NEPAL FOUGHT AGAINST COLONIALISM: Bhakti Thapa
By Mrs. Laxmi Thapa
Eighteenth century was a period of great political turmoil in the Indian subcontinent. The Mogul empire had virtually come to an end at the very beginning of this century. Disappearance of even some semblance of authority of the rulers at Delhi succeeding the mighty Mogul Emperors had devastating consequences for the Punjab and its surrounding areas. The colonial powers like England and France were doing their utmost to increase their presence by exploiting the weaknesses of the rulers of small states recently broken off from the Mogul empire. The British had been busy fighting the Marathas. General Lake had succeeded in capturing Delhi and Agra in 1803.
British Rulers Were Condemned
Historian HG Wells has written about the British rule in India at great length. The text from his book {History of the World) has been reproduced here. Englishmen at home were perplexed when presently the generals and officials came back to make dark accusations against each other of extortions and cruelties. Upon Clive, Parliament passed a vote of censure. He committed suicide in 1774. In 1788 Warren Hastings, a second great Indian administrator, was impeached.
Plight of the People in North-West
To the west of the Sub-continent was the Iran under the rule of Nadir Shah described in the history as the most hated man of his age who massacred people in uncounted thousands and plundered the country. After his death an Afghan chief by the name of Ahmad Shah Abdali shook off control of Iran and burst into the plains of Punjab six times slaying, burning and plundering. The Afghan menace to Punjab continued until 1798. At that time Sikhs were not yet organized to protect that region from the Afghanistan invasions. The fate of the Lahore by that time was still undecided. The transfer of Lahore to the 19 years old Ranjit Singh took place only in 1799, According to some historians the Punjab had slipped to becoming prey to bandits and robber chiefs. At that time the peoples living in the Himalayan region must be finding themselves very insecure.
The Great Nepal
Enlightened peoples living in different parts of the Himalayan region must have sensed the urgency to be united. Because, without being awakened to the realization that the unification of the whole region is a matter of the utmost importance to the peoples across the Himalayan region, it would not have been possible in a very short period to bring together under a common umbrella peoples living in a vast region demarcated on the west by the Sutlej and Bias rivers and on the east by the Teesta The final outcome of such unification was the creation of the Great Nepal. Our country was able to rise from a scratch to be a formidable Himalayan power within a very short time. Nepal had gathered enough strength to move forward to protect the peoples dwelling in this vast region.
The pace of social integration was not too far behind. Such integration was taking place despite the political barriers. A Garwali historian describes one of such incidences when a local raja murdered the Khanduri brothers for supposed treason in marrying Gorkhali girls. A letter written by the king to the Bhakti Thapa several years before the outbreak of the Nepal- British War helps to explain how the army units under him were being filled up by the Garwalis. Many of those brave Garwali soldiers might have accompanied Bhakti Thapa when he, at the age of 74, led the historic counterattack on April 16, 1815 against far superior British force entrenched at Deothal.
Unification Campaign Stood the Severest Test
The process of unification of the Himalayan region had spread like wild fire across the Himalayan region. In 1792 a war broke between China and Nepal . It was the most unfortunate event for the newly emerged Great Nepal. Most of the troops stationed in the western part of the country had to be pulled back to defend the capital Kathmandu. The Chinese offensive was directed straight towards the capital. China has remained a major superpower all along and thus the Chinese attack might have at that time badly shaken the people living across the entire Himalayan region. There could not be other better opportunity for those opposed to the unification campaign to break away and again form independent states. But even during this period of great threat to the Himalayan unity except for few minor incidences nothing untoward happened that could seriously undermine the integrity of the Great Nepal. Thus the Himalayan unity stood the severest test.
British-Nepal War
The build up of Nepalese strength brought her on a collision course with the colonial power of that time. Colonial power Britain had good reason to fear that if the Nepalese build up continued for some time, the colonial rule of Britain could soon come to an end in South Asia much the same way as in the North America a short time before.
