200 soldiers became wounded.

The military operations conducted by General Martindell

to capture the Jaithak fort turned into a fiasco. He changed his
plan completely after his failure in his attempt to capture the
fort. Later, he adopted the policy of imposing blockade against
the adversaries withholding food and water supply to them, and
then compelling them to surrender. He rescinded the policy of
launching direct attack. He decided to capture the Naini hill and
the Blackhill situated in the north of the Jaithak fort to position
cannons in these places, and bombard the fort by continuous
cannon-fire. The British troops took possession of some place in

59
the northern ridge afterward. Bal Bhadra and his soldiers joined
in the defense of the Jaithak fort. By this time, General
Martindell had completely given up the idea of capturing the
Jaithak fort by launching a direct attack, and, instead, he went on
tightening the blockade against the Nepali forces by capturing
more surrounding places of the fort. On 1 st April, 1815, Major
Richards captured the Peacock hill. The adverse effect of the
blockade began to cast its spell over the Nepali forces of the fort.
Their situation gradually began to deteriorate. Some Nepali
soldiers fled out of the fort when the situation permitted them.
But, Kazi Ranjor Singh remained within the fort, strengthened
more its defense, and encouraged the soldiers to stand and fight.
However, the peace agreement signed between General
Ochterlony and Kazi Amar Singh Thapa on 15 th May, 1815
contained the provision of vacating the Jaithak fort and handling
it over to the British. Kazi Ranjor Singh complied with the terms
of the agreement and vacated it. The British did not won this fort
through a battle. They got it, when it was vacated by the Nepali
defenders.

The Battle of Deuthal

Kazi Amar Singh Thapa reached at the Malaon fort in February,
1815. The British captured Ramgarh on 15th February, 1815. By
first April, 1815, the British captured the Jorajoru fort, Tara
Gadh, Chamba Gadh and the southern ridge of the Maloun
mountain range. Commander Bhakti Thapa was then in Suraj
Gadh, a place about 7 kilometers south of the Malaon fort. The
British erected their camp on a spot that was situated between
Suraj Gadh and the Malaon fort, from where they could keep a
close watch over the activities of both places. Raila was about 2
kilometers north. Deuthal was about 2 kilometers south of the
Malaon fort. The British became successful to carry two light
cannons to Deuthal. When Bhakti Thapa got this information, he
throught that it would be proper for him to go to help Amar
Singh Thapa rather than to stay at Suraj Gadh. So, he came out
of the Suraj Gadh fort and reached the Malaon fort by dodging

60
the British troops on the way. Amar Singh Thapa came to the
conclusion that until the Deuthal camps of the British were
destroyed, the Malaon fort could not remain secured. So, he
decided to send 2,000 Nepali soldiers under the command of
Bhakti Thapa to mount an attack against the camp. They
completed the preparation for launching the attack during the
night.

Kazi Bhakti Thapa was 73 years old. On 16th April, 1815,

the Nepali forces led by him moved toward Deuthal. From the
fort of Malaon. Deuthal could be reached first climbing down a
certain distance and then scaling up. The Nepali forces planned
to reach the height of Deuthal and then mount an attack from
three directions simultaneously. The Nepali forces reached the
destination. They were given the order to mount attack. They
jumped up against the British forces by taking gun in one hand
and Khukuri on the other. Bhakti Thapa decided to make his
contre of attack against the cannons, so the Nepali soldiers
advanced towards the cannons. The British began to fire cannons
upon them. Many Nepali soldiers died from cannon's fire. Six
out of seven British soldiers placed to operate the cannons were
already received severe wounds. Bhakti Thapa withdrew the
remaining Nepali troops back. They were organized again. Then
they jumped up against the cannons with a lighting speed. They
reached quite near the cannons. Suddenly, the cannons roared.
Many Nepali soldiers got hit and died on the spot. Bhakti Thapa
made three attempts to capture the cannons of the British, but
each time he was repulsed and his forces suffered heavy losses.
Then he changed his direction of attack. The Nepali soldiers led
by him charged against the camp. A bitter fight continued for
two hours. Many brave fighters of both sides died. Suddenly, a
bullet hit in the chest of Bhakti Thapa. He died on the battle
field. After the death of their commander, the Nepali forces
began to retreat. The Nepali soldiers and their commander
Bhakti Thapa had exhibited great valour in the battle which will
be remembered for ever. The British also praised them for their

61
bravery, loyalty and dedication. The death of Bhakti Thapa was
a great loss to the Nepali army. In the battle, the Nepali forces
suffered casualties of 500 soldiers including the death of 150
soldiers on the battlefield. The British suffered casualties of 253
soldiers including 20 death. Major General Ochterlony, the
commander of the British forces in the west, sent the dead-body
of Bhakti Thapa with full military honour to Amar Singh Thapa.

The Battle of Jit-Gadh

Major General John Sullivan Wood was assigned the
responsibility of capturing Palpa in Nepal. He and his forces
arrived at Gorakhpur on 15th November 1815. Reinforcement of
King's 17th Regiment (later named as Leicestershire Regiment)
and 8th Cavalry already joined his force. Major General Wood
decided first of all, to launch attack against the Butwal Gauda.
Jit-Gadh was situated at the mount of the Butwal Gauda on the
bank of the Tinau river. Jit-Gadh had a very strong defensive
position. North of it and on the top of a hill was the Nuwakot
Gadhi. It was possible from Jit-Gadh to keep an eye on the
movements that might occur on the route that passed through the
ravine and went to Palpa. Kazi Bir Bhanjan Pande was given the
command of Jit-Gadh's defense. Two hundred soldiers of the
Gurubaksh Company and five platoons of the Sabuj Company
had taken defensive position there.

General Wood sketched two plans for his military

operation. His first plan envisaged that the troops should move
forward deep on the western bank of the Tinau river, then turn
north, cross the hill and attack the Nuwakot Gadhi and destroy
it. If such operations were made, the Nepali forces of Jit-Gadh
could not receive reinforcements. His troops while crossing the
slope after Nuwakot could avail the advantage of against the
adversaries from high land as adversaries would be then at a low
level. Beside's additional attack could also launched against
adversaries from the plain. The adversaries could, thus, be
ambushed from two sides and Jit-Gadh could be destroyed first.

62
If this could not be done, the alternate plan was made to capture
Butwal at first. Then by traversing through the hills situated east
of the Tinau river, the British forces could reach Palpa and
attack it, as most of the defending forces would then have been
shifted to the Nuwakot Gadhi and Jith-Gadh for their defense.
After the victory over Palpa, Nuwakot would became alone, and
it could be attacked from back side and won.

Wood's plan was not supported by Kanak Nidhi Tiwary,

who was then Wood's adviser. According to his opinion, it was
very difficult to reach Nuwakot trekking through the ridge and,
moreover, water supply was not available within the 5
kilometers radius of Nuwakot. Therefore, it would be very
difficult to mount an attack against Nuwakot by following the
first plan. All accepted the second plan.

The British troops were stationed at the camp at Sieura.

Major General Wood left 5 Companies of soldiers and one
cannon at Sieura. Then, he advanced toward north taking
remaining troops with him on 3rd January, 1815. He walked on
the eastern bank of the Tinau river and advance few kilometers
north. Before reaching Butwal, he crossed the Tinau river and
advanced towards west. He crossed 5 miles, and then turned to
the north. There was dense forest and bushes. The Sal forest
became more dense as they moving on but the foot-hill was still
far. The forces were moving in a camouflage. Ther was no road-
track in the dense forest. Kanak Nidhi was guiding them in the
thick forest. But the march of the troops became very difficult to
control. Many platoons were strayed. When Wood assembled his
troops, he found that there were only 3 Companies of the
advance guard. He beheld that there was no forest after 30 yards.
When he advanced a little further, he found walls of a structure
covered with moss and creepers. He thought that it could be a
fort and began to took for Kanak Nidhi, but he was no where. He
might have fled. Wood sent a small team under the command of
Ensign Stephens to find out the truth. The fort looked deserted

63
and vacant. But suddenly, a barrage of gun fires came from
inside the fort. Two soldiers got hit but other safely returned. He
decided to wait till the arrival of remaining troops. His troops
fired back, but they did not advance.

When all troops assembled, Wood divided them into two

groups and ordered them to move forward. Captain Croker led a
team of grenadiers and two Companies of troops. The second
group was led by Wood himself. They advanced forward. A
fierce battle raged between the British troops and the Nepali
troops. Captain Croker attacked the left side of the fort. Sardar
Surya Thapa got bullet hit and died. The team, while fighting,
reached at a more higher level than that of the fort. The morale
of Wood and his troops was very high. The remaining forces of
the Sabuj Company and the Gurubaksh Company of the Nepali
army had already joined the battle of Jit-Gadh led by Colonel
Ujir Singh Thapa. The Nepali forces were fighting bravely and
inflicting great damage to the British invaders. The battle was
turning slowly in favour of the Nepali defenders. In order to save
fruitless waste of lives, General Wood ordered a general retreat.
Both sides suffered heavily in the battle. The British suffered
causalities of 119 soldiers including 19 deaths. The causality
figure of the Nepali side was roughly the same.

Major General Wood retreated to Surajpur. Then on 20 th

January he shifted to Lotan. He had not given up the idea of
capturing Jit-Gadh. On 6th April, Wood and his troops marched
towards Butwal. The weather had already begun to deteriorate.
He moved forward through the eastern bank of the Tinau river.
The British forces reached near the Butwal town. But there was
the Tinau river in between the British troops and the Butwal
town. Because of the rains in the uphills the Tinau river had
risen. So, they could not cross the river. The British troops had
two 18 pounder and 4 mortars. The opposing Nepali forces had
few soldiers, numbering not more than 100, and posted at four
small defensive positions at the Butwal Darbar built in a hillock.

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The British began to fire their cannons, the Nepali side also
stopped firing cannon in reply to the British firings. The British
thought that both the fort and the Butwal town became deserted.
The Butwal cannon-fire. Wood ordered his some soldiers to
swim over the river and enter into the Butwal town. When the
patrol crossed about half of the river, guns were fired at it from
the Jit-Gadh fort. A few received the bullet hit and others safely
crossed back the river. Wood did not think it worth it put more
effort and incur more sacrifice to capture this small place. He
stopped the attack. After the set-in of monsoon, General Wood
ordered the general retreat. He stationed his forces in the
Gorakhpur-Butwal area during the rest of the war. He did not
launch any attack again. Some historians have expressed their
opinions that General Wood could have won all these places of
Nepali with the forces and equipments he had then, if he would
have pursued his attack. No one could say definitely what would
have happened in reality if Wood had pursued his attack. The
result was thus an unborn affair. But the reality was that the
Nepali forces had withstood the British invasion in this sector
and made it a misadventure to them.

THE NEPAL-TIBET-CHINA WAR

The Nepal-Tibet War (1788-89)

The border of Nepal meets the area of Tibet. There was social,
economic, cultural and political relations between them from the
time immemorial. In the medieval period, the Nepali Currency
was the legal tender and medium of exchange in Tibet. At the
last phase of Malla rule in the Kathmandu valley, the Malla
rulers duped the Tibetans and supplied them inferior silver coins
though they had received good and adequate quantity of silver
bullion from Tibet for the coins and their minting charges. After
the victory of King Prithvi Narayan Shah over the valley states,
he had tried repeatedly to solve the exchange rate between the
debased coins that were in use in Tibet and new qualitative
Nepali coins. But the Tibetan authorities refused to lower the

65
exchange rate of the debased coins. They demanded one to one
exchange between the debased old coins and good new coins.
The trade stopped for many years on account of the discord
between them regarding the exchange rate. The dispute between
Nepal and Tibet reached at a climax in 1788. During this period,
Panchen Lama had died in China, while he was in a visit there.
His two brothers Dungpa Truluk and Shamer Truluk began to
quarrel with each other for the distribution of property; Shamer
Truluk (the other name was Shyamarpa Lama) along with his 14
associates took shelter in Nepal; and Bahadur Shah treated them
shelter on the possibilities of using them against Tibet. Bahadur
Shah wrote a letter giving warning to the Tibetan Government to
attack if the discords about the exchange rate and trade were not
sorted out amicably. Instead of giving a positive reply of the
letter, Tibet began to undertake preparation for war. So, Nepal
launched an invasion over Tibet in 1788.

Preparation of the War

On the Nepali Side
Bahadur Shah had made a battle plan to attack the Kuti-
Kerong route and Digarcha simultanelusly and capture these
palces. Kazi Bal Bhadra Shah led the Nepali to launch attack
through the Kerong road. He was accompanied with Sardar
Amar Singh Thapa, Kirtiman Singh Basnyat and Bhotu Pandey.
Kazi Krishna Shah led the Nepali forces that would launch
attack through the Kuti route. He was accompanied with Kazi
Ranjit Pande, Sardar Parath Bhandari, Captain Harsha Pant,
Captain Nahar Singh Basnyat and Captain Shiv Narayan Khatri.
Kazi Damodar Pande led the force that would attack Digarcha
advancing through the Kuti route. Bam Shah and Dev Dutta
Thapa accompanied him. Total Nepali forces were about 18,000
including the porters and other non-combatant personnel.

On the Tibetan Side

The Tibetan side was also making preparation for the
war. They alerted their border guards. The Tibetans had decided

66
to fight defensive battle. They also solicited military assistance
from all neighboring countries. Dalai Lama of Lhasa wrote a
letter to King Shovan Shah of Jumla instigating him to attack
against Nepal. Dalai Lama also wrote a letter to the Emperor of
China soliciting military assistance. Panchen Lama of Digarcha
wrote a letter to then Governor General of the East India
Company soliciting military assistance. The Tibetan
Government sent forces to fight against the Nepali forces under
the command of two Generals. Another force was dispatched by
them under the command of a Cabinet Minitser.

The Battle of the Kuti Sector

The Nepali forces led by Sri Krishna Shah crossed Chhochyan,
attacked Kuti and captured it on 20th June, 1788. The Tibetan
forces could not provide strong resistance. This easy victory
encouraged Nepali soldiers. They moved forward and captured
Sikarjong on 3rd August, 1788. But, they faced the problem of
food supply there soon. In the meantime, the Tibetan forces
launched a counter-attack against them and the Nepali forces had
to retreat from this place. The information about the problem of
food supply and the counter attack reached Kathmandu.
Immediately, Bahadur Shah issued an order to the Amaldar of
Dolakha to make arrangement of the transportation of the good
to Sikarjong. Moreover, he sent reinforcements under the
command of Kazi Damodar Pande to the Kuti sector. In October
1788, this Nepali force moved forward from Kuti fought against
the Tibetan forces and recaptured Sikarjong.

The Battle of the Kerong Sector

Kazi Bal Bhadra fell ill. So, in order not to delay in the departure
of the forces to the Kerong sector, Sardar Amar Singh Thapa,
Kirtiman Singh Basnyat and Bhotu Pande set out leading the
Nepali forces. They captured Kerong in July 1788. They
continued their advance and captured Thunga in August 1788.
But, the Tibetan forces became successful to entrap them in
Jhunga for three weeks and they also captured Bhotu Pande. On

67
receiving such information in Kathmandu, Bahadur Shah
dispatched immediately 2,000 trained soldiers as a reinforcement
to the Kerong sector under the command of Bal Bhadra Shah.
The Nepali forces led by Bal Bhadra Shah launched an attack
against the Tibetan forces at Jhunga. The Tibetan forces could
not withstand against the attack. The Nepali forces could secure
release of Sardar Bhotu Pande from the captivity of Tibetans and
tighten their grip over Jhunga. The Nepali forces could not move
forward much because of the shortage of food and difficult
terrain. The Tibetan Government realized that it could not
withstand against the Nepali forces, so, it proposed a peace
treaty with Nepal. Talk on the peace treaty between them started
at Kerong in May 1789. On 2nd June, 1789, the peace treaty was
signed by both sides. And the Nepal-Tibet war ended.

The Nepal-Tibet-China War (1791-92)

In the peace treaty of 1789, Tibet agreed to pay Rs. 50,000 each
year to Nepal. Tibet paid Rs. 50,000 to Nepal in the first year in
time, but it refused to pay this amount to Nepal next year. This
breach of the treaty by Tibet greatly offended Nepal. So, it
began to prepare to invade Tibet.

Preparation for Invasion

Nepal decided to give the command of invasion over Tibet to
Kazi Bam Shah. All necessary information about Tiber was
being collected. Shyamarpa Lama extended his valuable co-
operation in this respect. In order to win over the favour of his
followers, Bahadur Shah issued a directive to the commander of
the Nepali forces not to attack and damage any Gumba
(monastery) of Sakyas. He also widely publicized his message
directed to the local Tibetans that they would be protected if
they would extend the support to the Nepali forces. Besides,
Royal orders were proclaimed to join the Nepalese compulsorily
in the new recruitments for the Nepali army. A large number of
recruits joined the army.

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 It was decided to follow the line of previous attack
against Tibet. Kazi Damodar Pande would lead the first group of
Nepali soldiers and they should advance through the Kuti route
and capture Digarcha. Kazi Abhiman Singh Basnyat would lead
the second group of soldiers. This group should advance through
the Kerong route. Captain Kalu Pande also took part in it. Subba
Kirtiman Singh would lead the third group of soldiers. This
group should advance from the eastern side, capture Kharta, then
move forward, and join with the another group of Nepali forces.
The combined forces should then move forward from Kuti. The
Nepali forces were permitted to loot monasteries other than that
of Sakyas. The looted wealth would be distributed among the
soldiers according to their ranks. But, it was strictly forbidden to
kill or territories those who had surrendered.

Attack Against Tibet

In 1791, the Nepali forces set out for Tibet. The Nepali forces
led by Kazi Abhiman Singh Basnyat advanced through the
Kerong route and attacked against Jhunga. Captain Kalu Pande,
Sardar Jaswanta Bhandari and Sardar Ranjit Kunwar were in the
forces. The Nepali forces had to fight a fierce battle against the
Tibetan forces at Jhunga. The Tibetans did not allow them to
move forward. The Nepali forces remained tied there for some
time. Kazi Damodar Pande, Kazi Deudatta Thapa, Captain Bam
Shah, Captain Jahar Singh Basnyat, Sardar Prabal Rana, Sardar
Pratiman Rana and Taksari Nar Singh Gurung and the Nepali
forces led by them advanced towards Digarcha taking the Kuti
route. They advanced and captured many places on route. In
October 1791, they mounted an attack against Digarcha. The
main Lama field of Lhasa. The Tibetan forces gave slight
resistance, and the Nepali forces captured Digarcha without
much difficulty. They demanded compensation of 50 Dahri (120
kg.) gold and ruppes one lakh, the unpaid installment of last two
years, from Lamas of Digarcha for the violation of the terms and
conditions of 1775-Khasa treaty by Tibet. But the Lamas could
not fulfil their demand. So, the Nepali forces looted Digarcha.

69
They captured large amount of money and large quantity of gold
and silver. They transported all riches to Nepal. The third group
led by Kazi Kirtiman Singh Basnyat, Subba Puran Shahi, Subba
Padam Singh Basnyat and Subba madho Shahi advanced
through the Khato route. This group fought against the Tibetan
forces at Cheer Baluwa and won them. This group advanced
further and stationed at Tirguj. In the initial phase of acitons, the
Nepali forces gained upper hand.

The Nepal-China War (1792)

The Tibetan Government solicited military help form China.
When the Emperor of China got news about the second invasion
over Tibet by Nepal, he became furious. He deputed Fu Kang-an
to lead a military expedition against Nepal in November 1791 in
order to punish Nepal for its military adventure against Tibet. Fu
Kang-an left China for Tibet with about 10,000 soldiers. In
addition to it, he had 3,000 soldiers in reserve. Likewise, Tibetan
had also raised 10,000 soldiers under the leadership of. In June
1792, both forces started their military operations against the
Nepali forces. The combined Chinese and Tibetan forces were
divided into two groups. It was decided that the main portion of
their forces under the command of Fu Kang-an and Kalon
Horkhang would launch attack against Nepal through the
Kerong route. Another small contingent of 3,000 soldiers led by
Cheng-the would attack through the Kuti route. On the side
Nepal, the numerical strength of its forces was low in relation to
that of combined Chinese and Tibetan forces. Bahadur Shah sent
reinforcements to Kerong under the command of Kazi Damodar
Pande. Different forts in Kerong were defended by Tula Ram
Pande, Shatrubhanjan Malla and Udhav Khawas.

The Battle of Kuti Sector

The first battle took place in Kuti in June 1792. The Nepali
forces were stationed at Khara. The combined Chinese and
Tibetan forces led by Cheng-the mounted attack against the
Nepali forces at Kuti and pushed them back. The Nepali force

70
withdrew to Listi and took defensive position there. The
combined Chinese and Tibetan forces also attacked them at Listi
and gave them a severe defeat. The combined forces alos
suffered heavily. The Nepali forces withdrew to the Nepal-Tibet
border and took position there. But the combined forces, because
of their severe loss, did not attempt more to attack against the
Nepali forces at their new position.

