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{{Infobox military conflict
| image = Kirtipur swords.jpg
| image_size = 300
| partof = [[Unification of Nepal]]
| caption = Swords from Battle of Kirtipur on Bagh Bhairava Temple
| conflict = The Battle of Kirtipur
| date = 1767
| place = [[Kirtipur]]
| result = Gorkhali victory
| combatant1 = [[Kingdom of Lalitpur]]
| combatant2 = [[Gorkha Kingdom]]
| commander1 = Kaji Danuwanta Pradhan King Gyan Praja Malla Queen Kirti Laxmi Pradhan (Malla)
| commander2 = [[Kalu Pande]]{{KIA}} [[Surpratap Shah|Sura Pratap Shah]] [[Dal Mardan Shah]] [[Tularam Pande]] [[Birbhadra Thapa]] [[Daljit Shah]] [[Abhiman Singh Basnet]] [[Vamsharaj Pande]]
| strength1 = Unknown
| strength2 = Unknown
}}
{{Location map many | Nepal
| AlternativeMap = Nepal relief location map.jpg
| width = 300
| caption = Location in present-day Nepal
| float = right
| label2 = Kirtipur
| pos2 = bottom
| mark2size = 8
| lat2_deg = 27.6799
| lon2_deg = 85.2754
| label1 = Gorkha
| pos1 = left
| mark1size = 8
| lat1_deg = 28
| lon1_deg = 84.6333333
}}
[[File:William kirkpatrick.jpg|thumb|Col. Kirkpatrick visited Nepal in 1793 and saw noseless veterans of the battle.]]
[[File:Kirtipur city gate.jpg|thumb|One of the city gates through which the Gorkhalis entered Kirtipur.]]
[[File:Kirtipur, 1950 - 1955.jpg|thumb|Kirtipur with the Himalaya in the background.]]
The '''Battle of Kirtipur''' ([[Newar language|Nepal bhasa]] bhasa: कीर्तिपुरयाउ युद्ध) occurred in 1767 during the [[Gorkha Kingdom|Gorkha]] conquest of [[Nepal]], and was fought at [[Kirtipur]], one of the principal towns in the [[Kathmandu Valley]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nepalarmy.mil.np/history.php?page=one |title=Nepalese Army {{!}} नेपाली सेना |website=nepalarmy.mil.np |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607235833/http://www.nepalarmy.mil.np/history.php?page=one |archive-date=2011-06-07}} </ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.historynepal.com/2010/03/unification-campaign-of-prithvi-narayan.html?m=1 |title=History of Nepal: Unification Campaign of Prithvi Narayan Shah |access-date=2017-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044142/http://www.historynepal.com/2010/03/unification-campaign-of-prithvi-narayan.html?m=1 |archive-date=2017-12-01 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Kirtipur was then a walled town of 800 houses and part of the kingdom of [[Patan, Nepal|Lalitpur]]. It is spread along the top of a ridge.<ref>{{cite web | last = Giuseppe| first = Father| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vSsoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA307| title = Account of the Kingdom of Nepal| work = Asiatick Researches| publisher = London: Vernor and Hood| year=1799| access-date = 18 October 2012}} Page 308.</ref>

The battle between the [[Newars]] of the valley and the invading Khasa/Gorkhalis marked a turning point in the war of expansion launched by Gorkhali king [[Prithvi Narayan Shah]]. It led to his subjugation of the rest of the coveted valley<ref>{{cite book | last = Kirkpatrick| first = Colonel| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ijxAAAAAYAAJ| title = An Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul| publisher = London: William Miller| year=1811| access-date = 16 October 2012}} Pages 381-385.</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Giuseppe| first = Father| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vSsoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA307| title = Account of the Kingdom of Nepal| work = Asiatick Researches| publisher = London: Vernor and Hood| year=1799| access-date = 16 October 2012}} Pages 316-319.</ref> and the end of Newar rule.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Pundits: British Exploration Of Tibet And Central Asia |first= Derek J.|last= Waller |publisher= University Press of Kentucky |year= 2004|isbn=978-0-8131-9100-3|page=171 }}</ref>

