| Office | Governor of Palpa
|
|---|---|
| Born | Gorkha |
| Died | 1832 A.D. |
| Place of death | Palpa Province, Kingdom of Nepal
|
| Children | Trivikram Singh Thapa
|
Bakhtawar Singh Thapa (Template:Lang-ne) also spelled Bhaktawar, was a Nepalese military commander, politician, and governor. He acted as an aide of his brother Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa and was appointed the commander of Samar Jung Company. He commanded the Bijayapur-Sindhuli Gadhi Axis in the first campaign of Anglo-Nepalese War and Makwanpur Gadhi Axis in the second campaign. Later, he became the governor of Palpa and died in the office.
Early life
Template:See Bakhtawar Singh Thapa was born to military officer Kaji Amar Singh Thapa (sanu) and Satyarupa Maya.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was the brother of Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa and had other three brothers - Nain Singh Thapa, Amrit Singh Thapa, and Ranabir Singh Thapa.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn From his step-mother, he had two brothers—Ranbam and Ranzawar.Template:Sfn His ancestors were members of Bagale Thapa clan from Jumla who migrated eastwards.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His grandfather was Bir Bhadra Thapa, a courtier in Prithvi Narayan Shah's army.Template:Sfn
Career
Commander of the Palace
After the Bhandarkhal Massacre of 1806, the Samar Jung Company was selected as royal palace guard by Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa.Template:Sfn Bakhtawar Singh was appointed as the commander of the company to be camped inside the palace for the protection of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah and Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal.Template:Sfn In the maturity of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah and Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal, Kaji Bakhtawar slowly gained confidence out of both from his role of their protector.Template:Sfn The death of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah and his two queens in 1816 had caused his hopes to be destroyed.Template:Sfn After the end of Anglo-Nepalese war, Kaji Bakhtawar was suspected by his brother Bhimsen Thapa to have joined the enemy factions.Template:Sfn At the time, he was living in the same family with his brother without the division of their ancestral property.Template:Sfn Bhimsen slowly brought Kaji Bakhtawar under his control but their mother pleaded only a light punishment for Bakhtawar.Template:Sfn He was dismissed from his position and was imprisoned in the Nuwakot prisonTemplate:Sfn and the Bakhtawar's Samar Jung Company was heavily disfavored by the Mukhtiyar.Template:Sfn
Anglo-Nepalese War
Bakhtawar was the commander of Bijaypur-Sindhuli Gadhi axis during the first campaign of the Anglo-Nepalese war.[1] He was stationing the fort and the region by 2000 soldiers.Template:Sfn In the second campaign, he was commanding his headquarter at Makwanpur Gadhi.[1] He sent the final ratified document of Sugali Treaty to British India Company[1] after the Hitaura camp of Major General David OchterlonyTemplate:Sfn on 4 March 1816.Template:Sfn
Governor of Palpa
A letter dated March 1824 to his brother Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa shows Bakhtawar Singh as the governor of Palpa.[2] Members of the Thapa dynasty were appointed as the governor of Palpa because it controlled over 4 battalions of the Nepalese Army.Template:Sfn Bakhtawar Singh died in his office of Chief Administrator of Palpa in 1832 A.D.Template:Sfn
Family
Son
His son Trivikram Singh Thapa became Acting Chief Administrator of Palpa in 1832 A.D. on death of his father.Template:Sfn However, Bhimsen Thapa did not trust Trivikram Singh and instead appointed his brother Ranabir Singh Thapa as Chief Administrator of Palpa in March 1833.Template:Sfn Trivikram Singh was affectionately referred as Kaji Mama ("Kaji Uncle") by the Shamsher Ranas. After the Kot Massacre, he occupied the Lazimpat Durbar for 28 years until he left for Varanasi in 1875.[3]
Wife
The widow of Bakhtawar Singh on 1839 presented evidences against the former Mukhtiyar and her brother-in-law Bhimsen Thapa claiming the former Mukhtiyar responsible for poisoning of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah, whom it was widely known to have died from smallpox.Template:Sfn
References
Books
- The Fall of Bhimsen Thapa and the Rise of Jung Bahadur Rana(January 1, 1971).
- General Bhimsen Thapa and Samar Jung Company(September 1, 1972).
- The Downfall of Bhimsen Thapa(Nov 1, 1974).
- [{{{url}}} Janaral Bhimsen Thapa : Yinko Utthan Tatha Pattan]. Education Book House.
- Thapa Politics in Nepal: With Special Reference to Bhim Sen Thapa, 1806–1839. Concept Publishing Company.
- Modern Nepal 1769–1885. Riverdale Company.
- Military history of Nepal. Sharda Pustak Mandir.
- [{{{url}}} Kings, soldiers, and priests: Nepalese politics and the rise of Jang Bahadur Rana, 1830–1857]. Manohar Publications.