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.
Rana Bahadur, although he could not treat his wife with kindness, nor even decency, does not seem to have been altogether unmoved by her noble conduct; and, after his return from Banaras, had enlarged her father’s dominions. Fortunately for Bhim Sen, the high-spirited lady accompanied the body of her faithless husband on the funeral pile and freed the new regent from her presence, which might have been very troublesome. For his subsequent conduct in seizing on her father’s petty states, which was done when he seized Palpa, it will be difficult to account, except on the principle of insatiable rapacity. The tragedies of his first day’s government of course stopped all observations on his conduct. Disliking to have at the capital a person so venerable, and of such high rank as Brahma Sahi, he induced that chief to accept the government of Kumau or Almora, the most honourable in the kingdom, and augmented in dignity by the new title of Raja Brahma Sahi, exempt from ambition, and knowing from his character that he was safe from danger, accepted the office as more suited to his great years, than the dangerous intrigues of Kathmandu. The remote government of Saliyana is occupied by his brother Rudravir, but the youngest brother Hasthadal, and all his legitimate male issue, are held at Kathmandu, no doubt as hostages; for all the family is suspected not only
of disaffection, but of being too friendly to the English. Hasthadal, however, is now one of the Chautariyas. The command of the army in the west has been continued to Bara Amar Singha, whose birth gives him no pretension to raise disturbances; but who has good abilities, and there is reason to believe is firmly attached to the present ruler. Bhim Sen, himself, now in the vigour of youth, and of the most determined courage, has probably very ambitious views. Whether or not he may think these promoted by his disputes with the English, I do not know; but the Raja approaches manhood, and the objections to his succession are very numerous, while the disputes with the English have been a pretence for assembling a very large force, (twenty-five companies under the son, and thirteen companies under the father,) and for thus attaching to his family a very large proportion of the army. The army in the west is under the command of Bara Amar Singha, father of Ranadhwar, the chief confidant and coadjutor of the young minister.
From the following genealogical table of the legitimate descendants of Narabhupal or Nribhupal, composed in spring 1803, it will appear, that the line of Prithwi Narayan ended in Rana Bahadur; nor do I know what has since become of the other branches of the family. They were in obscurity when the table was composed, and their condition since has probably in no way been altered, at least for the better; and at any rate, they are distant relations to Rana Bahadur, nor are they descended from Prithwi Narayan, the favourite hero of the nation. Every male of the family, legitimate or not, takes the title of Sa, Sahi, or Saha, which is always used in conversation and writing, but need not be repeated in the table.
There was another family, which contained six petty chiefs, Gulmi, Khachi, Argha, Musikot, Dhurkot, and Isma; all of whom, except Musikot, had adopted the rules of purity, and took the title of Sahi, or Saha, like the chiefs of Gorkha; but it is not alleged, that the two families had any connection, except by marriage, and two of the branches of the family, of which I am now giving an account, Gulmi and Musikot, called themselves Kala Makwani, although no one knows from whence they came, nor the origin of the appellation. The Rajas of Gulmi, Khachi, and Argha, followed Palpa in war; Dhurkot stood independent; and Isma and Musikot followed Piuthana.