The Battle of Kerong Sector

The battle started in the middle of June 1792 in this sector.
About 6,000 Chinese and 6,000 Tibetan forces led by Fu Kang-
an and Kalon Horkhang began to move forward. They defeated a
small contingent of Nepali forces in the battle of Kukurghat, and
the Chinese forces moved forward. The combined forces began
to lay siege over main three forts of Kerong. These forts were
defended by the Nepali forces under the command of Tula Ram
Pande, Shatrubhanjan Malla and Udhav Khawas. A fierce battle
raged for five days between the two forces. But the small
contingent of Nepali soldiers could not withstand against the
attack of large combined forces. Tula Ram Pande got a bullet hit
and died. Shatrubhanjan Malla became seriously wounded. After
the fight that continued for five days, the Nepali forces vacated
the three forts, and withdrew to Rasuwa. In this battle, Nepali
side suffered death of 200 soldiers and the combined forces
suffered death of 400 soldiers.

The combined forces captured Kerong and then, they

advanced towards Rasuwa. On the way, an armed clash forces at
Syapruk. The Nepali forces were commanded by Bhasker Rana,
Subedar Aagwal Prabal Rana, Bharat Khawas and Ranakeswar
Pande of Shree Nath Company and they gave them strong
resistance. But, they had to withdraw to Dhunche and joined
there with the forces led by Kazi Damodar Pande. Forces of both
sides fought battles many times at different places in this sector
but both sides could not realize any conclusive result. Both sides
suffered heavily. The Chinese forces captured Ramche.

71
Damodar Pande had shifted his forces to Dhaibung because of
its better strategic position. The Chinese forces took possession
of Dhunche without a fight. They made advance by wining
battles at different places, but their condition began to
deteriorate as they gradually advanced further on account of
their ignorance about the topography and weather of Nepal, lack
of sufficient food availability to the large Chinese forces,
nostalgic feelings of the Chinese forces about their homes and
families as they had stayed out of their homes for about one
year, and serious loss of their manpower in the battles whom
they could not replenish because of the long distance from their
source of supply. The Chinese had made a deceitful plan to
inviting Bahadur Shah for negotiation in their camp and
imprison him there till he agreed their conditions. But Bahadur
Shah had their inside information. In order to make the Chinese
plan ineffective, he invited them to come to Kathmandu for a
talk. When their diplomacy did not work, the Chinese
commander decided to move forward and continue their attack.

The Battle of Betrawati (1792)

The Chinese forces kept their momentum of advance by pushing
back the Nepali forces. This created panic in Kathmandu. The
Chinese forces reached Dhaibung. The Nepal Government
directed its military commanders of the east and the west to
reach Kathmandu with their forces. Accordingly, the Nepali
forces from different parts of the country arrived at Kathmandu.
For the final and conclusive battle against the Chinese forces,
the Nepali forces under the command of Chautaria Sri Krishna
Shah, Chautaria Bam Shah, Kazi Abhiman Singh Basnyat, Kazi
Dhaukal Singh Basnyat and Shartughan Shahi were deployed.
This contingent of forces was supplied with sufficient quantity
of guns, cannons, ammunitions and other weapons. It joined
with the Nepali forces, led by Damodar Pande at Dhaibung. He
decided to divide the forces into different groups, and deploy
them at different defense positions in order to entrap the
advancing Chinese forces. The plan was that the different groups

72
of soldiers should take positions at different hillocks on this side
of the bank of the Betrawati river. They should watch the
activities of the enemy from these places.

In accordance with the plan, five companies of soldiers

took defensive positions at Chokde. These forces were
commanded by Kazi Damodar Pande, Sardar Prabal Rana,
Sardar Parath Bhandari and Subba Jorabar Bogati. These second
group of Nepali soldiers took defensive positions at Lachyang.
These forces were commanded by Chautaria Krishna Shah,
Chautaria Bam Shah, Kazi Naru Shah and Sardar Shartrusadhan
Shahi. Likewise, the third group of soldiers commanded by Kazi
Kirtiman Singh Basnyat, Kazi Devdatta Thapa, Sardar Pratiman
Rana, Sardar Jaswant Bhandari and Kazi Bakhatwar Singh
Basnyat took position at Gerkhu. The Nepali forces prepared
their defensive positions in a very careful and well throughout
way. But Fu Kong-an was unware of this move of the
adversaries. He had full confidence in defeating the retreated
Nepali forces.

It was the month of August. The road condition was very

poor because of the incessant heavy rain. The Betrawati river
was risen very high. There was high flood in it. The river had
very strong current. So, it was not possible to cross it except
through the narrow bridge, that was laid over the river. Against
such adverse situation, the Chinese commander ordered his
troops to cross the river on 20 th August, 1792. The Nepali
commanders allowed many Chinese forces to cross the bridge.
After crossing the bridge, the Chinese forces began to climb up
the hill. In the meantime, the Nepali forces attacked them
suddenly from three directions. The Chinese forces could not
withstand against the attack and began to flee. Many Chinese
soldiers died from the showers of stones hurled against them by
the Nepali soldiers. Many had died from the gun-shots. Many
Chinese soldiers fell into the flooded Betrawati river and washed
away. When the darkness fell, the Nepali soldiers crossed the

73
river, and launched night attack against the Chinese soldiers.
The Nepali soldiers inflicted heavy casualties to the Chinese
soldiers and crossed back to their positions. In this action, the
Chinese forces suffered heavily. This reverse compelled the
Chinese commander to ponder over his situation. As the Chinese
soldiers were suffering from the mental and physical fatigues on
account of their involvement in constant battles in the places far
away from their home-land, continuous march, and their
eagerness to return to homes in China, so they were eager to
cease fighting. The description as compiled by Wei Yuan, a
Chinese, about the battle reads as: "In the beginning of the 8 th
month, our troops made an attack from three directions.

The rebels numbering ten battalions were holding the

mountain very strongly.

The enemy taking advantage of his position on the

summit of the mountain, poured down trees and stone "Like
Rain" and at the same time those rebels who were separated by
river and mountain made an attack from three directions.

Our troops sometimes fought and sometimes retreated.

The number of killed and wounded was very great.

At the moment, our troops had just suffered a reverse,

whereas the enemy's country presented more and more dangers
to them…………."

The Chinese commander thought that is was better to

start talk for ending the hostility, which the Nepal Government
was also asking for. The crucial battle of Betrawati shielded the
Chinese advance to Nepal.

The Nepal-Tibet War (1855-56)

Peace prevailed for a long-time between Nepal and Tibet after
the above conflict. However, discord began to surface between

74
them later. The discord in respect of the Kuti sector was needed
to be solved amicably between them. Likewise, the Nepali
merchants had to face excesses oftee in Lhasa and many
complaints in this respect reached to Jang Bahadur Rana. In the
meantime, the Tibetan Government expelled the Nepali
representative from Tibet without any reason. Thus,
undercurrent of disharmony began to flow in the relation
between Tibet and Nepal. In 1852, Nepal sent a Mission to the
Court of China under the leadership of Sardar Gambhir Singh.
The Mission was carrying presents to the Chinese Emperor,
which Nepal was required to send every five year to the Court of
China according to the provision of the 1792 treaty. The
members of the Mission suffered extreme difficulty during their
this visit to China, on accout of non-co-operation and rough
treatment meted out to them by the Chinese and Tibetan
authorities. The leader of the Mission Gambhir Singh and his
one associate died in China. On the way to Nepal from China,
the other members of the Mission faced arson and looting
perpetrated by the Tibetan Khampas. On 22nd May, 1954, only
one member of the Mission namely Bhimsen Rana returned live
to Nepal. He reached Balaju at Kathmandu and told about his
misfortunes. Jang Bahadur became very angry when he heard his
report. Jang Bahadur decided to punish Tibet for this episode
and began to prepare for the war.

Preparations for the War

On the Nepal Side
Jang Bahadur Rana spent the whole year 1854 in
preparation for war against Tibet. The preparation of war
covered the aspects such as recruitment of new soldiers, their
training, production of arms and ammunitions, collection of food
articles and their storing, and maintenance of roads those lead to
Tibet. He also undertook the diplomatic measure to neutralize
China and to win support of British India.

75
 About 14,000 new infantry and 1,200 cavalry were
raised. As regards weapons, twenty-four 12 pounder and eighty
6 pounder and some mortars and howitzers suitable for mountain
warfare were manufactured. It was planned to set aside 12,000
troops to the internal security of the country, and the remaining
forces would be mobilized for the war. In this invasion force,
16,000 well trained forces would be included. Jang Bahadur
issued order to the east and west Commanding Generals to raise
contingent of 5,000 soldiers. Besides, he employed thousands of
workers to manufacture ammunitions, tents, boxes and gun-
carriages etc. Each and every soldier was provided with Bakhu
(jacket) and docha (a type of shoe) as he had to face extreme
cold at the time of crossing the Himalayan areas as well as at the
time of fighting in Tibet. Required numbers of doctors, Vaidays,
carpenters, bricklayers, cobblers, black-smiths and interpreters
(of English, Persion, Bhote and Chinese languages) were
employed. Jang Bahadur wrote to Rajautas of Nepal to extend
help in men and material to the war efforts against Tibet. The
King of Mustang had extended help in this connection.

The most difficult part in the preparation of war was to

procure and make arrangement for adequate quantity of food
articles. Jang Bahadur Rana banned the export of food articles to
India and made arrangements to purchase food grains in the
country. Besides, he issued an appeal to the Nepali citizens to
give help in the effort of war by providing food grains according
to their capacity. He issued an order that every household should
transport 32 seers of food articles to the designated center in the
northern region. He became successful to get public support and
procure adequate quantity of food articles. He further issued an
order to grant a rebate of 25 percent to those who would deposit
the land revenue for the year 1855 in advance. Moreover, he
made compulsory for the Government employees and
businessmen to contribute to the war effort. Even each Sepoy
contributed rupees 1.90. He granted the contract to a
businessman to collect food grains and Jang Bahadur received

76
rupees 20 lakh 90 thousand from him. The details of the
expenditures incurred in the preparation for war were as follows:
Ammunitions Rs. 6,38,346/-
Transport of Food Articles Rs. 22,199/-
Food Rs. 6,75,138/-
Godown Construction Rs. 3,696/-
Tents Rs. 18,574/-
Road Maintenance Rs. 1,000/-
Purchase of bags Rs. 1,34,122/-
Worship Rs. 1,028/-
Medicine Rs. 377/-
Sketches for Military purpose Rs. 43,313/-
Postal through horse-back Rs. 881/-
Stationary Rs. 4537/-
Travelling Rs. 4412/-
Troops Rs. 1,07,44,837/-

Small teams of Nepali soldiers were posted at the

mountain saddles leading to Tibet. In the east, a contingent of
Nepali forces were kept. This contingent would have look after
the security of the eastern region. Another large contingent of
soldiers were kept at Jumla. This contingent would have a look
after the security of the western region. After completing the
preparation for war, the Nepal Government wrote a letter to the
Tibetan Government stating following conditions to be complied
by it:
(i) To provide ruppes one crore to the Nepal
Government in compensation for the loss
incurred by the Nepali merchants.
(ii) To hand over the Nepali regions of Kuti and
Kerong to Nepal.
(iii) To hand over the Taklakot district of Western
Tibet to Nepal.

77
 The letter also contained a warning that if Tibet would
not agree with these conditions, Nepal would declare war against
it. The Tibetan Government sent a team of delegates to sart out
these matters, but nothing transpired. In the end, Jang Bahadur
Rana declared war in March 1855 against Tibet.

On the Tibetan Side

Tibet also began to make preparation for the after finding the
cue that Nepal was determined to launch an invasion over it. Its
preparation was defensive. Sethia Kazi of Tibet organized
30,000 infantry. He also raised about 5,000 cavalry. The Tibetan
Government deployed 8,000 soldiers at Digarcha and 14,000
soldiers at Tingri. Nepal got this information. The Tibetans were
great expert in spreading rumors.

Deployment
Jang Bahadur Rana divided his forces into four groups. They
were as follows:
1. The first group of soldiers should mount attack against
Tibet at the Kerong sector. The leadership of this group
was given to General Bam Bahadur. His deputy was
Colonel Kanak Singh Khatri. This group included the
Rifle Company, the Gorakh Nath Company, the Shree
Nath Company, the Devidutta Company, the Ganesh Dal
Company, the Bhairav Nath Company, the Purano
Gorakh Company, the Singh Nath Company, the Ram
Dal Company, the Raj Dal Company, the Jang Nath
Company and the Durga Buksh Company.
2. The second group of soldiers was led by General Dhir
Shamsher. The group should launch attack at the Kuti
sector. His deputy was Khadga Bahadur Kunwar.
3. The third group consisting of the Himaldhoj Company
should attack against the Tibetan areas from Olangchung
gola.

78
 4. The fourth group of soldiers was led by General Krishna
Dhoj and should launch attack against the Tibetan areas
from the Mustang sector.

In addition to above Nepali forces, Jang Bahadur Rana

had also raised reserve forces.

The Battle of Kerong Sector

On 6th March, 1855, a large contingent of Nepali forces led by
General Bam Bahadur Rana started from Kathmandu to launch
attack against the Kerong area. This contingent advanced
without any resistance on its way and captured Kerong. But,
Jung Bahadur sent reinforcement under the command of General
Jagat Shamsher and Colonel Bhakta Jang when he heard that a
large Tibetan force was converging to Kerong.

The Battle of Guntagadhi

General Jagat Shamsher and his troops reached near the fort of
Guntagadhi. He got information that 6,500 Tibetan soldiers
defended the fort. The fort was at the top of a hill. There was
extreme cold. The sun was about to set. General Jagat Shamsher
decided to launch attack against the fort and ordered his troops
to do so. Strong cold wind was blowing. The Nepali soldiers
mounted an attack and fought bravely, but could not capture the
fort. Rain began to fall and darkness prevailed. The battle
discontinued. The Nepali side suffered heavily in the action than
of the Tibetan side. In the next morning, the Tibetans also made
up their mind to launch attack against the Nepali forces. In the
meantime, Jagat Shamsher divided his forces into two groups
and ordered them to mount an attack against the fort from two
directions. They charged forward, fired barrages of gunshots,
and soldiers could not withstand and fled. The Nepali soldiers
captured the fort and 600 Tibetans.

79
The battle of the Jhunga Fort
After capturing Guntagadhi, the Nepali forces moved forward,
and laid a siege over the Jhunga fort. The fort had a great
strategic importance. The fort was very strong and could
accommodate 10,000 soldiers at a time. Its capture was essential
for the Nepali side. About 6,000 Tibetan soldiers were there for
its defense. The Nepali forces led by Jagat Shamsher
immediately mounted an attack against the fort. They repeatedly
tried to overwhelm the fort's defense, but in it was very difficult
to defeat the adversaries that were holed in and strongly resisting
from strong defensive position. The battle raged for 9 days. The
weather was very adverse. The fortune of battle moved like a
sea-saw of both opposing forces. But, in the tenth day, the
Tibetans began to flee leaving out the fort. The Nepali forces
captured lot of wealth and other materials in the Jhunga fort.

The Battle of Kuti Sector

The Nepali forces led by General Dhir Shamsher defeated a
small contingent of the Tibetan soldiers at Chusan and then
captured Kuti. Thereafter, the Nepali forces moved forward. The
Sona Gumba (monastery) to capture it. The Sona Gumba was 15
kilometers far from Kuti. The Sona Gumba was defended by
8,000 Tibetan forces. But, Tibetans had not been able to place
the cannons. In order to take advantage of the situation, Dhir
Shamsher order to launch attack against the Gumba
immediately. The Tibetan forces resisted fiercely. Both sides
suffered heavily in the battle. But, in the end, the Nepali forces
gained upper hand. The Tibetan forces began to flee. Many
Tibetan soldiers met their end. The Nepali soldiers captured the
Sona Gumba. In the battle, 221 Nepali soldiers died and 195
soldiers received wound.

The Tibetan Government proposed peace negotiation to

the Nepal Government, but it was secretly making a brisk
preparation for war. On 1st November, 1855, 15,000 Tibetan and
Tartar soldiers launched fierce attack against the Nepali military

80
camp at Kuti. The Nepali soldiers were not prepared for the
sudden attack, but they fought valiantly against the enemies.
However, they could not withstand against the attack for a long
time. They withdrew to Listi. Almost during the same period,
another large Tibetan forces laid a siege over the Jhunga fort.
The Nepali forces led by Pratiman Rana valiantly defended the
fort against the attack of the Tibetan forces. He sent a
communication to Kathmandu about the grave situation. On
receiving the information, Jang Bahadur Rana dispatched two
contingents of Nepali forces immediately to Tibet to help
besieged troops. One contingent led by Dhir Shamsher
procedded to Kuti and another contingent led by Sanak Singh to
the Jhunga fort.

Dhir Shamsher divided his forces into three groups and

mounted attack against the adversaries from three directions.
The Nepali soldiers became victorious and Kuti was recaptured.
The forces led by Sanak Singh jumped up against the Tibetan
soldies at Jhunga, and gave a crushing defeat to them. The
Tibetan fled away. The Tibetan Government became alarmed
from these victories scored over the Tibetan forces by the Nepali
forces and appealed for peace talk to the Nepal Government.
Ultimately, the hostilities between two sides decreased after the
conclusion of the Thapathali treaty.

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 SOME BRAVE SOLDIERS

The Nepali soldiers have always been extolled for their loyalty,
dedication and valor both in the battle-fronts and in the welfare
activities. History bears such testimony. They have fought to
unify the country, help the allies, preserve national identity,
preserve nation's sovereignty and manifest national glory.
Therefore, it is not out of place to write eulogy of some of the
brave commanders and soldiers to mark out respect to them as
well as to the general soldiers of the Nepali Army.

Kalu Pande
Kalu Pande, the son of Bhim Raj Pande, was a brave
commander and soldier, sly strategician and proficient diplomat.
Kazi Kalu Pande had three sons namely Bansh Raj Pande, Rana
Sur Pande and Damodar Pande and one daughter 'Chitrawati'.
He was the right hand of King Prithivi Narayan Shah of Gorkha.
The contribution of Kalu Pande was immense in the efforts of
unification of Nepal. He is our National Pride. He was so
popular among adversary state, namely Baise Rajyas and
Chaubise Rajyas, that when King Prithivi Narayan Shah of
Gorkha sought an opinion from them in respect of bestowing the
post of Mul Kazi (equivalent to the post of a Prime Minister)
they recommended the name of Kalu Pande. The Gorkhalis had
the same opinion. Kalu Pande was appointed as Mul Kazi of the
Gorkha Kingdom.

King Prithivi Narayan Shah of Gorkha was an ambitious

King who wanted to expand territories in all directions. In order
to materialize such ambition, it was necessary to make flanks
safe and peaceful by culminating and establishing friendly
relations with bordering states. The Gorkhalis wanted to move
east, so, its western, southern and northern flanks were required
to be safe. It was because of the proficient diplomacy. Kalu
Pande became successful to arrange a friendly meeting between
these two states. Kalu Pande was fully aware of the danger to

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Gorkha from Chaubise Rajyas. Again, it was because of the
foresight and diplomacy of Kalu Pande, Gorkha could secure
assurance of non-belligerance and invasion against it from
Chaubise Rajyas by giving them words to provide one hundred
twenty thousand rupees in the future. With the transpire of
favourable situation in the flanks of the Gorkha Kingdom, the
Gorkhali army moved to the east.

In 1744, with a view of invading Nuwakot, the Gorkhali

army crossed the Trishuli river on the pretext of digging a canal
at Khimchet. The Kings of the Kathmandu valley states
remained unaware of the crossing of the Gorkha troops over the
Trishuli river. In the battle of Nuwakot, the Gorkhali troops
under the command of Sardar Kalu Pande launched an attack
from the direction of the Garkhu stream. King of Gorkha Prithivi
Narayan Shah himself led the Gorkhali troops from the southern
side. The Gorkhali troops under the command of Chautaria
Mohaddam Kirti Shah advanced from the Dharapani. The
Gorkhalis won the battle and captured Nuwakot. Jayant Rana of
Nuwakot fled to Belkot.

King Prithivi Narayan Shah chased Jayant Rana to

capture him. Kalu Pande later joined the King. An intense
fighting raged between the Gorkhali troops and the Nuwakot
troops. At one time, the situation became very critical for the
Gorkhalis. However, the tide turned in favour of Gorkhalis when
Kalu Pande personally led the fight, showed great valour, and
slew Jayant Rana. The victory over Nuwakot put the Gorkhalis
at the door of the Kathmandu valley and this threatened the trade
intercourses between Tibet and the Kathmandu valley states
through Naldum-Tibet road.

