The Kot meeting was called upon by Queen Rajya Laxmi Devi after the same night murder of her confidante Kaji Gagan Singh Bhandari while performing worship at his prayer room.

This massacre led to the loss of power of political clans such as Chautariyas, Pandes, Thapas, and Basnyats and that of King Rajendra Bikram Shah and Queen Rajya Laxmi Devi and ultimately the establishment of the Rana autocracy in Nepal.

At the peak of instability in Nepalese politics, a coalition ministry was formed in September 1845, headed by Fateh Jang Chautaria, but the real power behind the throne was General Gagan Singh Khawas,[note 1] who controlled seven regiments in the army compared to the three under the prime minister.

[citation needed] Since the king was mentally unfit to rule, it was the queen who handled affairs of state on his behalf, and in this capacity, it was necessary for her to converse occasionally with the general.

The queen commanded Bahadur, who happened to be ready with his regiments, to assemble the entire administrative establishment of the country immediately at the courtyard of the palace armoury.

The Basnyat Conspiracy—so called because many of its participants belonged to one of the last leading noble families, the Basnyat—was betrayed and its ringleaders were rounded up and executed at Bhandarkhal Parva.

A meeting of leading notables, packed with Rana supporters, found the Queen guilty of complicity in the plot, stripped her of her powers, and sent her into exile at Varanasi, along with King Rajendra.

In 1847, Jang Bahadur informed the troops of the exiled King's activities, announced his dethronement, and elevated Rajendra's son to the throne as Surendra Bikram Shah.

King Rajendra Bikram was captured later that year in the Terai and brought back as a prisoner to Bhadgaon, where he spent the rest of his life under house arrest.