Opinion (Spotlight Weekly)

Early Life Of Bhakiti Thapa

By Mrs. Laxmi Thapa

According to recent historians, Bhakti Thapa was born in 1741. The name of his father was Amar Singh Thapa. Bhakti Thapa’s family lived in a remote village in Lamjung. Very little is known about the childhood period of Bhakti Thapa. There was, however, an unbelievable incident in the early life of Bhakti Thapa. That incident virtually resembles a description from the children’s storybook. The full detail of that incident had been passed down over the generations. Still many old people in Lamjung are found narrating that incident to their youngsters. That incident is described below.

Bhakti Thapa was still a very young boy. One day he was sleeping on a big boulder not far away from his house in a remote village of Lamjung while his flocks of goats grazed the buckwheat field of a neighbor. The old neighbor lady stormed out of her house to the place where Bhakti Thapa was fast asleep in a rage, cursing him for his misdeeds. What she saw at that time chilled her blood. Bhakti Thapa was sleeping on a big serpent coiled up on the boulder raising its wide hood high above casting a shade that protected the young Bhakti Thapa against the scorching heat of the mid-day sun. The serpent slowly uncoiled without waking up the boy and descended from the boulder. It disappeared from the sight after slipping into the bushes nearby.

Parents of Bhakti Thapa were terribly distressed when they learnt about the whole incident. They thanked the God for saving the life of their beloved son. The old lady who had witnessed the whole incident had a completely different opinion. She was convinced that Bhakti Thapa was no ordinary man. He possessed some sort of divine power. She was quick to realize that one day Bhakti Thapa would become a very famous person. The news of this incident quickly spread across the Lamjung and beyond.

The big boulder near the native home of Bhakti Thapa in Lamjung is linked up twice with the events in his later life. After some years a grand ritual was performed to solemnize brotherhood relationship ( in Nepali METAIRI) between Bhakti Thapa and that big boulder. The third event that linked Bhakti Thapa with the big boulder was the last one in his life. It is said that at that very moment during the Anglo-Nepal War when Bhakti Thapa fell in the Deothal Battle field on April 16, 1815, the big boulder also cracked with loud explosion. The cracked boulder is still lying there.

Bhakti Thapa’s Ability

In studies devoted to Anglo-Nepal War, historians have written that the Nepalese officers were without exception semi-literate men. They never got any form of training in military science. They were brave and they acquired knowledge through experience. These characteristics are fully applicable to Bhakti Thapa also. It is most unlikely that Bhakti Thapa ever got a chance to receive formal education when he was young. But within a very short period of just few years after joining the unification campaign in 1789 Bhakti Thapa emerged as the ablest person among all other renowned figures from Nepal’s history of that period to become the supreme leader of the unification campaign in 1794. It is clear that Bhakti Thapa possessed exceptionally marvelous natural leadership quality. One biggest attribute of any of the most successful military leaders is the possession of the Sixth Sense. It is said that the Third Reich Field Marshal of the German army Erwin Rommel called it Fingerspitzenfuhl. Bhakti Thapa, indeed, had that Sixth Sense. Bhakti Thapa had proved his exceptional natural leadership quality and possession of the Sixth Sense in his first major military operation itself. He demonstrated his exceptionally brilliant skills 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 lives of many people were also saved. A letter sent by the king highly commends Bhakti Thapa for the skill displayed in successful accomplishment of the Jumla operation. Military operations across high mountains require much courage as well as great skill. A similar military operation but at bigger scale was performed about ten years later in 1799 in Europe for some what different purpose. A.V. Suvorov, commander of the Russo-Austrian army fighting against the French in northern Italy became a legendary figure after he succeeded in leading the army under him across the Alps to strategically important locations in the north.

Bahadur Shah and Regent Queen

Bhakti Thapa joined the Lamjung army when he grew up. It is clear that the Lamjung army must have been very small in size. Bhakti Thapa might have continued to serve all through his active life as an ordinary officer of that small kingdom had the political events in that region not taken a dramatic turn in the fourth quarter of the eighteenth century.

Pratap Singh was succeeded in 1777 as king by his son Rana Bahadur Shah at the age of only two and a half years. Historians agree that Bahadur Shah’s regency after the death of Pratap Singh formed the golden age of Nepal’s unification. Historian L. F. Stiller writes that it was during this time Nepal passed from the status of an insignificant state to that of a formidable power in the South Asian subcontinent. However, the life of Bahadur Shah was full of sufferings. He was punished for none of his own faults by his elder brother, sister-in-law and nephew.

Bahadur Shah had served as regent for a very short period immediately after the death of his elder brother King Pratap Singh prior to the regency of Queen Rajendra Lakshmi also. He tried to restart with great vigor the unification campaign initiated by his father Prithivi Narayan Shah even during that short period. He faced stiff resistance from the queen-mother Rajendra Lakshmi who was at that time against the continuation of unification campaign. She liked to spend her life in pursuit of pleasure. They quickly became bitter enemies of one another.

