T he courtiers were huddled close together in anticipation of an audience with the king of Nepal. The body language collectively betrayed a sense of hopelessness, a state of paralysis. They knew that even the king would not be able to assuage their fear but at least they would try a trick or two to salvage the situation. Bal Narsingh Kunwar and Ganesh Kumari Devi, parents of Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana The defeated courtiers came from the old aristocracy, a motley crew of descendants of the warriors who had been in the vanguard of King Prithivi Narayan Shah's many assaults into Kathmandu Valley. Some had died in the enterprise and their progeny ensconced in the hierarchy of the Gorkha king's administration and military as reward. Others had shone in the field of battle and had been made generals and governors of a far flung nation in the making. Suddenly all that had ended on that day of infamy - 30 September 1846 A.D. - better known in Nepali history as  "Kot ...