Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Nepali: श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज वीरेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव), (29 December 1945 – 1 June 2001) was King of Nepal from 1972 until his assassination in 2001.

[3] Birendra enjoyed travelling in his youth, and went on trips to Canada, Latin America, Africa, many parts of India, and a number of other Asian countries.

[8] On his ascension to the throne, Birendra was effectively an absolute monarch, as he inherited a country where political parties were banned and he ruled through a system of local and regional councils known as panchayats.

[4] In an attempt to maintain the panchayat system of government, prominent leaders of the Nepali Congress Party were arrested frequently.

[4] During the 1980s the restraints that had been imposed on political organizations were eased, and liberal student-led groups started to demand constitutional change in Nepal.

[3][9] Because of the growing pro-democracy movement Birendra announced that a referendum to decide between a party-less or a multi-party system would be held.

[13] As a constitutional monarch, Birendra became more popular than he had been as an autocratic ruler attributing to his democratic views and behaviors as well as the inability of the political parties.

[15] Birendra and members of his immediate family were massacred by his son Crown Prince Dipendra on 1 June 2001 at the Narayanhiti Palace, the residence of the Nepali monarchy.

[17] With no other royal wanting to take the throne, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was made the king.

[27] In 1974, King Birendra was successful in peacefully disarming the Khampas rebellions, settled in the northern Himalayan region, by giving land, money and citizenship to those who surrendered their arms, and by confiscating weapons as well.

[22][28] Birendra is also credited with blocking the use of the army for suppressing the Maoist revolution in the country, which would've further aggravated the situation and disturbed the peace in the nation.

The dramatic decline of the rhinoceros population due to massive Terai migration and the extent of poaching prompted the government to institute the Rhino Patrol force (Nepali: गैडा गस्ती ) of 130 armed men and a network of guard posts all over Chitwan.

In the same year, he also established Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in the Terai region of far-western province which was later enlarged and converted to national park in the late 1980s.

[34][35] Also, another protected area, Rara National Park was established in the same year in order to protect the unique flora and fauna of Humla, Mugu and Jumla regions and to fulfil his father, King Mahendra's dream of creating a pristine nature reserve with a reserved area of 106 km2 in the Mugu and Jumla districts which also includes the famous Rara Lake.

King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation as a memorial to his father, with the then prince Gyanendra as the chairman, was also established in 1990.

Similarly, monument zones such as the Durbar squares of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur and religious sites such as Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Pashupatinath Temple and Changu Narayan was also enlisted in 1979.

[41] Focusing on sustainability and environmental conservation, on 28 December 1975 (1975-12-28), trolley bus system was established in Nepal from the aid of People's Republic of China.

A 60 Megawatt hydropower project at Kulekhani began operation in 1982 with economic aid from the World Bank, Kuwait, and Japan.

He established Securities Exchange Center Ltd in 1976 to manage, promote and support the growth of trade of stocks and capitals in the nation.

[50] So, the then government took the policy of connecting rural areas with airports and build roads only when there was a high amount of traffic flow.

Bhrikuti Pulp and Paper was established in 1985 under the Companies Act 2021 (Bikram Sambat) with support from the People's Republic of China.

[11] Despite previously being an autocratic rule and constant pressure from the supporters and royal members, the king always played the role of constitutional monarch by the book and never overstepped his boundaries.

He created a culture where the king and prime minister would meet every Thursday at his palace to discuss matters of state.

On the auspicious occasion of his coronation, King Birendra declared primary education to be free for all Nepalese citizens.

He was not able to bring in much direct foreign investment during his reign, and all the programs he brought, or all the reforms he made were the continuation of his father's legacy.

[71] He was remembered by his Eton classmates as a "very, very nice bloke who was embarrassed when his full title was read out at the school assembly.

"[72] Very famous Nepalese media personality, Neer Shah describe Birendra as kind and development loving king.

[77] Some historians have speculated that Birendra's democratic views and simple nature may have led to the success of the People's Movement I (1990).

[78] He is credited for introducing SAARC in Asia in order to strengthen the foreign relations of Nepal with the other South Asian countries.

After the political changes of 2063 BS, an attempt was made to rename the highway built in the name of the king as Lok Marg.