page_title: Mathabarsingh Thapa
section_title: Consolidation of Power
hierarchical_section_title: Mathabarsingh Thapa / Consolidation of Power
caption_attribution_description: English: Mathabar Singh Thapa, First declared "Prime Minister" of Nepal after Mukhtiyars, nephew of Bhimsen and senior member of Thapa Khalak dynasty
context_page_description: Mathabar Singh Thapa, also spelled Mathbar, Mathawar, Mathavar, variantly called Matabar Singh Thapa, was the Prime Minister of Nepal and the Commander-In-Chief of the Nepalese Army from 1843 December 25 – 1845 May 17, until he was murdered by his nephew Jung Bahadur Rana. He was the first Mukhtiyar to title himself as a Prime Minister, as per the British convention. He was the nephew of Bhimsen Thapa, who was falsely sentenced for imprisonment for the death of King Rajendra's six months old son. Mathabar Singh Thapa fled to Shimla after the execution of Bhimsen Thapa, to avoid his own execution as he was Bhimsen's nephew. Four years later, the second queen of Rajendra, Queen Rajya Lakshmi, called him back and installed him as the Mukhtiyar, paving the way for him to eventually title himself as the Prime Minister.. Mathabar Singh, however, enraged the queen by refusing to make her son, Ranendra Bikram, the king. The queen, in turn, had him shot by his own nephew Janga Bahadur Rana and thereby making him the last dynast of the Thapa dynasty.
context_section_description: Before he was made the Minister and the Commander-In-Chief, he had led to the murder of almost all of his enemies and political adversaries. Having seen the fall of Bhimsen Thapa, he believed that having a personal army would prevent his own downfall; so he founded three regiments dedicated to him and only him. He built army barracks around his house for his personal protection. For this, he used the army like slaves, prompting the British Resident Minister Sir Henry Lawrence to advise him not to do so. However, too over-confident in his power, Mathabar Singh Thapa ignored him. He even claimed that he would be the first Prime Minister since the time of Prithvi Narayan Shah to die of old age and not out of the conspiracy. In 1845 January 4, he declared himself as the "Prime Minister of Nepal". This was the first time anyone had been titled "Prime Minister" in the history of Nepal. All the others before him were either titled as Mukhtiyar or Mul Kajis. It is believed that at that time he had become even more powerful than the King of Nepal. His power and over-influence in the Nepalese politics and even in the personal life of the monarchy itself led to the eclipse of his power and his downfall by the hands of Jang Bahadur Rana.
caption: Thapa Kaji Mathabar Singh's painting from the Prime Minister's office
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