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Nepal And South Asian Unity
By MRS. LAXMI THAPA
At a time when the colonialism in its worst form was rapidly sweeping across the whole South Asia, Nepal was able to defend her freedom. True martyrs like Bhakti Thapa without the slightest hesitation had laid down their life for the cause of protecting the freedom and dignity of South Asia in general and our country Nepal in particular. Bhakti Thapa, according to Historian CB Khanduri, 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. Needless to say that Nepalese people of present generation should draw inspiration from the sacrifices of such martyrs.
Eighteenth century was a period of great political turmoil in the Indian subcontinent. The powerful Mogul empire had come to an end at the very beginning of this century. The colonial powers like England and France were doing their utmost to increase their presence by exploiting the weaknesses of the rulers of the small states recently broken off from the Mogul empire. To the west of the Sub-continent was the Iran under the rule of Nadir Shah described in the history as the most hated man of his age who massacred people in uncounted thousands and plundered the country and after his death his successor not too different from him At that time the peoples living in the Himalayan region must have found themselves very insecure. Enlightened peoples living in different parts of the Himalayan region must have sensed the urgency to be united. Because, without being awakened to the realization that the unification of the whole region is a matter of the utmost importance to the peoples across the Himalayan region, it would not have been possible in a very short period to bring together under a common umbrella peoples living in a vast region demarcated on the west by the Sutlej and Bias rivers and on the east by the Tista The final outcome of such unification was the creation of the Great Nepal which was poised for confrontation with British Empire.
Nepal Against Colonialism
Nepal is seen to be by most of the foreigners as a country siding with the colonial power in the past. Only very few know about the struggle of the Nepalese people to end the colonial rule in South Asia.
At a time when the western part of the South Asia was bearing the brunt of the repeated brutal invasions by Nadir Shah and his successors who massacred innumerable innocent peoples and plundered vast areas, and when this whole region was being swiftly converted into the colony of the western powers, Nepal was able to rise from a scratch to be a formidable Himalayan power within a very short time. Nepal had gathered enough strength to move forward to protect the peoples dwelling in the western part of this vast region from anarchy. However, the build up of Nepalese strength brought her on a collision course with the colonial power of that time. Colonial power Britain had good reason to fear that if the Nepalese build up continued for some time, the colonial rule of Britain could soon come to an end in South Asia much the same way as in the North America a short time before. At that time Britain was preoccupied to make the whole of the South Asia one of their colonies. British rulers did not hesitate to resort to employ every possible means to accomplish their objective. Even the British public was outraged by the extortions and cruelties of the British rulers in Indian.
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 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 and acquitted (1792).
Nepal’s Unification Campaign
The Great Prithivinarayan Shah dedicated his whole life to fulfill the aspiration of the peoples living in the Himalayan region to be united. He was a person determined to go to any extent to accomplish this task. Prithivinarayan Shah was able to unite the eastern part of Nepal in his own life time. After the unification of the Kathmandu valley further expansion to the east was made slightly easier by comparison with similar expansion later on to the west because the British had not been able by that time to gain a good foothold in the North India. Prithivinarayan Shah passed away in 1775. Historian Mr. R.K. Shah writes that the state of uncertainty and anxiety characterized the reign of Pratap Singh (1775-1777) and the regency of Queen Rajendralakshmi (1777-1785) that followed after the passing away of Prithivinarayan Shah.
In 1785 Bahadur Shah became the regent and took over the administration of the country. The regency of the Bahadur Shah was at a very critical time. On one hand the country was deeply committed to fulfill a very difficult mission to unite the far-flung western regions which indeed was a great challenge, on the other hand his own position was being made more and more difficult by his rivals in the court until his dismissal in 1794. Nonetheless it was the most fruitful period. During the unification campaign within a very short period of about two years the western border of the Great Nepal was extended almost close to the Sutlej river across a distance of about 400 kilometers. The westward expansion of Nepal was extremely rapid. Historians like the L.F. Stiller have even blamed Bahadur Shah for not having given enough time to consolidate the newly added territories. However, no one has tried yet to analyze why Nepal was at such a great haste. One possible reason could be that the ultimate ambition of Nepal was to extend the boundary of the Great Nepal across the Kashmir valley Such explanation can be derived from the Kennedy's remark "Had the Nepalese succeeded in reducing Kangra, they would have very shortly after extended their conquest to Kashmir" Another more plausible explanation could be to fill up quickly the vacuum created by the gradual disappearance of even some semblance of authority of rulers at Delhi succeeding the mighty Mogul Emperors that had devastating consequences for the Punjab and its surrounding areas. An Afghan chief by the name of Ahmad Shah Abdali, after shaking off control of Iran, had burst into the plains of Punjab six times slaying, burning and plundering. The Afghan menace to Punjab continued until 1798. At that time Sikhs were not yet organized to protect that region from the Afganistan invasions. The fate of the Lahore by that time was still undecided. The transfer of Lahore to the 19 years old Ranjit Singh took place only in 1799, According to some historians the Punjab had slipped to becoming prey to bandits and robber chiefs. The British had been busy fighting the Marathas. General Lake was able to capture Delhi many years later in 1803 so the British would not have been able to offer resistance to Nepalese campaign aimed at unifying that region to protect the people from growing anarchy.
The biggest contribution of the Bahadur Shah was that he helped to build a powerful Nepal. He also adopted the policy of reconciliation. He displayed a very high quality leadership in mustering the full support of the entire country in giving new momentum to the campaign for the unification of the Himalayan region. We can learn about it if we very carefully read the letters written at that time on behalf of the king addressed to Bhakti Thapa who was the supreme commander and administrator of the entire territory to the west of the Chepe-Marshyangdi at the height of the operation for unification in 1790s.
Role of Bhakti Thapa
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 administrator of the entire territory to the west of the Chepa-Marshyangdi. .
Bhakti Thapa joined the unification campaign in 1789 at a time when 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 northern Gorkhali army's advance for more than two years. Bhakti Thapa’s ingenuity in leading the campaign allowed the Jumla kingdom to be easily integrated into the Great Nepal.
Unification Stood the Severest Test
The process of unification of the Himalayan region started by Prithivinarayan Shah had spread like wild fire across the Himalayan region. In 1792 a war broke 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 towards 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 other 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 the Himalayan unity stood the severest test and encouraged those fighting for the cause of such unity not to be complacent about the achievements; there was still a lot to be done
(Thapa writes on history)
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