THE FIRST SON

The child was just 2 years old when his father Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana received an invitation from the East India Company to visit England in 1850 A.D. Her Majesty Queen Victoria would be receiving him at court! The household was in a frenzy preparing for this arduous journey. Palpable excitement was in the air. The delegation had to be finalized, supplies and rations to be ordered, modes of transportation to be chartered, decorations and gifts to be sorted out to offer to the gracious hosts, et all. No ruler from the sub-continent had been invited by the Company until this instance. Too, dire premonition was weighing heavily on the newly blessed "Rana" family despite the auspicious date of travel charted by court astrologers and birth-chart diviners. Would the young thirty-four year prime minister and de facto ruler return safely after crossing the black waters? "What would happen to the young child if he didn't?" lamented his pregnant mother Nanda Kumari, a Tandon Khatry wife of Jung. Leaving Nepal for an extended period was hazardous too given the domestic political scene prevailing so soon after the Kot and Bhandarkhal conspiracies that finished off the old aristocracy of Chautaria, Pandey and Basnyat families? Jung's brothers were understandably apprehensive.

Portrait of Jung by artist Colesworthy Grant in Calcutta during Jung's voyage

As they say, "The rest is history". Jung Bahadur had a successful visit to England. He led the Nepalese troops during the Sepoy Mutiny in aid of the beleaguered British forces in Avadh in 1857 A.D. He was awarded the title of Maharajah of Kaski and Lamjung by the king of Nepal in 1858 A.D. He was the de facto ruler of Nepal. Meanwhile, Jung's first son Jagat Jung Bahadur Rana grew up in Thapathali Durbar, the ancestral home of the Jung's maternal Thapa clan with his sibling Jeet Jung, 2 years his junior. He led a life of plenty, trained in the military as was customary for the times. He went to "Durbar School" opened by his father in the palace complex run by school masters brought from Calcutta. Jagat was a straight kid. He did not overtly show inclination to statecraft but was happy to play with expensive toys and reveled in the paraphernalia of luxury that was at his disposal.   

The time had come for his early marriage, customary of the time. His father's ambition was for his children to tie the nuptial knots with royal family princes and princesses. It so happened that one of the daughters of King Surendra Bikram Shah, a sister to the crown prince, was a good match for Jagat. Jung came from the Chettry Kunwar lineage considered unequal to the king and the royal collateral Sahebjiu families. There was no precedent either. But Jung had unwaveringly served the then crown prince Surendra, now king, as one of his adjutants. Jung got confident that his wish would be granted. He decided to ask for the princess's hand for his son Jagat. The king was aghast at Jung's audacity. What temerity the prime minister had displayed; how dare he? Not to be denied Jung cited an earlier episode in the Shah dynasty that made King Surendra's grandfather the king of Nepal out of turn. King Girbana Yuddha Bikram was born from a Maithili Brahmin bride of King Rana Bahadur Shah and the rightful heir to the throne, the son from the first queen, had been denied. This episode still rankled after so much time. Thus chastened, King Surendra reluctantly agreed to Jung's proposal.

Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana with his sons Jagat and Jeet

Jagat's marriage took place on 8th May 1854 when he was 6 years old and his bride Princess Tika Rajya Luxmi just 5! After the marriage both the groom and the bride lived their own separate lives. When the time came, as part of his dowry, Jagat was given a magnificent palace by the king called Manohara, at close proximity to the river Manohara, a tributary of Bagmati. The Sanskrit word "Manohara" implied something captivating the heart, pleasing to the mind. Accounts have indeed been given of this building as the most magnificent and opulent of its time though, unfortunately, no photograph of it exists to my knowledge. As the royal son-in-law, Jagat's stature and pride grew as time went by until a crucial day of reckoning was to come crashing down on him.

General Jagat Jung Rana and an orderly

Jagat lived a lavish lifestyle. Who would begrudge him? He had a four-horse drawn bespoke carriage imported from Calcutta. He and his princess would on occasion drive to the city with his retinue and two ostriches walking on the sides of the carriage as fearsome outriders! It was a spectacle to behold! As the first son of a powerful father and son-in-law of the king of Nepal, Jagat became a household name to be admired by many and mocked by some who detested his grandiose designs. He donated the still extant Nandi Bull coated in gold at Pashupatinath Temple, a huge statue eclipsing that of another bull nearby donated by his uncle General Dhir Shumsher, Jung's youngest brother. The significance of it was not lost on the general public; tongues started to wag. His uncles started to feel unsettled. Jagat married again with his father's blessing in 1867 A.D. a daughter of Raja Shivaraj Singh, C.S.I,. of Kashipur in today's Uttarakhand State of India. The large Nepalese delegation (janti) was led by General Ranoddip Singh.

