Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-10-02T18:36:01Z

robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox Monarch
| image =
| name = Bahadur Shah
| title = Prince Regent of [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]]
| predecessor =
| successor =
| father = [[Prithvi Narayan Shah]]
| spouse = Vidya Lakshmi Devi
| birth_date = 16 June 1757
| death_date = 24 June 1797 (aged 40)
| royal house = [[Shah dynasty]]
| house-type =Dynasty
| reign =
| birth_place =[[Nuwakot, Bagmati|Gorkha]], [[Gorkha Kingdom|Nepal]]
| death_place = Aryaghat, [[Pashupatinath Temple|Pashupatinath]], [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]]
| issue = Ripu Mardan Shah<br>Shatru Bhanjan Shah
| mother = [[Queen Narendra of Nepal|Narendra Rajya Lakshmi Devi]]
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| module =
{{Infobox officeholder | embed=yes
| office = Chief Chautaria & Prince Regent of [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]]<ref>"Regmi Research Series"; Author:Mahesh Chandra Regmi</ref>
|term_start1= 31 August 1778
|term_end1= 20 June 1779{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
|term_start2= 13 July 1785 A.D.
|term_end2= 6 June 1794 A.D.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
| predecessor1 = established
| successor1 = deposed
|predecessor2=reinstated as Chief Chautaria
|successor2= [[Kirtiman Singh Basnyat]] as Chief Kazi
}}
}}

'''Prince Bahadur Shah''' ({{lang-ne|बहादुर शाह}}) was the youngest son of King [[Prithvi Narayan Shah]] of modern [[Nepal]]. He became the regent of Nepal for a brief period after the death of his predecessor [[Queen Rajendra of Nepal|Queen Rajendra Laxmi]] of Nepal and accelerated his father's campaign for the conquest of the small and scattered Hindu nations of the Himalayas into Modern day Nepal. Despite his many conquests, he also started the tradition of beheading fellow courtiers against his father's advice which would eventually cause him to meet the same fate later. This, along with the political turmoil created in Nepal after his death eventually led to the rise of [[Bhimsen Thapa]] and the [[Anglo-Nepalese War|Anglo-Nepal War]].

==Early life==
Bahadur Shah was born in the palace of [[Gorkha District|Gorkha]] and was the second son of King [[Prithvi Narayan Shah]]. He was originally known as Fateh Bahadur Shah but eventually came to be known as Bahadur Shah. He was educated at the palaces of Gorkha and [[Nuwakot District|Nuwakot]] and also accompanied his father on certain battlefields. Unike his brother [[Pratap Singh Shah]], who ruled Nepal from his father's death in 1775 until 1777 and was a luxury-loving and indulgent king more interested in tantrism; Bahadur spent most of his time learning about diplomacy from the courtiers in Nuwakot.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subdedi |first=Rajaram |title=Nepal ko Tathya Itihas |pages=192 |isbn=99933-2-406-X |language=}}</ref>

==Exile to India==
After the death of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, his eldest son Pratap Singh Shah succeeded him as the King of Nepal. When Pratap Singh Shah ascended to the throne of Nepal, he immediately detained and put under house arrest in Nuwakot with the advice of his top advisor Bajranath Pandit.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Acharya |first=Baburam |title=Aba Yesto Kahile Nahos |publisher=FinePrint Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-9937-665-40-7 |location=Nepal |language=}}</ref> After his release from immediate imprisonment, Bahadur Shah spent most of his time in [[Palpa District|Palpa]] and [[Tanahun District|Tanahu]], both of which used to be independent nations back then. His primary goal was to establish friendly relations with these nations and later gain their alliance in order to continue the [[unification of Nepal]], whilst also regaining his brother's trust. He apparently sent letters back to the capital to Pratap Singh, however, was still not allowed to get back to Nepal.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bajracharya |first=Dhanabajra |date=1968 |title=Purnima |url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/purnima/pdf/Purnima_05_01.pdf |journal=Sansodhan-Mandala |via=}}</ref> Eventually, Bahadur Shah left for [[Bettiah]] district in Bihar, India and lived out the rest of his exile there.{{fact|date=May 2022}}

==Return to Nepal and second exile==
After the death of Pratap Singh Shah on 17 November 1777, his two-year old son [[Rana Bahadur Shah]] ascended to the throne of Nepal while Pratap Singh's eldest wife [[Queen Rajendra of Nepal|Queen Rajendra Laxmi]] began acting as the Regent of Nepal. Since it was customary for a woman to kill herself in her own husband's pyre as a part of a Hindu tradition called [[Sati (practice)|Sati]]), several of the top-ranking courtiers opposed Rajendra Laxmi's decision to remain as the Regent. In order to strengthen her own position, she re-invited the previously exiled Bahadur Shah back to Nepal, and purged her rivals with his support. Included among these were Bajranath Pandit, who had previously counseled Bahadur Shah's exile, who was promptly shaved and banned from Kathmandu, which was the highest disgrace a "[[Pandit]]" could face. All of Pratap Singh's other wives were forced into Sati, and Rajendra Laxmi consolidated her power.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subedi |first=Rajaram |title=Nepal ko Tathya Itihas |isbn=99933-2-406-X |location=Nepal |pages=190 |language=}}</ref> Rajendra Laxmi and Bahadur Shah maintained a joint regency in Nepal for a period of time, but it soon fell off due to disagreements between the two regarding the expansion of Nepal. Bahadur Shah insisted that the expansion of Nepal which Prithvi Narayan Shah conducted should be continued while Rajendra Laxmi wanted her son to come of age before there could be further military campaigns. Knowing that most courtiers would agree with Bahadur Shah, Rajendra Laxmi moved swiftly to arrest Bahadur Shah and place him under house arrest. After his release from house arrest, Bahadur Shah in turn put Rajendra Laxmi in house arrest in late 1778.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bajracharya |first=Dhanabajra |title=Purnima |journal=Issue 10 |pages=47}}</ref> However, during a military campaign to invade Tanahu, taking advantage of his absence from the capital, Rajendra Laxmi seized power again on 20 June 1779, at which point Bahadur Shah went on self-exile to Bettiah again.{{fact|date=May 2022}}

