Rajendra of Nepal

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Rajendra Bikram Shah
King of Nepal
King Bikram Shah Deva of Nepal
Reign	20 November 1816 – 12 May 1847
Born	3 December 1813
Birthplace	Basantapur, Nepal
Died	10 July 1881 (aged 67)^[1]
Place of death	Bhaktapur, Nepal
Predecessor	Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva
Successor	Surendra Bikram Shah
Royal House	House of Shah
Father	Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva
Mother	Gorakshya Rajya Laxmi Devi
Religious beliefs	Hinduism

Rajendra Bikram Shah, King of Nepal (1813–1881) was King of Nepal from 1816 to 1847. He became king at age three on the death of his father Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva. As had been the case with his father, most of Rajendra's rule was under the regency of Queen Lalit Tripura Sundari (died 1832) and Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa. As regent, Bhimsen Thapa kept the king in isolation—he did not even have the freedom to leave the palace without permission.

Reign

Rajendra came of age in 1832, and in 1837 announced his intention to rule independently of the Prime Minister. He stripped Bhimsen Thapa and Thapa's nephew, Mathbar Singh, of their military authority. Shortly afterward the youngest son of Rajendra's elder queen died, and Bhimsen Thapa was arrested on a trumped-up charge of poisoning the prince. All the property of the Thapas was confiscated. Bhimsen Thapa was acquitted after an eight-month trial, but the Thapas were in disarray. When Rana Jang Pande became prime minister, he reimprisoned Bhimsen Thapa, who committed suicide in prison in 1839.

In January 1843, Rajendra declared that he would rule the country only with advice and agreement of his junior queen, Lakshmidevi, and commanded his subjects to obey her even over his own son, Surendra Bikram Shah. Continued infighting among noble factions led eventually to the Kot Massacre in 1846.

Rise of the Ranas

Janga Bahadur Kunwar (Nepali: जंग बहादुर कुँवर) began the Rana dynasty. He came to power through the 1846 Kot massacre (Nepali: कोत पर्व, Kot Parwa) where 36 members of the palace court including the Prime Minister and a relative of the King Chautariya Fate Janga Shah were murdered.

In the aftermath of the Kot Massacre, Jung Bahadur became prime minister and quickly seized power, sending King Rajendra and Queen Lakshmidevi into exile in Varanasi. From exile, Rajendra sought to regain power, but Jung Bahadur learned of Rajendra's plans and forced him to abdicate in favor of his son Surendra.

Later Life

Jung Bahadur's forces captured Rajendra in 1847 and brought him to Bhaktapur, where he spent the rest of his life under house arrest. He died in the Bhaktapur Durbar in 10 July 1881 at the age of 67 during the time of the reign of his great-grand son.

References

↑ Royal Ark

External links/sources

Regnal titles
Rajendra of Nepal Shah dynasty Born: 3 December 1813 Died: 17 May 1881
Preceded by Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva	King of Nepal 1816–1847	Succeeded by Surendra Bikram Shah

v t e Heads of State of Nepal

Kings	Prithvi Narayan Shah Pratap Singh Shah Rana Bahadur Shah Girvan Yudha Bikram Shah Rajendra Bikram Shah Surendra Bikram Shah Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah

Presidents	Girija Prasad Koirala (Acting) Ram Baran Yadav

*Acting Head of State

Persondata
Name	Rajendra of Nepal
Alternative names
Short description	King of Nepal
Date of birth	1813
Place of birth
Date of death	1881
Place of death

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