Gautam Banerjee
Prime minister and Shree Teen Maharaj Ranoddip Singh Kunwar Rana Ji was shocked. His face was unable to hide the expression of disbelief, and droplets of sweat appeared on his brow.
“Are you sure? What proof do you have?” was all he could say.
“I have the proof Maharaj” replied his younger brother Dhir Sumshere, “and the informer who is one of my trusted staff is here with me.”
A handbell was rung and the attendant maid who appeared was ordered to call Ujir Giri who was waiting outside.
A nervous and shaking Ujir Giri was ushered in by the maid a while later.
“Don’t be afraid. Tell Maharaj what you told me,” said Dhir Sumshere in a kind voice.
Stuttering and shaking from nervousness, Ujir Giri related the precious information with both his palms joined. Mukhia Jarnel Jagat Jung Kunwar Rana carries a revolver and is looking for the slightest chance to shoot Ranoddip Singh. That is the sole reason why he keeps his coat, buttoned up to the throat so that the gun does not fall off accidentally when he is paying his obeyance to the Maharaja.
The shocked Prime Minister looked at his younger brother and ordered “Search him when he comes in this evening.”
Came evening and an unsuspecting Jagat Jung drove into the Hiti Durbar compound on stagecoach from his palace in Manohara. A few moments later as he was entering the main state hall, he was surrounded by a team of army men with Dhir Sumshere in command. ” Search his body,” ordered Dhir. While one group pointed their gun at Jagat Jung, the other group started frisking him. “Uncle Hajur, what are you doing?” was the only word a surprised Jagat Jung could say. Dhir did not reply. The search did not yield the revolver as per Ujir Giri’s information.
Dhir Sumshere then ordered his team to search the coach. It was locked and he became more suspicious when Jagat Jung refused to hand over the key. Dhir Sumshere ordered the army men to hold Jagat Jung while the key was forcibly taken out from his pocket. The stagecoach was opened and there was another surprise. Instead of finding the expected arms cache, a beautiful teenage girl was found inside the coach.
Jagat Jung, known for his luxurious lifestyle, had a urinal built inside the coach and the girl’s job was to untie and tie the drawstrings of his suruwal when he wanted to relieve himself. This was the secret he wanted to hide from everybody and the real reason for not handing the key. A red-faced Jagat Jung and an embarrassed Dhir Sumshere called it a day. Dhir Sumshere was later thoroughly reprimanded by Ranoddip for accusing his innocent nephew of nothing. Nevertheless, this incident made both Jagat Jung and Dhir Sumshere sworn enemies.
Background
As usual, the whole drama being enacted now was based on the roll of hierarchy. The seed of mistrust was planted a long time back by Jung Bahadur Rana, who forcibly put Jagat Jung’s son, who was also his grandson, Juddha Pratap Jung Rana aka Nati Jarnail, directly after his son Ranbir Jung, reasoning that he was a Royal child. His mother was the elder sister of Crown Prince Trailokya and Jagat Jung’s wife.
This placement made Juddha Pratap supersede the Bikram Narsingh and the Sumshere brothers and since he was a child the sons of other brothers lost all hope to ever be the prime minister despite being years senior to him. Roll holders like Bir Sumshere were 27 years his senior and so were others like Kedar Narsingh and Bom Bir Bikram. They were now confident that the coveted post of Prime Minister would never come to them, which made them go against the Jung Ranas.
While the brothers of Jung Bahadur signed the paper without protest due to fear of death, they all made up their minds to rewrite the roll to the advantage of their children once they become Prime Minister.
After Jung Bahadur died in 1877, Ranoddip Singh became Prime Minister. He had no children and being of gentle temperament, it was the second man Dhir Sumshere who held the power. Crown Prince Trailokya had planned for a coup to bring back power to the Royal family, but his death in 1878 left his dream incomplete.
By now, the power game had another new player. Chautaria Narendra Bikram Shah, Trailokya’s younger brother. The enthronement of infant King Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah, eldest son of Trailokya by the Ranas, which was ethically correct, was not accepted by him. Chautariya Narendra Bikram felt he was sidelined purposely from becoming the King, and this made him a hater of Ranas.
Chautariya Narendra Bikram had already built a secret group of young men consisting of Thapas, Basnets, Pandes and Bistas who were mostly the sons and grandsons of courtiers whose families were wronged by the Ranas. They were there mostly for the sake of revenge and were promised high posts after the Rana’s were overthrown. The group was made to drink the holy water of Pashupatinath and Guheswori and made to take a vow that they would overthrow the Ranas and keep their activity a secret even from their family members.
