Opinion (Spotlight Weekly)

Bhakti Thapa : Threat To British India

By Mrs. Laxmi Thapa

The 1794 appointment of the Bhakti Thapa as the chief administrator and army commander-in-chief of the vast region, Chepe-Marshyangdi in the east, and almost the Sutlez river in the west, must have come as a big shock to British rulers in India. They became certain that Nepal is very soon going to launch the next phase of the unification campaign. The new campaign could easily be directed towards Locknow, Delhi and other important regions in North India. The subsequent events proved that the British rulers themselves were eagerly waiting to find an opportunity to posses those territories. However, at that time British India was sternly warned by London not to be involved in disputes over territories in Indian Sub-continent, as a result, British rulers had temporarily discontinued their plan to expand the empire. France was posing a serious threat to continuance of British Empire in India Sub-continent. British Government must have afresh in their mind how they lost their control over the North America after the capitulation of Yorktown about a decade earlier because the threat of the French navy to General Cornwallis’s army was grossly underestimated.

The British rulers would have been worried the most because virtually unlimited authority had been vested in Bhakti Thapa, who had already been identified as the most capable strategist determined to go to extent to accomplish swiftly the set objective. In the past he seemed to have speeded up the expansion of the “Great Nepal” to the west after the successful conclusion of the Jumla campaign virtually ignoring the instruction of the capital to go slow.

Determined Leader Bhakti Thapa

Bhakti Thapa joined the unification campaign in 1789 at a time when the further advance of the Nepalese force to the west was completely blocked for more than two years by then powerful kingdom of Jumla. Hamilton states that Jumla had collected an army of twenty-two thousand men to face the Gorkhalis, a force far superior to anything the Gorkhalis could put in the field at that time. In view of the narrow valleys and the very high mountains in the Jumla area, it was not surprising that Jumla with such an army was able to resist the Gorkhali army's advance for more than two years. In his first major military operation itself Bhakti Thapa demonstrated his exceptionally brilliant skill in launching a very successful operation under the most adverse condition that was sure to astonish anyone. He changed the strategy of the predecessors and led an attack on Jumla from the difficult north route. The result was a swift victory and the life of many people was also saved.

A letter sent by the king to Bhakti Thapa, soon after the unification of the Jumla, highly commends Bhakti Thapa for the skill displayed in successful accomplishment of the Jumla operation. The letter also cautions Bhakti Thapa not to advance further without completing the process of consolidation over the entire newly added territory. The capital appeared to be gripped by the fear that the further advance to the west would be very difficult and also risky. So it was clearly explained in the letter to the Bhakti Thapa that the whole operation would be in a mess if the further advance is allowed to continue without fully completing the task of consolidation. It implied that the operation to extend territory of Nepal further to the west would have to be suspended for next two to three years to complete the task of consolidation. After the completion of the Jumla operation those who led the national unification campaign appeared to be determined to march swiftly to the west. So, the instruction from the capital was ignored..

The process of unification of the Himalayan region spread like wild fire across the whole region. In 1789, to the west of then Nepal was the Bheri River. By 1791 the western border of the Great Nepal was about to hit the Sutlej river. Powerful kingdoms like Jumla, Doti, Kumaun and Garwal had come within the Great Nepal. The western border had thus shifted almost across a distance of about 400 kilometers within a period of just two years It can hardly be denied that the willingness of the people living in the Himalayan region to be united would have been the main driving force behind such rapid expansion of the Great Nepal. As a result, Bhakti Thapa was able to defend virtually single handedly the vast territory of the Great Nepal during and after the Sino-Nepal war in 1792 when the bulk of Nepalese force was pulled back to protect the capital.

Preparations for New Campaign

Immediately after the return to Kumaun from Kathmandu to take over the duty of the commander-in-chief and the chief administrator of the whole region of the “Great Nepal” to the west of the Chepe-Marshyangdi, Bhakti Thapa was fully occupied in speeding up preparation for the next phase of the unification campaign. Needless to say that the collection of the financial resources required for the forthcoming campaign would have been no easy task. It was the duty of everybody of the Great Nepal to make some sacrifice. Bhakti Thapa was very impartial in the distribution of excess financial burden. It was necessary to reduce the financial benefits and salaries across the board over the whole region to the west of the Chepe-Marshyangdi which was in his juridiction. Bhakti Thapa treated everyone impartially. He even reduced the emolument to be paid to the next of kin of His Majesty. It might surprise some of us to learn that King Rana Bahadur Shah was not at all upset. He only informed Bhakti Thapa in a letter that he be consulted before taking the final decision to reduce the emolument to be paid to his brothers and nephews.

