Makunda Sen procured from the Nawab Vazir a grant of the extensive estate of Tilpur, and of that part of Rajpur, which is on the west side of the Gandaki, and had once, as lately mentioned, belonged to a branch of his family; but in the latter he never acquired proper authority, owing to the intrigues of the Kanungo, or register.
This enterprising chief married the eldest daughter (Maha Kumari) of his ally the Raja of Argha, and on this occasion presented his father-in-law with an estate situated on the plain, and called Tuppah Bandar; although he continued to pay the revenue to the Nawab. This was part of the spoil taken from Balihang by his grandfather.
Mahadatta Raja of Palpa was very much in favour with
Asofud Doulah, the Nawab Vazir, who confirmed to him all his hereditary or acquired lands on the plains, at an easy rate; and, going there frequently to hunt, seems to have amused himself with the Raja’s children. The youngest son Samar, a lame but shrewd man, seems in particular to have attracted his notice, and he bestowed on him the title of Nader Shah, by which he is much better known than by his proper name.
Mahadatta also entered into the strictest alliance with Bahadur Sahi, younger son of Prithwi Narayan, and regent of Gorkha during the minority of his nephew Rana Bahadur. In order to cement the friendship, Mahadatta gave his daughter in marriage to the regent, which, on account of her birth, was considered as a very honourable connexion for the chief of Gorkha. These friends soon entered into a most iniquitous combination. The Gorkha family had hitherto entirely failed in all their attempts to extend their dominions to the west, and, if Palpa had continued to assist the neighbouring Rajas, it is probable, that their resistance to Gorkha might have been continued with success; but the father and son-in-law agreed, that they should make a common cause, and divide the spoil. This scheme completely succeeded, and Damodar Pangre, a Khas by birth, but representative of one of the chief families in Gorkha, and a most gallant officer, was sent in command of the regent’s forces. After the conquest, Damodar took for his master the lion’s share, but allowed Mahadatta to retain as master Gulmi, Argha, and Kachi, three of the states that had been long in alliance with his family, and which he was bound to protect, not only by the duty of alliance, but of kindred, for the Raja of Argha was his uncle. The other three allies, who had been saved by his father, were abandoned to the power of Gorkha, and annexed to Nepal. Mahadatta was very soon forced to eat the fruit of his villany. Damodar advanced the conquests of his nation
to the west, and, having subdued Kumau, all resistance to his force on the hills was in vain, and Mahadatta was soon deprived of all the hope of protection, that he might have had from the power of his son-in-law the regent, the young Raja of Gorkha having put his uncle to death. The friendship of the Nawab Vazir, however, saved Mahadatta, nor was any encroachment made on Palpa, so long as he lived.
Prithwi Pal succeeded his father, when very young, and was endowed with great personal vigour, nor was he, I believe, at all scrupulous about means; but he seems to have been rash and credulous, which rendered him totally unable to resist the wiles of the people of Gorkha, who were afraid to use open violence, on account of his connexion with the Nawab Vazir. They did not therefore molest his ancient dominions, nor any of the territory that he had acquired on the plains, all of which was tributary to the Nawab; but, immediately after his accession, Rana Bahadur, king of Gorkha and Nepal, compelled the Raja of Palpa to restore the mountains of Gulmi to Siddhi Pratap, the legal heir of that country, whose sister Rana Bahadur had married.
When Rana Bahadur of Gorkha determined to place the sovereignty in the hands of Yuddha Vikram Sahi, his illegitimate son, he invited Prithwi Pal to perform the ceremony of Tika, under pretence that he was desirous of obviating the defects of his son’s birth, by having the mark of royalty placed on his forehead by a person of Prithwi Pal’s high rank; for, among the hill chiefs he was considered as the most eminent by birth, and the Raja of Yumila had been expelled from his dominions; nor did the Gorkha family, after the acquisition of Nepal, acknowledge the superiority of its chief. The real object, however, of the invitation, was in all probability to have power over Prithwi Pal; for he remained in a kind of
confinement until January 1803, when the noble and high-spirited lady, wife of Rana Bahadur, who then governed Nepal, had the magnanimity to allow him to return to his own territories, although his father had treacherously stript hers of his dominions, and, although there is strong reason to suspect, that Damodar Pangre, discontented with the illegitimacy of Yuddha Vikram, had entered into a conspiracy to dethrone that young prince, and to place Prithwi Pal on the throne of Nepal.
When Rana Bahadur had returned from Banaras, had assumed the management of affairs, as regent for his son, and had put to death Damodar Pangre, and the other discontented nobles of his kingdom, his first care was to secure Prithwi Pal. He accordingly sent an embassy to that chief, requesting his sister in marriage, and making the most profuse offers of increasing the territories of his future brother-in-law. The lady was sent, accompanied by her brother Rana Bahadur, for Prithwi Pal was suspicious; and, although invited, did not attend. The lady and her brother were most kindly received by Rana Bahadur of Gorkha, who said to the chief of the same name, I have been a king, and should therefore think myself degraded by worshipping you, (according to the Hindu custom,) when I received your sister from your hands; it will be therefore highly agreeable to me, if your brother, who is a prince my superior in birth, would attend to give away his sister. The Guru, or spiritual guide of the Palpa Raja, was in the suite of the princess, and was dispatched in order to persuade Prithwi Pal, in which he succeeded, by declaring, that Rana Bahadur had before him taken the most solemn oaths to do his guest no injury. Whether Rana Bahadur had actually done so, or whether the Brahman was bribed, and told a falsehood to obtain his end, I cannot take upon myself to say,