An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal: And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of GorkhaHamilton, Francis
History
An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal: And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha
Hamilton, Francis
Nepal -- Description and travel; Nepal -- History
I have already mentioned the arts by which Rana Bahadur inveigled Prithwi
Pal, and the chief officers of that prince, into his power; in which he
showed no symptoms of insanity, unless a shameless perfidy be considered
as such. His career, however, was then near a close. Most of the chief
officers were disgusted, and kept in constant terror by the remembrance
of Damodar Pangre’s fate, with whom most of them had been intimately
connected; and each daily expected, that this connection might be made a
pretence for his ruin; for the regent or lord consulted only a young man
named Bhim Sen, vigorous, ambitious, and unprincipled as himself. A
conspiracy is said to have been formed with a view of placing the Palpa
Raja at the head of affairs; and Sher Bahadur, an illegitimate brother of
the regent, who long had held the high office of Chautariya, is supposed
to have been concerned. In order to remove his brother from such
dangerous enterprises, the regent ordered him to join the army in the
field, but he declined. The regent was then very angry; and, while in
full court, sent for his brother, with orders to bring him by force if he
declined. Sher Bahadur followed the messengers into the court, and being
asked, if he would join the army, declined by saying, we are sons of the
same father, go you and I will follow. What may be exactly meant by this
phrase in an ambiguous language, I cannot say; certainly, however, it so
enraged Rana, that he ordered his brother for execution; but, while no
one was aware, the brother drew his sword, and gave the regent a mortal
blow. He was instantly put to death by Bhim Sen, into whose hands the
regent, before he expired, delivered his son, the Raja, and commanded all
persons to obey his authority.
When the Raja expired, Bhim Sen immediately retired to another room,
commanding a view of the court, in which the guard was assembled, and,
having addressed the soldiers, and received a promise of their support,
he immediately surrounded the hall, in which the court was assembled, and
put to death all the most active persons, under pretence, at least, of
the conspiracy, and there is reason to suspect, that what he alleged was
not destitute of foundation. On this occasion, Bidur Sahi, an
illegitimate son of the royal family, then one of the Chautariyas,
Narasingha Karyi, Tribhuvan Karyi, and about fifty military officers,
were killed. On the same day he put to death the Palpa Raja, and his
chief officers, as has been already mentioned; and his father, Amar
Singha, immediately seized on the dominions of that chief. Some
variations are told in the circumstances of this event, but the above I
consider as the best authenticated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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