Pande family
The Pande family or Pande dynasty (also spelled as Pandey or Panday) (Nepali: पाँडे वंश/पाँडे काजी खलक; pronounced [paɳɖe] or [pãɽẽ]) was a Chhetri[1] political family with ancestral roots from Gorkha Kingdom that directly ruled Nepali administration affairs from the 16th century to 19th century as Mulkaji and Mukhtiyar (Prime Minister).
Thus, on this basis, he strongly concluded that Vishwadatta could not have been the son of Ganesh Pande, who was living in 1616 Vikram Samvat, when Drabya Shah was crowned King of Gorkha.
[5] Pandes of the Gorkha Kingdom were categorized with fellow Chhetri Bharadars such as Thapas, Basnyats and Kunwars.
[17] Damodar was most influential and dominant in the court faction irrespective of post of Chief Kazi (Mulkazi) being held by Kirtiman Singh Basnyat.
[18] He was forced to flee to the British-controlled city of Varanasi in May, 1800 after military men parted with influential Kaji Damodar.
[24][25][26][27] The suspension of diplomatic ties also gave the Governor General a pretext to allow the ex-King Rana Bahadur to return to Nepal unconditionally.
[29][29][30] During the Anglo-Nepalese War, Rana Jang Pande had informed Ranabir Singh Thapa that the British would be off guard during Christmas.
This won the Pandes the trust of Ranabir Singh, which eventually led to their pardon by King Girvan and subsequent return to Nepal.
[34] Pandes spread news of child born out of an adulterous relationship between Mathabar Singh Thapa and his widowed sister-in-law and the resulting public disgrace forced Mathabar to leave Kathmandu and reside in his ancestral home in Pipal Thok, Borlang, Gorkha.
[38] This appointment established the Pandes as the dominant faction in the court, and they started to make preparations for war with the British in order to win back the lost territories of Kumaon and Garhwal.
[39] While such war posturing was nothing new, the din the Pandes created alarmed not just the Resident Hodgson[39] but the opposing court factions as well, who saw their aggressive policy as detrimental to the survival of the country.
[41][42][43][40] Fearful that the Pandes would re-establish their power, Fatte Jang Shah, Rangnath Poudel, and the Junior Queen Rajya Laxmi Devi obtained from the King the liberation of Bhimsen, Mathabar, and the rest of the party, about eight months after they were incarcerated for the poisoning case.
[45] Sensing that a catastrophe was going to befall the Thapas, Mathabar Singh fled to India while pretending to go on a hunting trip; Ranbir Singh gave up all his property and became a sanyasi, titling himself Abhayanand Puri; but Bhimsen Thapa preferred to remain in his old home in Gorkha.
The Senior Queen had been a firm supporter of their party; and they endeavored to secure popularity in the army by promises of war and plunder.
However, knowledge about Ranajang's war preparations and his communication with other princely states of India, fomenting anti-British sentiments, alarmed the Governor-General of the time, Lord Auckland, who mobilized some British troops near the border of Nepal.
[54][53] Five months after Bhimsen's death, Ranajang Pande was again made Mukhtiyar (prime minister); but Ranajang's inability to control the general lawlessness in the country forced him to resign from prime minister's office, which was then conferred on Pushkar Shah, based on Samrajya Laxmi's recommendation.
[60] Upon his arrival in Kathmandu in April 1843, an investigation of his uncle Bhimsen's death took place, and a number of his Pande enemies were massacred.
Nevertheless, Ranajang was paraded through the streets and made to witness the execution of his family members, after which he was forced to commit suicide by poison.
