HM THE GREAT KING
PRITHVI NARAYAN SHAH
Born prematurely in 1723 as prince and heir to the small hill kingdom of Gorkha, Prithvi Narayan Shah ascended the Gorkha throne at the young age of 20 after his father’s death.
Possessing sharp political instincts and military prowess from a young age, the ambitious King set his sights on unifying the many small divided principalities spread across the lands into one unified Nepal.
EARLY LIFE
Prince Prithvi Narayan Shah was born prematurely at 7 months to the King of Gorkha, Nara Bhupal Shah and his Queen consort, Kaushalyavati Devi on 11 January 1723. He was their first born son, making him the heir to Gorkha throne.
From a young age, the prince received a vigorous education in statecraft and military strategy to prepare him for rule. While royal gurus, Mokchyeshwor Aryal and Bhanu Aryal, oversaw his academic learnings, Queen Chandra Pravawati, his step-mother and King Nara Bhupal’s first queen, took charge of molding the adolescent heir’s character. Having witnessed the self-indulgence of princes in neighboring states, the Queen ensured Prithvi Narayan practiced discipline and avoided excessive pleasures. This upbringing shaped the prince into a bold and focused leader.
As his final act, the dying King summoned his sons, ministers, and counselors to an informal council meeting known as bhardaari-sabha. Over the course of the lengthy day-long gathering, His Majesty used his remaining time to outline his vision for the future of the unified Nepal he had created.
Shah explained the rationale behind his ambitious unification campaign, which had brought together petty kingdoms into an expansive nation poised for greatness. He then imparted guidance on policies and programs essential for Nepal’s stability and prosperity going forward. His brothers and ministers meticulously documented these dying injunctions, later compiled into the Dibya Upadesh.
This influential political treatise would guide successive heirs to the Shah dynasty in administering the young Kingdom of Nepal in a way that honored the Great King’s unification objectives. The sagacious policies and guidance outlined in the Divyopadesh would prove timeless, with much remaining pertinent even today for Nepal’s Head of State and citizens alike.
The original copy of this influential treatise was later uncovered at the Kathmandu residence of Abhiman Singh Basnyat, the first Commander-in-Chief of Unified Nepal. The neat consistent penmanship is credited to a single person, who could have manually documented King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s dying words as they were spoken. This treasured manuscript offered invaluable insight into the visionary founder of unified Nepal at the twilight of his rule.
View PDFHis Majesty was still a young prince when he was married to his first wife, Princess Indra Kumari Devi of Makwanpur. She was the daughter of King Hemkarna Sen. Due to some conflict at the wedding, Princess Indra Kumari wasn’t immediately sent away with her newly wed husband. In 1748, King Hemkarna Sen brought his daughter to Maidi of Dhading and ceremoniously handed her over to HM King Prithvi Narayan Shah.
In 1740, Prince Prithvi Narayan was married to Princess Narendra Rajya Laxmi Devi, the daughter of Abhiman Singh, a Rajput chief from Varanasi. On 10 June 1749, the royal couple were blessed with their first son and heir to the throne, Prince Pratap Singh Shah. The union also bore them a daughter, Princess Vedum Shah, and a second son, Prince Bahadur Shah on 16 June 1757.
“This is not a nation gained by my trivial efforts. This is the garden of all 4 main castes and 36 sub-castes, and may all be aware of this.”
His foremost priority as King was to strengthen his borders against foreign invaders, and the only way to do that was to turn Gorkha into a bigger and stronger state.
At the age of 20, following his father’s death, Prithvi Narayan Shah ascended the Gorkha throne on April 3, 1743. The same year the new King decided to take over Nuwakot, partially because his father had failed to win it in an earlier war with the Malla kings and primarily because Nuwakot lied between the Kingdom of Kathmandu and Gorkha, and was important to be won over. Unfortunately, his first attempt resulted in his defeat.
Soon after he headed for Varanasi to gain first-hand knowledge about his neighboring states and about India to the south. He met with different people along the way and gained valuable understanding regarding the political and social conditions of the Indian subcontinent. In Varanasi, his father-in-law Abhiman Singh procured for him some firearms and a good quantity of ammunition. It was probably here that he also learned about the encroaching East India Company and their intentions.
His Majesty the Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah was a farsighted head of state, strategic, sharp, and strong-willed. In 1744, he went to war with Nuwakot again and emerged victorious. The win over Nuwakot was followed by his successful conquest of Kirtipur on 21 March 1766, Chaukot, and his subsequent wins over the three Sen states: Makwanpur, Chaudandi, and Bijayapur. Eventually from 1768 to 1769, he had control over Nepa, the three independent Malla kingdoms of the valley: Kantipur (Kathmandu), Bhadgaon (Bhaktapur) and Patan.
Through strategic military movement and smart diplomatic ties, by 1775, the Kingdom of Gorkha had annexed the whole of the eastern Terai, including Morang, Sunsari, Jhapa, Saptari, Siraha, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa and Rautahat, the eastern and central inner Terai which included Sindhuli, Udayapur, Chisapani and Makwanpur, the whole of Kathmandu Valley, the eastern hill region up to the Tista river bordering Sikkim, and the western hill areas of Nuwakot and Dhading between Gorkha and Kathmandu.
He thus became the last king of Gorkha and the first king of a newly unified Nepal.
The unification process initiated by His Majesty Prithvi Narayan Shah stemmed from a strategic vision to strengthen Gorkha against foreign threats by expanding its borders. As a small hill state, Gorkha was vulnerable to invasions from regional powers. Shah recognized that the only path to secure Gorkha’s sovereignty was to transform it into a larger, more formidable kingdom.
However, Prithvi Narayan Shah was not merely an ambitious conqueror, but at heart a wise unifier and consolidator. As he rapidly expanded Gorkha’s territories through alliances and conquests across neighboring kingdoms, he did not attempt to suppress the diverse peoples that fell under his banner. When Shah shifted his capital to Kathmandu, he did not force its Newari culture to assimilate, but respected its traditions. Unlike invaders of the era who crushed local cultures, beliefs and monuments, Shah administered his new lands with a light hand. He allowed different ethnic groups in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding hills to retain their identities, languages, faiths, and customs under his overarching rule.
This acceptance of Nepal’s mosaic of minorities would prove one of Prithvi Narayan Shah’s most enlightened policies that would thrive centuries later. It fostered goodwill amongst his new subjects and prevented rebellions. This consolidation of a multi-ethnic state ensured stability and laid the groundwork for a unified national identity to gradually develop in the new Kingdom of Nepal.
In the winter of 1774, His Majesty the Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah was in Nuwakot leading the campaign to unify the western states into the newly founded Nepal. He had given the responsibility of Kantipur’s administration to his son Prince Pratap Singh Shah. The King suddenly became seriously ill and was ailing fast. Upon hearing of the ailing King, major courtiers of the kingdom arrived in Nuwakot to meet the first king of Nepal.
On 11 January 1775, at the age of 52, His Majesty passed away at the confluence of two rivers Suryamati (Tadi) and Trishuli at Devighat, Nuwakot. Upon his death, his son, Prince Pratap Singh Shah, succeeded him. Queen Narendra Rajya Lakshmi Devi sent the Crown of the King to Kathmandu for the Prince.
