| Country | Kaski, Gorkha, Nepal |
|---|---|
| Titles | Prince of Kaski, King of Gorkha, King of Nepal |
| Founder | Yashobramha Shah |
| Final sovereign | Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah |
| Current head | Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah |
| Founding | 16th century |
| Deposition | 28 May 2008 |
The Shah dynasty was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Nepal.
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The former royal family of Nepal claims descent from the Parmar Rajput dynasty of the Narsinghgarh state in Malwa (Madhya Pradesh, India).[1] The famous kings of the Malwa region were Raja Bhrathari, Samrat Vikramaditya, and Raja Bhoj. Similarly the Rana dynasty—Nepal's hereditary prime ministers A.D. 1846-1953—claims descent from the Ranawat clan of Sisodiya Rajput dynasty of Mewar, Rajasthan, whose former capital was Chittor and is now Udaipur. After India became a secular state in 1950 and retired all its remaining rajahs, Nepal was left the only Hindu kingdom until its monarchy was abolished in 2008 and Nepal also became a republic.
Ajaya Simha declared himself prince of Nuwakot (Syangja), Lamjung, Kaski, and Tanahun in c. 1495. His successor, Jagdeva, conquered Kaski. Drabya Shah, great-grandson of Jagdeva, conquered Gorkha and established himself as the founder of the dynasty. Drabya's descendant Prithvi Narayan entered the Kathmandu valley and defeated the Malla dynasty, becoming king in 1768. Prithvi Narayan's successors conquered all the remaining petty principalities and unified the kingdom which at its peak spanned across the Himalayas lap from Tista river in the East to Sutlej river in the West along gopalganj on the south.[2]
In the sixteenth century, Prince Yashobramha Shah of Kaski (son of King Kulamandan Shah) was enthroned in the principality of Lamjung. The rulers of neighboring principality of Ligligkot, now in Gorkha, were Magar people. They had a tradition of choosing a ruler every fall by way of a running match open to everyone. Whoever won the race was to become the ruler for a year. However, Dravya Shahwas not a physically robust man and so tricked his way to the win with the backing of the Bhattarai, Aryal, Adhikari, and Acharya clans of Bahun. He then did away with the tradition of choosing a ruler every fall. He ruled with an iron fist and executed anyone who suggested the reinstatement of the very tradition of choosing a ruler by which he himself became a ruler. By the time of his death in 1570, Dravya Shah had managed to erase the memory of the tradition of choosing the ruler by way of running a match open to everyone. He was a shrewd politician, and with the backing of the clan of Bahun, he additionally sought the help of the Pant clan of Bahun. He was a totalitarian king who ruled with an iron fist to silence any dissent. He used the power and might of the Magar army to increase the size of the kingdom by including some of the neighbouring states. His successors continued to increase the kingdom's territory.
In 1743, Prithvi Narayan Shah succeeded to the throne of Gorkha and set out for the unification of Nepal. By September 1768, he became the King of Nepal.
In 1815 the Gurkha War broke out between Nepal and the British East India Company. By the end of the war in 1816 Nepal had lost one third of its territory.
During the mid-19th century the Shah dynasty lost control of Nepal to the Rana dynasty, who reduced the King of Nepal to a figurehead while they ruled the country through hereditary government positions.
It wasn't until 1951 that the Shah dynasty regained control with the resignation of Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, the last Rana prime minister.
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In 1990 King Birendra turned Nepal into a constitutional monarchy. Birendra believed in the consensus between the absolute power of the monarchy and open democratic governance. However, it is believed that his brother Gyanendra and his wife Queen Aishwarya staunchly opposed this view.
On June 1, 2001, a number of members of the Shah dynasty were murdered in the royal palace. The report produced by the then high Commission formed, concluded that the royal family was slaughtered by Crown Prince Dipendra, which still remains controversial. Among the dead were the Crown Prince's father King Birendra and his brother Prince Nirajan. Following the death of Birendra, the comatose Dipendra was declared king but only reigned for a few days until his eventual death, at which point his uncle Prince Gyanendra succeeded him. In February 2005 King Gyanendra dismissed Parliament and took over control of the government.
The Nepalese Constituent Assembly came to fruition on December 24, 2007 when it was announced that the monarchy would be abolished in 2008 after the Constituent Assembly elections;[3] and on May 28, 2008, Nepal was declared a Federal Democratic Republic and the dynasty was removed from power.
A constitutional assembly in Nepal voted overwhelmingly in favour of abolishing the Himalayan nation's 240-year-old Hindu monarchy and declaring a republic. In an historic vote that caps a peace deal between Maoist rebels and mainstream parties, passed an order for King Gyanendra to step down and for his palace to be turned into a museum. The constituent Assembly ordered King Gyanendra to vacate his Kathmandu palace within 15 days, who ascended to the throne after most of the royal family was massacred in 2001. A senior member of the 601-member Constituent Assembly, Kul Bahadur Gurung, said 560 members voted in favour and just four opposed. The remaining lawmakers were absent. Supporters of the Monarch were found crying while the former royal couple drove away from the Kathmandu palace respecting the verdict of people. This led to an end of the 240 years old institution and Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah remaining as a final Shah ruler in the himalayan nation, Nepal.
The former royal couple shifted to Nagarjuna Palace — a nationalised palace for their residence. This happened possible when the government decided that the former king would be allowed to stay as a commoner in the summer residence of the former royal family, the Nagarjuna palace, located amid forested hills about eight kilometres northwest of the capital, till he finds suitable accommodation.This was followed by Gyanendra’s request to the then Home Minister of Nepal. The decision was based on the mutual agreement between the three largest party in the nation namely Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)