The Gorkhalis chalked out a strategy to win-over the

Kathmandu valley states by encircling it and imposing blockade
first rather than making a frontal attack against them. In order to
achieve this objective, Kalu Pande captured Naldum and

83
Mahadev Pokhari in 1745, though later, Naldum changed hands
five times between Gorkha and Kathmandu during the period
from 1745 to 1755. After the capture of Naldum in 1745, King
Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu mounted an attack against the
Gorkha troops in order to recapture Nuwakot. The 8,000
Kathmandu troops were led by Kashi Ram Thapa. The Gorkha
troops under the command of Mahoddam Kirti Shah, Kalu
Pande and Tula Ram Pande advanced to defend Nuwakot. At the
confluence of Tadi and Likhu streams, fierce fight took place
between the opposing troops during the rainy season of 1746. In
the end, the Gorkhalis became victorious and Kashi Ram Thapa
returned to Palanchok. On the advice of Kalu Pande, the
Gorkhalis captured Lami Danda and Chitlang, places west of
Kathmandu. The capture of these places by Gorkhalis brought
hardship to Patan for the availability of woods to build houses as
these places were the source of wood supply to Patan. Upto
1750, the Gorkhali troops had continued their operations to
mount a blockade of the Kathmandu valley.

Kalu Pande was aware of danger to Gorkha if Lamjung

would move to the opposite camp. During the years 1754 and
1755, Chaubise Rajyas became hostile to Gorkha. Kalu Pande
had made an attempt to recement the friendly relation of Gorkha
with Lamjung. He asked the king to relieve of himself from the
position of Mul Kazi and went to Nuwakot. Along with
Mahiman Khawas, he went to the Palace of Lamjung. In the
meantime, the troops of Chaubise including Lamjung led an
invasion of Gorkha. In 1755, the troops of Chaubise Rajyas
attacked the Gorkhali troops at Sirhanchok where a fierce fight
took place. Ultimately, Gorkhali troops defeated the united
forces of Chaubise Rajyas. Kazi Kalu Pande captured Bungmati
and Khokana, places within the valley, and advanced towards
Patan. A panic situation prevailed among the Kings of the valley
states.

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 King Prithivi Narayan Shah intended to win over
Kirtipur in order to make it a launching pad for the invasion of
Kathmandu, Patan and Bhadgaon. However, Kalu Pande
reported him that all Kings of the valley states were in unison
because of the victories of Gorkhalis. He advised him to attack
as and when discords emerged among them. But, King Prithivi
Narayan Shah was determined to attack Kirtipur. Sensing the
danger of attack against Kirtipur from the Gorkhalis, trained
Nagarkoti troops of all three valley states were assembled in
Kirtipur to defend it against Gorkhalis. The Gorkhali troops
attacked Kirtipur from the side of Dahachok. Kalu Pande also
took part in the battle that took place in June 1757. The
Kirtipur's defenders stoutly defended and an intense battle raged.
The Gorkhali troops suffered heavily and about 1,200 soldiers
got killed. King Prithivi Narayan Shah barely escaped from the
death. Kalu Pande met his end in the battle. He was beheaded
while fighting and defending himself at the bank of the Balkhu
stream. His head was taken away by King Jaya Prakash Malla of
Kathmandu and the body was taken to Dahachok. The death of
Kazi Kalu Pande was a great loss to the Gorkhali army. A
valiant soldier had met a valiant end. The name of Kazi Kalu
Pande of Gorkha will remain immortal in the history of Nepal.

Ram Krishna Kunwar

Ram Krishna Kunwar, the son of Ahiram Kunwar, was an
influential Bhardar during the reign of King Prithivi Narayan
Shah. Ram Krishna Kunwar became an officer in the army at the
age of 14. His father was bestowed with a jagir by King Nar
Bhupal Shah of Gorkha.

The Gorkhalis under the King Prithivi Narayan Shah

were executing the strategy of imposing blockade on Kathmandu
by gradually winning different places surrounding the
Kathmandu valley. Chautaria Daljit Shah, Kazi Harka Pantha
and Bir Bhadra Thapa were the commanders of Gorkhali troops,
who went to capture Palanchok and Kavre. In 1762, Jetha Budha

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Ram Krishna Kunwar actively participated in the battle against
Makwanpur. The Gorkhalis captured Makwanpur. Chautaria
Mahoddam Kirti Shah, Chautaria Dal Mardan Shah, Kazi Daljit
Shah, Kazi Shur Pratap Shah, Kazi Bansh Raj Pande, Kula
Nanda Jaisi, Hira Singh Basnyat, Nandu Sardar and Jetha Budha
Tharghar were also took part in the Makwanpur battle. Sardar
Daljit Shah, Kazi Bansh Raj Pande, Jiwa Shah, Rudra Shahi,
Ram Krishna Kunwar, Umrao Tharghar etc. marched east along
with troops to invade and capture Timal and Sindhuli. Ram
Krishna Kunwar also participated in the operation of Kavre Kot.
In 1763, war broke out in Dhulikhel. Ram Krishna Kunwar, Hari
Bansa Upadhyay and Kalidas Khadka captured Dhulikhel.

King Prithivi Narayan Shah had made a plan of invasion

over Kiant regional composed of Wallo Kirant. Manjha Kirant
and Pallo Kirant. Sardar Ram Krishna Kunwar and Sardar Amar
Singh Thapa were assigned to capture hilly portions of Kirant
regions. The invading force crossed the Sunkoshi in the darkness
of night. Brahmins and Kshatriyas welcomed the arrival of the
Ram Krishna Kunwar. He also made an effort to win over
Khambus through persuation. But, the Khambus formed an
organization to fight against the invading Gorkhali forces. The
Nepali forces became victorious in the battle and the Chaudandi
Kingdom was integrated with Nepal in 1773. The Nepali army
captured the Sindhuli Gadhi near to Vijayapur.

In January 1770, King Prithivi Narayan Shah asked his

all Bhardars including Ram Krishna Kunwar for their advice on
the question of granting rewards to those who had died in the
1962 battle of Timal. Ram Krishna Kunwar had sent a petition to
the King for his approval to lay stones on the road from
Guheswari to Pashupati. King Prithivi Narayan Shah approved
his request. In September 1772, King Prithivi Narayan Shah
issued a Lal Mohar (Red Seal) in favour of Dhulikhel areas and
the whole surroundings of Swayambhu. The King wrote in the
letter that, after the death of Kalu Pande in Kirtipur, the wisdom

86
and valour of Ram Krishna Kunwar helped in expanding the
territory of Nepal; and, with the might of sword, the Kingdom of
Nepal emerged, so a reward of half of the Kingdom would not
he considered as a sufficient reward to him. The Lal Mohar also
stated that after the death of Ram Krishna Kunwar's brother in
the battle of Timal, the responsibility would now lie on him to
invade and win over the Kirant region. King Prithivi Narayan
Shah bestowed 22 pairs of Shirpau (appreciation) to Ram
Krishna Kunwar after his victory over the Kirant region.

After the death of King Prithivi Narayan Shah in 1775 in

Nuwakot and during the reign of King Pratap Singh Shah, the
Sikkim's army reached Chyangthapu to fight against the Nepali
army. In the midst of such a situation, Ram Krishna Kunwar had
prepared a plan to win over the Sikkim's army and advance to
Sikkim. In the meantime, a large portion of the Nepali army had
to proceed to Someswar to protect it from the British. In 1779,
the confederate of Chaubise Rajyas declared war against the
Kingdom of Gorkha, Bali Baniya solicited the help of Ram
Krishna Kunwar. Ram Krishna Kunwar, with a sezeable force,
joined Bali Baniya to fight against the forces of Chaubise
Rajyas. The forces of Gorkha and Chaubise fought at Bali Thum
in which Bali Baniya had succumbed to death. The Chaubise
forces crossed the Chepe stream and captured a few Gaudas
(forts). The Chaubise forces attempted to capture Chitwan and
Upardang. However, Sardar Ram Krishna Kunwar gave a defeat
to the Chaubise forces. In 1782, the Chaubise forces attacked
again the Kingdom of Gorkha. Amar Singh Thapa led Nepali
forces to give a defeat to the Chaubise forces. Both forces met at
Chipleti. Both forces fought valiantly. But the Nepali forces
became victorious and the Krishna Kunwar was deputed to build
a gun-powder factory in Pyuthan. While the gun-powder factory
and the arsenal factory were under construction, he died in 1789.
Ram Krishna Kunwar was a patriot and valiant soldier. His great
contribution lies in furthering the success of unification of
Nepal.

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Shivram Singh Basnyat
Shivram Singh Basnyat, the son of Jayaram Singh Basnyat,
belonged to Sri Pali Basnyat family and was a commander in the
Nepali army during the time of King Prithivi Narayan Shah.
Jayaram Singh entered into the Kingdom of Gorkha from 24
Thakurais during the reign of King Nar Bhupal Shah. Jayaram
Singh also worked in the Nepali army. Shivram Singh Basnyat
was one of the many who accompanied King Prithivi Narayan
Shah to Banaras. In the Dibya Upadesh, King Prithivi Narayan
Shah expressed his opinion that the Basnyat specially the
progenies of Shivram Singh should be entrusted witjh the task of
supervision of the southern side. Shivram Singh had four sons
namely Kehar Singh Basnyat, Nar Hari Singh Basnyat, Abhiman
Singh basnyat and Dhokal Singh Basnyat. His wife's name was
Shur Prabha.

In 1745, in the battle of Sankhu, Shivram Singh Basnyat

was only 32 years old. There were different versions about the
episode that caused his death. One version was that the
adversary forces led by Kazi Taudik of Kathmandu attacked the
Gorkah forces when they were resting near Sankhu. The Gorkha
forces fought valiantly, but Kazi Shivram Singh Basnyat along
with 200 soldiers died in the fight. This episode occurred in
1764. Second version is that Kazi Taudik had witnessed the
valour of Kazi Shivram Singh Basnyat in the battle of
Sindhupalchok and his valour caused the ruin of his enemies. So
kazi Taudik became furious over him and he was determined to
kill him. At the time of preparation of the battle of Sanga, few
persons of Bhaktapur, who had won the turst of Gorkhalis, killed
him in treachery. The third version was that the inhabitants of
Sanga became determined to resist the Gorkhali forces and
stopped the supply of food articles. Though, the Gorkhali forces
were getting the supply of clarified butter (ghee) and corn flour.
The Gorkhali forces were waiting for the auspicious hour as
propounded by the astrologer to attack. In the meantime, with
the consent of the King of Kathmandu, Kashi Ram Thapa of

88
Bhaktapur attacked the Gorkhali forces. The surprise attack
launched by Kazi Kashi Ram Thapa in the midst of night against
the Gorkhali forces terminated with the death of Sardar Shivram
Singh Basnyat along with 900 Gorkhali soldiers.

King Prithivi Narayan Shah granted Marwat (the land

given for the livelihood to the family members of the soldier
who were died in a battle) to the sons of Shivram Singh Basnyat
after his death. His offspring Jahar Singh Basnyat has
constructed a Shiv temple and a Pauwa (a place where pilgrims
and travelers can take rest) at the Sangchok in memory of his
grand-father, Shivram Singh Basnyat.

Abhiman Singh Basnyat

Abhiman Singh Basnyat, the son of Sardar Shivram Singh
Basnyat, belonged to Bhardwaj Gotri Sir Pali Basnyat dynasty,
and was born in 1744. He was only two years and a half when
his father died. He was nursed by his mother Shur Prabha. From
his childhood, he was closely linked with the Palace of Gorkha.
He was a brave soldier and an able commander.

In 1773, King Prithivi Narayan Shah assigned Abhiman

Singh Basnyat and Parath Bhandari to invade the Kingdom of
Chaudandi in the rainy season. The Gorkhali forces under their
leadership launched an attack against the Kingdom of
Chaudandi, captured it, and integrated it into Nepal. The King
and Ministers of the Kingdom of Chaudandi fled away. The
Udayapur Gadhi was under the protection and defense of the
Magar forces. Because of the command of King Prithivi
Narayan Shah to the Nepali army to behave nicely to Magars,
the Nepali army did not attack Magars and advanced to
Chaudandi. The Nepali army was only negotiating for the
surrender of Magar forces of the Udayapur Gadhi. The Nepali
forces captured the Kingdom of Chaudandi. In this operation,
Krishna Kunwar and Amar Singh Thapa also took part. When
the defenders of the Udayapur Gadhi knew that the Kingdom of

89
Chaudandi fell, they vacated the Gadhi (fort) and accepted the
control of Nepal.

The Kingdom of Chaudandi had no permanent army.

Abhiman Singh Basnyat captured the capital of Chaudandi
marching through the Terai region. Ram Krishna Kunwar and
Amar Singh Thapa subdued the resistance made by the
Khambus. Hari Nandan Upadhyay of Khapra helped Nepali
army by extending loan of Rs. 18,725 in total to it in February
1774 to capture Naulakhu Kirant region. In lieu of his help to the
Nepali army, he was given tax free lands, as Kush Birta, in the
Majhua Thum, one Dhalal in Manjha Kirant and fallow land
surrounding the Kanchanpur Gadhi at the bank of the Trijunga
river. In 1774, Abhiman Singh Basnyat appointed Lokeswar
Pandit as a priest, Abhiman Singh Basnyat had commended the
Nepali forces as well as participated in the battle of Makwanpur
in 1762, the battles of Chaudandi, Manjha Kirant in 1773, the
battles of Arun, Chainpur and Morang in 1774, the battle of
Sombeswar in 1776 and the battles of Vijayapur and Rising,
Ghiring and Paiyun Garjkot in 1778. He also captured Ilam from
Sikkim.

After the demise of King Prithivi Narayan Shah, hostility

flared up in the eastern Terai region during the reign of King
Pratap Singh Shah. Abhiman Singh Basnyat garrisoned the
Nepali forces there. He and Swarup Singh Karki led an attack by
Nepali forces against Bhubneswar and Kabilas in the Saptaria
region and captured these places. Buddhi Karna Rai, the deposed
Minister of the Vijayapur Kingdom, began to perpetuate looting
and arson in the Terai region while living in the territory of the
East India Company. However, the Nepali army captured
Buddhi Karna Rai along with his few accomplices when they
were indulging in the act of looting within the territory of Nepal.
They were brought before Abhiman Singh Basnyat. Finding
evidence of looting and arsons from the investigation, they were
sentenced to death. After the episode, tranquility prevailed in the

90
Kirant region. Abhiman Singh Basnyat became successful to
slay Ripu Mardan Sen, the brother of Dhwaj Bir Sen, and 15
soldiers of Sikkim army. Remaining captured soldiers of Dhwaj
Bir Sen were sent to Kathmandu. Peace prevailed in Morang and
its surrounding areas after this event. Abhiman Singh Basnyat
returned to Kathmandu after giving the responsibility to
maintain security in the eastern region to Swarup Singh Karki
and Kazi Parbat Rana.

The Nepali army was in the move in the western hilly

regions of Chaubise Rajyas with an objective of securing
territorial expansion for Nepal. Kazi Abhiman Singh Basnyat
advanced toward Palpa with 5 Companies of the Nepali army.
He reached Tansen, the capital of Palpa, by crossing the Kali
Gandaki river. In the meantime, he returned to Lamjung by
giving up the plan of capturing Palpa after he knew about the
plan of Parbat to attack Nepal, Swarup Singh reached Lamjung
from Kathmandu with a large force. In the battle that raged
between the Parbat forces and the Nepali forces, commander of
the Parbat forces, Ganesh Mall, was captured and brought to
Kathmandu. Abhiman Singh Basnyat stayed in Tanahun after
this episode. He won Tanahun and entered into Tanahun. King
Bhupal Narayan Shah of Tanahun accepted the supremacy of
Nepal. Garahun also fell to Nepal. Nepal won principalities of
Rising, Ghiring, Charikot and Paiyun and integrated them into
Nepal. Abhiman Singh Basnyat returned to Kathmandu
accompanying through executing treaties, the supremacy and
control of Nepal.

Kazi Abhiman Singh Basnyat had also taken part in the

Nepal-Tibet war in 1791. He led attack against the Digarcha
Monastery and captured a large amont of wealth. He sent the
wealth to Kathmandu. He also participated with Damodar Pande
in the military expedition to the west. However, when King
Rana Bahadur Shah became grown up and began to manage

91
state affairs, Abhiman Singh Basnyat was relieved from the
service.

Abhiman Singh Basnyat received land grants and other

rewards for his service to the nation. He received clearance for
the expenditures that were incurred between 1770 and 1774.
King Pratap Singh Shah extended thanks to him for the capture
of Buddhi Karna Rai, a rebel. In May 1991, King Rana Bahadur
Shah also provided clearance for the expenditures incurred by
Abhiman Singh Basnyat to conduct various military operations
in the eastern Nepal from 1773 to 1775.

Damodar Pande
Damodar Pande, the youngest son of Kazi Kalu Pande, was a
brave soldier and an able commander. In 1768, Damodar Pande
received land grants and annual remuneration (jagir) of Rs. 501/-
from King Prithivi Narayan Shah. His victory march started
from his military expendition to the east of the Dudha Koshi
river during the reign of King Prithivi Narayan Shah. Damodar
Pande extended the eastern boundary of Nepal to Adrok
Chyangthapu in the eastern Kirant and then turned to the south
and integrated Subbas of Atharai Chainpur and Panchtar
accepting the terms and conditions enumerated in the Sen
Makwanpuri Lal Mohar. In 1783, he commanded the Nepali
forces in the battle against Lamjung and moved toward west in a
military expedition. During the period 1785-86, he annexed the
principalities of Rising, Ghiring, Jajarkot (Gajur), Bhirkot,
Garahun, Dhor and Satahun and merged them into Nepal. In
1787, he won the principalities of Parbat, Galkot, Musikot,
Dhurkot, Dullu and Dailekh and also merged them into Nepal. In
1790, he captured Darna, Achham, Bajhang, Thalhara, Doti,
Banphi, Motame, Kalagaun, Jahari and Rukum and integrated
these places into Nepal. Besides, Damodar Pande had proved his
mante in capturing monasteries of Digarcha and uprooting the
Tibetan forces in 1790 as well as fighting a defensive battle
against invading Chinese forces that penetrated upto Dhaibung

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in 1792, Damodar Pande had led the Nepali forces in the
military operations against Kumaon.

At the time of death of King Prithivi Narayan Shah,

Damodar Pande was in the east conducting military operations.
In 1776, during the reign of King Pratap Singh Shah, the Nepali
forces led by Damodar Pande fought a battle against Sikkimese,
Lepchas in Chainpur and won them. The boundary of Nepal
extended to the Tista river. On account of this victory, Damodar
Pande was elevated to the position of Kazi. In 1777, King Pratap
Singh Shah died. Because of the quarrel between Queen
Rajendra laxmi and Bahadur Shah for Regency to the infant
King Rana Bahadur Shah, Bahadur Shah was imprisoned. He
was released later and went to Betia in India. Damodar Pande
accompanied him to Betia. Chaubise Rajyas launched an attack
against Nepal to take benefit of the exile of Bahadur Shah and
Damodar Pande. Queen Rajendra Laxmi called back Damodar
Pande from Betia. The revolt of the Chaubise Rajyas was
quelled by the joint wisdom and action of Damodar Pande and
Bansh Raj Pande. Later, Queen Rajendra Laxmi ordered to kill
Bansa Raj Pande and he was beheaded at Bhandar Khal. The
killing of brother greatly shocked Damodar Pande. He was also
relieved from the service on the charge that he was loyal to
Bahadur Shah. In the meantime, Queen Rajendra Laxmi died.
Chaubise Rajyas began to organize themselves against Nepal.
The unfolding of such situation compelled other Bhardars to call
back Bahadur Shah to Nepal. Bahadur Shah reorganized the
honest Bhardars of the time of King Prithivi Narayan Shah in the
national service and allotted assignments to them in accordance
with their capability.

Bahadur Shah married Princess Najar Hajuri, daughter of

King Mahadatta Sen of Palpa, and won over the favour of the
King of Palpa. Then, Parbat became alone. In the beginning of
1786, Nepal declared a war against the Chaubise Rajyas and the
Baise Rajyas. Palpa sided with Nepal. Kazi Damodar Pande led

93
the Nepali forces in the military expedition of west. In May
1786, the Nepali forces crossed the Kali Gandaki river and
reached Gulmi. A battle took place at Charpala in Gulmi. The
King of Gulmi fled. The Nepali forces advanced toward Chandra
Kot. A heavy fighting took place in Arghatosh. The Nepali army
had to fight a bitter struggle against the forces of King Govind
Singh of Isma. In the end, the Nepali army became victorious
and the Kingdom of Isma was annexed by Nepal. After a bitter
fight, the Nepali army captured Parbat. The Nepali army
advanced further west and captured Pyuthan Musikot in
November 1786. Out of the conquered principalities, Nepal gave
Gulmi, Argha and Khanchi to Palpa, and other principalities
were integrated with Nepal.

