Rana Dynasty

The Rana dynasty (Nepali: राणा शासन, Rāņā shāsana) was a Hindu Rajput dynasty which ruled the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other government positions hereditary. This changed in 1951 with the promulgation of a new constitution, when power shifted back to the monarchy of King Tribhuvan. The dynasty is descended from one Bal Narsingh Kunwar of Kaski who moved to Gorkha in the early 18th century and entered the service of Raja Nara Bhupal Shah around 1740, and of Bhimsen Thapa (1775-1839) who is counted among the National heroes of Nepal.

Janga Bahadur Kunwar (Nepali: जंग बहादुर कुँवर) began the dynasty. He came to power through the 1846 Kot massacre (Nepali: कोत पर्व, Kot Parwa) where 36 members of the palace court including the Prime Minister and a relative of the King Chautariya Fate Janga Shah were murdered. These were unstable times and Janga Bahadur brought stability to the country by putting himself firmly in control. He took the title Rana ("king"), the honorific Shrī Tīn (Nepali: श्री ३) meaning his name was preceded by Shrī-Shrī-Shrī, and was accorded 19-gun salutes by the British Raj. However Shah kings were Shrī Pānch (Nepali: श्री ५) -- Shrī-Shrī-Shrī-Shrī-Shrī—called Maharājdhirāj (Nepali: महाराजाधिराज), "king of kings", and given 21-gun salutes. Janga Bahadur's sons and brothers inherited the title Rana, and took it as their family name instead of Kunwar.

After Junga Bahadur's death his brother Ranodip Singh Rana took the Prime Ministership and title of Junga as per Junga's established wishes. However, the childless Prime Minister Ranodip was murdered in cold blood by four of his nephews: notable among them was Bir Shamshere (son of Dhir Shumshere Rana, youngest brother of Jung) whom Ranodip trusted blindly, for which he would ultimately pay with his life. Bir Shamshere was the main culprit as illustrated by British writer William Digby in his groundbreaking account of the murder in his seminal book Friend in Need:1857, Friendship Forgotten:1887. Gen. Dhoj Narsingh Rana, eldest son of Ranodip Singh, was falsely implicated in the murder and took refuge in India along with his family and Jung Bahadur's. The aforementioned book emphasizes the treachery of British Rulers in their treatment of Indian Kings, through the strategy of "Divide and Rule." Maharaja Sir Jung Bahadur Rana's eldest son, Gen. Jagat Jung, known as "Mukhiya Jarnel", and his eldest grandson (and Gen. Jagat Jung's eldest son) Gen. Yuddha Pratap, known as "Naati Jarnel," were both brutally murdered by Bir Shamshere and his brothers. Their descendants currently live in Manahara, Kathmandu.

Presently if someone carries the name Shumshere Jang Bahadur Rana, then they come from Dhir Shumsher's lineage (Jang Bahadur's younger brother) whose son Bir Shamsher committed the coup d'etat of 1885 murdering most of Jung Bahadur's sons and forcing the remaining sons and nephews to seek refuge in India. Two of Jung Bahadur's sons Gen. Ranabir Jung and Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana were escorted to Allahabad. Gen. Ranabir Jung later attempted to reclaim his position, after having raised an army, but was thwarted and finally killed in battle. Ranabir Jung's descendants with the title Bir Jung Bahadur are very widespread, and live in Kathmandu, Dehra Dun, Delhi, Kolkata, Australia, and the UK.

Descendants of Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana today live in Allahabad, Nepalgunj, Dehradun, Kathmandu, New York, Australia and United Kingdom. Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana later wrote the book called "Life of Sir Jung Bahadur" which was published in early 1900 in India. His sons and grand-sons fought and commanded forces in places like France, Italy, Afghanistan, Burma, Flanders, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Waziristan during World War I and World war II and won long list of medals.

