The Rana Period of Nepal (1903 to 2007 BS)

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For 104 years, from 1903 BS to 2007 BS (1846 to 1951 AD), real power in Nepal was held not by the Shah kings but by a family of hereditary prime ministers, the Ranas. The king became a figurehead, and the office of prime minister passed from one Rana to the next like a family property. This note explains how the Ranas rose to power, what the main Rana prime ministers did, and how the people’s movement finally ended their rule.

1. Rise of Jung Bahadur and the Kot Parva

In the 1840s the royal court under King Rajendra Bikram Shah was split into rival groups, and his junior queen Rajya Laxmi Devi was trying to gain power. A young army officer, Jung Bahadur Kunwar, used this confusion to rise quickly.

• Kot Parva (1903 BS, September 1846 AD): After the powerful general Gagan Singh Bhandari was murdered, the queen called the courtiers to the Kot (the palace armoury near Hanuman Dhoka). In the fighting that followed, dozens of nobles were killed, including Prime Minister Fateh Jung Shah. The queen then made Jung Bahadur the prime minister, and this is taken as the start of Rana rule.
• Bhandarkhal Parva (1903 BS): The queen soon plotted against Jung Bahadur. The plot was discovered, and the plotters were killed at the Bhandarkhal garden. The queen was sent away to Banaras (Varanasi), and King Rajendra went with her.
• Alau Parva (1904 BS, 1847 AD): Rajendra was declared unfit and the crown prince Surendra was put on the throne. When Rajendra tried to come back with a force, he was defeated and captured at Alau, and kept under watch at Bhaktapur.

After these events no rival group was left, and Jung Bahadur controlled both the army and the government.

2. Jung Bahadur: reforms and achievements

Jung Bahadur (prime minister 1903 to 1933 BS, with a short break) is the founder of the Rana dynasty. His main works are:

• Visit to Europe (1850 AD, about 1906 to 1907 BS): He visited Britain and France, becoming the first ruler of Nepal to travel to Europe. He met Queen Victoria and came back impressed by British law and administration.
• Muluki Ain (1910 BS, 1854 AD): Nepal’s first written legal code. It brought one set of laws for the whole country, though it was based on the caste system and gave different punishments to different castes.
• Durbar School (1910 BS, 1854 AD): He opened a school in English style, at first for Rana children only. It later grew into Durbar High School, the oldest modern school of Nepal.
• Restrictions on sati: He placed some limits on the practice of sati but did not abolish it.
• War with Tibet: After the Nepal-Tibet war, the Treaty of Thapathali (1856 AD) gave Nepal trading rights and a yearly payment from Tibet.
• Help to the British in 1857 AD: He sent Nepali troops to help the British put down the Indian uprising. As a reward, the British returned the western Tarai, known as Naya Muluk (Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur), under a treaty in 1860 AD (1917 BS).

Jung Bahadur died in 1933 BS (1877 AD).

3. The roll of succession and Rana titles

In 1913 BS (1856 AD), King Surendra issued a royal order (sanad) that fixed the Rana family’s power:

• Jung Bahadur was made Maharaja of Kaski and Lamjung and given the title Shree 3, while the king remained Shree 5.
• The post of prime minister would pass to Jung’s brothers first, in order of age, and then to the next generation by seniority. This order is called the roll of succession.
• In the same year Jung handed the prime ministership to his brother Bam Bahadur for a short period. Bam Bahadur died in 1857 AD, and Jung returned to the post.

Later, Chandra Shumsher divided the Ranas into A, B and C classes by the status of their mothers, and only A-class Ranas could become prime minister. In 1990 BS (1934 AD), Juddha Shumsher removed the C-class Ranas from the roll altogether. Anger among these excluded Ranas later helped the democratic movement.