Once, Bahadur Shah was away from the capital. He had temporarily moved to Gorkha to conduct unification campaign operation. Queen-mother Rajendra Lakshmi grabbed that opportunity to gain full powers as Regent herself on June 20, 1779. Bahadur Shah had to flee to safety in India.

The Fall of Lamjung

After some time there was change in attitude of Regent Queen. She sent a big force to invade Lamjung The ensuing battle must have been between the two fighting forces very much unequal in strength. Bhakti Thapa who fought from the Lamjung side was captured after being badly wounded in the battle field. Lamjung was completely defeated. It became a part of Nepal.

Traditionally, Gorkha and Lamjung were enemies of one another. There used to be frequent skirmishes on the frontier between these two kingdoms in the past. Sometimes even big battles were fought. They never tried to gain permanent control over one another’s territory. Kings of Gorkha were the direct descendant of the Lamjung kings. It is said that long back the kings of Gorkha and Lamjung had taken oath in the presence of their mother that neither of them nor their descendants would ever conquer one another’s territory.

High Respect For Prithivinarayan’s Campaign

People of Lamjung must have felt that there is a need to unify all small kingdoms to make a powerful nation. So they might have been watching the untiring efforts of Prithivi Narayan with great admiration. At that time indirect support of Lamjung was absolutely indispensable if Prithivi Narayan Shah’s campaign to gain control over Kathmandu valley was to succeed. Historian L. F. Stiller writes quoting various sources “ It was essential to Gorkha’s security and to the success of Prithivi Narayan Shah’s plan ( to gain control over Kathmandu valley) that he find some guarantee that these states, especially Lamjung, would not intervene.” Prithivi Narayan had deputed Kalu Pande to get the consent of Lamjung not to intervene. Lamjung agreed and kept its promise not to intervene.

The Wrath of Bhakti Thapa

After the fall of Lamjung wounded Bhakti Thapa was brought to Kathmandu. Bhakti Thapa’s maddening anger and fierce hatred for the rulers in Kathmandu knew no limits. He is said to have made not once the most scornful remarks to humiliate his captors “ Had I been free, I would have cut into pieces the king and banished the queen after shaving off the locks of her hair” Bhakti Thapa must have felt that Lamjung was betrayed It is not possible to rule out that Bahadur Shah in his first regency period itself might have assured the neighboring small kingdoms including Lamjung that he would be following the policy of unification rather than the policy of forcible annexation. Unification instead of annexation was the hallmark of Bahadur Shah’s policy of national campaign that came into force a few years later when Bahadur Shah again became regent for the second time after the death of Queen Rajendra Lakshmi. It was certain that Bhakti Thapa was going to languish in jail for the rest of his life had the political events not again sharply turned around a few years later.

Bhakti Thapa Leads The Campaign

As soon as Bahadur Shah became regent for the second time he did not waste time to severely punish those who had provoked Queen Rajendra Lakshmi into committing acts of brutal treatment of the people opposing her. Bhakti Thapa might have been immediately set free by Bahadur Shah. These momentous happenings must have set the stage for a clear understanding between Bahadur Shah and Bhakti Thapa that had far reaching impact on the history of Nepal. Bhakti Thapa, a person hailing from a former enemy kingdom, became the most trusted man of the Great Nepal to govern for the first time the vast territory to the west of the dual capital Kathmandu and Gorkha.. Prof. T. R. Manandhar of the History Faculty of T.U. has expressed in an interaction program held to mark the 189th Deothal Battle Day that the initiative of the Gorkha Kingdom to unite various small kingdoms to build a powerful nation truly assumed the character of broad national unification after Bhakti Thapa, a person not from Gorkha, took the lead in the campaign.

In 1792 a war broke between China and Nepal. It was the most unfortunate event for the newly emerging Great Nepal There could not be other better opportunity for those opposed to the unification campaign to break away and again form independent states. Most of the troops stationed in the western parts of the country had to be pulled back to defend the capital Kathmandu. But even during this period of great threat to the newly forged unity, except for a few minor incidents nothing untoward happened that could seriously undermine the integrity of the Great Nepal It is said in Nepal’s Sainik Itihash (Nepal’s Military History) that Bhakti Thapa was in command of the newly unified vast western region stretching from the Bheri River as far out as the Jamuna River in Punjab. He had played a key role in preventing the disintegration of the Great Nepal at the time of Chinese invasion.

Bhakti Thapa was a personality of extraordinary versatility, as evidenced by the role he had played in unification campaign. In 1794, within a short period of five years after joining the unification campaign, he became the Governor of the vast region from Chepe-Marshyangdi to the Jamuna River in Punjab. He was stationed at Kumaun (now India). All military and civil authorities were under him. All kings of the protectorates were informed to follow Bhakti Thapa’s instructions and go to the place assigned by him. Bhakti Thapa was expected to receive foreign kings and their representatives and to take foreign relations related decisions. It shows that Nepal had boundless faith in honesty as well ability of Bhakti Thapa right from the beginning of his joining the unification campaign.

(Thapa writes on Nepalese history)