page_title: Bhimsen Thapa
section_title: Dismissal from office and subsequent pardon
hierarchical_section_title: Bhimsen Thapa / Downfall: 1832–1838 / Dismissal from office and subsequent pardon
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Mukhtiyar Rangnath Paudel (1773 AD-??) in National Museum of Nepal, Chauni
context_page_description: Bhimsen Thapa was the Mukhtiyar and de facto ruler of Nepal from 1806 to 1837.
  Bhimsen's life is known for his dramatic rise and fall from power. Bhimsen rose to influence after helping the exiled ex-King Rana Bahadur Shah engineer his return to power in 1804. In gratitude, Rana Bahadur made Bhimsen a Kaji of the newly formed government. Rana Bahadur's assassination by his step-brother in 1806 led Bhimsen to massacre ninety-three people, after which he was able to claim the title of the Mukhtiyar. The death of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah in 1816 at the immature age of 17, with his heir, King Rajendra Bikram Shah being only 3 years old, along with the support from Queen Tripurasundari allowed him to remain in power even after Nepal's defeat in the Anglo-Nepalese War. After the death of Queen Tripurasundari in 1832 and the adulthood of King Rajendra, the conspiracies and infighting with the British envoy Brian Houghton Hodgson, Senior Queen Samrajya Laxmi Devi and rival courtiers finally led to his imprisonment and death by suicide in 1839.
  Bhimsen's prime ministership is best remembered for the Anglo-Nepalese war.
context_section_description: Immediately after the incarceration of the Thapas, a new government with joint Mukhtiyars was formed with Ranganath Paudel as the head of civil administration, and Dalbhanjan Pande and Ranajang Pande as joint heads of military administration. 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. While such war posturing was nothing new, the din the Pandes created alarmed not just the Resident Hodgson but the opposing court factions as well, who saw their aggressive policy as detrimental to the survival of the country. After about three months in power, under pressure from the opposing factions, the King removed Ranjang as Mukhtiyar and Ranganath Paudel, who was favorably inclined towards the Thapas, was chosen as the sole Mukhtiyar.
  Fearful that the Pandes would re-establish their power, Fatte Jang Shah, Ranganath Poudel, and the Junior Queen Rajya Laxmi Devi obtained from the King the liberation of Bhimsen, Mathabar, and the rest of the faction, in March 1838 about eight months after they were incarcerated for the poisoning case. Some of their confiscated land, as well as the Bagh Durbar, was also returned. Upon his release, the soldiers loyal to Bhimsen crowded behind him in jubilation and followed him up to his house; a similar treatment was given to Mathabar Singh and Sher Jung Thapa. Although pardon had been granted to Bhimsen, his former office was not re-instated; thus he went to live in retirement at his patrimony in Borlang, Gorkha.
  However, Ranganath Poudel, finding himself unsupported by the King, resigned from the Mukhtiyari, which was then conferred on Pushkar Shah; but Pushkar Shah was only a nominal head, and the actual authority was bestowed on Ranjang Pande. 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 Pandes were now in full possession of power; they had gained over the King to their side by flattery. The Senior Queen had been a firm supporter of their faction, and they endeavored to secure popularity in the army by promises of war and plunder.
caption: Portrait of Pandit Ranga Nath Poudyal.
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