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| OPINION |
Bhakti Thapa's Sacrifice Became A Legend By Mrs. Laxmi Thapa In the 1ate eighteenth
century the South Asian region was being
swiftly converted into the colony
of the western powers. The way new
territories in India were brought under
the British control had provoked
even the British public. British
Parliament had gone completely against it.
Historian HG Wells has written about the
British rule in India at great length in
his book {History of the World)
According to HG Wells at that time the British
rulers in India were adopting every possible
method to enlarge the empire.
Englishmen at home were perplexed when
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.
During this period when
the countries in increasing number in South
Asia were being brought under the colonial
rule, Nepal was able to rise
from a scratch to become
a formidable Himalayan power within
a very short time. Nepal was
gathering enough strength to move
forward to protect the freedom of the
peoples dwelling in this vast region
against European domination However, the
build up of Nepalese strength
brought her on a collision
course with the Great Britain. Colonial power
Great Britain had good reason to fear
that if the Nepalese build up
continued for some time, the colonial
rule of the Britain could soon come
to an end in South Asia much
the same way as in the North
America a short time before. Who is Bhakti Thapa? Bhakti Thapa, apart from
being named the bravest of the braves in the
world by the historians for his great courage
and valour in the Deothal Battle against the
British army, had equally played the most
important role in the unification campaign of the
Great Nepal. He had proven himself to be
the best strategist of his time. Historians
have written that the 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. In his first major military operation
itself he demonstrated his exceptionally
brilliant skill in launching a very
successful operation under the most adverse
condition that was sure to astonish
anyone Bhakti Thapa joined the
unification campaign in 1789 at a time when
the advance of the Nepalese force
to the west of the Bheri River 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 northern
Gorkhali army's advance for more than two years.
After joining the unification campaign, Bhakti Thapa
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 highly
commends him for the skill displayed in
successful accomplishment of the Jumla
operation. Bhakti Thapa as
Supreme Leader In the 1790s, the effort
to unite the Himalayan region had been greatly intensified.
Nepal spared no efforts and resources to accomplish this
historic mission. The process of unification
had gone ahead at an exceptionally rapid pace.
At the height of this unification campaign
Bhakti Thapa was the supreme commander and
the administrator of the entire territory
to the west of the Chepa-Marshangdi. At
that time the western boundary of Nepal
had extended up to the Jamuna river. Unfortunately,
soon after, the unification campaign of the
Great Nepal came to a complete halt due
to political turmoil in the capital Kathmandu.
The next phase of the unification campaign
began in early 1800s. Nepal’s western
boundary had extended up to Sutlaz river by
1812. Continued expansion of the Great Nepal
was seen at that time by the Great
Britain as the biggest threat to realization
of their dream to convert the whole of
the South Asia into their colony. So the
Great Britain declared war on Nepal in 1814.
British invasion had started even before the
war was officially declared. The war continued
for three consecutive calendar years. The Anglo- Nepal War The British 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. The Britishers were
expecting 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.
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. British army
had at their disposal virtually unlimited
resources from the Nepalese perspective. They
continued to press Nepal all across the
frontier that stretched over a distance
of more than 1500 km. Nepalese resources
were being sharply depleted. There
was not any chance to be
replenished. So the ability of the
Nepalese force to defend the territory
under their control was steadily declining.
They were forced to pull back. There was
breakdown in control and command system.
Towards the middle of the 1815 Amar
Singh Thapa, chief of the Nepalese force
fighting in the western front was
confined within a small area of
the Malaun fort. The fate of Nepal
was going to be in the hand of
the Governor General Lord Hastings, unashamedly
imperialistic and who became famous for having
established the British Empire in India more
firmly than before. At that time there
could not be any room for doubt
in his intention either to
eliminate Nepal completely and bring it
under the British rule or to turn it
into a vassal state like so many other
states under that category in British
India. He could be forced not to
take any such decision detrimental to the
honour of Nepal only if he
perceived that such action could pose
serious threat to the continuance of
British rule in India. The Deothal Battle
could not be anything else but a
clear message of threat from Nepalese
people to the British ruler warning
them not to take lightly the determination
of Nepalese people to protect the honour
of the country. Deothal Battle Towards the sunset of
the April 15th evening Bhakti Thapa and
the army units under him arrived at
the Malaun fort from their station at Surajgarh
without being noticed by the
British army units scattered around the
Malaun fortress. The subsequent events help to
explain that he might have come to
persuade Amar Singh Thapa on behalf of
all the brave commanders prepared to sacrifice
their life for the country to pursue more
aggressive methods to deter the enemy
from overrunning the motherland. He might
have even advised him to pull back from
the Maluan to regroup the army units
spread all across the Garwal and Kumaun
to go to a completely new type
of offensive. The following day in
the morning Bhakti Thapa at the age of
74 led a kamikaze type counterattack against
the British force entrenched at Deothal.
Historians have presented the description of
this battle at great length. It was 3.15
a.m. when a force of 400 under Bhakti
Thapa marched out of the Malaun fort, to
a slow but steady beat of a drum. The
British column under Thompson had taken
position at Deothal on reverse slopes. The
cannons of 6 pounders were properly concealed.
There were two Indian battalions, the
Grenadiers companies of the Light Battalions
and some 1000 Irregulars. The British
strength was up to about 3,500 troops and
weapons. Bhakti Thapa and his
followers in the counterattack appeared to have
vowed to fight to the death. Bhakti Thapa
had even handed his infant grandson in
the custody of the Amar Singh Thapa just
before going to the battlefield. It
was a bloody battle. It would not be
wrong to visualize that the Khukri charge and
the battle cry of the Nepalese fighters
might have shaken the enemies with fear.
RP Ochterlony, the author of "Sketches Of The
Goorka War" has written. A body of Gorkhas
advancing to charge bears no resemblance to a
European column. Several huge trumpets putting
up a harsh but stirring noise, set the
multitude in motion who, except some carry
shields, grasping each a matchlock in his
left hand and a broad sword in his
right, rush on, disregarding all regularity, very
like a pack of hounds in full cry. Bhakti Thapa laid down
his life in the battlefield. Every one
who fought from the Nepalese side was
either killed or wounded. The British
casualties were also very high. The Britishers
have praised their officers and soldiers
for their bravery in the battle. According
to one account the British casualties of
dead and wounded in Deothal battle were
384 as against 390 Nepalese casualties - almost
a ratio of one to one, under the
most adverse conditions to the Nepalese. Bravery of Bhakti
Thapa Needless to say that
British rulers were throughly 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." (Thapa writes on history) |
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