Rana dynasty

The Rana dynasty (Nepali: राणा शासन​, Rāņā shāsana) ruled the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1953, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other government positions hereditary. The dynasty is descended from one Bal Narsingh Kunwar of Kaski who moved to Gorkha in the early 18th century and entered the service of Raja Nara Bhupal Shah around 1740, and of Bhimsen Thapa (1775-1839 who is counted among the National heroes of Nepal.

Janga Bahadur Kunwar (Nepali: जंग बहादुर कुँवर) began the dynasty. He came to power through the 1846 Kot massacre (Nepali: कोत पर्व, Kot Parwa) where 36 members of the palace court including the Prime Minister and a relative of the King Chautariya Fate Janga Shah were murdered. These were unstable times and Janga Bahadur brought stability to the country by putting himself firmly in control. He took the title Rana ("king"), the honorific Shrī Tīn (Nepali: श्री ३) meaning his name was preceded by Shrī-Shrī-Shrī, and was accorded 19-gun salutes by the British Raj. However Shah kings were Shrī Pānch (Nepali: श्री ५) -- Shrī-Shrī-Shrī-Shrī-Shrī—called Maharājdhirāj (Nepali: महाराजाधिराज), "king of kings", and given 21-gun salutes. Junga Bahadur's sons and brothers inherited the title Rana and took it as their family name instead of Kunwar.

After Junga Bahadur's death his brother Ranodip Singh Rana took the Prime Ministership and title of Junga as per Junga's established wishes. However, the childless Prime Minister Ranodip was murdered by four of his nephews (sons of Dhir Shumshere Rana, youngest and most trusted brother of Jung). This was because against Jung's wishes Ranaudip wanted to pass on the hereditary title and position of Prime Minister to Jung's family only, while Jung had firmly established a system where the eldest member of the Rana dynasty should get the position as he himself had passed on his title to his brother and not his son after his demise. This did not sit well with Dhir's elder sons, and Ranodip was murdererd in cold blood which led to the establishment of the Shamshere Rana rule. Most notable among the Shamshere Prime Ministers were Bir, Chandra and Juddha, who established the first banks, schools, hydro power plant and industries. They also adapted the full name of Shamshere Jung Bahadur Rana in honour of their uncle.

Maharaja Sir Jung Bahadur Rana]'s eldest son was Gen. Jagat Jung, known as "Mukhiya Jarnel". His eldest grandson and Gen. Jagat Jung's eldest son was Gen. Yuddha Pratap, known as "Naati Jarnel". Their descendants currently live in Manahara, Kathmandu.

Presently if someone carries the name Shumshere Jang Bahadur Rana, then they come from Dhir Shumshere's lineage (Jang Bahadur's younger brother) whose son Bir Shamsher committed the coup d'etat of 1885 murdering most of Jang Bahadur's sons and forcing the remaining sons and nephews to seek refuge in India. Two of Jung Bahadur's sons Gen. Ranabir Jung and Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana KIH Gold Medal 1877 were escorted to Allahabad. Gen. Ranabir Jung later attempted to reclaim his position, after having raised an army, but was thwarted and finally killed in battle. Ranabir Jungs descendants with the title Bir Jung Bahadur are very widespread, and live in Kathmandu, Dehra Dun, Delhi, Kolkata, Australia and The UK.

Descendants of Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana KIH Gold Medal 1877 today live in Allahabad, Nepalgunj, Dehradun, Kathmandu, New York, Australia and United Kingdom. Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana later wrote the book called "Life of Sir Jung Bahadur" which was published in early 1900 in India. His sons and grand-sons fought and commanded forces in places like France, Italy, Afghanistan, Burma, Flanders, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Wazirstan during the Great World War I and the Great World War II and won long list of medals.

Many of his daughters, grand-daughters and great-grand-daughters were/are married to various Maharajas of Indian Principality States. Similarly many of his sons, grand-sons and great-grand-sons were/are married to various Princesses of Indian Royal Houses. Maharaja Sir Jung Bahadur Rana of Kaski & Lamjung himself started the process of marrying Rana Gentlemen and Ladies to the Indian Royal Households in mid 1800 AD. Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung KIH Gold Medal 1877 continued the process of marrying his sons and daughters to the Indian Royal Households in late 1800 AD. One of his great-grand-daughter Sita Rani Devi is Rajmata of Indian Princely State of Makrai. Another great-grand-daughter is Geeta Rani Rana who is married to Late Thakuri Prachanda Singh of Royal House of Tulsipur.

Present rulers of Kingdom of Nepal, Jajorkot, Bajhang and Indian Princely States such as Jhalai, Jubbal, Bagribari, Tripura, Oel Kaimara, Khairagarh, Rajgarh, Tehri-Garhwal, Thalrai, Benaras, Ramnagar and many other states share a direct bloodline with Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana KIH Gold Medal 1877 and Maharaja of Kaski & Lamjung Sir Jung Bahadur Rana.