The Nepali army led by Damodar Pande fought the battle

against the King of Dang and the King of Chhilikote and won
these places. The Nepali army also fought against the King of
Rolpali Gajulkote and won the battle. Gajul was annexed by
Nepal. After the victory over the Chaubise Rajyas, Bahadur
Shah assigned Kazi Damodar Pande to led military invasion
over the Baise Rajyas. Jumla was the most powerful among the
Baise Rajyas. Damodar Pande decided to invade Jumla and
captured it. He divided his attacking Nepali army into two into
groups. One group of the Nepali army advanced towards Jumla
taking the route of Mustang while other group took the route of
Dailekh. The attack made by the Nepali army against Jumla
from the northern side was only diversionary. The Nepali army
advanced taking the route of Dialekh captured Jumla in 1789.
With the fall of Jumla, most of the principalities of the Baise
Rajyas became disheartened. Doti was a powerful Kingdom
among the Baise Rajyas. The Nepali army won Doti, Achham,
Bajhang, Thalhara and Bajura up to 1790 and extended the
boundary of Nepal to the Mahakali river. In the military
operations of the Nepali army against the Chaubise Rajyas and
the Baise Rajyas, Kazi Jagajit Pande, Kazi Abhiman Singh

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Basnyat, Sardar Amar Singh Thapa, Bhakti Thapa and Amar
Singh Rana also were associated with Kazi Damodar Pande.

The Nepali army continued its westward military

operations. In 1791, the Nepali army crossed the Mahakali river
and invaded Kumaon. Harsha Dev, deposed Minister of Kumaon
sided with the Nepali army. A fierce battle took place between
the Kumaon army and the Nepali army, but the Nepali army
became victorious. King Mohan Singh of Kumaon and his
brother Lal Singh fled to Rudrapur. King Uttam Shahi of Dullu
and Harsha Dev helped the Nepali army significantly in the
battle of Kumaon. After the victory over Kumaon, the Nepali
army constructed a fort in Lal Mandi and garrisoned itself there.

Damodar Pande returned to Kathmandu after the start of

the Nepal-Tiber war in 1791. He led the Nepali army against
Tibet and captured the Digarcha Monastery. The Chinese army
intervened in the war siding Tibet. The Chinese army continued
its advance to Nepal. The Nepali army adopted the guerrilla
strategy of hit and run and harassed the invading Chinese army.
A great fight took place between the two armies at the bank of
the Betrawati river and the Chinese army suffered heavily. An
agreement between Nepal and China ended the armed conflict
between the two countries.

The rise and prominence of Bahadur Shah and Damodar

Pande made them object of jealously among other Bhardars of
the Royal Palace. Plots and intrigues were begun to be hatched
against them. King Rana Bahadur Shah assumed the full control
over state matters when he attained the adulthood. Bahadur Shah
expressed opinion against the wish of King Rana Bahadur Shah
to marry Kantiwati. The event enraged the King and caused the
downfall of Bahadur Shah. He was charged that he
misappropriated the state treasury. His Regency was removed
and he was imprisoned. King Rana Bahadur Shah recognized the
Bhardari Board. Damodar Pande was appointed one of its

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members because of his knowledge in the field of foreign
affairs. In 1799, King Rana Bahadur Shah renounced the
kingship in favour of his infant son Girban Yuddha. Later, King
Rana Bahadur Shah went to Banaras in India. It is suspected that
in agreement was concluded with the Britishers in 1801to detain
Rana Bahadur Shah in Banaras. Rana Bahadur Shah procured a
copy of this agreement through a special channel.

Younger Queen Subarna Prabha had an intention of

removing Damodar Pande from the Palace. In early 1802,
Kirtiman Singh Basnyat was murdered suddenly. Blame of this
murder was put on Damodar Pande. After one month, he
renounced the post of Kazi. Damodar Pande was reinstituted in
the post of Kazi after the arrival of Captain Knox as Vakil in
1802. Elder Queen Raj Rajeswari returned to Nepal from
Banaras. Damodar Pande went to Thankot to welcome her. He
became Mukhya Kazi. He also constituted a Kazi Board. He had
stopped allowances of Rana Bahadur Shah. In 1804, Rana
Bahadur Shah returned to Nepal from Banaras. He ordered to
arrest Damodar Pande on the charge that he had committed a
treason against the country by concluding a commercial treaty
with the British. Damodar Pande, his son Lalit Bam and a few
Bhardars were beheaded in front of the temple of Bhadrakali.
Damodar Pande was 52 years old when he was beheaded.
Damodar Pande was loyal to the Crown and acted in the nation's
intrest throughout his life.

Amar Singh Thapa

Amar Singh Thapa, son of Umrao Bhim Singh Thapa, belonged
to Atreya Gotri Bagale Thapa dynasty, and was horn in 1774 at
Siranchok of Gorkha. Umrao Bhim Singh Thapa had
commanded the Gorkhali army in the attack against Palanchok
in 1759. He got killed in the battle. Amar Singh Thapa was only
eight years old when his father died in the battle.

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 Amar Singh Thapa was a Sardar in 1783. The army of
Prabat gave a defeat to the Nepali army in Sinjung. The army of
the Chaubise Rajyas was preparing to attack against Siranchok
of Gorkha. Nepal sent a large contingent of the Nepali army
under the command of Kazi Bal Bhadra Shah to give a crushing
defeat to the invading army of adversaries. Kazi Bal Bhadra
Shah was supported by deputies namely Kazi Dev Datta Thapa
Magar, Kazi Damodar Pande and Sardar Amar Singh Thapa.
Amar Singh Thapa had a good knowledge of the geography of
Siranchok, because he was born there. He gave a crushing defeat
to the invading army at chipleti. The army of the Chaubise
Rajyas retreated and fled. The Nepali army again mounted an
attack against the army of the Chaubise Rajyas at Jhimryak and
killed 200 adversaries' soldiers. The Chaubise army took shelter
in Lamjung. The army of Palpa also retreated back from Sinjung
after hearing the news of above defeat. King Kirti Bam Malla
put blame on Kaski for the defeat and harassed it. The King of
Kaski took shelter to commander Bal Bhadra Shah of the Nepali
army. He called back Bansh Raj Pande from his exile in Betia in
India. Bansh Raj Pande won over the favour of Pants of
Lamjung. The Gorkhali army encircled Lamjung. Sardar Amar
Singh Thapa moved towards Kaski with a sizable Nepali forces.
King Kirti Bam Malla was surrounded by the Nepali army at
Deurali near Dhikuri Pokhari of Dare Gaunda. However, King
Kirti Bam Malla became successful to fled away from the
blockade by impersonating as a Jogi. The army of Prabat
surrendered to the Nepali army. By this way Amar Singh Thapa
liberated Kaski.

Kazi Abhiman Singh Basnyat led Nepali forces to invade

Palpa. Amar Singh Thapa was also in the invading army. The
Nepali army led by Sardar Bilochan Khawas and Amar Singh
Thapa attacked Tahu and captured it. The Nepali army then
moved toward Bankul. The Nepali army deferted the Palpali
army. In 1785, the Nepali army led by Amar Singh Thapa
moved west toward Chandra Kot. He won Khanchi. Afterward,

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he returned to Kathmandu and again led Nepali army to invade
Dailekh in 1790. A battle took place at Bilashpur and Surchhetra
of Dailekh and he won Dailekh. King Uttam Shahi of Dullu and
King Gajendra Shah of Jajarkot helped Nepal. The boundary of
Nepal touched the Karnali river. Again, the Nepali army
marched toward Achham and Doti led by King Uttam Shahi and
Amar Singh Thapa. The invading Nepali army consisted of ten
companies of troops along with Captain Golaiyan Khawas and
Rana Bir Khatri. The Nepali army fought a battle at Dipathal and
won Doti and Achham. Later, Sardar Amar Singh Thapa and his
associates crossed the Mahakali river, and garrisoned their
forces at Dholi of the Kumaon region.

The Nepali army under the command of Kazi Jagajit

Pande and Kazi Amar Singh Thapa moved to invade Kumaon.
King Lal Singh of Kumaon and Mahendra Chand sent army to
fight against the Nepali army. A fierce battle raged at Buthal
Gadhi between the two armies and, in the end, the Nepali army
won Kumaon in 1791. Again, the Nepali army led by Kazi
Jagajit Pande and Kazi Amar Singh Thapa attacked Garhwal in
1792. The war continued for the years. In the meantime, the
Nepali army returned to Kathmandu on accout of Nepal Tibet
war. After the end of the armed conflict between Nepal and
Tibet because of conclusion of a treaty between Nepal and
China, Kazi Amar Singh Thapa was ordered to launch an attack
against Garhwal. He commanded 6,000 Nepali troops. He
invaded Garhwal and captured it. King Praddhyumna Shah of
Garhwal fled to Dehradun. Praddhyumna Shah, deposed King of
Garhwal, raised a new army and launched an attack against the
Nepali army in 1796. But, he died at the battle and the Nepali
army gained control over Dehradun.

King Karna Prakash of Sirmoor solicited the help of

Amar Singh Thapa because of hostility between two
principalities namely Hindoor and Sirmoor. In 1806, Amar
Singh Thapa went to Sirmoor with a large contingent of the

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Nepali army to assist it. He defeated Hindoor. He annexed a few
principalities, and incorporated them in Nepal. Later, Amar
Singh Thapa moved toward Kangra. The Kingdom of Kangra
was powerful. So, Amar Singh Thapa won small principalities
neighbouring Kangra at first. He set free King Iswari Sen of
Mandi from the prison, who was imprisoned twelve years before
by King Sansar Chand of Kangra. The Nepali army laid siege
over the Kangra fort. In the meantime, King Ram Saran Singh of
Hindoor attacked the Nepali army. But it suppressed him. A few
places namely Chamcha, Halipur, Jaswan, Datapur, Siwa, Sukel,
Mandi, Kahaun and Katlehar came under the possession of the
Nepali army. Amar Singh Thapa sent Jaspaun Thapa to attack
Sumerupur fort and he advanced through the route of Jalandhar.
Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa succumbed to death from a bullet
wound. In September 1809, a large force of Khalsa Sikh led by
Ranjit Singh occupied the Kangra fort. A fierce battle raged
between the Nepali army and the Sikh army. However, the
Nepali army had to retreat and cross back the Satlaj river. But
the Nepali army remained at the bank of Satlaj river and
stationed there for a long time in the hope of recapturing the lost
territory.

Amar Singh Thapa did not favour of war between Nepal

and the British. He did not think that Nepal would win over the
British. In 1813, Amar SinghThapa captured four villages of
Hindoor. In the far west, he was engaged in the administration
and management of the newly won territories. After the start of
Anglo-Nepal war, Amar Singh Thapa fought vigorously to
defend the territory of Nepal. In October 1814, Ochterlony of the
British army was advancing toward Satlaj region. He did a plan
to attack Hindoor, Gohila and Mahlog peak. Amar Singh Thapa
was at Raj Garh during that time. He wanted to defend Tinker
fort. The British captured the surrounding areas of the Malaon
fort and continued their advance. In the meantime, King Ram
Saran Singh of Hindoor switched his favour towards the British.
The British army continued its advance through Hindoor. Amar

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Singh Thapa assigned Bhakti Thapa to defend Jyaura and its
southern areas while Amar Singh with his troops stayed at
Jyaura and Pudho Pass. King Krishna Singh of Sirmoor attacked
the Nepali force at Chandal Garh, but he got a defeat. Bam Shah
had to conclude a peace treaty with the British after his defeat in
the battlw of Kumaon. Amar Singh Thapa became disheartened
at the death of Bhakti Thapa in the battle of Deuthal. In March
1816, the British fiercely attacked the Malaon fort. Heavy
cannons fired upon the fort. On the advice of the Kathmandu
Palace and against his own wish, Amar Singh Thapa concluded
a peace treaty with the British and the war ended in the far west.
The British intercepted the letter of Amar Singh Thapa which
was sent to the Kathmandu Palace in which he had suggested to
prolong the war till the on-set of the rainy season, recruitment
and training of new soldiers in the meantime, and recapture of
lost territory when the situation turned in favour of Nepal.

Kazi Amar Singh Thapa was a brave soldier and master

strategician. He fought battlw against Lamjung in 1783, Parbat
Galkot in 1786, Achham, Darna, Purkot, Dailekh and Doti in
1790, Tibet in 1790, Kumaon in 1791, Garhwal, Hindoor and
Jhupat Keshar in 1791, Pantha Jara in 1806 and British in 1814-
16. Impressed with the valour of Amar Singh Thapa, General
Ochterlony made friendship (miteri) with Ram Das Thapa, son
of Amar Singh Thapa, and exchanged their turbans. Before the
war, the British made an attempt to win over the favour of Amar
Singh Thapa by extending lucrative offers to him, but he refused
to accept such offer.

The loss of territory to the British and absence of any

opportunity to regain it on accout of Nepal's treaty with the
British made Amar Singh Thapa a dejected man. He began to
reside at Panch Pokhari at the bank of the Indrawati river. After
March 1816, he wwent to Gosain Kund. He died there in July
1816 from a severe stomach pain. He had ten sons namely Kazi

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Rana Dhwaj, Rana Bhim Singh, Rana Jor Singh, Bhakta Bir,
Ram Das, Nar Singh, Arjun and Bhupal Singh Thapa.

Bhakti Thapa
Bhakti Thapa was the grand son of Pratap Thapa and son of
Amar Singh Thapa, and they were descendents of Pumbar
dynasty. Earlier, Bhakti Thapa was a Bhardar in the Lamjung
Palace. He was a great soldier. The Nepali army captured him
and Bali Bhanjann Malla in a wounded condition in a battle in
1783. Bali Bhanjann Malla succumbed to death. Bhakti Thapa
was taken to Kathmandu. His wound heeled. On the persuasion
and effort of Bada Kazi Amar Singh Thapa, Bhakti Thapa
accepted to work in the Nepali army. In the beginning, he was
given the post of Subangi, but later, when he showed his loyalty,
honesty and bravery, he was elevated to the post of Bhardar.

Bhakti Thapa won the favour of both Rana Bahadur Shah

and Bahadur Shah. In 1789, Nepal won Jumla. Bhakti Thapa
was deputed to Jumla to manage its affairs. After some time, a
revolt took place in Jumla which was successfully quelled by
Bhakti Thapa. In 1790, he was rewarded with a promotion. He
was granted additional rice field in Satar of Lamjung. Later, Doti
also revolted against Nepal. He also suppressed the revolt of
Doti. He bagan to run the administration of Doti and Jumla.
When the boundary of Nepal reached to the Kingdom of
Sirmoor, an agreement transpired between the two states.
Sirmoor accepted the supremacy of Nepal over Srinagar. Bhakti
Thapa was assigned to strengthen the control over Srinagar.

During the Nepal-Tibet war of 1792, revolts in many

places in the western Nepal began to surface. Bhakti Thapa was
entrusted with the responsibility of suppressing the revolt that
was taking place to the west of the Bheri river. He became
successful in suppressing the revolt. In 1794, he was promoted
to Sardar from Subba. He was appointed as an administrator of

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Kumaon. He was also given the authority to give directions to
the authorities posted in the Lamjung and Darma areas.

Bhakti Thapa was entrusted with the responsibility of

running administration in Kumaon. He had wide powers of
imposing fine, sentencing imprisonment, etc. He became very
busy in running the administration of Kumaon and Garhwal. He
used to send regularly information of neighbouring states to the
Kathmandu Palace. He used to take care to verify the authencity
of the information before intimation it to the Kathmandu Palace.
It found his information as correct and reliable, so it began to
give due importance to his information. When Nepal won
Kumaon, the former's control over Juhar Bhot automatically
extended because Juhari Bhot was a suzerainty of Kumaon.
Juhari Bhot began to give Rs. 6,000 as Sirta (of annual payment)
to Nepal. Later, Bhakti Thapa knew that Juhar Bhot used to give
Rs. 16,000 Sirta to Kumaon previously. In 1795, the Kathmanud
Palace decided to impose Rs. 16,000 annual payment on Juhari
Bhot. The Juhari Bhotes resisted it and took arms against Nepal.
Therefore, Bhakti Thapa led an attack against Juhar Bhat,
defeated it, and obtained a written commitment of Rs. 10,000
annual payment by Juhar Bhot to Nepal.

Bhakti Thapa went to Sirmoor with the Nepali forces on

the order of Amar Singh Thapa to defend Sirmoor if attacked by
Kangra. Later, Amar Singh Thapa moved himself to Sirmoor
taking reinforcement. Again he moved to Barha Tippa and
garrisoned his troops there. Minister Nigahi Chand of Kangra
attacked the Nepali army, but he suffered a defeat.

Subangi Amar Singh Thapa, the father of General

Bhimsen Thapa, was deputed to Kangra under the command of
Bhakti Thapa. Amar Singh Thapa led an attack against Kilapuri
without the knowledge of Bhakti Thapa. This episode created
deep animosity between them. Therefore, Chautaria Bam Shah
was posted in position to both Sardar Bhakti Thapa and Subangi

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Amar Singh Thapa. They had to obey his command. Bhakti
Thapa was ordered by the Kathmandu Palace to act on the order
of Chautaria Bam Shah. In 1799, Bhakti Thapa went to
Kathmandu on the occasion of Coronation of Girban Yuddha.
During the same period, Regent Rana Bahadur Shah sent a large
contingent of Nepali troops under the command of Budha Kazi
Amar Singh Thapa to invade Garhwal. Bhakti Thapa also went
along with this troop. The Nepali army captured Garhwal and
King Pradhyumna Shah of Garhwal died in the battle. The
boundary of Nepal reached to the Yamuna river.

The Nepali army continued its advance to the west and

began to lay siege to the Kangra fort. Bhakti Thapa was
entrusted with the task of defending the Tehra fort that was east
of the Kangra fort. A large force of Kangra led by Bn Bajir
attacked the Nepali army led by Bhakti Thapa. A fierce battle
took place. Ban Bajir met death, and the Nepali army became
victorious. Bhakti Thapa received an appreciation letter from the
Kathmandu Palace for his this brave deed.

Sardar Bhakti Thapa reached Garhwal in 1810. His son

died within 18 days of his arrival in Garhwal and wife died
within 45 days. He was greatly shocked from the death of his
wife and son. Bhakti Thapa could not send information regularly
to the Kathmanud Palace after this unfortunate event. The
Kathmanud Palace got information of the death of the wife and
son of Bhakti Thapa and sent a message of condolence to him.

Bhakti Thapa was granted the command of the five

companies of Nepali troops stationed in Sirmoor and Kumaon
and annula Khangi (remuneration) of Rs. 5,000. The Kathmanud
Palace instructed Amar Singh Thapa that if Bhakti Thapa had
become incapable of performing his duties efficiently because of
demise of his family members, he should be returned to
Kathmandu. While his return journey to Kathmandu, he stayed
some days at Deurali (present Kaski) and constructed a Pauwa at

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the cross-road of Chisanku, Raginash and Kathmandu. The King
of Nepal granted some land as a trust in 1811 for the
maintenance and supervision of the Deurali Pauwa. The
Government of Nepal had granted land as Birta to the family of
Bhakti Thapa.

The strained relation between Nepal and British

continued to grow. The chances of war between them became
more probable. In such a situation, General Bhimsen Thapa
called a secret meeting in Kathmandu on the day of Bijaya
Dashami. In the meeting, commanders of different places
participated. Bhakti Thapa was one of them. The British soldiers
won Tara Gadh and Chambi Garh. Bhakti Thapa along with 900
Nepali soldiers was in the fort of Surya Garh. The British
soldiers launched fierce attack against the Nepali forces of Surya
Garh. But, Bhakti Thapa stoutly defended the area. Noticing the
withdrawal of enemy troops at night, Bhakti Thapa advanced
toward Raj Garh to defend it. Thomas captured Deuthal. Later,
General Ohterlony reached Deuthal.

The peak of the Deuthal hill was strategically very

important for the Nepali army. Raj Garh could be hit by firing
cannons from the peak of the Deuthal. At night, Amar Singh
Thapa called a meeting of all military officers and discussed the
situation. It was decided in the meeting that the Nepali army
should immediately launch attack against Deuthal and retake it.
About 300 Nepali soldiers advanced to attack the fort of
Deuthal. The number of defenders of the fort were also the
same. In order to reach the height of Deuthal from Raj Garh, the
soldiers had to climb down first and them to climb up toward the
summit of the hill. Bhakti Thapa had led the Nepali troops.
Seventy three years old Bhakti Thapa was climbing up and
leading the soldiers. The enemy soldiers began to fire intensely
from inside the fort. The Nepali troops were also firing back and
advancing toward the fort. Some of the Nepali soldiers reached
inside the fort and bean to stay enemy soldiers by using their

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Khukuris. Bullets were buzzing all around. A fierce fighting was
raging. Bhakti Thapa was encouraging the Nepali soldiers to
attack, kill the enemy and captured the fort. One bullet hit him,
but he did not stop encouraging the Nepali troops to continue
their fight. Suddenly, one bullet hit him in the chest. He
collapsed and fell on the ground never to stand-up again. After
the death of Bhakti Thapa, the Nepali troops fled away from the
battle field in the absence of leader. Bhakti Thapa was a valiant
soldier whose bravery was admired by friends and foes alike.

