NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Changing Of The Guards

A vital lesson from history: whenever the monarchy is weakened, the nation pays a heavy price

BY AKSHAY SHARMA

The monarchy existed in Nepal over 2,000 years ago as the Asoka pillar on the Lumbini gardens testifies. "King Priyadasi the beloved of Gods — a personal formula generally used by Asoka in his inscriptions — having been anointed twenty years … came into existence, came into person and worshipped here. King Priyadasi exempted Lumbini villagers from taxes, and bestowed wealth upon it, writes Percival Landon in his book "Nepal".

Great King Prithivi Narayan's Statue : Symbol of unity

"The people in the Land of the Buddha woke up to hear the incredible story that the Crown Prince had made a big move at the palace over a dispute with his liberal father (late King Birendra) on his marriage plans," a dazed Mahesh Aryal said. "The shock and horror fed by the media frenzy has certainly left the country paralyzed."

Kapilvastu lies west of the capital and is the place where Lord Buddha left to find Nirvana, leaving behind his son as his successor. "Hsuan Tsang, De-tsuno of China in 650 AD wrote about the marriage of the Licchavi King Ashuvarma and emperor Asoka of India had happened to erect an pillar inscribed — the Sakyamuni was born here— which Fr Fuher happened to come upon," says Kamalesh Sharma of Kapilvastu.

Therefore, the monarchy happens to be 2,175 years old, according to the information Fuher put out on the spot Prince Siddhartha Gautam was believed to have been born.

The tradition of writing history can be traced to the medieval period. People preserved their past through the chronicles (Vamsavali). "The oldest is the Gopalraj Bassavali compiled during the last decades of the 14 century," writes Percival Landon.

"These chronicles provide us with the genealogy of kings, duration of rule, and some of the important events that took place during the concerned era. People began to preserve the significant events through the Theyasaphus (folded books) written in a diary style. These are more authentic than the Vansavalis, as they cover important events that took place during the time of the author that kept them," the late Khadga Bikram Shaha wrote.

The story of the Shah dynasty begins with Prithvi Narayan Shah, who started from Gorkha and went on to create modern Nepal. He was 20 when crowned the king of Gorkha and was a strong monarch.

His successor and the second ruler of the Shah dynasty, Pratap Singh Shah, ascended the throne in 1774 and ruled for three years. The king could not fill the shoes of his father and the monarchy gradually became weak. In 1774, Rana Bahadur Shah, barely a child of two and half years, was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, as Bahadur Shah (son of Prithivi Narayan Shah) and his mother (Rajendra Laxmi Shah) clamored for power against each other. "Due to the infighting among courtiers the monarchy suffered for 173 years," says a historian.

Following prolonged internal fighting among the courtiers, King Rana Bahadur abdicated in favor of his son, Girvanyudha Bir Bikram Shah in 1799. Rana Bahadur Shah was murdered seven years later. This is the first recorded murder of a king in the history of Nepal.

Girvanyudha, who was only two years old when he sat on the throne, ruled for 17 years. The fighting between the Thapa and Pandey courtiers intensified amid an external war as the expansion of Nepal was picking speed. He died when he was only 19 years old.

Rajendra Bikram Shah, the fifth ruler of the Shah dynasty, ascended the throne in 1816 at the age of three. The struggle among power-hungry courtiers furthered weakened the monarchy. Rajendra Bikram abdicated

the throne in 1846 and went to seek solace in the Indian holy city of Banares.

Surendra Bikram Shah’s accession saw the dawn of a new era in Nepal’s history. Soon came the Rana rule under which Surendra served as the monarch for 35 years. Surendra’s son, Trailokya, died as crown prince.

Trailokya’s son, Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah, became the seventh king and the eighth descendant of the Shah dynasty.

Late King Birendra with leaders : Tearful adieu

Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah, who was only six years old when he sat on the throne, ruled for 30 years. Under the weak umbrella of the monarchy, the Rana regime continued to flourish.

King Tribhuvan ascended the throne 1911 at the age of 5 years. He became the liberator of the people from 104 years of Rana rule and introduced democratic norms to the country in 1950. He is heralded as the father of democracy and the public reveres him as the father of the nation.

Crown Prince Mahendra became king in 1954. In 1960, he introduced a non-party system in the country.

King Birendra ascended the throne in 1972, becoming the 10th king and the 11th descendent of the Shah dynasty. His coronation took place on the February 24, 1975. He declared free and compulsory primary education throughout the kingdom. He put forward the proposal that Nepal be declared a Zone of Peace on his coronation speech, which had received the endorsement of 116 countries by 1990.

King Birendra promulgated the second amendment to the Constitution of Nepal in 1962 on December 12, 1975. He constituted the Royal Higher level Education Commission on August 17, 1982. He announced Nepal’s first-ever national referendum on May 24, 1979 to find out whether the people wanted to continue with the panchayat system or adopt a multi-party system. Some 54.7 percent of the people chose to retain the partyless panchayat system.

King Birendra died at 9:15pm on June 1 at the Narayanhity Palace. Crown Prince Dipendra, born on June 27, 1971, was named king on June 2. King Dipendra, in a coma in hospital, became monarch for two days before he died at the age of 31 on June 4.

The brother of the late King Birendra, Prince Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah — who sat on the throne for a brief period in 1950 — was crowned king on June 4.

"I feel as if the whole world has gone down. I don’t believe the stories in the media. I know that the history of Nepal is harsh. And above all, I believe in monarchy," said Prakash Koirala, voicing a view widely expressed during these tumultuous days.