==The blockade==
The Gorkhalis desired the Kathmandu Valley due to its rich culture, trade, industry and agriculture.<ref>{{cite book |last= Raj |first= Yogesh|title= Expedition to Nepal Valley: The Journal of Captain Kinloch (August 26-October 17, 1767)|publisher= Jagadamba Prakashan | location= Kathmandu |year=2012|page=7|chapter=Introduction| isbn=978-9937-85180-0}}</ref> In 1736, the Gorkhali king [[Nara Bhupal Shah]] launched an attack on [[Nuwakot, Bagmati|Nuwakot]], a border town and fort in the northwest of the valley, to probe its defences. His troops were badly defeated.<ref>Northey, William Brook and Morris, Charles John (1928). ''The Gurkhas: Nepal-Their Manners, Customs and Country.'' Asian Educational Services. {{ISBN|978-81-2061577-9}}. Pages 30-31.</ref>

His son [[Prithvi Narayan Shah]] became king in 1742 and resumed the campaign.<ref>{{cite book |title=Prithwinarayan Shah in the light of Dibya Upadesh |first=Ludwig F. |last= Stiller|publisher= Catholic Press|year= 1968|page= 39}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Nepal: Refugee to Ruler: A Militant Race of Nepal|first=Nagendra Kr |last= Singh|publisher= APH Publishing|year= 1997|isbn=978-81-7024847-7 |page=125 |access-date=November 7, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aaog6bnQlNYC}}</ref> Convinced he would not be able to take Kathmandu with strength, Shah sought to subdue the valley by choking its commerce and supply lines. His forces occupied strategic passes in the surrounding hills, and strangled the vital trade links with [[Tibet]] and [[India]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Conquest Of Kantipur|url=https://risingnepaldaily.com/detour/the-conquest-of-kantipur|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-02|website=The Rising Nepal|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001031251/https://risingnepaldaily.com/detour/the-conquest-of-kantipur |archive-date=2021-10-01 }}</ref>

In 1744, he took Nuwakot, which gave him a foothold in Nepal and allowed him to stop its trade with Tibet as it lay on the trans-Himalayan [[trade route]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Nepal: Refugee to Ruler: A Militant Race of Nepal|first=Nagendra Kr |last= Singh|publisher= APH Publishing|year= 1997|isbn=978-81-7024847-7 |page=112 |access-date=November 7, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aaog6bnQlNYC}}</ref> In 1762 and 1763, the Gorkhalis overran [[Makwanpurgadhi|Makwanpur]] and [[Dhulikhel]] respectively, surrounding the Kathmandu Valley from the west, south and east.<ref>{{cite book |last= Raj |first= Yogesh|title= Expedition to Nepal Valley: The Journal of Captain Kinloch (August 26-October 17, 1767)|publisher= Jagadamba Prakashan | location= Kathmandu |year=2012|page=5|chapter=Introduction| isbn=978-9937-85180-0}}</ref>

In a bid to cause a famine, he mounted a blockade preventing any grain from passing into the valley. Blockade runners were hung from the trees on the roads.<ref>{{cite book |title= Account of the Kingdom of Nepal |first= Father |last= Giuseppe |publisher= Vernor and Hood |location= London|year= 1799|page=317 |access-date=November 7, 2012 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vSsoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA307}}</ref> The prolonged siege forced the king of Kathmandu to appeal to the British [[East India Company]] for help. In August 1767, Captain George Kinloch led a British force towards the valley to rescue its beleaguered inhabitants.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chatterji |first=Nandalal |title=Verelst's Rule in India |publisher=Indian Press |year=1939 |page=21 |chapter=The First English Expedition to Nepal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oW4BAAAAMAAJ |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> He reached within 75 km of Kathmandu and captured the forts at [[Sindhuli District|Sindhuli]] and Hariharpur, but the Gorkhalis attacked them on their way and the Party retreated to Bettiah.<ref>{{cite book |last= Raj |first= Yogesh|title= Expedition to Nepal Valley: The Journal of Captain Kinloch (August 26-October 17, 1767)|publisher= Jagadamba Prakashan | location= Kathmandu |year=2012|pages=13–14|chapter=Introduction| isbn=9789937851800}}</ref>