Bansh Raj Pande

Bansh Raj Pande was the eldest son of Kalu Pande and was born
in Gorkha in 1739. He had two sons namely Kanak Singh and
Rana Bom Pande. Bansh Raj Pande fought battles against
Makwanpur, Timal and Sindhuli in 1762, Kirtipur in 1764,
Chihan Danda in 1766, Pauwa Garh in 1776, Tanahun in 1770
and Lamjung in 1783.

Animosity between King Prithivi Narayan Shah and his

brother-in-law, King Digbandhan Sen of Makwanpur caused the
Gorkhali army's attack against Makwanpur. King Prithivi
Narayan Shah wanted to tighten the blockade of Kathmandu, so
he wantee to capture Makwanpur, the Gorkhali troops were led
by Mohaddam Kirti Shah, Daljit Shah, Bansh Raj Pande and
Kehar Singh Basnyat. In the battle of Makwanpur, 300 Makwani
soldiers died while 50 to 60 Gorkhali soldiers died. The
Gorkhali forces became victorious in the battle. King
Digbandhan Sen of Makwanpur along with his Minister Kanak
Singh Baniya fled to Hariharpur. After a period of on month, the
Gorkhali forces attacked Hariharpur. Dignandhan Sen with his
Ministers again fled away. However, later Digbandhan
surrendered himself before the Gorkhali army. Meanwhile,
Muslim forces led by Gurgin Khan advanced from Betia to
invade Makwanpur. His army reached at the bank of the Karra
stream. His army prevailed over the few Gorkhali defenders.
King Prithivi Narayan Shah deputed Bansh Raj Pande and Nahar

105
Singh Basnyat to defeat the invading forces of Gurgin Khan.
Ram Krishna Kunwar also participated in the battle of
Makwanpur. His Gorkhali forces launched an attack against the
invading forces from the side of Taplakhar. Other group of the
Gorkhali forces attacked from the direction of old Makwanpur.
The Gorkhali forces chased away the Muslim forces and also
badly mauled them, in the battle, about 1,700 invading soldiers
had died while casualties in the Gorkhalis were 100 dead. The
Gorkhali forces captured 500 guns and sent those to Nuwakot.

In 1764, Bansh Raj Pande led the Gorkhali soldiers to

loot the harvest of paddy of Kirtipur. He had repeatedly
communicated from Dahachok to the defenders of Kirtipur to
surrender themselves to King Prithivi Narayan Shah. The
commander of Kirtipur defenders Sikhwal Pradhan consulted
Bansh Raj Pande to surrender Kirtipur. The defenders of
Kirtipur opened the gate of the fort at night to allow the Gorkhali
forces to enter into Kirtipur. The Gorkhas' victory over Kirtipur
strengthened their strategic position against their adversaries
namely Kathmandu and Patan.

In 1766, the Gorkhali forces led by Bansh Raj Pande

badly mauled the army of Lamjung in the battle of Larkha Jung.
The renowned Bhardars of Lamjung namely Kunchi Bhandari
and Partha Bhandari surrendered before the Gorkhali, which
greatly weakened the strength of Lamjung. In the meantime,
King Jaya Prakash Malla sought military help from the East
India Company to fight against the Gorkhali forces. The military
personnel of the East India Company under the command of
Captain Kinloch and Harding began to advance toward
Kathmandu on the request of King Jaya Prakash Malla. The
forces of the East India Company gave a defeat to the Gorkhalis
at the advance post in Sindhuli Gadhi and began to prepare plan
to climb up and cross the hill. King Prithivi Narayan Shah sent
Gorkhali forces under the leadership of Kazi Bansh Raj Pande to
fight against and defeat the Company's military expedition

106
forces. The British had a plan to reach Bhaktapur from Sindhuli.
The Company's expedition forces began to feel the pinch of the
shortage of food supply. Many of them sick an account of the
summer season. As and when, the Company's forces climbed up
a Gorkhali forces led by Bansh Raj Pande launched a fierce
attack against them. The Company's forces suffered a heavy loss
of men and materials in the battle. The Gorkhali forces captured
300 guns from the Company's forces as they fled away in panic
throwing the guns. The Company's forces suffered death of
1,000 soldiers while the death figure of the Gorkhali forces was
300 soldiers. Captain Kinloch gave up the expedition and
returned to Bara. He did not attack again the Gorkhalis.

In 1771, Chautaria Shur Pratap Shah and Kazi Bansh Raj

Pande led the Gorkhali forces to capture Bhaktapur. Kazi Bansh
Raj Pande received an appreciation from the King for his deed
which transpired in the capture to the west to lead the military
operations. Bakshi Kehar Singh Basnyat also accompanied him.
The forces of Gorkha and Chaubise Rajyas fought at Satahun. In
the fierce battle, Kehar Singh received fatal injury and died.
Bansh Raj Pande received serious wound. He, Sardar Prabhu
Malla and Sardar Rana Shur Pande were imprisoned by the
forces of Tanahun and other Chaubise Rajyas.

In 1776, Bansh Raj Pande came out of imprisonment.

King Pratap Singh Shah sent him west to conclude peace treties
with the principalities which accepted supremacy of Nepal.
Bansh Raj Pande was bestowed with the post of Dewan.
Chitwan became part of Nepal during his period of Dewanship.
In 1777, King Pratap Singh Shah died. Bahadur Shah returned
Nepal from Betia. Bansh Raj Pande supported the opinions of
Bahadur Shah. Therefore, Queen Rajendra Lakshmi did not like
him. When Bahadur Shah left Nepal for Betia in exile, Bansh
Raj Pande also went with him. However, Bansh Raj Pande was
called back to Kathmandu to fight against Chaubise. He won the
favour of Garuddhoj Pantha of Tanahun. The Chaubise Rajyas

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lost the support of Tanahun. Bansh Raj Pande chased away King
Kirti Bam Malla of Parbat from Kaski. Bansh Raj Pande gave
the charge of Kaski to Amar Singh Thapa and returned to
Kathamandu, Later, a blame was put on Bansh Raj Pande that he
did not capture the Kings of Lamjung and Parbat and let them
flee. He was put in a prison in 1783 on this charge. He was
beheaded at Bhandar Khal in 1785. A great soldier and valiant
fighter intrigues. He was beheaded in a most injustice manner
and for his no fault.

Nayan Singh Thapa

Nayan Singh Thapa was the son of Kazi Amar Singh Thapa and
born in 1777 at Borling of Gorkha. Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa had
two sons namely Uijir Singh Thapa and Mathbar Singh Thapa
and two daughters namely Ganesh Kumari and Lalit Tripura
Sundari. Ganesh Kumari was the mother of Jung Bahadur and
younger wife of Kazi Balnar Singh Kunwar. Lalit Tripura
Sundari was the fourth wife of King Rana Bahadur Shah.

Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa had great influence in the

Palace. His power further rose on account of the rise of General
Bhimsen Thapa. Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa was sent to Kangra
with a sizeable Nepali force. He left for Kangra from
Kathmandu in 1806 with Kazi Jas Pau Thapa, Sardar Dukhat
Shahi, Subba Raghu Natha Gurung, Prasad Gurung, Sree Nath
Company, Barda Bani Company, Rana Bhaim Company, newly
recruited soldiers and some Umraos. The total strength of the
Nepali force was 1,500. The Nepali forces reached Hindoor. He
left five companies of soldiers there under the command of Indra
Singh Thapa and remaining Nepali troops crossed the Sat Rudra.
In the meantime, the King of Mandi went in favour of Nepal.
The Nepali army took the help of Mandi. It had taken position at
twelve places surrounding the Kangra fort. After a weak,
Minister Nimahi Chand of Kangra attacked against the Nepali
forces with a strength of ten thousand soldiers. The Nepali
forces attacked form two directions against the attacking forces

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of Kangra. The battle became very intense. Forty Nepali soldiers
and 500 Kangra soldiers died in the battle. But the battle went in
favour of the Nepali force. Nimahi Chand also died in the battle
and Kangra soldiers fled away from the battle field.

In 1806, Sardar Bhakti Thapa led the Nepali troops to

capture Tihiri, a place in Kangra. When he reached there, he
came to learn that the number of defenders were more than that
of his forces. So, Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa marched along with
all troops under his command to Tihiri to help Sardar Bhakti
Thapa. Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa immediately communicated
about his this move to Amar Singh Thapa, who was in Srinagar
of Garhwal. After receiving this information, Kazi Amar Singh
Thapa sent Chautaria Hastdal Shahi, Kazi Jaspau Thapa, Sardar
Angad Ghale and 10 companies of troops to bolster the strength
of the Nepali forces. Another group of the Nepali troops met the
advancing Nepali forces at Subhal and mixed with them. The
Nepali forces took a whole day rest. In Oct. 1806, the Nepali
army launched a fierce attack against the Kangra forces. The
battle raged whole day. The Nepali army failed to overwhelm
the defending Kangra forces. Three hundred Nepali soldiers died
in the battle. Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa received a bullet hit and
became seriously wounded. The Nepali army withdrew itself to
Jwalazi. Kazi Nayan Singh Thapa died after seventeen days
from the bullet wound. His last rite was performed with full state
honour. His family members were provided with land as Marwat
by the Government for their livelihood. It was then a tradition of
providing means of livelihood for the family members of a
soldiers who got killed in a battle.

Ujir Singh Thapa

Ujir Singh Thapa belonged to the Atreya Gotri Bagale Thapa
dynasty and was the son of Nayan Singh Thapa and brother of
Mukhitiyar (Premier) Bhimsen Thapa. He was born in 1795.
After the death of his father Amar Singh Thapa, General

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Bhimsen Thapa appointed Ujir Singh Thapa as an administrator
of Palpa. Then he was only twenty years old.

The relation of Nepal with the British began to

deteriorate because of discord for the possession of Seoraj and
Butwal areas. The danger of the British invasion over Nepal
began to lurk. Ujir Singh Thapa began to construct new Gadhis
at different places to withstand against the possible invasion of
British over Palpa. He was an expert in the construction of
Gadhis (a type of fort). He fought the British with good
preparation. After the announcement of war against Nepal by the
British in 1814, the British forces led by Majaor General Wood
was entrusted with the responsibility of invading Nepal through
the route of Bhairahwa-Gorakhpur. However, Wood spent about
seven weeks to arrange the transportation of war supplies. He
received the help of the servants of the Prithive Pal Sen, deposed
King of Palpa, to guide the British troops on the invasion route
in this sector. In 1814, Ujir Singh Thapa received 3,000 Nepali
soldiers to fight against the invading British forces. Under the
command of Ujir Singh Thapa, Lieutenant Ambar Adhikary,
Kummedan Kripasur THapa, Dalkhamb Thapa, five hundred
soldiers of the Sabuj Company and 200 soldiers of the
Gurubuksh Company were defending the fort. Kazi Bir Bhanjan
Thapa along with 500 soldiers were stationed at another dummy
fort which was built to deceat the enemy. General Wood began
to advance through the bank of the Tinau river. In January 1815,
the advancing forces suddenly met the Nepali forces and a fierce
fight took place between them. In the fight, five officers and 125
soldiers were killed on the side of British and 70 soldiers were
killed on the Nepali side. The Nepali forces retreated to the hills
and General Wood withdrew his force. The British forces
advancing towards Tansen also met reverses. General Wood
stopped the advance of his forces. General Wood stationed 100
English soldiers, 3,000 Indian soldiers and 500 Indian porters at
Dagdaguwa. He shifted his troops to Kusum Ghat. Later the
British forces advanced towards the fort defended by the Nepali

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forces. About 350 Nepali soldiers attacked the invading British
forces and chased them away. This second defeat made General
Wood more cautious. He did not attack again. He stationed his
troops in the Gorakhpur-Butwal area during the remaining Nepal
British war period. Ujir Singh Thapa advanced toward
Makwanpur taking 3,000 Nepali troops to check the advance of
the British forces to Kathmandu through the route of
Makwanpur. But he reached there after the conclusion of the
Sugauli treaty. The British forces could not capture any area
from the Nepali forces led by Ujir Singh Thapa.

Ujir Singh Thapa was a Colonel in the Nepali army. He

also participated in the battles of Dhankuta and Saptari. After the
Nepal British war, he constructed a pagoda styled three-storeyed
temple of Ranaujesawari in the Tansen market and also
established a guthi (trust) for the running of the temple. He died
in 1824 when he was quite young. He also wrote a manual for
the training of civil and military personnel in 1822. The manual
contained six chapters dealing with the subject of recruitment of
military personnel and punishment to them for the breach of
rules and discipline. Ujir Singh Thapa was a patriot, expert
strategician and good soldier. His premature death was an
irrecoverable loss to Nepal.

Bal Bhadra Kunwar

Bal Bhadra Kunwar was the youngest son of Chandra Bir
Kunwar and grandson of Jaya Krishna Kunwar. Bal Bhadra
Kunwar was a Batsa Gotriya. He participated in the Nepal
British war (1814-1816). He was an able commander, a brave
solider and a great fighter. He showed an exemplary valour in
the battle of the Nalapani fort during the Nepal British war.

On 22 October 1814, the British forces led by Gillespie

captured the the Dehradun valley and entered into it. The Nepali
forces numbering about 600 persons including women and
children led by Bal Bhadra Kunwar were garrisoned in Nalapani

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fort. This fort was also known by the name of Kalanga or Kaling
fort. The Nalapani fort was situated at a distance of
approximately eight kilometers northeast of Dehradun. The
Rispana stream flows at a distance of six kilometers far from
Dehradun. In order to reach the Nalapani fort, one had to cross
this stream and climb up the hill. The Nalapani fort was near the
summit of a hill. The hill has an altitude of 5,500 feet above
from the sea level. Bal Bhadra Kunwar and his soldiers began to
strengthen the fort by reparing its dilapidated conditions and
doing earthen and other works. While the reparing and
strengthing the logistic of the fort was on the progress, the
British forces launched an attack against the defending Nepali
forces.

After two days from the capture of Dehradun by the

British forces on 24 October 1814, an armed clash took between
the Nepali forces and the British forces. Colonel Mawby
assigned his troops on the southern side of the Nalapani fort. The
cavalry of the British force took position at Rajpur which was on
the north of the fort. The defenders continued their repairing
works inside and outside the fort. There was a dense forest near
the fort. The British forces advanced and reached Tharapani a
place near the fort. The advance guard of the Nepali forces gave
the information of the advance of the British forces. The British
forces were firing upon the British forces. The British forces
were firing upon the fort from their 6 pounder. But the fort was
out of the range of the cannon's fire. So, they stopped firing.

General Gillespie was happy that he could capture

Dehradun without a fight. But he was furious over the small
contingent of Nepali forces that dared take stand against his
forces, which were much superior in men and fire power. So he
made a plan to encircle the fort and decimate the defenders. He
divided his forces into five groups. Captain Fast with 363 Indian
and a British soldiers advanced towards fort from the north side
starting from Lakhacnd village. Major Kelly with 571 cavalry

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advanced from the Kharsali village. Captain Campbell with 263
officers advanced from Asthal village. Lieutenant Colonel
Carpenter with 2 regiments of British soldiers advanced to
mount an attack against the Nalapani fort from Tharapani. Major
Lord with 991 Indian soldiers and 100 Irish Dragoon soldiers
advanced from Chharapani to attack against the fort. In total, the
attacking British forces consisted of 4,400 soldiers, 900 of them
were Europeans. Besides, the King's 53rd Regiment (later the
King's Shropshire Light Infantry), the latter consisted of a troops
of 8th or Royal Irish Dragoons and a detachment of horse
artillery. The native complement comprised about 3,000 Sepoys,
138 pioneers, some 200 gun lascars and ordance drivers, a
regiment of native cavalry, a rishala of Shinner's Horse, whereas
the defenders numbered only 600 Nepali soldiers and non-
soldiers. The British forces had two cannons, two mortars and
two light cannons.

General Gillespie himself took command of the attack

against the Nalapani fort. In the beginning, all connons of the
British forces pounded on the fort for one hour and a half. The
Nepali forces were firing sparingly at the advancing British
forces who were climbing up the hill. The Nepali soldiers used
arrows against the attacking forces. When the British forces
were moving up their cannons on the hills, Bir Bhadra and few
Nepali soldiers made an attempt to capture the cannons. But they
did not succeed in the mission. While they were returning, the
Indian soldiers pursued them. But a surprise attack by the Nepali
forces chased them away. In the meantime, the Pioneer Battalion
of the British forces led by the Pioneer Battalion of the British
forces led by Lieutenant Charles advanced toward the Nepali
forces. The forces of the Pioneer Battalion attempted to lay
ladders on the walls of the fort in order to climb up. While they
were attempting to lay ladders, vollies of gunfire came from
inside the fort fired by the defending Nepali forces, which killed
many enemy soldiers including Lieutenant Charles. The soldiers
of the Pioneer Battalion fled away from the battlefield. The 53rd

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Regiment of the enemy also advanced and fired cannons upon
the fort. The wooden ladders and the thatched huts, which were
existed near the fort, caught fire and ablazed.

The British forces led by Lieutenant Kennedy fired 6

pounder upon the wall and gate of the Nalapani fort. A crack
developed in the wall. General Gillespie ordered the 53 rd
Regiment to enter into the fort and capture it. In the meantime,
Nepali forces fired cannon upon them, which killed many enemy
soldiers. Ludlow received a bullet injury in his thigh. The enemy
suffered a great loss and began to retreat. The Nepali forces
attacked the retreating enemy soldiers and put the 6 pounder out
of action by seriously damaging it. General Gillespie himself
advanced towards the fort encouraging the British soldiers to
continue their attack. The British forces followed him. He
reached near the gate of the fort. Suddenly, a bullet coming from
inside the fort hit him and he died on the spot. Lieutenant O'hara
and Captain Byres were also wounded. Colonel Mawby ordered
the British forces to retreat. He returned to the Dehradun and
waited there for the arrival of heavy cannons.

Colonel Mawby received additional troops from Delhi.

He also received four 16 pounder and two 8 inch mortar. He laid
a siege of the Nalapani fort again. The British forces cut the
water supply to the fort. On 25th November 1814, cannon fires
hit the wall of the fort and a breach occurred there. The Nepali
forces had positioned their light cannon at the gate of the fort. At
noon, the British forces mounted fierce attack against the fort
with and objective of capturing it. Fierce fighting raged but the
British forces failed to overwhelm the fort. The Nepali forces
became desperate because of the lack of drinking water inside
the fort. On 29th November, Nepali soldiers began to leave the
fort in desperation. The commanders persuaded them to stay and
fight against the enemy. However, some of them did not agree to
return. The next day, commader Bal Bhadra and his associated
decided to vocate the fort as the situation became very critical

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because of lack of water, food supply, ammunitions and man
power. The British forces fired at the Nepali forces who were
vacating and leaving the fort. On 30th November 1814, the
Nepali forces reached Dwara Hat and next day moved to
Gopichand Danda. The British forces pursued the Nepali forces
and reached at Gopichand Danda.

After the battle of Nalapani, Bal Bhadra Kunwar was

given the command of the Jayant Garh fort. The British forces
led by Baldock made many attempts to dislodge Bal Bhadra
from the Jayant Garh fort. But Baldock failed to dislodge him.
Ajambar Pantha and Bal Bhadra Kunwar reached Jaithak.
General Ochterlony captured Taragadhi and Chambigadhi. In the
battle of Jaithak, Bal Bhadra Kunwar became wounded. Amar
Singh Thapa vacated and left Jaithak. Bal Bhadra Kunwar
returned to Kathmandu.

The British willingly opened the recruitment for

Nepalese in their army. But, Bal Bhadra Kunwar did not join the
British forces. He went Punjab and worked in the army of Ranjit
Singh. He was appointed in the post of military commander.
Ranjit Singh of Punjab intended to reinstall Shah Shuja in the
throne of Kabul and extended military help to him. Bir Bhadra
Kunwar led Sikh army and fought many batters to quell the
rebellion of Afghanis. He along with some Nepalese, who were
in the army of Ranjit Singh, died on 1823 while fighting with
Afghan rebels.

First World War

During the First World War, the Nepali soldiers extended

help to the British to quell the revolt of the Mahasoods in
Wajiristan. The Nepali soldiers participated in actions in
Wajiristan along with the British army. The British Government
became impressed with the bravery of the Nepali soldiers
exhibited by them in the action. The British Government

115
decorated Colonel Dhan Bikram Rana with the C.I.F. medal.
Subedar Chandra Bahadur Karki with the Military Cross medal
and Subedar Bakhan Simha Kunwar with the H.E.D.S.M. medal.
They all belong to the Rifle Company. Likewise, the British
Government decorated Lieutenant Colonel Pratap Jung Rana
with the C.I.E. medal, Insayan Rana Bahadur Khatri and Sepoy
Nar Bahadur with the H.I.O.M. medal. They all belonged to the
Mahindradal Company.

