Shah dynasty

Royal house
surname =Shah dynasty
estate =
coat of arms =
country =Kaski, Gorkha, Nepal
titles =Prince of Kaski, King of Gorkha, King of Nepal
founder =Yashobramha Shah
final ruler =Gyanendra of Nepal
current head =Gyanendra of Nepal
founding year =16th century
deposition =28 May 2008

The Shah dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Nepal.

Preamble

The former royal family of Nepal claims descent from the Sisodia dynasty of Chittor, later ruling at Udaipur [http://www.mewarindia.com/ency/41.html A chronology of Mewar's 76 Rulers and their times ] . Ajaya Simha established himself as Prince of Nayakot, Lambjang, Kaski, and Tanhun in ca. 1495. His successor, Jagdeva, conquered the principality of Kaski and was awarded the title of Shah from the Emperor of India during the sixteenth century.

Drabya Shah, great-grandson of Jagdeva, conquered Gorkha, establishing himself as the founder of the fortunes of the dynasty. His descendant, Prithvi Narayan, entered the Katmandu valley and defeated the Malla dynasty, becoming King in 1768. His successors conquered all the remaining petty principalities and unified the kingdom [http://web.archive.org/web/20070601154619/http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Nepal/nepal.htm The Royal House of Nepal] .

Some historians believe the Magar to be their ancestorsdubious. However, the Bahun theocracy that sought to create a pan-himalayan Hindu empire after their expulsion from Gangetic plains of India had every motive to ascribe supposed "upper caste" status to these Magar people of mid hill Nepaldubious.

Beginning of Shah dynasty

In the sixteenth century Yashobramha Shah gained the ruling title over the principality of Kaski.

The rulers of neighboring Kingdom of 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, when Dravya Shah tricked his way to the win and eventually gotten 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 rulerFact|date=July 2008.

Dravya Shah himself was not a physically robust man. He, however, had the backing of Bhattarai, Aryal, Adhikari & Acharya clan of Bahun to propel him to the throne by defeating Magar aspirants to the throne by trickery and cheating instead of pure physical perfection as was the norm. Once he became the king, however, he discontinued the race that was essential in Magar to anoint the ruler for the next year. 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 match open to everyone. He was a shrewd politician, and with the backing of above mentioned clan of Bahun, he additionally sought the help of Pant clan of Bahun. He was a totalitarian king who ruled with iron fist to silence any dissent. He used the power and might of the Magar army to increase the size of the kingdom to include some of the neighbouring states. His successors continued to increase the kingdom's territory.

Modern period (1768-1990)

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. The Rana dynasty sought to appease the titular king by way of creating a false genealogy.

The inactivity and submissiveness of the Shah dynasty to the hereditary Prime Minister of the Rana dynasty for 104 years is baffling to many observers of the History of Nepal. But it should be looked at with the Brahminic world view. India and the entire Gangetic plain was Muglan मुग्लान, in other words, a land under the influence of Mugal Islamic faith. Nepal was therefore the real Hindustan असली हिन्दूस्तान and its royalty, the Shah dynasty were its protectors. The kings of the Shah dynasty were earthly incarnations of Lord Vishnu, a protectorate of the universe according to the Hindu ideology. It was easy for Magar rulers of Magar Kingdom to accept this Hindu world view. Magar people used to be Shamanic in tradition. They also followed a mix of Shamanism and Buddhism as their state religion. The arrival of Bahun to the Magar kingdom saw the waning of Magar empire and their eventual capitulation to Bahun and Hindu domination.

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.

Constitutional monarchy (1990-2008)

In 1990 King Birendra turned Nepal into a constitutional monarchy. On June 1 2001, a number of members of the Shah dynasty were murdered by Crown Prince Dipendra. 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.

This was a culmination of a frustration Shah dynasty harbored for over 4 century of inactivity. His grandfather, Tribhuvan of Nepal and his father Mahendra of Nepal as well as his elder brother Birendra of Nepal sought to make the royal palace the center of power in Nepali politics. It was a logical step, albeit century or a two late in application. The medieval nation states of Europe were run in this manner. It is the misfortune of Shah dynasty that it's flag bearers were too slow to realize the changing times.

The direct meddling of Nepali political affairs by the members of Shah dynasty ended in April 2006. Nepalis were, by now, disillusioned with the Brahminic world view of Shah dynasty as the protector of Nepali state. By now, the argument that Shah dynasty was the unifier of different ethnicities and clans of Nepal did not cut much teeth with wider Nepali populace.

The result was that the Nepalese monarchy and the Shah dynasty were submitted to a Nepalese Constituent Assembly vote to be chosen by Tribhuvan of Nepal. He had no intention of adhering to his promises. His successor and son Mahendra of Nepal proved equally unwilling to keep his father's promise. By the time Birendra of Nepal became the King of Nepal, he completely abandoned the promise of constituent assembly instead running the country at the whim of his over controlling wife consort Aishwarya of Nepal. Birendra believed in the consensus between the absolute power of the monarchy and open democratic governance. However, his brother Gyanendra of Nepal and his wife consort Aishwarya of Nepal staunchly opposed this view.

Nepalese Constituent Assembly was an idea mooted as far back as 1950s. It came to fruition on December 24 2007 when it was announced that the monarchy would be abolished in 2008 after the Constituent Assembly elections;cite web| title =Nepalese monarchy to be abolished| publisher =BBC| date =2007-12-24| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7158670.stm| accessdate =2007-12-25] and on May 28, 2008, Nepal was declared a "Federal Democratic Republic" and the dynasty was removed from power.

The Curse of the Shah Dynasty

According to a legend, during the period of turmoil and chaos leading up to the accession of the Shah Dynasty in 1775, Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of the line, offered a bowl of curd to a "sadhu", who vomited it up and told Prithvi Narayan to drink it. Understandably offended, Prithvi Narayan tossed the curd back at the sadhu, soiling the sadhu's hands. In a rage, the sadhu told him that had he drunk the curd, his line would have received every conceivable reward. As it was, the sadhu proclaimed a curse upon Prithvi Narayan's line, namely that there would be ten generations of Shah kings after Prithvi Narayan, after which the power of the Shah Dynasty would end forever. The story goes that it was not a mere sadhu, but the sage Gorakhnath who proclaimed the curse; the final deposition of the Shah Kings on 28 May 2008 proved the legend true.

However it should be noted that the Ming and Qing dynasties in China lasted for 276 and 276 years, the period for the Shah dynasty is comparable.

ee also

* Nepalese monarchy
* Line of succession to the Nepalese Throne
* Nepalese royal massacre

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050222090410/www.nepalmonarchy.gov.np/index.php/monepal.htm Royal Court of Nepal]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070601154619/http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Nepal/nepal.htm The Royal House of Nepal]

*Massacre at the Palace; the doomed royal dynasty of Nepal, Gregson, Jonathan, 2002