Budhahang (Nepali: बुढाहाङ) was a king of the Kirati Community in the of the Kalsha territory, present-day Dhankuta District. He belonged to the Chulung subtribe of the

Kirati people The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirat or Kirant or Kiranti, are Tibeto-Burman ethnolinguistic groups living in the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state o ...

His palace was located in the region currently known as

Ankhisalla Ankhisalla is a village development committee in the Shahidbhumi Rural Municipality of Dhankuta District in the Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 5220 people living in 923 individual h ...

and Chintang. Budhahang is regarded as a former king of the Khalsa area, who ruled during the time when

Prithvi Narayan Shah Prithvi Narayan Shah (; 7 January 1723 – 11 January 1775), was the last king of the Gorkha Kingdom and first king of the Kingdom of Nepal (also called the ''Kingdom of Gorkha''). Prithvi Narayan Shah started the unification of Nepal. He is a ...

conquered the Kirat region (1774-75 BS). It is said that

, Khoku,

Chhintang Chhintang is a village in Shahidbhumi Rural Municipality in the Dhankuta District of Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 8071 people living in 1374 individual households. The Chintang lan ...

, Pakhribas, Jhalhara Belhara, Muga, Thangkhuwa, Mahabharat, Hatikharka, Chanuwa, Ahale, Phangduwa, Bhirgaun Sanne,

Phalate Phalate is a village development committee in Dhankuta District in the Kosi Zone of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics ...

, and

Leguwa Leguwa is a Village development committee (Nepal), village development committee in Dhankuta District in the Kosi Zone of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 4206 people living in 796 individual households. ...

were included in the Khalsa territory before the Gorkhali invasion.

Biography

The identity of the king is contradictory, and the details regarding Budhahang's parents are also unclear. According to Kājimān Kandaṅvā (1993: 121), Budhahang's father's name was Rakhansingh hang. Budhahang was the second sibling among four brothers: Cinbassa, Rakhanbassa, Rumbassa, and Rukumbassa (in order of seniority). Budhahang had several children, although the exact number is unclear. It is agreed that he had seven daughters, namely: * Sureksi (Hombuyungma) * Rakaksi * Tigumhaŋma or Chintang Devi * Jagadeo * Sɨŋciri * Luŋciri * Piccadaŋma Budhahang had only one biological son named Rucchihaŋ. It is said that Budhahang scolded his son for killing some fish in the pond. Upset by the scolding, the boy jumped into the pond and drowned. Budhahang disappeared when

attacked him during the

unification of Nepal The unification of Nepal () was the process of building the modern Nepalese state, by invading fractured Malla kingdoms including the Baise Rajya's 22 kingdoms and the Chaubisi Rajya's 24 kingdoms. It began in 1743 CE (1799 BS), by Prithvi N ...

. During the war with the Shah king, he was said to have the ability to revive all the Kiranti warriors who had been killed, using his divine powers.

Popular beliefs

According to legend, Budhahang possessed superhuman abilities. He was able to stop the movements of the sun for up to two hours. Another story recounts how the children who went to the forest with Budhahang had to check his head for lice. However, instead of lice, they found eyes covering his head. Moreover, as long as the children spent time with Budhahang, it never became dark; it would only get dark after he returned home.

References

Kings in Asia 18th-century Nepalese people {{Nepal-bio-stub

Biography

Popular beliefs

See also

References