Second World War

Chutra Bahadur Thapa

Chutra Bahadur is the son of Gunjaman Singh Thapa and grand-
son of Kulman Singh Thapa. His mother's name was Indra
Kumari Thapa. He was born in March 1915 in the Madung
village of the Lamjung district in western Nepal. He joined the
Nepali army in 1933 in the capacity of a Sepoy. He went to
participate in the Second World War in 1939. He was a
Hawaldar in the Kali Bahadur Regiment during that period. He
worked for 34 years in the army and elevated up to the rank of
Brigadier General. He in now retired.

During the Second World War in the Longtree Hill of

Burma, the Japanese prepared strong defense post and took
position there. They repeatedly inflicted damages to the air-field
and the defensive position of the Nepali Regiment traversing
through the Pandu Road. Thus, it became imperative to destroy
the enemies' defense post of the Longtree Hill. The
responsibility of destroying this defense post was given to
Hawaldar Chutra Bahadur Thapa. He led a section of troops in
the mission. He reconnitured the enemy position, made an
operation plan and destroyed the enemy's defense post of the
Longtree Hill. The Nepali soldiers did not suffer any casualty in
the action. The British Government decorated him with the
Military Cross for exhibiting bravery in the action. During the
course of service in the Royal Nepali Army, he received medals

116
namely the Nepal Pratap Vardhak, the Nepal Tara, the Trishakti
Patta and the Gorkha Dakshin Bahu.

Hom Bahadur Gurung

Hom Bahadur Gurung was a Janadar in the Kali Bahadur
Regiment during the Second World War. He led a section of
Nepali soldiers to attack against the Japanese in the Burma
sector. He crossed the places namely Chamu and Sasak, and
then, the Chindwin river and launched an attack against Japanese
at 11 P.M. and destroyed the enemies' defense post after a fierce
fight. The British Government awarded him the Military Cross
medal for his bravery in this action.

Shailendra Bahadur Mahat

Shailendra Bahadur Mahat is the son of Mahendra Bahadur
Mahat and grandson of Major Captain Narayan Bahadur Mahat.
Shailendra Bahadur Mahat joined the Sher Paltan in August
1939 in the post of Hudda. He got transfer to the civil service in
1965 and took voluntary retirement from the service in 1981. He
was bestowed with the title of Honorary Colonel in June 1969.
Shailendra Bahadur Mahat was a Subedar when he participated
in the Second World War. He was then in Sher Regiment. In
April 1944, the Singh Nath Regiment and the Sher Regiment
received the order to dislodge the Japanese from the Treasury
Hill where they were entrenched in strong defensive position.
The Nepali soldiers proceeded towards the Hill. But, on the way,
they fell into an ambush laid by Japanese. Subedar Shailendra
Bahadur Mahat adopted various tactics and captured the
Treasury Hill by the morning. The British Government
decorated him with the Military Cross for his exemplary courage
and bravery that he displayed in the action. During his course of
service, he received medals from the Nepal Government namely
the Nepal Pratap Vardhak, the Nepal Tara, the Trishakti Patta
and the Gorkha Dakshin Bahu.

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Jagat Bahadur Karki
Jagat Bahadur Khatri is the son of Insen Bir Bahadur Khatri and
grandson of Ratna Bir Khatri. Jagat Bahadur Khatri was born in
1922. He joined the Nepali army in 1938. He was a Hawaldar
when he went to participate in the Second World War. He was in
the Mahindradal Regiment.

In March 1943, Jamadar Jagat Bahadur Khatri was sent

two times (one at 1 A.M. and another at 11 A.M.) to reconnoiter
the defensive position of the Japanese at the eastern side of the
Canal. 'D' Company of the Mahendradal Regiment was ordered
to mount an attack the defensive position of Japanese situated
about 1500 yards east of the Nepali defensive position. Jamadar
Jagat Bahadur Khatri led soldiers and mounted an attack against
Japanese by crossing the 20 feet high dry canal about 400 yards
far from the Saye Rail Station. The Japanese responded with
counter-attack. The Nepali soldiers repulsed the counter attack.
The dog fight with enemies took place for 45 minutes and the
Nepali soldiers inflicted heavy causalities on the enemy's side.
The Nepalese' attacking team returned with two wounded and
one dead-body. One dead-body remained left at the objective.
Next day, Jamadar Jamadar Jagat Bahadur Khatri went along
with 4 soldiers and brought the dead-body and his weapons.
Jamadar Jagat Bahadur Khatri was awarded with the Military
Cross for successfully raiding the enemy position at Saye
Railway Station on 3rd March, 1945. During his service in the
Royal Nepali Army he became a Lieutenant Colonel as well as
received medals namely the Nepal Pratap Vardhak and the
Gorkha Dakshin Bahu.

Dal Bahadur Bhatta

On 23rd February, 1945, the Mahindradal Regiment relieved the
Norfolks at Saye and it was here on this day the Regiment for
the first time come under enemy shelling though it had been
under air-raids many a time before. Early next morning, the
battalion position was shelled heavily. After a short lull at dawn,

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the Japanese launched an attack. 'D' Company successfully
repulsed the attack, without a loss of life. Sporadic fighting went
on for the whole day and the Japanese kept on shelling.

Hawaldar Dal Bahadur Bhatta whose section bore that

the burnt of the attack on 24th February was awarded the
J.D.S.M. and one of his rifleman was given the Military medal.

Bal Bahadur Silwal

Bal Bahadur Silwal was the son of Bhakta Bir Silwal and
grandson of Rana Shur Silwal. He was born in March 1904,
joined the Nepali Army at the age of 19 and reached up to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He worked for 32 years in the army
and died at the age of 81 years in the year 1986. He served in the
Mahindradal Regiment during the Second World War. On 19th
May, 1945, 80 Nepali soldiers of the Mahindradal Regiment led
by Captain Bal Bahadur Silwal, successfully ambushed about
600 Japanese soldiers and inflicted heavy casualities to them
without losing a single Nepali soldier in the operation. The
British Government awarded him the Military Cross, and the
Burma star for his bravery in the action. During the course of his
service in the Royal Nepalese Army, he received medals namely
the Nepal Pratap Vardhak and the Nepal Tara.

Daya Bahadur Khad

Daya Bahadur Khad was the son of Govind Bahadur Khad and
grandson of Lalit Bahadur Khad. He was born in June 1914 at
Tansen Palpa, joined the Nepali Army in April 1937 in the post
of Subedar, retired from the service in 1965, and died in October
1984. He reached up the the rank of the Brigadier General.
While operating along the Railway line between Myotha and
Natogi, 'A' Company commander, Captain Daya Bahadur Khad
of the Mahindradal Regiment led his Company very well and he
was awarded Military Cross by the British Government. During
his service in the Royal Nepali Army, he received medals
namely the Nepal Pratap Vardhak and the Nepal Tara.

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Gupta Bahadur Gurung
On 20th April, 1945, the Mahindradal Regiment occupied Popa
village in Burma and captured 20 M.T. vehicles and four guns.
On the same day, the 'D' Company of the Regiment went after
the retreating enemies. Towards the evening, the company met
the Japanese in Gwedankpin village. The 'D' Company harassed
the enemy and directed artillery fire on to the enemy position all
through the night.

Next morning, the Company went round and lay ambush

near Sanju village. At night, the retreating column of the enemy
hit the ambush. Severe fighting took place for three hours at a
very close range. Opposing parties were crushing and
challenging each other. The 'D' Company killed 15 Japanese and
captured one Japanese prisoner while it lost three men kill. The
'D' Company without having a prepared position, fought for
three hours against great number of enemies and inflicted heavy
causality upon them. Captain Gupta Bahadur Gurung, the
commander of the 'D' Company showed leadership, bravery and
power of control in this action and was awarded the Military
Cross. Previously, he had already received M.D. in an action.
After return to the country, he received the medal Nepal Tara
from the Government. During the service in the Royal Nepali
Army, he also received the medal of the Nepal Pratap Vardhak.

Gupta Bahadur Gurung was born in November 1904 in

the Kahule village of the Syangja district in western Nepal. He
was the youngest son of Lieutenant Colonel Chitra Bahadur
Gurung and grandson of Subedar Man Shah Gurung. Gupta
Bahadur Gurung joined the Nepali Army in the post of Insen and
reached up to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He died at the age
of 84 years in 1988.

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Bir Bahadur Karki
Bir Bahadur Karki was the son of Brigadier General Indra
Bahadur Karki and grandson of Major Abhaya Singh Karki. He
was born in November 1916 at Jhamsikhel of the Lalitpur
district. He joined the Nepali Army in April 1936, reached up to
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and retired in 1960. He
participated in the Second World War in the Assam-Nagaland-
Burma front. He was then in the Mahindradal Regiment. After
his return to Nepal, Captain Bir Bahadur Karki was awarded the
medal of the Nepal Tara by the Nepal Government for his
excellent performance during the Second World War. The other
recipient of the Nepal Tara medal was Captain Gupta Bahadur
Gurung. Bir Bahadur Karki became one of the members in the
Higher Level Commission in 1979 and worked there for 2 years.
The Commission was gated by the Government to deal with the
area of land distribution in the Morand and Jhapa districts. He
had four sons and two daughters.

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 NEPAL ARMY IN INTERNATIONAL ARENA

Nepal is the land of Shiva Shakti and Gautam Buddha. Shiva

Shakti symbolize the valour, bravery and victory of virtue over
vice. Lord Buddha symbolizes peace, forgiveness and truth.
These two currents flow at the same time across the lands of the
Himalayan Kingdom, Nepal. Because of such heritage, the
Nepali soldiers exhibited their mantle and bravery at the battle
they fought anywhere in the world. They helped equally with
dedication as in the war time. Therefore, the Nepali soldiers
were respected and glorified for their honesty, loyalty, bravery,
dependability and friendliness by the distinguished alien military
commanders and eminent foreign writers as well. On behalf of
His Majesty's Government of Nepal, the Royal Nepali Army has
been participating in the UN peace keeping force since 1958.

Indian Sepoy Mutiny, 1857

In 1857, the Sepoy Mutiny in India started from Meerut and
spreaded like wildfire to other parts of Awadh and Agra within a
short period. The rebels were assisted by the Kings of the native
states particularly ex-King of Awadh and his Minister Ali Nukee
Khan and anti-British distinguished Indians. Lucknow was at the
verge of falling in the hands of rebel forces. The surrounding
areas of Gorakhpur were already captured by them. The position
of the British began to deteriorate day after day. Besides, rebel
forces were advancing from Faizabad and Azamgarh.

Within a few days from the start of rebellion, Jang

Bahadur Rana sent a proposal to British Resident George
Ramsay in Kathmandu offering military assistance to the4
British. Ramsay accepted his proposal in the belief that the
Governor General of India would not oppose it. On 15 th June
1857, 218 soldiers of the Barakh Company under the command
of Lieutenant Hira Singh proceeded to Gorakhpur from Palpa.
But, the Governor General Lord Canning decided then not to
take military assistance from Nepal. He might not have accepted

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the assistance because of the following two reasons. Firstly, the
prestige of the British would likely to suffer if they would take
the assistance from Nepal within the elapse of short time from
the starting of rebellion; and, moreover, it would create the
possibility of changing side by the Indian soldiers loyal to the
apprehension whether the Nepali forces would assist the British
and join the rebels. Secondly, the British had the apprehension
whether the Nepali forces would assist the British with
dedication, and, on the contrary, British expressed their
suspicion that the Nepali forces might join the rebels and act
against them. Therefore, Canning gave a strong warning to
Ramsay and instructed him to stop the small contingent of the
Nepali forces that was proceeding to Gorakhpur. The contingent
was stopped before it entered into the Indian territory. But,
within a few days, the situation in India dramatically changed.
Luchnow and Gorakhpur fell in the hands of rebel forces. The
British forces suffered defeat at other places.

Against such a background, Canning decided to take

military assistance from Nepal and wrote about it to Ramsay.
Jang Bahadur called a meeting of his brothers and Bhardars to
deliberate on the British's request. Many of them advised him to
take benefit of the situation and fight against the British taking
side of the rebels. But he did not agree with the advice. He
strongly expressed that Nepal would suffer greatly if it would go
against the British and, on the contrary, he expressed him firm
opinion to extend assistance to them. Every one agreed to bear
all expenditures involving in the dispatch of Nepali forces to
India as well as their maintenance in India. On 30th June, the
Nepali forces led by Colonel Pahalwan Singh left for India. Jung
Bahadur had assured Ramsay about the dependability and
loyalty of the Nepali forces.

The Nepali forces led by Colonel Pahalwan Singh

consisted of 15 officers of the ranks of Major and Captain and
6,000 soldiers. The forces included six battalions namely Kali

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Buksh, Devidutta, Barda Bahadur, Sherdal, Ganeshdal and
Sabuj. Among them, Kali Buksh and Devidutta were sent on 30th
June, Barda Bahadur and Sherdal on 1st July and Ganeshdal and
Sabuj on 2nd July. These forces fought at nine places and won the
battles. They fought and defeated the rebel forces at Gadua,
Mubarakpur, Kodhuwa, Wagha, Madhuri, Arampur, Chade
Hasanpur, Sultanpur, Atatauli and Chade Hambarpur.

According to initial plan, the Nepali forces had to

proceed to Lucknow through Sugauli. In the meantime, the
situation became critical in Gorakhpur. So, they were entrusted
with the responsibility of subduing the rebellion in Gorakhpur.
At this stage, they fought along without the association of the
British forces. Only few lower rank British officers were
associated with them. The Nepali forces made their target to
Gorakhpur and captured it on 13th August, 1857. After two days
they launched attack against Janupur and also captured it.
Leaving a small contingent of forces at Azamgarh for its
protection, the main portion of the Nepali forces camped at
Janupur. Taking advantage of such situation, rebel forces
attacked Azamgarh. On getting the information of rebels'
intrusion, two companies of the Nepali forces reached Azamgarh
in the evening of 18th September. A fierce battle took place at
night. They defeated the rebels and recaptured Azamgarh. After
this victory, the Nepali forces advanced toward Ataraulia,
defeated the rebel forces led by Beni Madav there and captured
it. Beni Madav fled away from there.

The remaining Nepali forces stationed at Janupur

advanced toward Mubarakpur and defeated the forces of Iradat
Khan, a native King. He was imprisoned and sentenced to
capital punishment. Within a short time, the Nepali forces
completely flushed out all rebels from the Azamgarh and
Jaunpur areas. Thereafter, the British sent the Nepali forces to
Awadh, because it was engulfed with rebellion. On 19th October,
they attacked the rebel camps situated near Kudya. Within few

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hours, they overwhelmed the rebels and the rebels fled away
leaving their weapons and other belonging's behind. The Nepali
forces pursued them and captured hundreds of rebels.

The escaped 6,000 rebels gathered at Chade. It was about

58 kilometers far from Jaunpur. The rebels began to prepare
there to launch attack against the Nepali forces. But they
attacked them on 30th October 1857. About 1,100 Nepali soldiers
had taken part in this operation. Fierce fight took place between
them. In the end, the Nepali forces defeated 6,000 rebels,
imprisoned about 400 rebels, killed about 400 rebels and
captured most of the weapons used by them in the battle. But,
loss to the Nepali side was also enormous. Lieutenant Colonel
Madan Man Singh Basnet had died in this battle. About 70
Nepali soldiers and officers either got killed or became seriously
wounded. The most notable event of this battle was that Colonel
Gambhir Singh Rayamajhi of the Devidutta Company could
snatch a cannon from the rebel forces. Single handed he killed
five well-armed rebels and then got hold over the rebels' cannon.
Two rebels ran away. In this operation, he also received serious
wound.

After the battle of Chade, a contingent of 200 British

soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lozen joined
the Nepali forces. The British had two cannons also. In the
meantime, they got the information that the rebel forces had
captured the fort of Ataraulia. The fort was recaptured by the
combined forces of Nepal and British on 9th November.
Thereafter, the combined forces advanced towards Sohanpur,
which was under the control of about 4,000 rebels forces. On
26th December, the combined forces of 350 Nepali soldiers and
250 British soldiers moved forward to Sohanpur. On the way the
Gorakhnath Company joined them. The Gorakhnath Company
was a portion of the reinforcements sent by Nepal to India.
Sohanpur was captured by the joint actions. Then, a small
contingent of Nepali and British soldiers was sent to Gorakhpur

125
for its security. The remaining Nepali forces namely the Kali
Buksh and Sher Battalion under the command of Pahalwan
Singh took responsibility of maintaining security at Azamgarh,
Jaunpur and Badalpur.

In the meantime, information was received that two rebel

leaders were making great preparations at the Chade and
Sarawan sections. A rebel leader declared himself as Nizam at
Chade and he was equipping 14,000 persons with weapons to
fight against the British. Similarly, another rebel leader, Ajim
was trying to make a move by gathering 8,000 persons equipped
with weapons. The Nepali forces led by Pahalwan Singh and
British forces led by Brigadier General Franks jointly took
actions against the rebel forces led by Faijal Ajim. On 21st
January 1858, the combined forces moved forward. After three
days, a battle raged between the two opposing forces at
Nasratpur. The combined forces gave a crushing defeat to Ajim's
forces. They completely destroyed the rebel forces at Chade. In
the battle, the Nepali and British forces suffered death of 15
soldiers, whereas the rebel forces suffered death of more than
100 soldiers. Even after being defeated at Nasratpur, Ajim went
to Hamirpur and began to organize rebel forces again. The
combined Nepali and British forces mounted attack against
Ajim's forces at Hamirpur and defeated them. But Faijal Ajim
did not lose his heart. He reached at Badshahganj and gathered
rebel soldiers there. He raised a force of rebel soldiers under the
command of Gafur. However, the action mounted by the
combined Nepali and British forces against the rebels made
Faijal Ajim's plan unsuccessful. In this way, during eight months
of military operations Nepali forces under the command of
Pahalwan Singh scored many victories at different battles and
flushed out rebels from certain areas.

Jang Bahadur provided additional Nepali forces to India

besides those led by Pahalwan Singh. British Resident Ramsay
requested for 500 additional troops. But, Jang Bahadur asked for

126
to send 2,000 soldiers on the reason that the 500 soldiers could
not be able to carry out any meaningful work. After receiving
assent, he sent the Gorakhnath Company and the Barakh
Company under the command of Colonel Bhairav Nar Singh
Kunwar. There were 1,000 soldiers and officers in each
Company. The soldiers of these Companies joined the British
forces led by Brigadier Rocraft and fought against the rebel
forces at different fronts. The Gorakhnath Company and (this is
another company, not the same which is mentioned above) led
by Sri Bhakta Khadka and Sevakram had also taken part to
subdue Sepoy Mutiny in India.

On 15th November 1857, Nepal sent a small contingent of

102 soldiers to Motihari. On 16th December, another contingent
of 290 soldiers was sent to Kumaon from Doti. This contingent
of Nepali soldiers worked under Major Henry Ramsay, the
Commissioner of Kumaon. It performed many important works
for the security of Kumaon. It had to fight against the rebel
troops. The Nepali soldiers were highly praised by the
Commissioner of Kumaon for their bravery. This contingent of
Nepali soldiers was a part of the Kalijang Company.

Jang Bahadur's Contribution

Jang Bahadur Rana himself was willing to go to India and lead
the Nepali soldiers against the rebels. He repeatedly requested
for the permission for his such move from British Resident
Ramsay. However, the British followed the policy of wait and
watch in order to assess the motives and performances of the
Nepali forces in India instead of giving positive or negative
reply immediately to his request. Moreover, the presence of Jang
Bahadur might create numerous problems of formalities to be
adhered to which Canning wanted to avoid as far as possible.
But, the British's viewpoint had undergone a radical change
about Nepal when they had witnessed the bravery and dedication
of Nepali forces at different actions. Besides, the situation
progressively changed in India in favour of the British by the

127
end of 1857. Awadh was the main centre of rebel activities and
its border adjoined with the Nepal's border. So, the British
formed a hope that the Nepali forces led by Jang Bahadur might
subdue the rebellion of this sector within a short period.
Moreover, Hodgson, who was British Resident for Nepal before
and had stayed in Kathmandu for a long period, wrote a request
letter to the Governor General in India to grant permission to
Jang Bahadur to come to India.

