Basnyat family
[1] This family got entry into Thar Ghar aristocracy group of Gorkha at the time of King Prithvi Narayan Shah.
[6] Basnyats/Basnet were part of Tharghar aristocratic group which assisted the rulers of the Kingdom of Gorkha and played significant roles in the Unification of Nepal.
[2] Basnets were not initially included in the Tharghar aristocracy group but got entry during the rule of King Prithvi Narayan Shah together with Thapas.
In 1803 BS, King Prithvi Narayan Shah called a meeting of trusted courtiers to discuss capturing another route to Tibet (Kuti) by which Kathmandu and other principalities like Bhaktapur and Lalitpur were engaged.
In view of blocking the trade routes, Gorkha wanted to besiege Kathmandu and other principalities and put them in an economic blockade.
He established a Tharpu (a temporary military camp) with his 900 soldiers in Sangachowk (presently Dware Tole), which is located at the place now called Jahar Singh Pauwa on the highway to Melamchi some 23 km north-east from Kathmandu.
King Prithvi Narayan Shah and Shivaram Singh trusted that a force from Bhaktapur led by Parshuram Thapa would come to his help and rescue.
Betrayal and big conspiracy against Gorkha by King Ranajit Malla and Parshuram Thapa were also evident from another incident mentioned in the Dibya Upadesh.
Later, King Prithvi Narayan Shah found out that Parshuram Thapa had sent a letter with some money and material support to Chaubisi states and some of his men with his own brother to persuade them to fight against Gorkha.
[7] Shivaram Singh recruited his wife's nephew Birbhadra into the minor ranks of Jamadar in the army of the Gorkha Kingdom[7] who later grew prominent[7] and was considered among the influential Bharadars (courtiers) during annexation of Nuwakot in 1744.
This touched the heart of King Prithvi Narayan Shah and he agreed to take care of all the children under the guidance of senior officials and got trained them in his palace.
In the meantime, news came to the Gorkha Palace from the battlefront that Gorkhali forces were losing the war due to the shortage of food and water for the warriors.
A group of courageous women led by the wife of Kaji Ranarudra Shah and Shoorprabha Basnyat with swords in them went to the battlefield in Siranchowk to distribute food and water to the fighters.
According to Bhasha Vamsabali, this group of women went up to Chhoprak to distribute eleven sacks of bitten rice (chiura) and "khudo" or "shakhar" (molasis) to the fighters.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Tribhuvan University late Sardar Rudra Raj Pandey was a famous historical drama writer.
He wrote a drama on Shoorprabha and her orphan sons, who met with King Prithvi Narayan Shah after Shivaram Singh was killed in the battle.
Similarly, famous historian Yogi Naraharinath has compared Shoorprabha with other great mothers who inspired their sons thus: "Gorkhali brave men and women are very efficient in attacking enemies with Khukuris in their both hands.
As such, the descendants of Gorkha will continue to get such lessons in their mothers’ language till Moon, Sun and Earth exist in the world."
She built a Narayan Temple in Timalkot Danda in Kavre at the top of a hill in memory of her husband and lit the lights at the midnight on the day before Janai Purnima.
[8][9] Shivram Singh became the first major military leader of Gorkha who was martyred even before Kaji Kalu Pande in the campaign of unification of Nepal.
The story of Shoor Prabha is written by former Vice-Chancellor late Rudra Raj Pandey in his epic "Hamro Gaurav" published in 2014 BS.
[13][14] On 1771, the Gorkhali forces lost the war against Chaubise (24) principalities and Kaji Kehar Singh Basnyat died in the battlefield.
His youngest brother Kaji Dhokal Singh Basnyat, who also became the governor of Kumaun Gadwal, was the first owner of the present Narayanhity Palace area known as Kirti Mandir at that time.
It was a great injustice to him to have been assigned by King Rana Rahadur Shah to this area of dense forests at that old age when he was already a Mulkaji.
We cannot undermine the sacrifice made by the brave Basnyat family of six members at that time namely Shivram, Shoor Prabha, Naahar, Kehar,Abhiman and Dhaukal in the unification campaign of King Prithvi Narayan Shah.
King Prithvi Narayan Shah has stressed the importance of the Basnyats in his historic piece known as "Dibya Upadesh" or "Divine Counsel" in English.
This translation was done by Prawin Adhikari, from a transcription originally published by historian Baburam Acharya from Bakhat man Singh Basnyat.
[23] During his tenure as the Mulkaji, on 28 October 1801, a Treaty of Commerce and Alliance[note 1] was finally signed between Nepal and East India Company.
This led to the establishment of the first British Resident, Captain William O. Knox, who was reluctantly welcomed by the courtiers in Kathmandu on 16 April 1802.
[note 2][30] The primary objective of Knox's mission was to bring the trade treaty of 1792 into full effect and to establish a "controlling influence" in Nepali politics.
