King Mahendra and Queen Ratna

Prithvi Narayan Shah → Pratap Singh Shah → Rana Bahadur Shah → Girvan → Rajendra → Surendra → Prithvi → Tribhuhvan → Mahendra → Birendra → Dipendra → Gyanendra

 

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• Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723–1775)

was a Nepali nobleman who unified Nepal. He was the ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah (1559–1570), the founder of the ruling house of Gorkha. Prithvi Narayan Shah succeeded his father King Nara Bhupal Shah to the throne of Gorkha in 1743.

 

• Pratap Singh Shah (1751–1777)

was the second Shah King of Modern Nepal. He was the eldest son of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king who first unified Nepal. Pratap Singh Shah ruled from 1775 to 1777 and died due to natural causes. He was succeeded by his two-year-old son Rana Bahadur Shah. As king he did not actively participate in the unification campaign led by his father, but the boundaries of Nepal kept extending as his uncle Prince Bahadur Shah continued the unification campaign during his reign.

 

• Rana Bahadur Shah (1775–1805)

was the third King of greater Nepal. He succeeded to the throne in 1777 on the death of his father, Pratap Singh Shah. He ruled under the regencies of his mother, Queen Rajendra Laxmi (died 1785) and then of his uncle, Bahadur Shah. During this time, the kingdom expanded by conquest to include the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, now in India.

In 1799, he abdicated in favor of his infant son Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva to become an ascetic. He was stabbed to death in 1805 by his stepbrother, Sher Bahadur Shah.

 

• Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva (19 October 1797 – 20 November 1816),

also called Girvanyuddha Bikrama Shah, was the King of Nepal from 1799 to 1816.

He was the son of King Rana Bahadur Shah, and ascended the throne at the age of 1½ years when his father abdicated to become an ascetic. He ruled under the regency of Queen Lalit Tripura Sundari and Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa. He died at age 19 and was succeeded by his young son Rajendra Bikram Shah.

 

• Rajendra Bikram Shah (1813-1881)

was King of Nepal from 1816 to 1847. He became king at age three on the death of his father Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva. As had been the case with his father, most of Rajendra's rule was under the regency of Queen Lalit Tripura Sundari (died 1832) and Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa. As regent, Bhimsen Thapa kept the king in isolation—he did not even have the freedom to leave the palace without permission.

Rajendra came of age in 1832, and in 1837 announced his intention to rule independently of the Prime Minister. He stripped Bhimsen Thapa and Thapa's nephew, Mathbar Singh, of their military authority. Shortly afterward the youngest son of Rajendra's elder queen died, and Bhimsen Thapa was arrested on a trumped-up charge of poisoning the prince. All the property of the Thapas was confiscated. Bhimsen Thapa was acquitted after an eight-month trial, but the Thapas were in disarray. When Rana Jang Pande became prime minister, he reimprisoned Bhimsen Thapa, who committed suicide in prison in 1839.

In January 1843, Rajendra declared that he would rule the country only with advice and agreement of his junior queen, Lakshmidevi, and commanded his subjects to obey her even over his own son, Surendra Bikram Shah. Continued infighting among noble factions led eventually to the Kot Massacre in 1846. In the aftermath of the Kot Massacre, Jung Bahadur became prime minister and quickly seized power, sending King Rajendra and Queen Lakshmidevi into exile in Varanasi. From exile, Rajendra sought to regain power, but Jung Bahadur learned of Rajendra's plans and forced him to abdicate in favor of his son Surendra. Jung Bahadur's forces captured Rajendra in 1847 and brought him to Bhaktapur, where he spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

 

• Surendra Bikram Shah (1829-1881)

was King of Nepal between 1847 and 1881. He became king after Prime Minister Jung Bahadur forced the abdication of Surendra's father, Rajendra Bikram Shah. Surendra wielded little real power, with Jung Bahadur effectively ruling the country during Surendra's reign. Surendra's son Trilokya Bir Bikram Shah married two of Jung Bahadur's daughters. Trilokya died in 1878, and Trilokya's son Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah became heir to the throne.

 

• Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah (August 18, 1875 - December 11, 1911)

was King of Nepal from 1881 until 1911. He was the grandson of his predecessor, King Surendra, and also the grandson of Prime Minister Jang Bahadur. Among the most notable events of his reign were the introduction of the first automobiles to Nepal, and the creation of strict water and sanitation systems for much of the country. King Prithvi's eldest child was HRH Princess Royal Laxmi Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah who was married to Field Marshall Kaiser SJB Rana. She was made the Crown Princess and heir to Nepal's thrown until her brother King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev was born when she was in her late teens. Until then King Prithvi only had four daughters.

 

• Tribhuhvan Bir Bikram Shah (June 30, 1906 – March 13, 1955)

was King of Nepal from 11 December 11th, 1911 until his death (excepting a period in 1950-51).

 

→ Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972)

was King of Nepal from 1955 to 1972.

Mahendra was born 11 June 1920 to King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. Although Tribhuvan was nominally king since 1911, he was only window-dressing for de-facto rule by the Rana dynasty of hereditary prime ministers, civil servants and army officers that had been in power since 1846. Mahendra was also captive in Narayanhiti Palace, virtually a gilded cage. In 1940 he married Indra Rajya Laxmi, daughter of General Hari Shamsher Rana. They had three sons, Birendra, Gyanendra, Dhirendra and three daughters Shanti, Sharada and Shobha. Queen Indra died in 1950. In 1952 Mahendra married Indra's sister Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi. This second marriage produced no children.

Meanwhile popular discontent and the British withdrawal from India in 1947 had made Rana rule increasingly untenable. In 1950 the political situation had deteriorated so far that the personal safety of the royals was in doubt. Tribhuvan and most of his family escaped to India. Open revolt ensued and by the end of the year the Ranas agreed to a coalition government under Tribhuvan in which they shared power equally with the Nepali Congress Party. By the end of the year the Ranas were maneuvered out and Nepal's first experiment with democratic government under constitutional monarchy was underway, however Tribhuvan's health was poor and he died in 1955 [thus bringing Mahendra to the throne].

 

• Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (28 December 1945 – 1 June 2001)

was King of Nepal. The son of King Mahendra, whom he succeeded in 1972, he reigned until his death in the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre.

 

• Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (27 June 1971 – 4 June 2001)

was a member of the Nepalese Royal Family, who briefly reigned in coma as King of Nepal from 1 June to 4 June 2001. The Official report submitted by the investigation team formed by the local government tells that, as the Crown Prince, he killed his family at a royal dinner on 1 June 2001, including Birendra of Nepal, the Nepali king and his own father. After the murder of his father, he officially became king for three days as he lingered in a coma.

 

• Gyanendra Shah (Jñānendra Vīra Bikrama Śāh) (born 7 July 1947)

was the last King of Nepal. During his life, he held the title of the King twice: first between 1950 and 1951 as a child when his grandfather Tribhuvan was forced into exile in India with the rest of his family; and from 2001 to 2008, following the Nepalese royal massacre. King Gyanendra's second reign ended in 2008, when the monarchy was abolished and the interim Federal Republic of Nepal formed in its place. Gyanendra became a private citizen and was stripped of his royal status.

 

[information taken from Wikipedia]

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