The above incidence showed the absolute honesty in the judgment of the Bhakti Thapa. Anybody who had the slightest care for his own wellbeing would not have the courage to take such a daring decision. It also showed that the country had absolute trust in him. Unfortunately one of the historians has tried to twist this incidence into the mistake of the Bhakti Thapa. Mr. M.C. Regmi has written in one of his books devoted to Kumaun “Bhakti Thapa was also granted pajni authority over Kumaun in consultation with subba. Bhakti Thapa’s appointment as chief of a regional set-up reflects poor judgment on the part of King Rana Bahadur Shah. His territorial jurisdiction was extensive covering a number of provinces…… The tactless manner in which he exercised his pajni authorities by dismissing the relatives of the central authorities was yet another minus point”

Threat to British India

It should not have been difficult for British rulers in India to realize that Nepal could soon become a powerful country if the further expansion of Nepal under the leadership of the Bhakti Thapa is not checked in time. Bhakti Thapa's appoint to the new post carrying the dwell responsibility was the recognition of the fact that the performance of his leadership in preceding operations for national unification was absolutely superb. Historian CB Khunduri, who himself is a Garwali, has clearly explained about it. “Why Gorkhas won and their enemies, the Kumaonis and Garhwalis lost is the question that should haunt every historian. After all, the armies of those states were large; reasonably equipped; and their men material and their armies were not inferior to the Gorkhas'. And they fought in their own territories with the advantage of intelligence, resources and no dearth of brave population. The conclusion one draws from the analysis of strategies followed, battle field tactics and techniques adopted, is just one: there was lack of leadership among the vanquished. The Gorkhas, on the other hand, had been spurred by their overzealous new concepts of nationalism”. CB Khanduri has categorically stated in his book that Bhakti Thapa had impressed the Gorkha commanders during the War of Consolidation and joined those who were to be the eventual ruler of Nepal. Kazi Amar Singh Thapa had treaded in the footsteps of Bhakti Thapa. British rulers must have been very much concerned that Nepal was ready to launch the next phase of the unification campaign under the leadership of the Bhakti Thapa.

Past Bitter Experience

The British Government at London would have never forgotten how the North America broke off from the rest of the British Empire because the strength of the France was grossly underestimated. In 1778 war had broken out between France and England soon after the beginning of the American War of Independence. The French provided loans, a few troops, and, most importantly, naval support for the Americans. The French alliance also turned the rebellion into a wider war in which the British had to contend not only with the colonials but also with a French navy in the Caribbean and on the American coast. In 1781 Lord Charles Cornwallis led an army through Virginia almost without opposition, then retreated to a peninsula at Yorktown. There he was besieged by George Washington’s army and held in check by the French navy. Unable to escape or to get help, Cornwallis surrendered an entire British army. His defeat effectively ended the war In the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the British recognized the independence of the USA .It is said that had not France and Spain helped, the colonists might have lost the war.

There was again unrest all across the Europe in 1790s. The biggest event of this period was the French Revolution that shook the whole world. France declared war against the English in 1793. Napoleon Bonaparte was made commander of the French army in Italy. He was intending to invade England In 1798, to strike at British trade with the East, he led an expedition to Ottoman-ruled Egypt, which he conquered. The British Governor General in India Marquess Wellesley was closely following the movement of Napoleon. On 18 June 1798 the secret committee informed Wellesley that Bonaparte’s armament had left Toulon on 19 May.

Main British Concern

The British rulers in India were highly worried that the disgruntled local kings such as Tippu Sultan could provide full support to France in the fight against the British force. It is said that Tippu had even written to Napoleon asking him to come and help him to drive the English out of India. Thus at that time the main thrust of the British strategy was to secure British India against French attack. Surely they did not want to be involved in a war against the “Great Nepal” at that point in time. So they might have tried to derail the new unification campaign by convincing important Nepalese authorities against further expansion of the Great Nepal.

The Campaign was Aborted

The new phase of the unification campaign, launched in 1794, was aborted in 1796. Bhakti Thapa was replaced by Bam Shah as administrator. Bam Shah was one of the members of the two men team who meet Kirkpatrick at Azamgarh during his visit to Kathmandu in 1793 immediately after the 1792 Sino-Nepal War. Historian L. F. Stiller writes that initially Mr. Kirkpatrick was not allowed to proceed further than Azamgarh. The team of Bam Shah found that Kirkpatrick was a wise and good man and only thereafter he was allowed to proceed to Kathmandu.

It is more or less clear that the appointment of Bam Shah to the post of administrator was intended primarily to block further activities to launch the next phase of the unification campaign. Kathmandu must have felt even at that time that the Bam Shah is not the man cut out to handle the defense of a vast territory about two third the size of the Great Nepal. Thus, Bhakti Thapa, according to the historian M.C. Regmi continued to perform the duty of chief of army and diplomatic fields. Bam Shah appeared to be lacking strong willpower and firm determination to defend the Great Nepal. Later on during the Anglo-Nepal War of 1814/16 at a time when the Bhakti Thapa at the age of 74 had laid down his life in a bloody counterattack against the British at Deothal on April 16, 1815 to signal others to follow suit so that not even an inch of land would be lost without fierce battle, unexpectedly just ten days later Bam Shah surrendered virtually without any fight ceding the entire territory of the Great Nepal to the west of the Mahakali river to Britain.