INTRODUCTION TO SOME SHAH KINGS OF NEPAL

PRITHIVI NARAYAN SHAH (1723-1775 A.D):
was a Nepali Ideal person and famous for it Breavery and Strenghness. He was a ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah(1559 - 1570 A.D.), the founder of the ruling house of Gorkha. Prithvi Narayan Shah succeeded his father King Nara Bhupal Shah to the throne of Gorkha in 1743 A.D.
He was born from immature pregnancy by Kaushalyawati Shah however was raised by his senior mother Chandra Prabhavati. He started taking general concern with the affair of the state because his father spent most of his time in prayer room. He had a great desire to get victory over Nuwakot. He had the desire to get victory once even by fighting vigorously, though he was defeated. His senior mother was his perfection against his loyalty towards the unification of modern Nepal. Walking around Gorkha and talking to people about the general concern of the palace was his likeness and this helped him to understand the needs of the citizens of Gorkha
King Prithvi Narayan Shah's successful entry began with the union of Nuwakot, which lies between Kathmandu and Gorkha District, in 1744 A.D. After Nuwakot, he took possession of strategic points in the hills surrounding the Kathmandu Valley. The Valley's communications with the outside world were thus cut off. The occupation of the Kuti Pass in about 1756 A.D. stopped the valley's trade with Tibet. To stop the trade between the Newar people living in the Kathmandu Valley and the Muslim Mogul empire in India was a requirement King Prithvi Narayan Shah had to fulfill in order to receive advice and weapons from the British.
Finally, King Prithvi Narayan Shah entered the Valley, after conquering Kirtipur. Consequently Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu managed to escape with his wife and took asylum in Patan. When the conquest was extended to Patan a few weeks later both Jaya Prakash Malla and the King of Patan, Tej Narsingh Malla, took refuge in Bhaktapur, which was also conquered after some time. Thus King Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the Kathmandu Valley and made Kathmandu the capital of the Nepal in 1769 A.D. Once the foundation of the Kingdom of Nepal was thus laid, King Prithvi Narayan Shah turned his attention towards the east. The Sena Kingdom of Choudandi was conquered by 1773 A.D. and Vijaypur, another Sena Kingdom was annexed shortly after.
Nepal at that time extended from the Punjab to Sikkim and was almost twice as large in land area as it is today.
King Prithvi Nārāyaṇ Shah had sealed his border and maintained peaceful but distant relations with the British, refusing to trade with them although he had accepted arms and advice from them during his conquering wars. He died before he could effectively organize the administration of his new country. He died in January, 1775 A.D. at the age of 52. Upon his death, Prithvi Nārāyaṇ was succeeded by his son, Pratāp Singh Shah.

BIRENDRA BIR BIKRAM SHAH DEV (1945-2001A.D):
Birendra was born at the Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu as the eldest son of the then Crown Prince Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his wife Crown Princess Indra Rajya Laxmi.
Birendra was the first Nepalese monarch to receive a formal education. He spent eight years studying at St Joseph's College, a Jesuit school in Darjeeling, India. On 13 March 1955 his grandfather King Tribhuvan died and his father succeeded to the Nepalese throne. With his father's ascension Birendra became the Crown Prince of Nepal.
In 1959 Birendra enrolled at Eton College in the United Kingdom. After studying at Eton until 1964 he returned to Nepal where he began to explore the country by travelling incognito to remote parts of the country where he lived on whatever was available in the villages and monasteries. He later completed his education by spending some time at the University of Tokyo before studying political theory at Harvard University from 1967 to 1968.Late King Birendra enjoyed to travel in his youth and went on trips to Canada, Latin America, Africa and a number of Asian countries. He was also an art collector and supporter of Nepalese crafts people and artists. He also learnt to fly helicopters.
Birendra was married to Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Rana from the Rana family on 27 February 1970.The wedding which was billed as one of the most lavish Hindu nuptial ceremonies in history cost $9.5 million to stage.Birendra and Aishwaraya had three children.
• Prince Dipendra (27 June 1971 – 4 June 2001)
• Princess Shruti (15 October 1976 – 1 June 2001)
• Prince Nirajan (6 November 1977–1 June 2001)

Birendra succeeded to the throne on 31 January 1972 on the death of his father. On his ascension he was effectively an absolute monarch as he inherited a country where political parties were banned and he ruled through a system of local and regional councils known as panchayats.[3] Birendra resented the absolute monarch tag maintaining that he presided over a democracy in which representatives to the assembly were indirectly elected and saying that his poor and backward country could not afford a democracy based on party politics and that it needed firm and decisive government. His first trips abroad as king were to India in October 1973 and China two months later as he believed that Nepal, sandwiched between the two Asian powers, should have good relations with both.
In an attempt to maintain the panchayat system of government prominent leaders of the Nepali Congress Party were arrested. Because of the growing pro democracy movement Birendra announced that a referendum to decide between a non-party and a multi-party system would be held. The referendum was held in May 1980 with the non-party system winning by a margin of 55% to 45%. During the 1980s the restraints that had been imposed on political organisations were starting to ease and liberal student-led groups were starting to appear demanding constitutional change in Nepal.He was made a British Field Marshal in 1980.
In 1990 a series of strikes and pro-democracy riots broke out in Nepal. Because of the rioting Birendra agreed to become a constitutional monarch. He appointed an independent Constitution Recommendation Commission to represent the main opposition factions and to prepare a new constitution to accommodate their demands for political reform. The commission presented him with the draft of the proposed constitution on 10 September 1990. The new constitution would make Birendra head of state of a constitutional monarchy with a system of multiparty democracy. The draft constitution was approved by the Prime Minister K.P. Bhattarai and his cabinet and so on 9 November 1990 Birendra promulgated the new constitution transforming Nepal into a constitutional monarchy.
However, the quarrels between various political parties and numerous social problems led to the Nepalese Civil War, a conflict between Maoist rebels and government forces, which lasted from 1996 until 2006.
Death:
Nepal's stability was threatened even more when Birendra and most of his family (including Queen Aiswarya) were massacred at a royal dinner on 1 June 2001.Published reports from eyewitnesses and the results of an investigation carried by a two-man committee made up of the Chief of the Supreme Court Keshav Prasad Upadhaya and the speaker of the House of Representatives Taranath Ranabhat,confirmed his eldest son and heir, Dipendra, was the gunman. There is some speculation that Gyanendra was behind a conspiracy.Some political faction of Nepal has blamed foreign elements as being involved in the massacre of the Royal family of Nepal. Dipendra was proclaimed king but died a few days later of self-inflicted gunshot wounds during the massacre. Birendra's brother, Gyanendra, then became King.