Life Of Bhakti Thapa

By MRS. LAXMI THAPA

Bravery of 74-years-old Bhakti Thapa who laid down his life in the battle fought against the British at Deothal on 16 April, 1815 had stunned the world. Historian C.B. Khanduri has recently written about it 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."

Despite the fact that all knew well about the outstanding bravery of Bhakti Thapa, hardly anybody had the slightest idea until few decades before how crucial was the role of Bhakti Thapa in the building of present-day Nepal. The great role Bhakti Thapa had played in the nation building came to be known to our generation only few decades ago after the publication of the letters ( “Lalmohars”) sent to Bhakti Thapa by then kings. Those letters were published by Yogi Naraharinath in the journal “Himavatkhanda”. Later on they were again published by Mahesh Raj Pant in “Purnima”. Despite publications of above mentioned letters from the kings to Bhakti Thapa that revealed the crucial role of the latter in the building of our nation , even now only very few people know about the life of Bhakti Thapa. As a result, many writers have published misleading accounts of the life of Bhakti Thapa. Very recently one of the writers has even written a voluminous novel to present fabricated story of the life of Bhakti Thapa. Unfortunately nobody cared to find out whether they are telling the truth. Direct descendants of Bhakti Thapa living in Moharia, Lamjung or the direct descents of the ancestors of Bhakti Thapa who are scattered around the Lamjung district could have provided accurate information about the life of Bhakti Thapa. A brief outline of the life of Bhakti Thapa is presented hereinafter.

Bhakti Thapa’s Ancestors

According to recent historians Bhakti Thapa was born in 1741. He belonged to Puwar Thapa family. . Bhakti Thapa’s family lived in a remote village in Lamjung. Ancestors of Bhakti Thapa were in Lamjung for generations. The name of his father was Amar Singh Thapa Very little is known about the childhood life of Bhakti Thapa. It is said that there was an astonishing incident in the early life of Bhakti Thapa. The full details of that incident had been passed down over the generations. Still many old people in Lamjung are seen to be telling about that incident to their youngsters. That incident is described below.

Serpent and Bhakti Thapa

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 the neighbor. The old neighbor woman stormed out of her house into 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 shed that protected the young Bhakti Thapa against the scorching heat of the midday 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.

The parents of the 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 neighbor woman who saw 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 that big boulder near his native home was the last 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 near his native home also cracked with loud explosion. The cracked boulder is still lying there.

Bhakti Thapa’s Amazing Capability

One biggest attribute of any of the most successful military leader 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 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 highly commends Bhakti Thapa for the skill displayed in successful accomplishment of the Jumla operation. Military operation across very high mountains require very big courage as well as a great skill.

Bahadur Shah and Regent Queen

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 Ragendra 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 Ragendra Lakshmi who was at that time against the continuation of the 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 Ragendra Lakshmi was able to grab that opportunity to gain full power as Regent 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 be between 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 Prithivi Narayan’s Campaign

Lamjung people 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 because Gorkha had broken the oath not to conquer one another’s territory. It is not possible to rule out that Bahadur Shah in his first regency period itself might have assured the neighbouring 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 Ragendra Lakshmi It was certain that Bhakti Thapa was going to languish in jail for the rest of his life if the political events would not have again sharply turned around after few years.

Bhakti Thapa and Unification 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 Ragendra Lakshmi into acts of brutal treatment of the people opposing her. Bhakti Thapa might have been immediately set free. 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.

Sino-Nepal War and Bhakti Thapa

In 1792 a war broke between China and Nepal. It was the most unfortunate event for the newly emerged 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 part 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 few minor incidences nothing untoward happened that could seriously undermine the integrity of the Great Nepal It is said in Nepal’s Sainik Ithash 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 key role in preventing the disintegration of the Great Nepal at the time of Chinese invasion.

Absolute Authority Vested in Bhakti Thapa

Bhakti Thapa was a personality of extraordinary versatility, as evidenced by the role he had played in the unification campaign. In 1794, within a short period of five years after joining the unification campaign, he became the Governor and Chief Military Commander of the vast region from Chepe-Marshyangdi to the Jamuna River in Punjab. He was stationed at Kumaun (now India). In 1810s during the “Kangra Operation” Bhakti Thapa had captured the Tehra fortress near the Beas River in Punjab by routing the army of Sansarchand. In the subsequent battles fought against the combined force of Kangra king and the Sikh Suprimo Ranjit Singh simultaneously at two locations ( Ganesh Ghati and Malkangra), Bhakti Thapa’s force defending the Ganesh Ghati had defeated the enemy. The battle at Malkangra had ended in a stalemate.

(Thapa writes on history)