O ut of all the 20 or so daughters of Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana perhaps the daughter with the most colorful personality was Jung's second daughter from his Bada Maharani, the main consort, Hiranya Garva Kumari. Popularly known as Bagh ki Kanchi Maiya as she was the younger wife (kanchi) of Prince Dhirendra Bikram Shah of Bagh Durbar, first cousin of the crown prince, Princess Deep Kumari led a very eventful life. Her own elder half-sister Khadga Kumari, popularly known as Chirbiray Maiya, was the first wife of Dhirendra. They together brought about a regime change with their daredeviltry. Deep Kumari's elder sister Lalita Rajya Luxmi Devi was married to Crown Prince Trailokya Bikram Shah and was the mother of the future king, Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah. Lalita Rajya Luxmi had to act regal whereas, as the younger sister with less responsibility, Deep Kumari could afford to act frivolously and still get protection from the powers that be for her wanton behaviour.  Bagh ki Kanchi ...

An important biography  of Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana was written by his son General Padma Jung Rana during his exile in India and it was published after his death in Allahabad in 1909 A.D. by Pioneer Press titled "Life of Sir Jung Bahadur of Nepal". It is the only book to my knowledge that is written by an "insider" eye witness, a member of the family of Jung Bahadur, and is full of interesting accounts and anecdotes that would not have come to light had it not been for this book. I have always wanted to learn more about the Rana family members who fled Nepal after the coup d'etat of 1885 A.D. and their life in India. Here is the first in the series: my findings on General Padma Jung Rana.  A tragedy in life came early, at the very instance of birth in fact. Writes General Padma Jung Rana in his biography of his famous father, he was born on the very day Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana left Kathmandu for the war effort to relieve the hard-pressed British forces i...

H istory is replete with cases of some would-be kings losing their natural inheritance and of some other accidental kings being crowned. In Nepal we have two very good examples of a legitimate heir to the Shah throne who was shunned aside thus changing the course of dynastic progression and a pretender who would have been crowned if his ambitious mother's well laid out gambit had succeeded! So who are these two men who would be king? Nepal in the 18th Century Family of King Rana Bahadur Shah  It was during the reign of King Rana Bahadur Shah that the royal lineage of the Shah dynasty was changed. His first son Crown Prince Ranodyat, born 1794 A.D., and his younger brother Samarsher Shah were children of Junior Queen Suvarna Prabha Devi, his senior queen having given birth to a daughter. Popular legend has it that during the annual pilgrimage to Pashupatinath Temple on the occasion of Maha Shivratri, King Rana Bahadur Shah was smitten by the staggeringly beautiful Kantabati, a Maith...

I  will always remember the saying, "Old Soldiers never die, they simply fade away", made immortal by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur during his farewell address to the U.S. Congress on April 19, 1951. A very popular war hero he was asked to step down by President Harry S. Truman for what was considered his insubordination during the Korean War. There have been a couple of such personalities also in our midst who quietly disappeared from the scene after contributing immensely to the change brought about in Nepal after 1951 A.D. Major General Mahabir Shumsher J. B. Rana is one such towering personality. Major General Mahabir Shumsher J. B. Rana As children we used to hear the names of Subarna Shumsher and Mahabir Shumsher bandied about the house as the main people behind the revolution in Nepal that was successful in ousting the 104 years old Rana oligarchy. They were aristocrats bankrolling the nascent democratic movement that started in India after Indian Independence with th...

P lato the Greek philosopher formulated the universal truism, "Necessity is the mother of invention". It complements the most basic human instinct - that of survival. People who recognize opportunity in adversity will oftentimes achieve the pinnacle of success. The story of the Narsingh brothers manifests itself as a good example of the Phoenix rising. The Kot Massacre had become history by the time Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana consolidated his power and was confident enough to leave Nepal in the hands of his brothers and make an epochal visit to England in 1850 A.D., the first visit any ruler of the Indian subcontinent had made until then. He had been honoured with an invitation from  Queen Victoria at the behest of the East India Company. He gave the prime minister's job to Bam Bahadur Rana and the acting Commander-in-Chief of the Army post to Badri Narsingh Rana before leaving for England. All had gone seemingly well in Nepal by the time Jung returned from his succ...