4. Rana prime ministers and their main works

Bir Shumsher came to power in 1942 BS after he and his brothers, the Shumsher branch of the family, killed Ranoddip Singh. From then on, the post stayed with the Shumsher Ranas. Bir set up Bir Hospital (1946 BS, 1889 AD), the oldest hospital of Nepal, built the Ghantaghar clock tower and brought piped drinking water to Kathmandu.

Dev Shumsher was the most liberal Rana. In 1958 BS (1901 AD) he started Gorkhapatra, Nepal’s first newspaper, and opened schools teaching in Nepali. His brothers saw him as dangerous, and Chandra Shumsher removed him after only about four months.

Chandra Shumsher ruled the longest among the Shumshers, about 28 years. His main works:

• Pharping hydropower (1968 BS, 1911 AD), the first hydropower plant of Nepal.
• Tri-Chandra College (1975 BS, 1918 AD), the first college of Nepal.
• Abolition of sati in 1977 BS (1920 AD).
• Announcement ending slavery in 1981 BS (1924 AD).
• The Nepal-Britain Treaty of 1923 AD, in which Britain formally recognised Nepal as an independent country.
• The palace Singha Durbar and the Raxaul-Amlekhgunj railway.

Juddha Shumsher rebuilt Kathmandu after the great earthquake of 1990 BS (1934 AD), including Dharahara and New Road. Nepal Bank Limited, the first bank of Nepal, opened in 1994 BS (1937 AD), and the Biratnagar Jute Mill (1936 AD) became one of the first big industries. He was also the ruler who ordered the death of the martyrs of 1997 BS.

Padma Shumsher issued the Government of Nepal Act 2004 BS (1948 AD), the first written constitution of Nepal, but it was never really put into practice. He left for India, and Mohan Shumsher took over in 2005 BS.

5. Praja Parishad and the martyrs of 1997 BS

Nepal Praja Parishad, founded in 1993 BS (1936 AD) under the leadership of Tanka Prasad Acharya, is regarded as the first political party of Nepal. Its members secretly spread leaflets against the Ranas and aimed to end their rule. Dashrath Chand, Dharma Bhakta Mathema and Ramhari Sharma were among its leading members.

In 1997 BS (1940 to 1941 AD) the government discovered the party and arrested its members. Four men were put to death in Magh 1997 BS under Juddha Shumsher:

Tanka Prasad Acharya escaped the death sentence because Rana law did not allow a Brahmin to be executed; he was jailed for life instead. Nepal remembers these four as national martyrs, and Magh 16 is observed as Martyrs’ Day.

6. The 2007 revolution and the end of Rana rule

After the Second World War and India’s independence, opposition grew quickly:

• Nepali Rashtriya Congress (2003 BS, 1947 AD) and Nepal Prajatantrik Congress (1948 AD) were formed by Nepalis in India. They merged in 2006 BS (1950 AD) in Kolkata to form the Nepali Congress.
• The Communist Party of Nepal was founded in 2006 BS (1949 AD) in Kolkata, with Pushpa Lal Shrestha as a founder.

The key steps of the revolution of 2007 BS:

• 21 Kartik 2007 BS (6 November 1950): King Tribhuvan left the palace and took refuge in the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
• The Ranas placed his three-year-old grandson Gyanendra on the throne the next day.
• Tribhuvan flew to New Delhi, and the Nepali Congress Mukti Sena (liberation army) began armed attacks, capturing Birgunj and other places.
• India brokered talks between the king, the Ranas and the Nepali Congress, known as the Delhi Agreement (Delhi Compromise).
• Tribhuvan returned to Kathmandu, and on 7 Falgun 2007 BS (18 February 1951) he proclaimed the start of democracy. This day is celebrated as Democracy Day (Prajatantra Diwas).

A joint Rana-Congress cabinet was formed with Mohan Shumsher still as prime minister. It did not last; Mohan Shumsher resigned in Kartik 2008 BS (November 1951), and Matrika Prasad Koirala became the first prime minister who was not a Rana.