Many of his daughters, grand-daughters and great-grand-daughters were/are married to various Maharajas of Indian Principality States. Similarly many of his sons, grand-sons and great-grand-sons were/are married to various Princesses of Indian Royal Houses. Maharaja Sir Jung Bahadur Rana of Kaski & Lamjung himself started the process of marrying Rana Gentlemen and Ladies to the Indian Royal Households in mid-1800 AD. Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung continued the process of marrying his sons and daughters to the Indian Royal Households in late 1800 AD. One of his great-grand-daughter Sita Rani Devi is Rajmata of Indian Princely State of Makrai. Another great-grand-daughter is Geeta Rani Rana who is married to Late Thakuri Prachanda Singh of Royal House of Tulsipur.

Present rulers of Kingdom of Nepal, Jajorkot, Bajhang and Indian Princely States such as Jhalai, Jubbal, Bagribari, Tripura, Oel Kaimara, Khairagarh, Rajgarh, Tehri-Garhwal, Thalrai, Benaras, Ramnagar and many other states share a direct bloodline with Commander-in-Chief Gen. Padma Jung Bahadur Rana and Maharaja of Kaski & Lamjung Sir Jung Bahadur Rana.

Many of Jang Bahadur's nephews, as well as Crown Prince General Dhoj Narsingh Rana (adopted son of Maharaja Sir Renaudip Singh Bahadur), were forced to seek refuge in India. Many of Crown Prince General Dhoj Narsingh's children and family remained with Sri Teen Ranodip Singh's widow in Benares and were then relocated later to Udaipur upon the invitation by Maharana Fateh Singh, who sought to give refuge to his Rana cousins.

Out of seven sons and three daughters of General Dhoj Narsingh three sons and one daughter moved to Udaipur on an invitation from the Maharana who graciously requested them to settle in Udaipur. The Rana princes Shri Narsingh and Dev Narsingh established themselves to carry on the family's name in the city of their forefathers. Late Raja Durga Narsingh Rana was and is one of the best known names among the Rajputs of Udaipur.

Their families established marital relations with the Royal families & Thikanas like Jasmor (head of the Pundir clan), Banka, Gogunda, Samode, Neemrana (direct descendents of Prithviraj Chauhan), Mahendragarh etc.

The only known male descendants from these lines are Late Raja Durga Narsingh Rana and his son Raja Gyanendra Narsingh Rana, Raja Jagat Narsingh Rana (son of Shree Narsingh Rana) and his sons Mahendra Narsingh Rana & Virendra Narsingh Rana. Raja Gyanendra Narsingh Rana is currently the head of the Rana clan in Udaipur after the demise of his father Raja Durga Narsingh Rana.

The shortest serving Rana was Dev Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana who ruled for two months in 1901, he was deposed by his brothers because of his open display of guilt for what has happened during the coup. Known as "The Reformist" for his progressive policies, he proclaimed universal education, began to building schools, took steps to abolish slavery, and introduced several other social welfare schemes. He also made improvements to the arsenal at Nakkhu (south of Kathmandu) and started The Gorkhapatra newspaper. Dev Shumsher felt guilty for what had transpired during the coup, also a key incident happened during the coup which affected him deeply. He was held at gunpoint by General Dhoj Narsingh Rana, but was allowed to live and forgiven. For this, he felt a lot of guilt and asked for the exiled family members to return to Nepal. This brought him to a clash with his immediate brothers.

He was deposed by his relatives, where he settled in Jhari Pani, near Mussoorie, where his Fairlawn Palace once stood. A developer purchased the palace and tore it down, replacing it with cottages. All that remains are a few of the original gates and a small portion of the palace skeleton.

The Ranas were acclaimed and given much prestige and a 19-gun salute by British as well. All with the exception of Deva Shamsher received knighthoods.

The Rana dynasty developed into a powerful and wealthy family clan and some Ranas are still very influential in the country today taking higher positions in Nepal Army. To keep the power and influence the Rana family formed a close alliance with the Shah dynasty via marriage.