==Regency (1785–1794)==
After the death of Rajendra Laxmi in 1785, Bahadur Shah came back to Nepal and resumed the expansion of Nepal. He took a hardline approach to unification offering one of the options to state kings and princes: accept [[Gorkha]] sovereignty while continuing to rule themselves or battle to the death. He also married the sister of King [[Prithvi Pal Sen]] of Palpa, one of the more powerful nations bordering Nepal.

Many minor states accepted annexation with notable resistance from [[Jumla District|Jumla]] and [[Doti]]. The king of Jumla, Shovan Shahi, fled to China, later assisting China in the [[Sino-Nepalese War]]. The king of Doti fled to British India and assisted them in the [[Anglo-Nepalese War]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subedi |first=Rajaram |title=History of Bajhang |year=1987 |location=Nepal}}</ref>
Bahadur Shah then crushed the [[Limbuwan]] rebellion on his eastern front and annexed [[Sikkim]] with [[Damodar Pande]] and [[Amar Singh Thapa]] as his military generals. [[Amar Singh Thapa]] annexed [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]] kingdom upon invitation of its minister Hari Singh Dev. However, resistance followed and then a battle. Later the deposed Kumaoni king aided the British in the Anglo-Nepalese War but could not restore his Kingdom.

In 1788 Nepal attacked [[Tibet]] over issues of [[counterfeit]]ing and granted [[Right of asylum|asylum]] to Shamarpa Lama, who died during the war. Chinese [[Amban]] stationes{{verify spelling|reason=stations?|date=October 2022}} in [[Lhasa]] dragged China into war, turning it into [[Sino-Nepalese War]] in 1792. Nepal asked for British arms which mediator Colonel [[William Kirkpatrick (East India Company officer)|William Kirkpatrick]] refused. Nepal was defeated and a peace treaty was signed with China.

After the war, [[Garhwal Kingdom|Garhwal]] submitted to Gorkha sovereignty with its King continuing his rule. From then, Nepal began to see itself as the pan-[[Himalaya]]n military [[Hindu]] kingdom demanding that hill Hindu kings surrender. However, as [[Kangra district|Kangra]] resisted with [[Sikh]] assistance, deposed kings began to ally with the British against Nepal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bajracharya |first=Bhadra Ratna |title=Bahadur Shah: The Regent of Nepal |publisher=South Asia Books |isbn=8170416434}}</ref>

==Later years==
As the child king came of age, Bahadur Shah's influence in the palace continued to decline. By the time he was forced to retire from his office in 1794, he had had multiple disagreements with the king Rana Bahadur Shah and as such the king viewed him suspicion just like his father and former king Pratap Singh Thapa had done before him. After retirement, Bahadur Shah attempted to relocate to China, but his request was declined, so he relocated himself near the [[Pashupatinath Temple]] and started living a simple life and practicing religion alongside the saints at the temple, until he was arrested again and imprisoned in February 1797 on several false charges including attempting to kill the king, hold the king in captivity. In addition, his wife was also charged as having poisoned Queen Rajendra Laxmi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Acharya |first=Baburam |title=Aba Yesto Kahile Nahos |publisher=FinePrint Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-9937-665-40-7 |location=Nepal |language=}}</ref> There he was tortured for months and kept in total isolation until his death in 24 June in 1797. Although most historians of Nepal agree that King Rana Bahadur Shah was definitely involved in his assassination, the exact method remains a matter of controversy. Most historians agree that he was killed by having hot oil poured on his body, while some believe that he was forcibly hanged.<ref>{{Cite web|title=बहादुर शाहको मरण : तातो तेल खन्याएर|url=https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/126023|access-date=2021-11-25|website=Himal Khabar}}</ref>

{{Shah dynasty family tree}}

== References ==
<references />
* [http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_46-48_05.pdf Failure of Captain Knox's Mission]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahadur Shah of Nepal}}
[[Category:1757 births]]
[[Category:Nepalese princes]]
[[Category:Gurkhas]]
[[Category:18th-century Nepalese people]]
[[Category:1797 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Nepalese unification]]
[[Category:Nepalese Hindus]]
[[Category:18th-century Nepalese nobility]]
[[Category:Nepalese exiles]]
[[Category:People from Gorkha District]]

Prince Bahadur Shah of Nepal - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.