Bhakti Thapa - Britain's Suspicion

Britain's Suspicion

The Chinese invasion must have come as a terrible shock to newly emerged Great Nepal. Government in Kathmandu must have got into a panic. At that time Nepal prayed to British India for help to mediate between Nepal and China. But Britain virtually turned a deaf ear.

The process of expansion of the Great Nepal was too rapid. It was natural for the British Government to be greatly alarmed. So British rulers might not have in reality any intention of helping Nepal. We can draw such a conclusion from the circumstances surrounding the visit of Captain Kirkpatrick to Kathmandu in 1793. The British governor general in India had agreed to send Kirkpatrick to mediate in Nepal- China dispute. Kirkpatrick did not even set out for Nepal until after the war had been successfully terminated by the Nepal-China agreement. The governor general was requested not to send Kirkpatrick since the war had been amicably concluded. Surprisingly the governor general was adamant on sending a man to Kathmandu. So Kirkpatrick visited Kathmandu for no specific official purpose. The intention of Kirkpatrick's visit could hardly be anything else but to watch closely Nepal's speedy preparation for the next phase of the unification campaign that had officially led to the emergence of Bhakti Thapa as its head.

During the visit Kirkpatrick found that Nepal was trying to reinvigorate the attack in the west. The circumstances under which the visit of Kirkpatrick to Kathmandu took place clearly shows that the British rulers in India were all the time watching Nepal with great suspicion. At that time British rulers in India were adopting every possible method to enlarge the territory under their control. The way new territories were brought under the British control and ruled had provoked even the British public. British Parliament had gone completely against it.