Opinion (Spotlight Weekly)

South Asia And Bhakti Thapa

By Mrs. LAXMI THAPA ET AL

At a time when the western part of South Asia was bearing the brunt of repeated brutal invasions by Nadir Shah and his successors, who massacred innumerable innocent people and plundered vast areas, and when the whole region was being swiftly converted into a colony of western powers, Nepal was able to rise from scratch to become a formidable Himalayan power within a very short time.

Nepal had gathered enough strength to move forward to protect the people dwelling in the western part of the vast region from anarchy. However, the build-up of Nepalese strength brought it on a collision course with the colonial power of the time. Britain had good reason to fear that if the Nepalese build-up continued, its colonial rule could soon come to an end in South Asia much the same way it did in North America shortly before. Unfortunately, Nepal's sacred struggle to unify the people living across South Asia to prevent the growth of colonialism has been wrongly interpreted by some historians. One of our own historians has written a book under the highly exaggerated name Imperial Gorkha. It is wrong to treat Nepal's struggle to unify the whole region as an attempt to build a new empire. There is a need to review our history covering this period, which has now been based largely on the reporting of westerners.

Reviewing Our History

The territorial unification in the west to build a Great Nepal was much faster than anybody could have reasonably anticipated. The western border of Great Nepal extended beyond the Sutlaj river. At the height of the unification campaign, the border had shifted to the west almost across a distance of 400 kilometers within just two years. The pace of social integration was not too far behind. Such integration was taking place despite the political barriers. A Garwali historian describes one such incident when a local raja murdered the Khanduri brothers for supposed treason in marrying Gorkhali girls. A letter written by the king to 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 joined Bhakti Thapa when he, at the age of 74, led the historic counterattack on April 16, 1815 against the far superior British force entrenched at Deothal.

Unification Stood the Severest Test

The process of unification of the Himalayan region started by King Prithvi Narayan Shah had spread like wildfire across the Himalayan region. In 1792, war broke out 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 toward 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 a 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, Himalayan unity stood the severest test and encouraged those fighting for the cause not to be complacent about the achievements; there was still a lot to be done.

Search to Find New Facts

There is a need to conduct a widespread search to fill all the missing gaps in the history of the† unification period. Efforts to trace important documents of that period should be encouraged extensively. Proper analysis of the information already available is equally crucial. Such analysis needs to be carried out paying full attention to the events taking place at that time in our neighborhood. As one of our neighbors was the powerful British Empire with its territory spread all across the five continents, it becomes necessary to look into the history of almost the whole world of that period in conducting the analysis of any particular major historical event in which the British India is also involved to enable us to reach to a meaningful conclusion. It can hardly be denied that the British policy of engagement with the problems of peace and war in one part of the world could not remain isolated from such policy in other parts at a particular time.

There is an urgent need to trace valuable documents that would help explain our country's history of the time. Historian Narahari Nath was able to trace a cluster of very important original letters from the king to Bhakti Thapa. Those letters have been published in the Himbatkhanda. Later, Mahesh Raj Pant published them in the journal Purnema. Those letters, covering the period between 1789 and 1814, describe some of the most important events that took place then. If we carefully read recent books on that time, we would not fail to notice that the bibliographies are laden with references to the letters published in the two journals. There has been no serious attempt, however, to thoroughly analyze those letters in order to properly explain many highly important episodes of our history.

Facts Lacking Correct Interpretation

The 1794 Royal Decree placing Bhakti Thapa stationed in Kumaun (at present in India) in command of the entire Nepalese force in the territory to the west of the Chepe and Marshyangdi rivers has been interpreted by some recent historians overlooking some very simple and at the same time obvious political, physical and economic conditions that prevailed at that time. Historian L. Stiller writes Bhakti Thapa had been given wider range of powers, the areas west of the Marshyangdi and Chepe were subject to his authority. According to the explanation in his book, the reasons for giving wide discretionary powers to Bhakti Thapa in Kumaon are obvious because those areas were very far away from the court of Kathmandu. Such an explanation flies in the face of common sense. If the proximity to Kumaon was the sole reason for giving sweeping authority, everyone would be at a great loss to understand why even those areas bordering the trio capitals of those days (Kathmandu-Nuwakot-Gorkha) to the west of the Chepe-Marshyangdi should have been placed in the care of the Bhakti Thapa stationed in Kumaon. There is another important matter that needs to be further explained. Stiller writes that petty rajas in the area west of the Marshyangdi River were subject to his authority. However, the Royal Decree goes one step further and requires that all rajas should follow the order of the Bhakti Thapa and go to the locations assigned by him. Such relocation of even the protectorate kings away from their states where their presence is required to maintain law and order is a very clear indication that a very big military campaign was just ahead.

The Royal Decree provides ample evidence to strengthen the view that immediately after signing the peace treaty with China, Nepal had started mobilizing its full strength to extend its campaign of unification. Involvement of all local rajas in the unification campaign points to the fact that Nepal had adopted a policy of reconciliation. Every king within the Himalayan belt could be a partner. Such a policy of integration rather than annexation could be the true reason of the great success of the 1779-81 campaign, which helped to shift the western boundary of Great Nepal across 400 km.

Kirkpatrick's Visit to Kathmandu

Although some of our historians might be even now unable to realize that soon after the signing of peace treaty with China our country had started preparations for resuming the unification campaign, the British rulers in India appeared to be showing signs of great worry. We can draw such a conclusion from the visit of Kirkpatrick to Kathmandu in 1793. Historian Stiller has given at length the description of that visit in his book. The British governor general in India had agreed to send Kirkpatrick to mediate in the Nepal-China dispute. He did not even set out for Nepal until after the war had been successfully terminated by the Nepal-China agreement. The governor-general was requested not to send Kirkpatrick since the war had been amicably concluded. However, since the governor-general was keen on sending a man to Nepal, Kirkpatrick visited Kathmandu for no specific official purpose. During his visit, Kirkpatrick found that Nepal was trying to reinvigorate the attack in the west. The circumstances under which Kirkpatrick visited Kathmandu clearly show that British rulers in India were viewing Nepal with great suspicion. At that time, British rulers in India were adopting every possible method to expand the territory under their control. The way new territories in India were brought under British control and rule had provoked even the British public. The British parliament went completely against this.

Accusations Against British Rulers

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 extortion 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 and acquitted (1792).

At a time when colonialism in its worst form was rapidly sweeping across the whole of South Asia, Nepal was able to defend its freedom. True martyrs like Bhakti Thapa, without the slightest hesitation, had laid down their lives for the cause of protecting the freedom of the country. Nepalese of the present generation should draw inspiration from the sacrifices of such martyrs.

(Laxmi Thapa writes on history)