==First assault==
The Gorkhalis had set up a base on Dahachok, a hill on the valley's western rim, from where they mounted their assaults on Kirtipur. They were armed with swords, bows and arrows and [[musket]]s.<ref>Vansittart, Eden (1896). ''Notes on Nepal.'' Asian Educational Services. {{ISBN|978-81-206-0774-3}}. Page 34.</ref>

During the first assault in 1757, the Gorkhali army was badly beaten. As they advanced towards Kirtipur, the Newars went to meet them under the command of Kaji Danuvanta. The two forces fought on the plain of Tyangla Phant in the north-west of Kirtipur. The Newars defended their town ferociously. The Gorkhali commander [[Kalu Pande]] was killed, and the Gorkhali king himself barely escaped with his life into the surrounding hills disguised as a [[saint]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Majupuria|first=Trilok Chandra|title=Kirtipur: The Ancient Town on the Hill|url=http://www.nepal-traveller.com/index.php?action=articledetail&id=259|access-date=18 October 2012|newspaper=Nepal Traveller|date=March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117014432/http://www.nepal-traveller.com/index.php?action=articledetail&id=259|archive-date=17 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Wright | first = Daniel | url = https://archive.org/stream/HistoryOfNepal/HistoryOfNepaldanielWright#page/n269/mode/2up| title = History of Nepal | publisher = New Delhi: Asian Educational Services | year=1990| access-date = 7 November 2012}} Page 227.</ref>

==Second assault==
Having no hope of taking Kirtipur by force, Shah mounted a blockade in an effort to starve the population into submission.<ref>Raj, Yogesh (2012). ''Expedition to Nepal Valley: The Journal of Captain Kinloch (August 26-October 17, 1767).'' Kathmandu: Jagadamba Prakashan. {{ISBN|978-9937-85180-0}}.</ref> The embargo was enforced by putting to death anybody found on the road with salt or cotton. But the Newars held out.

In 1764, Shah ordered his troops to storm the town a second time. The Gorkhalis attacked at night under the command of Shah's brother [[Surpratap Shah|Suruparatna]] (alternative name: Surpratap). The people of Kirtipur beat off the Gorkhalis again, raining stones on the invaders from the town walls. In the fighting, Surpratap was struck by an arrow in the eye and blinded.

==Third assault==
In 1767, the king of Gorkha sent his army to attack Kirtipur a third time under the command of [[Surpratap Shah|Surpratap]]. In response, the three kings of Malla Confederacy joined forces and sent their troops to the relief of Kirtipur, but they could not dislodge the Gorkhalis from their positions. A noble of Lalitpur named Danuvanta crossed over to Shah's side and treacherously let the Gorkhalis into the town.

After the surrender of the town, Shah ordered the ears and noses of the inhabitants cut off. This incident is reported in eyewitness accounts by [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchin]] monks and corroborated in at least two Nepali sources. According to historian John Whelpton, the Capuchins had reason to dislike Shah, but it is unlikely that they fabricated the account of this incident.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of Nepal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KoNT6tjk9mQC&q=Kiritpur+noses&pg=PA38 |first=John |last=Whelpton |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |page=38 |isbn=9780521804707}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Battle of Kathmandu]]
* [[Battle of Lalitpur]]
* [[Battle of Bhaktapur]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{coord missing|Nepal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirtipur}}
[[Category:Battles involving Nepal]]
[[Category:Battles of the Early Modern period]]
[[Category:Newar]]
[[Category:Sieges]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1767]]
[[Category:1767 in Asia]]
[[Category:Battles of the Unification of Nepal]]
[[Category:Gurkhas]]
[[Category:1767 in Nepal]]

Battle of Kirtipur - Revision history

Bot at 02:31, 24 August 2022