Opinion (Spotlight Weekly)

Chinese Invasion And Bhakti Thapa

By Mrs. Laxmi Thapa et al

Western boundary of the Great Nepal had extended up to the Jamuna River (now India) from the Bheri River within a very short period of just two years from 1789 to 1791. Bhakti Thapa had played crucial role in such rapid expansion of the Great Nepal. At that very time Nepal was attacked by China from the north. During that period China was ruled by the most powerful Emperor Chiang Lung of the Manchu Dynasty. He had ruled that country until 1796. Chinese invasion was directed straight towards Kathmandu. The Chinese attack was anticipated well in advance. As a result, Nepal had withdrawn most of its troops and commanders from the west to defend the capital Kathmandu against the Chinese invasion. It was the most critical period in the history of the newly born Great Nepal.

The existence of the Great Nepal was in great danger. The country was under the threat of falling apart. In many areas the rulers of the old regimes, who were disgruntled at the creation of the Great Nepal, had begun to stir up unrest. According to sainikitihas of Nepal Bhakti Thapa stationed at Kumaun virtually single handedly succeeded in quelling the unrest fomented by the rulers of the old regime in the vast western regions which were very recently merged into the Great Nepal perhaps from Bheri River to Jamuna River in Garwal. The sainikitihas describes that Bhakti Thapa was constantly on a move from one end of this vast region to the other end to prevent the Great Nepal from falling apart. Finally, the China-Nepal conflict ended without great loss to Nepal. Immediately after the signing of peace treaty with China, Bhakti Thapa became the Administrator and Commander of the vast region from Chepe-Marshyangdi to the Jamuna River (in India). Bhakti Thapa was vested with the authority to further mobilize army. Even the kings of the protectorate states were instructed to take order from Bhakti Thapa and go to the place assigned by the latter. Thus, Bhakti Thapa solely became responsible for the conduct of the unification campaign. According to the Kirkpatrick, the British emissary who had visited Nepal just at that time, Nepal was readying to launch next phase of the National Unification Campaign to extend the boundary of the Great Nepal further to the west.

China’s Manchu Empire

China was ruled by Ming Dynasty from 1368 to 1644. Whereas the people of Manchu origin lived in the Northern China. Manchu people greatly strengthened their military might and invaded the Southern China across the Great Wall. They succeeded in capturing Beijing in 1644. The Ming Dynasty fell and the Manchu Dynasty came into power.

Among the Manchu emperors Kang Hu Shi and Chiang Lung are considered to be the most influential. Emperor Kang Hu Shi ruled China from 1661 to 1722. He was contemporary with the Louis XIV of France, Peter the Great of Russia and Aurangazeb of India. Similarly, Emperor Chiang Lung ruled from 1736 to 1796. During his reign countries like Burma, Korea were under the influence of China. After the demise of Chiang Lu the Chinese Empire started gradually to weaken.

Britain Turned A Deaf Ear

Chinese invasion must have come as a terrible shock to newly emerged Great Nepal. Government in Kathmandu must have got into a panic. At that time Nepal prayed to British India for help to mediate between Nepal and China. But Britain virtually turned a deaf ear.

The process of expansion of the Great Nepal was too rapid. It was natural for the British Government to be greatly alarmed. So British rulers might not have in reality any intention of helping Nepal. We can draw such conclusion from the circumstances surrounding the visit of the Kirkpatrick to Kathmandu in 1793. British governor general in India had agreed to send Kirkpatrick to mediate in Nepal- China dispute. Kirkpatrick 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. Surprisingly the governor general was seen adamant on sending a man to Kathmandu. So Kirkpatrick visited Kathmandu for no specific official purpose. The intention of Kirkpatrick's visit could hardly be anything else but to watch closely the growing military activities in Nepal and to ascertain that such activities were not going to be directed against the British India in near future.

Cause of Nepal China Conflict

Nepal was drawn into a war with China over Tibet issue. The deterioration in Nepal-Tibet relations was linked with the problem of Tibetan coinage. It is reported that Malla kings of the Kathmandu valley had earned income by minting coins for the use in Tibet. They had profited the most in the later period by reducing the amount of silver in the alloy of their coins. Thus originated the Nepal-Tibet coinage problem which was inherited by the Shah dynasty. It is said that the latter Malla coins contained as little as fifty-seven percent silver. Nepal wanted to mint pure metal coins, as a result, it created a great deal of misunderstandings between Nepal and Tibet. There were several other issues also that had soured relationship between Nepal and Tibet. The war broke out between Nepal and Tibet. China sided with Tibet against Nepal. China had sent a big invasion force under the commander Fu-Kang-an to attack Nepal.

Chinese Attack

China began the attack on Nepalese territory in mid-June 1792. The main attack was centered on Kyrung which is on north-west of the Kathmandu valley. In the early stages of the fighting the Chinese superiority in numbers gave them a great advantage. Chinese attack on Kyrung was vicious. Nepalese troops had to fall back quickly through the pass to take up positions at Rasuwa. Soon Nepalese troops had to retreat from Rasuwa and Syapruk also. Nepalese troops were assembled near Betravati-Trisuli confluence to repulse the advancing Chinese army. Nepalese defenders ferociously fought against the attacking Chinese army. After this battle Chinese were convinced that it would not be wise to think of defeating Nepal. Ultimately the war ended in a stalemate. Historian L.F. Stiller has given in a great length the description of the Sino-Nepal War. The following are the excerpts from his book about the Betrawati battle.

“.. Rocks, boulders, logs, and missiles of all kinds were thrown down the slope to tear great gaps in the advancing lines of Chinese. This shower of deadly and unpredictable missiles threw the Chinese ranks into complete confusion. Then the Gorkhali troops from the east and south swung into the attack, shouting their war cry and charging into the confused and retreating Chinese mass. The Chinese returned to the bridge and tried to race back across it to safety, but here the way was suddenly blocked. The Chinese generals, disgusted at the sudden turn of events, refused to allow the fleeing soldiers the safety of the bridge, and forced them back at the point of the sword to return and fight. But there was no fighting strength left in those men. Some tried to swim the river. Others died on the blade of the khukuri. And there was no numbering those who had been swept to their death by the thundering missiles. The Betrawati itself was swollen with monsoon rains and few of those who tried to test its current lived to tell of it…”

End of The Sino-Nepal War

After the battle at Betravati both Nepal and China realized that it would not be in the interest of either of the countries to prolong the war. A compromise solution was found to resolve the disputes that led to outbreak of the war. The fighting ended. According to Stiller there was no real winner.

New Role of Bhakti Thapa

The progress of advance of the Great Nepal further to the west was indeed, hampered by the Chinese war. After signing peace treaty with China, Nepal shifted its full attention to the west. Bhakti Thapa was made administrator and commander of the entire western region of the Great Nepal to the west of the Chepe- Marshyangdi to recommence the unification campaign. Thus Bhakti Thapa became solely responsible for the conduct of the temporarily suspended unification campaign.

(Thapa writes on history)