Many of Jang Bahadur's nephews, as well as Crown Prince General Dhoj Narsingh Rana (adopted son of Maharaja Sir Renaudip Singh Bahadur), were forced to seek refuge in India. Many of Crown Prince General Dhoj Narsingh's children and family remained with Sri Teen Ranodip Singh's widow in Benares and were then relocated later to Udaipur upon the invitation by Maharana Fateh Singh, who sought to give refuge to his Rana cousins.

Out of seven sons and three daughters of General Dhoj Narsingh three sons and one daughter moved to Udaipur on an invitation from the Maharana who graciously requested them to settle in Udaipur. The Rana princes Shri Narsingh and Dev Narsingh established themselves to carry on the family's name in the city of their forefathers. Late Raja Durga Narsingh Rana was and is one of the best known names among the Rajputs of Udaipur.

Their families established marital relations with the Royal families & Thikanas like Jasmor (head of the Pundir clan), Banka, Gogunda, Samode, Neemrana (direct descendents of Prithviraj Chauhan), Mahendragarh etc.

The only known male descendants from these lines are Late Raja Durga Narsingh Rana and his son Raja Gyanendra Narsingh Rana, Raja Jagat Narsingh Rana (son of Shree Narsingh Rana) and his sons Mahendra Narsingh Rana & Virendra Narsingh Rana. Raja Gyanendra Narsingh Rana is currently the head of the Rana clan in Udaipur after the demise of his father Raja Durga Narsingh Rana.

The shortest serving Rana was Dev Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana who ruled for two months in 1901, he was deposed by his brothers because of his open display of guilt for what has happened during the coup. Known as "The Reformist" for his progressive policies, he proclaimed universal education, began to building schools, took steps to abolish slavery, and introduced several other social welfare schemes^{[citation needed]}. He also made improvements to the arsenal at Nakkhu (south of Kathmandu) and started The Gorkhapatra newspaper. Dev Shumsher felt guilty for what had transpired during the coup, also a key incident happened during the coup which affected him deeply. He was held at gunpoint by General Dhoj Narsingh Rana, but was allowed to live and forgiven. For this, he felt a lot of guilt and asked for the exiled family members to return to Nepal. This brought him to a clash with his immediate brothers.

He was deposed by his relatives, where he settled in Jhari Pani, near Mussoorie, where his Fairlawn Palace once stood. A developer purchased the palace and tore it down, replacing it with cottages. All that remains are a few of the original gates and a small portion of the palace skeleton.

The Ranas were acclaimed and given much prestige and a 19-gun salute by British as well. All with the exception of Deva Shamsher received knighthoods.

The Rana dynasty developed into a powerful family clan and are still very influential in the country today. The family formed a close alliance with the Shah dynasty via marriage.

Rana Prime Ministers

Nine Rana rulers took the hereditary office of Prime Minister. All were styled self proclaimed King of Lamjung and Kaski.

1. Shree 3 Jung Bahadur Rana, GCB, GCSI (18 June 1816–25 February 1877)

   Ruled 1846 to 25 February 1877. Received the hereditary rights to the title of Rana and a salute of 19 guns from the British.

2. Shree 3 Renaudip Singh aka Ranodip Singh Rana, KCSI (3 April 1825–22 November 1885

   Ruled 25 February 1877 to 22 November 1885.

3. Shree 3 Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCSI (10 December 1852–5 March 1901)

   Ruled 22 November 1885 to 5 March 1901.

4. Shree 3 Dev Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (17 July 1862–20 February 1914)

   Ruled 5 March to 27 June 1901, when as a result of his progressive nature, he was deposed by his relatives and sent into exile in India.

5. Shree 3 Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, Kaisar-i-Hind (8 July 1863–26 November 1929)

   Ruled 27 June 1901 to 26 November 1929.

6. Shree 3 Bhim Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCSI, GCMG, KCVO (16 April 1865–1 September 1932)

   Ruled 26 November 1929 to 1 September 1932.

7. Shree 3 Juddha Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCB, GCSI, GCIE (19 April 1875–20 November 1952)

   Ruled 1 September 1932 to 29 November 1945, whereupon he abdicated in favor of his nephew.

8. Shree 3 Padma Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCSI, GBE, KCIE (5 December 1882–11 April 1961)

   Ruled 29 November 1945 to 30 April 1948, whereupon he abdicated in favor of his cousin.

9. Shree 3 Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCB, GCIE, GBE (23 December 1885–6 January 1967)

   Ruled 30 April 1948 to 18 February 1951, at which date he was divested of his titles and exiled to India.

External links and Sources

• Lambjang and Kaski - Brief History at Royalark.
• Old pictures of Nepal from Rana Dynasty

See also

• Shah dynasty
• History of Nepal