The British actively began preparation for the war from the time when F.R. Hastings- Earl of Moira landed in India as Governor General and Commander-in- Chief in 1813. The actual declaration of war against Nepal is recorded as 1 November, 1814, though the war began from middle of October. The decision to declare war had been made six months earlier so the territorial dispute appears to be only a pretext. British force had marched into Nepal across a frontier of more than 1500 km to attack at several points at the same time The eastern British flank was moving north from the Teesta area whereas the farthermost western flank from the Sutlej river area. It was virtually a modern type warfare extended over a period of three calendar years and necessitating to protect the entire region bordering the enemy held territory. The British invasion force, in comparison with Nepalese, had absolute superiority in cavalry, pioneers, and at least the superiority of 10 times in infantry and 100 times in artillery. They also had the advantage of maneuverability in movement of their fighting force.
War Prolonged
British had expected a blitz-krieg victory. It is said that the Governor General Hastings had planned to win the war in one mighty sweep in one to two months in end 1814 but certainly before the Christmas. He was badly mistaken in his assessment. We Nepalese fought very bravely. In early months of the war the initial British invasion was completely beaten off. British offensive ended in complete failure. Nepalese force stationed within the shelter of the fortress were not only able to defend their position against an invading enemy many times superior in strength but they even shocked them by their dreadful counteroffensive that used to be accompanied by big losses on British side. The British rule in India was at a risk of falling apart. Unfortunately at that time the Sikhs and Marathas did not join Nepal in liberating the whole of the South Asian Continent from the grip of the European domination.
After the initial defeats the British changed their strategy to avoid their casualties. They started to deploy long range guns to level the fortification and force the enemy to flee. This strategy paid off. The British were able to advance quickly into the territory under our control. They even used elephants to carry heavy guns across the mountains
Battle of Deothal
The 16 th April, 1815 should have gone down in the history of the whole South Asian Sub-continent as a day of great sacrifice in the struggle against the European domination, unfortunately even among we Nepalese only very few know about the significance of that day. It is also a day when the bravery of Nepalese people became a legend in the world. The courage and gallantry shown on that day by Nepalese might have badly shaken the determination of the enemy to subdue Nepal and turn it into an European colony. It was this very day when the 74 years old Bhakti Thapa led a counterattack against an enemy far superior in strength at Deothal to protect the honor of Nepal and its proud people.
For correctly evaluating the true historical significance of the day 16 th April, 1815, it is important to know the sequence of events before and after the Deothal Battle. On that day Nepalese side had launched the counterattack. Bhakti Thapa at the age of 74 years had personally led that counterattack. It was a bloody battle. Bhakti Thapa laid down his life in the battlefield. Casualties on both side were very high. It is said that a column of about 400 Nepalese soldiers had taken part in the attack and almost all of them were either killed or wounded
Needless to say that British were thoroughly shaken by the bravery of Nepalese in the Deothal Battle. Bhakti Thapa became a legend in the eyes of British. Historian CB Khanduri writes quoting various contemporary British historians " The euphemism of the BRAVEST OF THE BRAVES had been used by Napoleon for Marshal Ney, whose bravery during the retreat from Moscow in 1812 was one of the highest. BRAVE LES BRAVE, said Napoleon of him. British then used this citation for the Gurkhas during and after the Anglo-Nepal War. Such was the bravery shown by Bhakti Thapa that the next legend of the Bravest of the Braves had been created on the day - 16 April, 1815 at Deothal."
The Great Nepal
“ Until there was life in the body of Bhakti Thapa Nepal ’s territory was in a state of great expansion. Soon after his death the Great Nepal crumbled.” This is an excerpt from the sainikitihas which is based on the book “ Vikramjit Hasrat, History of Nepal (Punjab: V. V. Research Institute, 1970)”. Bhakti Thapa had laid down his life at the age of 74 in the battlefield at Deothal.
(Thapa writes on history)