The group was so secret that even Dhir Sumshere, who suspected that something was going on, could not fathom the plans.
A pact between Narendra Bikram and Jagat Jung was drawn up and the new order would have Jagat Jung as the prime minister and Padma Jung as the second in command with Narendra Bikram Shah as the king. A mutual hatred of Dhir Sumshere had brought them together and the Jung brothers had already accepted the proposal.
Assassination Attempts
The first attempt to destroy the Ranas en masse was mid-October 1881 AD. Jung Bahadur built the Biswaroop Temple in the Pashupati area after the Nepal Tibet war. Every mid-October, Ranas of all clans gathered for the annual puja and they used to have a picnic plus gambling session. It was now decided to blow up the entire Rana clan in one go, including the prime minister. All was set, but then suddenly, Lokraj Pandey, Dija Raj Pandey and other Brahmins came to sit with Ranas. It was unthinkable in those days to kill a Brahmin hence the plan was called off.
The same year in November, after the coronation of King Prithvi, Ranoddip Singh had plans to visit Pashupatinath and Guheswori temples before his departure to Terai for his winter hunt. Dhir Sumshere was supposed to visit the newly constructed shooting range at the site of the present International airport. They were to meet midway and return together. This was known to the secret group and they fitted explosives in the meeting place to blow both the Prime Minister and the commander in chief in one go.
The plan failed again. The axle of Dhir Sumshere’s buggy broke midway and he returned home on horseback from a different route. This incident made the prime minister also change the route, much to the disappointment of the rebels.
In the meanwhile, Lieutenant Uttar Dhoj Bhandari, grandson of assassinated minister Gagan Singh Bhandari, joined the secret group. Lt. Uttar Dhoj was in command of the army team guarding the residence of Dhir Sumshere and he was the only person having direct access to the bed-chamber of Dhir Sumshere. It was now planned that on the given day Lt Uttar Dhoj would walk into the bed-chamber and assassinate Dhir Sumshere.
However, the young lieutenant proved his irresponsibility by relating the whole plan to his elder sister with whom he was very close. She also happened to be the wife of Badri Narsingh Rana. Shocked at the story she brought his brother in front of Dhir Sumshere and made him relate the plan to Dhir.
Dhir Sumshere very patiently started to interrogate the lieutenant, noting the names. Ranauddip Singh in the meanwhile was in Terai on his winter hunt. A secret despatch was sent to the prime minister outlining the plan and another to his son Bir Sumshere asking him to arrest 6 rebels who were present in the camp, namely Ambar Jung Kunwar, Amar Bikram Thapa, Bhakta Bahadur Basnet, Lieutenant Sete and Ranakeshar Bista plus one other officer, and send them to Kathmandu.
The other rebels, 20 in all, were arrested immediately that night in Kathmandu, out of which two of them, Sardar Singha Jung Pande and Sangram Sur Bista escaped. The next day Singha Jung was discovered dead on the bank of Dhobi Khola. He had poisoned himself. Sangram Sur Bista was arrested from his hideout which was nearby.
The prime minister cancelled his hunt at this news and returned to Kathmandu post haste. The rebel group were imprisoned in Hiti Durbar and was brought in front of Ranoddip Singh. They were whipped mercilessly for further information and were finally sentenced to death.
Aftermath
The following day the rebels were beheaded at different locations in the valley, namely Sankhamul, Teku Dovan, Bhachakhusi and Bhaktapur.
Jagat Jung was in India on a pilgrimage and hearing this he stayed back under the watchful eyes of the British Government. He was removed from the roll and Jit Jung Rana was appointed in his place. Padma Jung, Ranabir Jung and Juddha Pratap Jung rose one step on the roll of prime minister. Padma Jung, who was also a culprit, was retained in the roll at the pressure of the Queen Mother, to which Ranoddip could not say no.
Narendra Bikram Shah was imprisoned in the Chunar fort in India. In those days there was no prison in Nepal and high profile prisoners were imprisoned in British India with the Nepal Government paying for their food and upkeep. He returned in 1885 and was exiled to Gorkha. He lived in Tallo Durbar and passed away in 1901.
Jagat Jung Rana returned to Kathmandu after a pardon was granted by Ranoddip Singh following the death of Dhir Sumshere in 1884.
In 1885, Ranauddip Singh himself would be assassinated by the Sumshere brothers and the roll of the prime minister thereafter would become accessible to Sumsheres only. Both Jagat Jung and his son Juddha Pratap Jung would lose their lives in the 1885 coup together with other Jung brothers.
This sad episode of Nepal’s history is known as Adatees Saal Barba.
(TRN)