Ultimately, the Governor General of India gave

permission to enter Nepali soldiers under the command of Jang
Bahadur to India. The British Government agreed to bear the
expenditures of the Nepali forces in India. He agreed to follow
advice and plan of the British in India but he insisted that his
forces should not be divided in mounting an action. His version
was that the Nepali forces could not then got opportunity to
exhibit their valour. On 10th December 1857, Jang Bahadur left
Kathmandu taking with him 9,000 soldiers for India. Before
departure, he gave a message to his countrymen that Nepal
would get many benefits in future by helping the British, and the
Nepali soldiers would get an opportunity to exhibit their bravery
outside the country. He selected experienced and capable
officers and soldiers from among the personnel of Nepali army
and included them in the forces led by him. One historian has
written that 26 Companies were sent to India from Nepal to
assist British in 1857. Besides Nepali forces led by Pahalwan
Singh as well as by Bhairav Nar Singh and one company to
Kumaon, Jang Bahadur took soldiers of the following
companies. They were Rifle, Naya Gorakh, Shree Nath,
Suryadal, Kali Bahadur, Narsinghdal, Jagdal, Bhairavnath,
Purano Gorakh, Kali Prasad, Singhnath, Shamsherdal,
Mahindradal, Rajdal, Jangnath and Rudradhoj. He divided his
forces into three groups. The first group included the Rifle Body
Guard and other 8 Companies of troops and the group was led
by Jang Bahadur himself. The second group was led by General
Khadga Bahadur and the third group by General Bakhat Jang.

128
Ranodip Singh and Dhir Shamsher were appointed as deputies to
Jang Bahadur. The Nepali forces were also accompanied with
the artists to draw pictures of the battle-fields.

The Nepali forces led by Jang Bahadur reached Sugauli

via Bisauli. Brigadier General G.H.MacGrayger and his soldiers
joined them there. He was deputed by the Governor General as
work as an agent in the Nepali forces. Other British officers
were also entrusted with the responsibility of providing
assistance to the Nepali forces. On 23rd December 1857, they
reached Betia, crossed the Gandaki river on 30th December, and
then marched to Gorakhpur on 5th January 1858. Next day, they
attacked Gorakhpur. More than 200 rebels met death or became
wounded in the battle. The rebel forces fled away by crossing
the Rapti river and Gorakhpur fell in the hands of the Nepali
forces. Jang Bahadur ordered his troops to make search of rebels
at every nook and corner of Gorakhpur and destroy them.
Gorakhpur completely went out of the control of rebel forces.
Kali Prasad, Rifle, Bhairavnath, Narsinghdal and Jagdal played
important role to capture Gorakhpur. He stayed there for one
month and left Gorakhpur on 14th February 1858 by giving
responsibility of maintaining its peace and security to two
companies of soldiers. The rebel forces had control over the fort
of Berojpur in Amberpur. The Nepali forces fought second battle
against rebel forces at Amberpur and won it without much
difficulty. On 20th February, they wrested the two ports of
Faizabad from the hands of rebels. In the first week of March,
the Nepali forces captured the areas around the Kandu river.
They had successfully overcome the 7,000 rebel forces operating
in these sectors. In the meantime, rebel forces attacked
Gorakhpur, but they were repulsed by the Nepali forces. They
flushed out rebels from Pipra, Sahibganj, Shahganj, Balewa and
Jalalpur.

Only Lucknow remained to be captured, where rebels

had control. On 10th March, 1858, Jang Bahadur and his forces

129
reached at Lucknow. The another group of Nepali forces led by
Pahalwan Singh reached there before. Because of the
reinforcements received later, the total Nepali forces in India
swelled up from 9,000 soldiers to 14,000 soldiers. Commander-
in-Chief Colin Compbell led the British forces which were
ordered to mount attack against rebels in Lucknow. The British
requested Jang Bahadur to join their forces at the time of attack
over Lucknow. The forces led by Jang Bahadur did not reach
there at the appointed time, so Campbell asked permission from
the Governor General to mount attack against Lucknow without
availing the help of the Nepali forces, but Canning gave strict
order to him to attack Lucknow only after the arrival of the
Nepali forces there. The combined Nepali and British forces
mounted attack against Lucknow after few days and captured the
city within a short period.

The combined forces attacked the Begum Kothi first.

There, the fighting continued for nine hours. They got victory.
About 600 rebels died in the fighting. Next day, the Nepali
forces attacked Alam Bagh. With great difficulty and sacrifice of
600 soldiers, they captured it. At the same time, the Nepali
forces led by Colonel Indra Singh captured the Gomati-bridge.
The rebels became successful to imprison a few Nepali soldiers
there. Thereafter, the Nepali forces captured Imambara,
Chhatara, Manjil, Motibagh, Tara Kothi and Kesarbagh, Jang
Bahadur led them in majority of battles.

On 16th March, 1858, the rebel forces attempted to

capture the Alambagh but the Nepali forces repulsed them. Next
day, the rebel forces suddenly attacked Husseni Masjid. The
Nepali forces slew most of the rebels by using Khukuris. On 18th
March, the Nepali forces had to bear the brunt of sniper fires
made by rebels. The rebel forces and the Nepali forces fought
whole day in Lucknow. But, in the end, the rebels suffered
much. On 19th March, the Nepali forces attacked Musabagh
situated at a distance of about 6 kilometers from Lucknow,

130
where Prince Brijis Kadir and his mother Hasrat Mahal were
expected to have taken shelter. After a short battle, the Nepali
forces also captured it. Up to 19 th March, this British
Government could establish control over the Lucknow city and
its environs. The Singhanath, Sher, Janganath and Kali Bahadur
Companies played important role in capturing Lucknow. A
Nepali document states that Lucknow was won on 19 th March;
some enemies fled to Rohilkhand, some died and the Nepali
forces captured cannons, arms and ammunitions of the rebels.

Jang Bahadur Rana went to Prayag from Lucknow and

met the Governor General on 23rd March. The British
Government gave Jang Bahadur and his officers many presents
such as diamond rings, golden watches, telescopes, silver-boxes,
vases made of silver, etc. After four days, Canning came to the
camp of Jang Bahadur and met him. On 15 th April, he, his
brothers and some other persons reached Palpa from Banaras,
they went to Muktinath and then returned to Kathmandu. The
Nepali forces returned Nepal through the route of Nawabganj.
The British Government decorated Jang Bahadur with Grand
Cross of Bath and provided other officers and soldiers
allowances and medals. It also restored Nepal a little portion of
the territory that was taken by British India previously. On 17 th
May, 1858, Lord Canning informed the King through Jang
Bahadur of the British Government's intention to restore to
Nepal the whole of the former Gorkha possessions below the
hills extending from the river Gogra (Karnali) on the west to the
British territory of Gorakhpur on the east and bounded on the
south by Khairagarh and the district of Baharaich and on the
north by the hills. A treaty between Nepal and the British
Government was concluded on 1st November 1860 (ratified on
15th November 1860). The Treaty's Article-2 states "The British
Government hereby bestows on the Maharajah of Nepal in full
sovereignty, the whole of the law lands which were in
possession of the Nepal State in the year 1815, and were ceded

131
to the British Government by Article III of the Treaty concluded
at Segowlie on the 2nd of the December in the year".

The British response after Nepal's help to quell the Sepoy

Mutiny in India itself shows the importance they had given to its
help. On their own initiative, they restored some territory to
Nepal. So, efforts to minimize the contribution of Nepal in 1857
to the British Government by some writers after many years of
the episode and without any documentary evidence seemed to
have coloured by other motives than true presentation of the
historical events. The Nepali soldiers killed 5,000 rebels and
captured 406 rebels in the actions in 1857. The Nepali soldiers
were charged with the looting of properties in Lucknow. But,
they only followed their counterparts: the British soldiers
composed of Britishets and Indians. These soldiers became
enraged when they suffered heavily from the snipers' fires in
Lucknow perpeterated by the rebels hidings in the houses.

The First World War (1914-18)

The first World War lasted from 1914 to 1918. Britain, France
and Russia fought together. Germany and Austria were on the
opposite camp. Many nations became involved directly or
indirectly in the war. Nepal also helped the British Government
during the war.

Nepal allowed its able and physically fit youths to enlist

in the British Gorkha Regiments. Secondly, it provided
subscription to war-fund of the British Government. Thirdly,
Nepal helped the British by sending its troops to fight at the
battle fronts from their side.

On 28th June 1914, an Austrian Prince was murdered.

This event ignited the First World War. By the end of July, all
big countries were drifting toward the war. Germany declared
war against Russia on 1st August, and against France on 3 rd
August. On 4th August, Britain declared war against Germany.

132
The First World War had, thus, started and showed its fury by
churning many men and materials.

One day before the formal declaration of war by Britain,

rd
on 3 August, Chandra Shamsher went to the British Resident
Office and gave his words that Nepal would side with the British
if they were involved in the war. He assured them about with
military assistance of 8,000 soldiers. British Resident Smith
thanked the Nepali Prime Minister and said that, in case of need,
the help of Nepal would be solicited. In the same evening,
Chandra Shamsher ordered Commander-in-Chief Bhim
Shamsher to keep 14,000 soldiers ready so that the British could
receive help in time. The British Emperor sent a letter to
Chandra Shamsher expressing his gratitude for the enthusiasm
and intrest shown by Nepal to help the British Government.

After the formal declaration of war by Britain against

Germany, the Governor General of India requested Nepal to
keep 8,000 soldiers ready to send to India, if need were again in
future, and provide also to them with training to handle and
operate modern weapons. According to the British request,
Nepal began to provide training to the soldiers as well as began
to import necessary materials from India. The trainings were
provided to these soldiers specially on the areas of trench-
warfare, night operation, stretcher, bandage, infantry, artillery,
sanitation, grenade use, running, cannon firing etc. Chandra
Shamsher had deliberated with Smith about the regulations and
rules to be abided by Nepali soldiers and facilities to be provided
to them. Both agreed that : (i) The Nepali soldiers were required
to perform ordinary work and they would not be used in battles;
(ii) They would not be sent to overseas countries; (iii) The total
number of Nepali forces that would be sent to India, should be
about 14,000; (iv) The British Government would provide
necessary allowances; (v) The British Government would make
necessary arrangement regarding weapons; (vi) The British
Government would provide necessary clothing and shoes; and

133
(vii) If any soldier were committed crime, he would be tried by
the Nepali officers in accordance with the Nepali laws.

When all arrangements were finalized, the first

contingent of Nepali soldiers left Kathmandu on 3rd March,
1915. Thereafter, thousands of Nepali soldiers were sent to
India. The last contingent of soldiers left Nepal for India in
February 1918, a few months before the end of the First World
War. Nepal had already raised another contingent of 1,800
soldiers to sent to India, but, in the meantime, the war ceased,
and this contingent of soldiers was not sent.

The Nepali Army has the record of the number of its

soldiers and name of the companies that were sent to India
during the First World War.

Name of Destination Number Departure

Company in India Date
First Batch
First Rifle Kakul 585 3rd March 1915
Kali Buksh ,, 548 ,,
Purano Gorakh ,, 560 ,,
Devidutta ,, 561 ,,
Kali Bahadur Dehradun 569 ,,
Barda Bahadur ,, 566 ,,
th
Shamsherdal Kakul 559 4 March 1915
Jabbarjang ,, 559 ,,
Pasupati Prasad ,, 536 ,,
Bhairav Nath ,, 540 ,,
Second Rifle Dehradun 543 ,,
Bhairung ,, 575 ,,
Second Batch
Shree Nath Kakul 546 December 1915
Ramdal ,, 540 ,,
Sher ,, 585 ,,
134
 Singhnath ,, 539 ,,
Mahindradal Dehradun 577 ,,
Naya Gorakh ,, 549 ,,
Sabuj ,, 563 ,,
Barakh ,, 559 ,,
Reinforcements (Names of the Company were not available)
Departure Date Number Destination
December 1915 309 Dehradun
,, ,, 355 ,,
February 1916 802 Kakul
December ,, 286 Dehradun
January 1917 384 Kakul
,, 1918 365 Dehradun
,, ,, 51 (not specified)

Nepal sent 20 companies consisting of 13,681 soldiers in

total to assist the British war efforts during the First World War.
The first contingent consisted of 6,701 soldiers belonging to 12
companies and the second contingent 4,458 soldiers belonging
to 8 companies. Nepal also sent reinforcements of 2,522 soldiers
in total. It incurred expenditures of Rs.5,55,800 to send these
soldiers. General Babar Shamsher, the son of the Prime Minister
were appointed as Inspector General of these Nepali forces. It
was arranged that he should stay at Army Headquarter at Delhi
and function from there. He was empowered to make
supervision and inspection of these forces, discuss necessary
matters with the British authorities and give decisions. Padma
Shamsher had led 12 companies of troops and Tej Shamsher led
the remaining 4 companies. First Rifle, Kali Bukhs, Purano
Gorakh, Devidutta, Shamsherdal, Jabbarjang and Bhairavnath
companies were under the command of Padma Shamsher. These
companies were posted at the North-West border region. Kakul
was their headquarter. Kali Bahadur, Barda Bahadur, Second
Rifle and Bhairung companies were led by Tej Shamsher. These
companies were posted at the United Provice. Dehradun was

135
their headquarter. Padma Shamsher and Tej Shamsher were
designated as General Officer-in-Command.

On 1st March 1915, a farewell ceremony was arranged at

Tundikhel, in which Chandra Shamsher also participated. He bid
farewell to officers and soldiers by performing religious rites.
On this occasion, he delivered a farewell speech stating the
benefits accruing to Nepal from extending help to the British,
loss to the nation from not extending help to them, the rules and
regulations to be followed by the Nepali soldiers during their
stay in foreign countries, and the arrangements made for the
security of the families of the soldiers who were in the foreign
country on deputation. He unfolded that Nepal already received
21,000 Henry Martini and 2,000 Lipanfil and expressed that
3,000 Lipanfil guns would be received from them in the near
future.

The Nepal Government enforced strict guidelines to be

complied by the Nepali soldiers in the foreign land. They were
directed not to quarrel and fight with each other, not to go to the
places where quarrels were taking place, not to take cash or kind
in credit from a foreigner or, not to involve with woman, and not
to disobey or reply back in disrespect to high officers. The
Government was very cautious about the matters that the unruly
behavior of Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher had given signal
to them in his speech that those would receive strict punishment
after return who disobeyed or violated the above rules or
guidelines.

The Nepali forces were used for garrison duties in India.

They replaced the soldiers of British India for garrison duties
who were sent to the war theatres of Europe and the Middle-
East. The Nepali forces performed these duties superbly and
efficiently. In this connection, a British officer remarked that
Nepal sent about 14,000 best troops to help the British
Government which showed Nepal's greatness; it sent its troops at

136
such a time when the whole world was involved in the war and
Nepal itself might need more troops, but it helped the British
Government even by reducing its troops; the Nepalese were
expert in the firing guns; they were expert in mountain warfare
and they were capable of placing at advance column for any
work; they used to behave well and were well disciplined and
they used to carry out even very difficult work, cheerfully. On
19th May, 1915, British Prime Minister Lord Asquith described
Nepal's assistance to England at a Guilhall meeting as something
"not founded on obligation but upon goodwill and sympathy".

Besides the garrison duties, the British Government had

prepared a plan to send the Nepali forces to the battle fronts.
Therefore, the second contingent fo Nepali soldiers, after their
arrival in India from Nepal, received special training in
mountain-warfare. Their performance in the training was
appreciated by then Commander-in-Chief of British forces in
India. Inspite of best effort of the British Government, the
Nepali forces had to face some problems in India. A storm hit
had destroyed their tents in the North-West frontier region and
they faced difficulties for a very short period. Similarly, the
spread of epidemics of chorea in Dehradun affected them to a
little extent. The British Government provided winter cloths to
the Nepali forces, so they did not have to suffer from the winter.
The most knotty problem Nepali forces had to face was arisen
from the undisciplined behavior of some soldiers of the Sher
Company. Command Lieutenant Colonel Bhairav Shamsher as
well as General Officer-in-Command, General Sher Shamsher
did not report this matter to the Prime Minister of Nepal.
However, the British officers informed this matter to Chandra
Shamsher through telegram. The problem did not blow out
much, because the Nepali officers of the Sher Company in a
meeting of the British and Nepali officers, gave their words that
such matter would not arise in the future. And the problem was
settled.

137
The Battle of Wajiristan (1917)
During the first quarter of 20th century, Lord Curzon had created
the North-West Frontier Region. The home land of Mahasood
tribe also fell in this region. But they did not accept this decision
of the British. As and when Mahasoods got chances, they did not
hesitate to attack and harass the British. The British Government
was deeply involved in the First World War. The Mahasoods
seized up the opportunity, made well preparations, and started
armed conflicts against the British. Then, the British took strong
action against them. Besides British forces, the Rifle and
Mahindradal Companies of the Nepali Army also took part in
the military operations against the Mahasoods.

In March 1917, the British military operations started

against the Mahasoods and the operation ended after six months.
The Rifle Company was included in the 43rd Brigade of the
British forces and the Mahindradal in 45th Brigade during the
operations. Major General Beynon led the British forces. Babar
Shamsher had also participated in the operation on the order of
Chandra Shamsher. The 45th British Brigade including the
Mahindradal reached Haiderikatch on 16th June, 1917. The
forces attacked a big village of Mahasoods and destroyed it. The
43rd Brigade including the Rifle Company attacked the village
densely populated by Mahasoods in other sector and destroyed
it. The Rifle Company participated in the capture of the
Sharwani village. The Mahindradal advanced towards Kaisara.
Even though the strength and morale of the Mahasoods
plummeted after these reverses, yet the conflict continued for
some time. Within the month of August, complete control of the
British Government established over this sector. The commander
of the operation, Major General Beynon highly appreciated the
role played by and contribution of the Rifle Company and the
Mahindradal Company in the operations. For exemplary bravery
in the military operations the British Government decorated
Colonel Dhan Bikram Rana with the Companion of the Indian
Empire, Subedar Chandra Bahadur Karki with the Military

138
Cross and Subedar Bakhanarsingh Kunwar with the Honorary
Indian Distinguished Service Medal. All these officers belonged
to the Rifle Company. Likewise, the British Government
decorated Lieutenant Colonel Pratap Jang Rana with C.I.S.,
Insayan Rana Bahadur Khatri and Sepoy Nar Bahadur with the
Honorary Indian Distinguished Service Medal and Sepoy
Garuddhoj Karki with the Honorary Indian Order of Merit.

In the military operation, the British forces suffered a

heavy loss. Few Nepali soldiers lost their lives and many
received wounds. About 120 soldiers of the Mahindradal
received wounds and were hospitalized. Out of the wounded,
there were 10 Rifleme, 7 Amaldars, 58 Sepoys, 3 Subedars, 8
Hawaldars and 24 Peons. Besides, 6 Cooks and 4 Pipas (Porters)
got wounded.

In November 1918, the First World War was formally

ended. On 5th February 1919, a farewell ceremony was
organized in India to bid a good-bye to the Nepali soldiers. The
Governor General highly praised their bravery and valour which
they exhibited in the battle of Wajiristan. After their return to
Nepal, a big ceremony was organized at Tundikhel in their
honour. The Prime Minister took part in it. He declared in his
speech that promotions, pay increase and cash rewards would be
granted to them in appreciation of their works. He specially
stated that it was a matter of great pride that they had exhibited
great valour.

After the war, the British Government honoured the

officers of the Nepali Army by decorating them with honours,
titles and medals. General Babar Shamsher was decorated with
the title of Knight Commander of the Star of India while Padma
Shamsher and Tej Shemsher were decorated with the Knight
Commander of the Indian Empire. Likewise, Sher Shamsher was
decorated with the Knight Commander of the British Empire.
Besides, 12 persons were decorated with Companion of the

139
Indian Empire, 20 persons with the Order of British India and 40
persons with the Indian Meritorious Services. Moreover, Tulse
Prasas Padhya was decorated with the Kaiser-E-Hind. None-the-
less Bhim Shamsher and Juddha Shamsher were also decorated
with the K.C.S.I. and the K.C.I.E. respectively for the necessary
arrangements they had made to send Nepali forces to India
though they stayed in their home country.

The Nepal Government decorated with honours and

medals to the officers and soldiers those went to India. But, most
honours and medals were given to officers belonged to the Rana
family. All braves were not honoured. Such discrimination was
an object deed perpeterated by then Rana rules. Babar Shamsher
Rana was decorated with the Nepal Tara (first class) and Sher
Shamsher Rana with the Nepal Tara (second class). Colonel
Dhan Bikram Rana was decorated with the Nepal Tara (third
class) and Captain Chandra Bahadur Karki, Insayan Bakhan
Singh Kunwar and Insayan Muktinarayan with the Nepal Pratap
Vardhak, Bham Shamsher Rana, Juddha Shamsher Rana,
Lieutenant General Keshar Shamsher Rana received the honour
of Supradiptya Manyavar and Nayab Bada Gurujyu Hem Raj
Pande, Commanding Colonel Bhadur Gambhir Singh,
Lieutenant Colonel Bhairav Shamsher, Colonel Kumar Narsingh
Rana and Lieutenant Colonel Gambhir Jang Thapa were also
bestowed with honours. Besides, Colonel Dill Shamsher Thapa,
Brigadier Colonel Dal Bahadur Basnet, Mir Subbha Astaman
Singh and Principal Batukrishna received honours. Chandra
Shamsher himself received from the British Government the title
of Honorary General of the British Army during the First World
War.