General Jagat Jung Rana's carriage displayed at Baggi Khana

A word on the Roll of Succession established by Jung Bahadur is necessary. When Jung Bahadur Rana became prime minister of Nepal after the Kot massacre, he decreed that after him would come his brothers in an agnatic succession to the post having recognized the contribution of each and every one of his six younger brothers in the life and death struggle they encountered at the Kot. However, when he was bestowed the title of Maharajah of Kaski and Lumjung by the king, he wanted this prestigious title and privileges and emoluments that came with it to be passed to his eldest son by primogeniture. This was not to be.

General Jagat Jung Bahadur Rana

Prime Minister Maharajah Jung Bahadur died at a hunting camp at Pattharghata in the Terai on 25th February, 1877. The death was not announced to his son-in-law Crown Prince Trailokya Bikram Shah who had married Jung's daughter Tara Rajya Luxmi Devi or to Jung's sons by his brothers in attendance to ensure a safe succession of the eldest surviving brother Ranauddip Singh to the post of prime minister. Ranauddip was also crowned with the title of Maharajah in contravention to Jung's will. By the time the crown prince and his retinue arrived at Patharghatta it was too late for General Jagat Jung. He felt wronged and wanted to avenge this betrayal by his uncles. We see a personality switch thenceforth. He became suspicious and vengeful. Jagat started looking at the possibility of how he may right this wrong done to him and sought company of those who were sympathetic to his cause. A conspiracy was hatched. He would mount a takeover by getting royal adherents to back him by promising the throne of Nepal to the younger brother of Crown Prince Trailokya, Prince Narendra Bikram Shah. Trailokya had died young in 1878 and King Surendra died 3 years after in 1881. The new king was Prithivi Bir Bikram Shah, the eldest son of Trailokya, who was crowned at an early age of 5 after his grandfather passed. His mother Dowager Queen Lalit Rajya Luxmi Devi, a daughter of Jung Bahadur, did not support Jagat, her half-brother, in his quest to inherit his father's title of Maharajah of Kaski and Lumjung. Two camps emerged. Who would prevail? This era has been successfully captivated by the writer Diamond Shumsher in his acclaimed historical fiction "Seto Bagh", translated into English by Greta Rana as "The Wake of the White Tiger".

Maharajah Ranauddip Singh Ranaji

How the conspiracy came to light is murky. Some even question that such a  conspiracy existed! Jagat Jung had left for India under a pretext. A grandson of the famous Gagan Singh Khawas, whose assassination precipitated the Kot Massacre, let the secret out. Some of the co-conspirators were arrested. Prince Narendra Bikram and Bambir Bikram Rana, son of now deceased Bam Bahadur Rana, Jung’s second brother, were banished to India and kept under house arrest at Chunar Fort. Lesser mortals were given the death penalty for conspiring to mount a coup d’etat against the king. The main power behind the weak premiership of Ranauddip Singh was the youngest brother General Dhir Shumsher Rana. Many believe that it was the machination of General Dhir to oust the sons of Jung from power and install his own dynasty. History is silent on this ambition.

General Dhir Shumsher Rana and his seventeen sons who would lead Nepal after the coup d'etat of 1885 A.D.

Maharajah Ranauddip Singh was never comfortable with the removal of Jagat from the Roll of Succession and banishment of the principal conspirators. His brother Commander-in-Chief Dhir Shumsher died in an untimely manner; they say he choked on a bone of a dove he was eating! After Dhir's death Ranauddip’s wife Maharani Haripriya Devi started to nag her husband to reinstall Jagat on the Roll, allow him to come home and forgive the others banished and jailed.  The sons of General Dhir felt threatened. What should happen to them if Jagat returned and sought revenge. After Ranauddip, Jagat would be the prime minister and Maharajah. Their fate would hang in precarious balance! 

Maharani Haripriya Devi and General Jagat Jung Bahadur Rana

The history of Nepal was to take a dramatic turn now. Jagat Jung was pardoned and was restored to the earlier Roll of Succession. Even his own younger brother Jeet Jung, who was the Commander-in-Chief of Nepal Army at the time, was against this move and protested in no uncertain term to Prime Minister Ranauddip but to no avail. He sensed imminent danger to himself and his family and decided to leave Nepal to ostensibly seek medical attention as he was getting deaf in one ear. He never returned to Nepal. He was saved! On the night of 22nd November 1885 A.D., the Shumsher brothers struck first. They went to Narayanhiti Palace and assassinated Prime Minister Ranauddip Singh. They sent a detachment of soldiers to Manohara Durbar and shot Jagat Jung dead. He was just 37 years in age. His wife Princess Tika while fleeing is said to have fallen down on the marble steps and struck her head and died. Jagat's eldest son from Princess Tika Juddha Pratap, while fleeing Thapathali Durbar, was apprehended and a zealous soldier beheaded him in anticipation of a reward. Many of his sons and grandsons managed to flee helter-skelter into oblivion. The Shumsher era of the Rana dynasty had begun. 

Unfortunate father and son, Jagat Jung and Juddha Pratap Jung