Diamond Shumsher Rana (5 July 1918 – 11 March 2011) was a Nepali writer and political activist known for his acclaimed novels ''Basanti'' and ''Seto Bagh''.

Life and career

He was born at Tansen Durbar in Palpa, where his grandfather, Sher Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, was governor. His father Buddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana was a colonel in the Royal Nepal Army.
Rana enjoyed a privileged upbringing and was a captain in the Royal Nepal Army. In 1948 Rana travelled to Benaras, India and had his first novel ''Basanti'' published. In

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, he had aligned himself with an anti-establishment faction of the Rana regime and was arrested, court-martialled and sentenced to death but was later freed after members of the Rana family pressured the regime for his release. Rana later joined the political opposition and was a member of the

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

Party from 1954 to 1987."My Republica, Anti-Rana novelist Diamond Shumsher dead"
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Bibliography

* ''Basanti'' (1948) * ''Seto Bagh'' (1970) * ''Anita'' * ''Griha Prabesh'' * ''Satprayas'' (Sequel to ''Seto Bagh'') * ''Pratibaddha'' * ''Dhanko Dhabba''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Diamond Shumsher 1918 births 2011 deaths People from Palpa District Nepalese male writers Nepali-language writers Nepalese male novelists Nepalese novelists Nepalese politicians 20th-century novelists Jagadamba Shree Puraskar winners