Nepal had a great hope that it would received back the

remaining territory that it ceded to British India under the
Sugauli Treaty 1815 as a complement to its military assistance to
the British Government. Chandra Shamsher had also made
efforts in this line. But, the British Government did not agree to

140
retrocession of the remainder territory to Nepal. Instead, in 1919,
the British Government made a commitment to Nepal to give
annual payment of one million rupees in perpetuity. In 1920, the
designation of the British representative in Nepal was changed
from "Resident" to "British Envoy at the Court of Nepal". The
British began to "His Highness". In 1921, the Government of
British India officially recognized the practice of the Nepal
Government in employing British subject without previous
reference. The Nepal-British Treaty of 1923 recognized Nepal as
a sovereign state. In addition to these, Nepal received 31
machine guns and two lakh rupees worth of goods from the
British. But, one should not be over joyed with these gains only
arising out of military assistance to the British during the First
World War. One should also take into account that many Nepali
soldiers shed their blood to help the British Empire, and the
gains that Nepal received were much less than what it had
sacrificed. The only solace is that the Nepali soldiers proved
themselves to be the best among many.

The Afghan War (1919)

The possibility of war between British and the Afghanistan
increased after few months from the conclusion of the First
World War. As he did in the First World War, Chandra
Shamsher put forward a proposal for extending assistance of
6,000 soldiers to the British Government. He even expressed his
firm determination to send 2,000 troops within two weeks. The
Governor General of India did not visualize flaring of the war
with Afghanistan. So, he did not accept Chandra Shamsher's
proposal, but, at the same time, he requested him to keep the
soldiers ready and provide them training so that they could be
dispatched to India if the need were arisen. In the meantime, the
situation in Afghanistan took a new turn and that made the
British-Afghan War inevitable. Consequently, in May 1919, the
British Government requested Nepal through telegram for
military assistance. It was rainy season then. It was very difficult
and problematic to send the forces through crossing the Awlo

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fever infested plain areas in the rainy season, because there was
every possibility that the soldiers might got exposed to the fever.
However, Chandra Shamsher thought that it would not be pudent
to delay the dispatch of the forces. So, he decided to send them.
Vaidyas (traditional physicians) accompanied the contingent of
Nepali soldiers; required quantities of fruits and soda water were
also arranged.

On 2nd June 1919, two battalions of the Nepali forces

consisting of 2,097 soldiers and officers were sent out from
Kathmandu. The first battalion was composed of the Pasupati
Prasad Company and the Bhairav Nath Company and the second
battalion was composed of the Rifle Company and Bhairung
Company. These battalions were led by Lieutenant Colonel
Bhairav Shamsher Rana and Lieutenant Colonel Dambar
Shamsher Thapa respectively. The overall command of the
Nepali forces was given to Padma Shamsher. General Babar
Shamsher Rana was appointed as the Inspector General. Out of
the total number of Nepali forces, 40 were officers and 2,057
were other ranks. Lieutenant Colonel Ghambhirjang Thapa and
Captain Khagendra Bikram Rana were appointed as deputies to
General Babar Shamsher, Captain Narsingh Bahadur Basnet,
Captain Narhari Narsingh Rana and Lieutenant Kali Bahadur
Chand were appointed as Brigadier Major and ADC respectively
under Padma Shamsher.

Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher delivered a speech at

the farewell ceremony organized at Tundikhel. He said that
according to the Hindu scripture a friend should help his friend
when he was in trouble; the Nepal Government would provide
full security to the members of the family of the soldiers who
were deputed to India and this time, the duration of their stay
would be very short in India.

The Nepali forces were stationed at Awotabad. The

Governor General of India sent letters to the King and the Prime

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Minister of Nepal expressing his thanks for extending help by
sending Nepali troops to India. The Nepali forces moved toward
the North-West Frontier Region once more. The Rifle Company
and the Bhairung Company took position at Mardan. The
Pashupati Prasad Company and the Bhairav Nath Company took
position at Nausera. It was planned that the attack against
Afghanistan should be launched from these places. But Amir of
Afghanistan did not receive assistance from Russia. Therefore,
he did not dare in facing the British. So, he unconditionally
entered into a peace-treaty with the British Government. The
Nepali forces did not have to fight. After staying three months in
India, they returned to Nepal.

Even though the Nepali forces did not participate in the

battle, yet their main commanders were honoured with titles on
the reason that. Nepal had helped the British at the time of
trouble.

Padma Shamsher Rana and Babar Shamsher Rana

received the Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, and
Bhairav Shamsher Rana and Dambar Shamsher Thapa received
the Commander of the Order of the British Empire. On the
specific request of Chandra Shamsher, the British awarded the
Afghan war medal to each and every participant of the Nepali
forces.

The Second World War (1339-45)

The Second World War started in 1939 and ended in 1945.
Britain, France, America and the Soviet Russia fought the war
together. They were known as Allied countries. Germany, Japan
and Italy were on the opposite sides. They were known as Axis
countries. Many countries of the world directly or indirectly took
part in the war. The attack made by Germany against Poland on
1st September, 1939 caused flaring of the Second World War. In
response to Germany's attack against Poland, on 3 rd September,
1939 France and Britain formally declared war against

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Germany. In 1941, Japan and Germany became deeply involved
in the war after the former's attack against Pearls Harbour in the
USA.

In the Second World War, Nepal helped the British again

as it helped them in the First World War. Nepal was approached
by some Axis countries that it should not extend help the British,
but Nepal did not need to their request. Instead it remained as a
trusted ally of the British.

Hitler's invasion policy had already provided a signal to

the world that a great war was in the offing. At the end of 1938,
Prime Minister Juddha Shamsher wrote a letter to the Britain's
Foreign Ministry offering it to send 8,000 troops to India as
military assistance. But, Britain had just concluded a treaty with
Hitler at Munich, so Britain had a hope that there would not be
any war with Germany. Therefore, the British Prime Minister
extended thanks to Nepal for the offer, but, at the same time,
declined to accept it. The events were fastly changing turns
particularly in Europe during 1938-39. Hitler's invasion over
other countries continued unabetted. The Nepali evnoy stationed
at London informed Juddha Shamsher about the inevitability of
the war in the near future. As and when he received this
information, he sent his son Bahadur Shamsher and Bada Kazi
Marichiman to the British Embassy with an offer of providing
8,000 soldiers for garrison duty in India. The British
Government immediately accepted the offer this time.

On 4th September 1939, Juddha Shamsher assembled

4,000 troops at Tundikhel and informed the British Ambassador
that the arrangement for dispatching the troops were already
made. After discussions and deliberations between Nepal and
British, terms and conditions acceptable to both sides were
finalized in the end of September. It was agreed between them
that the Nepali forces could be sent to the North-West Frontier
Region and other places in India, but they were prohibited from

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sending overseas countries and they should be used only for the
garrison duty. It was also agreed that as the Nepali forces would
reach India, the British Government should begin to provide
them necessary weapons and tents, but the Nepali forces could
carry from Nepal small equipments such as spades, picks, axes,
hammers etc. The other agreed conditions were that if any
Nepali soldier would commit any offence, he would be tried and
punished by the Nepali officers according to the Nepali laws on
the field or sending him to Nepal depending upon the nature and
severity of committed offence; if Nepali soldiers would infringe
the Indian laws, they should get punishment from the Indian
courts; and one Vaidya would accompany every battalion and
the British Government would have to arrange for their medical
treatment.

In March, the troops were assembled at Tundikhel before

their departure to India. In the farewell speech, Juddha Shamsher
reminded the soldiers of the bravery of their forefathers
exhibited by them in Luchnow (1857-58) and Wajiristan in 1917
and expressed his expectation that they could perform similar
bravery and honesty. Besides, he said that the Nepali forces were
setting out to protect the independence of the smaller nations of
Eupore and, moreover, Nepal would get larger benefits from its
friendship with the British. He advised them to desist from
hooliganism, prostitution, gambling and intoxication and assured
them that the Government would provide protection to their
families in their absence.

The Nepali troops were divided into two brigades and

each brigade consisted of four battalions. Each battalion
consisted of two companies. Sixteen companies of soldiers were
associated in the Nepali forces that went to India. The names of
the companies and their destinations were as follows:

Name of the Destination Name of the Destination

Company Company

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 Kali Buksh Dehradun Shree Nath Nausera
Suryadal ,, Jabbarjang ,,
Naya Burma Shamsherdal Calcutta
Gorakh
Barda ,, Sher ,,
Bahadur
Kali ,, Devidutta different
Bahadur places
Mahindrada ,, Bhairav Khaiber pass
l Nath
Second Rifle Thal Janganath Burma
(Kohar)
Bhairung Thal

Bahadur Shamsher, the son of Prime Minister Juddha

Shamsher, was deputed and stationed at Delhi to conduct overall
supervision over the Nepali forces. Brahma Shamsher was
deputed to command on brigade consisting of four companies
namely the Mahindradal, Shreenath, Shamsherdal and Sher. He
commanded other four companies too. Ekraj Shaksher
commanded companies namely the Kali Bahadur, Purano
Gorakh, Second Rifle and Bhairavnath. He also commanded
other four companies. Later, Nir Shamsher and Kiran Shamsher
worked as Liasion Commander in Awotabad and Calcutta
respectively. Colonel Narmardan Thapa worked as the Military
Secretary and Captain Chhetra Bikram Rana the A.D.C. in the
Brigade commanded by Brahma Shamsher. Similarly,
Lieutenant Colonel Nar Singh Rayamajhi worked as the Military
Secretary, Major Captain Megha Bikram Rana as the Brigade
Major and Captain Rup Bikram Rana as the A.D.C. in the
second Brigade commanded by Ekraj Shamsher. The brigade led
by Brahma Shamsher was stationed at Dehradun, while that to
Ekraj Shamsher at Awotabad. Later, the battalions were
dispatched to different places for the garrison duty.

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 Some soldiers belonging to the Rifle Battalion created
problems at Kohar. The problem arose when the British did not
give increased fooding allowances in cash to the soldiers and the
Nepali soldiers demanded the amount in cash. The fooding
allowance was increased from 10 annas to Re. 1 and 6 annas to
be effective from December 1940. The non-payment of
increased fooding allowances in cash created a revolt like
situation. However, in the meantime, Bahadur Shamsher reached
at Kohar, and the belligerent soldier surrendered. Twenty-two
belligerent soldiers were sent to Kathmandu to initiate action
against them at a Military Court. The leader of belligerent
soldiers Subedar Megha Bahadur Thapa received capital
punishment. Another main accomplice Sepoy Kamal Bahadur
Thapa of the Second Rifle Company was awarded life
imprisonment. Sepoy Yaksha Bahadur Khatri of the Bhairung
Company and Sepoy Dil Bahadur Nagarkoti of the Second Rifle
Company received award of 18 years imprisonment. Other 18
Sepoys got award of 6 years imprisonment. Besides, 10 officers
were dismissed from their service on the charge that they failed
to enforce discipline among Sepoys and they did not co-operate
with the British Officers. Out of the 18 officers, 6 were delared
as unfit for service in the future.

Disagreement surfaced between Bahadur Shamsher and

Brahma Shamsher from the very beginning. They could not
work together amicably. Bahadur Shamsher requested Juddha
Shamsher to call back Brahma Shamsher to Nepal. However,
Juddha Shamsher called back Brahma Shamsher and Ekraj
Shamsher, both Brigade Commanders, to Nepal. The leadership
of the Nepali forces went to Commanding Officers. But, Juddha
Shamsher had to face serious blame that he had called back his
brother's sons on the advice of his son. Ultimately, he had to call
back Bahadur Shamsher, his son, and send Krishna Shamsher,
son of Chandra Shamsher, in his place to Delhi.

Nepali Forces in the Battle Field

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In December 1941, Japan joined the Second World War. It
began to engulf more areas. Japan's dream was to topple India
with the help of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army.
The initial stepping stone was Imphal, a strategic city, 50 miles
west of the Burmese border. The requests of Japanese military
leadership in Burma, and those of Bose, were heeded at last;
early in 1944 the Imperial Headquarter ordered 15th Army to
invest "the vital areas of north eastern India in the vicinity of
Imphal". Its commander, Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi
was in favour of operations. On 8 March, 1944, three reinforced
Japanese divisions and a division of Bose's I.N.A. 1,55,000
troops in all crossed the Chindwin River and struck out across
the mountains separating the two companies. The I.N.A. pushed
ahead toward Kohima, a city eighty miles north of Imphal,
astride the British supply route. They and the 31 st Japanese
Division should march to Imphal after subduing Kohima. The
Commander of 31st Division Lieutenant General Kotoku Sato,
directed all his forces at Kohima, where the defenders resisted so
stubbornly that they were driven onto a single hill. On 18 April,
the Commander of I.N.A. reported that the road down to Imphal
was lightly defended. Victory was imminent. But Sato refused to
follow Imphal, instead he arbitrarily ordered his men to prepare
to return to Burma. Japanese lost a great opportunity. Later,
Mutaguchi relieved him of his command. When Japanese were
ready to attack, a dispute arose between Bose and Japanese
because Bose refused to deliver a radio broadcast on the
Emperor's birthday offering him Imphal as a present and, on the
contrary, opposed on inversion of India. The altercation gave
Lieutenant General William J. Slim of the British Indian
Fourteenth Army a double advantage: it divided the enemy and
provided time for substantial reinforcements to reach the Imphal
area by rail and air.

The British Government sought the permission from the

Nepal Government to send the Nepali forces at the battle fronts.
Juddha Shamsher declined to give acceptance to send them

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overseas on the religious ground, but he permitted to send them
in the battle fronts within the India sub contingent. After
receiving permission from Nepal, the British Government made
arrangement to provide special training relating to warfare to the
kali Bahadur, Sher and Mahindradal Regiments of the Nepali
forces. The Regiments, after completion of the training, joined
the British forces commanded by Lord Louis Mountbatten.
These Nepali companies were deployed at the Asssam-Burma
frontier region. On 9th February, 1944, the London Times wrote
that the Nepali soldiers "are much the troops of an Independent
Allied Power as are the Americans and Chinese". In March
1944, the Japanese forces struck this areas. The British forces
including the Kali Bahadur Regiment fought against them and
resisted their attack. In this action, a few soldiers of this
Regiment met death, but they inflicted heavy causalities of the
Japanese side. Hawaldar Hom Bahadur Gurung showed a great
bravery in destroying enemy's defensive post in the areas of
Chamu and Sasak in Burma. He was awarded Military Cross for
his bravery by the British Government. In another action,
Hawaldar Chutra Bahadur Thapa received M.C. Main fighting
against Japanese forces took place about 10 days only. However,
sporadic fighting, the Kali Bahadur Regiment alone killed 600
Japanese soldiers.

On 4th April, the Japanese forces attacked Kohima in

Assam. The Sher Regiment resisted their attack vigorously.
However, it could not check the Japanese forces advance and the
Sher Regiment withdrew back. Subedar Shailendra Bahadur
Mahat exhibited his exemplary valour and bravery in capturing
the Treasury Hills in Nagaland from the hands of Japanese. The
British Government decorated him with Military Cross for the
bravery. In March 1944, the Mahindradal Regiment was given
the role of protecting the Silchar-Bishanpur attack, a stretch of
one hundred miles running up hills and down dales. After the
siege of Imphal by the Japanese forces, the Regiment started
operating actively on a very wide front of 200 miles by means of

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a series of long and distant patrols. During the siege of Imphal,
two Liaison patrols form this Regiment, one on 25 th May, 1944
and the other on 11th June 1944, penetrated through the deep
Japanese lines, made contact with the 3/8 Gorkha Rifles and
brought back valuable information. One of the patrols
commanders Hawaldar Nar Bahadur karki was awarded a
Military medal. In October 1944, it formed part of the 268
Indian Infantry Birgade (Lorried) and was stationed at Ukhrul in
Burma. The most notable achievement of the Regiment was its
successful capture of the oil wells at Indow on 14th December,
1944. Hawaldar Dal Bahadur Bhatta was awarded IDSM and
Jamdar Jagat Bahadur Karki the Military Cross for successfully
raiding the enemy position at the Saya Railway Station on 3 rd
March, 1945. While operating along the railway lines between
Myotha and Nagods, Captain Daya Bahadur Khad exhibited
great bravery and was awarded the Military Cros. Moreover, in
the battle near Sanju village, Captain Gupta Bahadur Gurung
showed leadership, bravery and power of control in the action
and was awarded the Military Cross. Captain Bal Bahadur
Khatri successfully laid ambush for the Japanese at the Kama
areas and also effected smooth withdrawal of its company, for
which he was awarded the Military Cross. The Jangnath
Company also helped the British Government by prompt
repairing of the damaged bridges and roads.

In May 1945, Germany surrendered and in August Japan

surrendered to the Allied countries, and the Second World War
was ended. In October 1945, all Nepali forces returned to Nepal.
On 28th October 1945, Victory day was celebrated at
Kathmandu. Juddha Shamsher welcomed the Kali Bahadur, Sher
and Mahindradal Regiments at the Hanuman Dhoka, which
fought at the battle fronts. Other regiments also participated in
the celebration. The Prime Minister of Nepal greatly praised the
troops for the role they had played to thwart the attacks made by
the Japanese. After few months, Babar Shamsher led a high level

150
Military Mission to London to participate in the Victory
ceremony to be organized there.

The British Government bestowed honours to different

persons associated with the war-efforts. Commander-in-Chief
Padma Shamsher and General Mohan Shamsher received the
honour of K.C.S.I. and G.C.S.I. respectively. Besides, Bahadur
Shamsher, Krishna Shamsher, Brahma Shamsher, Ekraj
Shamsher, Nir Shamsher and Kiran Shamsher received honours.
The Nepal Governmenta also awarded honours and medal to
different persons associated with the Nepali Army. Bahadur
Shamsher, Krishna Shamsher, Brahma Shamsher, Ekraj
Shamsher, Nir Shamsher and Kiran Shamsher received
Supradiptya Manyavar Nepal Tara. Captain Gupta Bahadur
Gurung received promotion and the Nepal Tara medal. Captain
Bir Bahadur Karki was awarded with the Nepal Tara Medal.
Nepal also decorated Lord Mountbatten and Commander-in-
Chief Auchinleck of the British Army with the Supradiptya
Manyavar Nepal Tara. The Nepali forces worked under their
commanded during the Second World War.

The Hyderabad Operation (1948)

In August 1947, India became independent. The British rule
ended there. The India was partitioned then into two sovereign
states namely India and Pakistan. In the early phase of
independence, a turbulent situation surfaced in different parts of
India. Nepal did not show much interest in the beginning to send
its soldiers for garrison duties in India. Later, Nepali Prime
Minister, Mohan Shamsher Rana agreed to send Nepali forces to
India on the hope that India might help him to strengthen the
Rana rule in Nepal. Nepal had clearly stated that it would
withdraw its forces from India at any time if Nepal were put in
grave difficulty under the International laws from the presence
of its forces in India or if the need of those forces were arisen for
itself. On 4th August, 1948, the Nepali forces left for India under
the command of Major General Sharda Shamsher. Nepal

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dispatched 10 battalions of troops. Each battalion contained two
companies. The names of the company were as follows:

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 Kali Buksh Bhairavnath Bhairung
Shreenath Mahindradal Jabbarjang
Kali Bahadur Second Rifle Kali Prasad
Ganeshdal Suryadal Singhnath
Shamsherdal Narsinghdal Sher
Naya Gorakh Purano Gorakh Barda Bahadur
Devidutta Gorakhnath

The Nepali forces in India were used mostly for the

garrison duty. However, the larger portion of Nepali forces were
directed for police action against Hyderabad. It was because of
the strong enforcement of siege and conduction of the actions
against Hyderabad by the Nepali soldiers, the Najam of
Hyderabad realized that he could not fulfill his ambition and
them he surrendered. During this period, the Indian soldiers
were in a state of confusion because of the emerging Kashmir
problem, other turbulence arising out of partition, and pricking
the Indian soldiers' conscience to go against own people just
after independence. After the successful conclusion of the
Hyderabad police action, Pandit Nehru, the Indian Prime
Minister, sent a telegram immediately to Nepal expressing
thanks for the participation of the Nepali forces in the action.
Later, the Nepali forces were used for garrison duty in India. On
the basis of agreement reached between two countries, the
Nepali forces returned to Nepal in March 1949. On 3rd April, a
welcome ceremony was organized at Tundikhel in their honour,
in which the Indian Ambassador expressed gratitude to Nepal
for the assistance extended by its forces. The Nepali Premier
specially mentioned that a new chapter of the history of
friendship and co-operation between two countries was added.

(Coppied from Military History of Nepal, written by Lakshman B.

Hamal.)

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