Kehar Singh Basnyat () or Kehar Singh Basnet was a Nepalese military commander and war hero who laid down his life in the Unification battles of Nepal. He was born in the illustrious clan of Shreepali Basnyats as a member of Kshettriya (warrior) class.

Family

He was born as second son of General ''Senapati Badabir''

Shivaram Singh Basnyat Shivaram Singh Basnyat () was the military commander of Gorkha. After the conquest of Naldum area by the Gorkhalis, he along with Commander Bir Bhadra Thapa conquered Sanga, Panauti, Sankhu and adjacent areas. They received fierce resistance ...

. He had three brothers: Naahar Singh Basnyat,

Abhiman Singh Basnyat Abhiman Singh Basnet/Basnyat () was the first Commander-in-Chief of unified Nepal."Regmi Research Series" Author:Mahesh Chandra Regmi Abhiman Singh became the first Commander in Chief after General Kalu Pande died during his second attempt to ca ...

, and Dhokal Singh Basnyat. He had three sons:

Kirtiman Singh Basnyat Kirtiman Singh Basnyat () was Mul Kaji (Chief Minister) of the Royal Court of Nepal from 1794 to his death on 28 September 1801. He was a military commander of the Nepalese Army. Military career He fought in the Sino-Nepalese War and various oth ...

Bakhtawar Singh Basnyat Bakhtawar Singh Basnyat () was Mulkazi (Chief Kazi) of Nepal. Mulkazi Kirtiman Singh Basnyat who was backed by Queen Regent Subarna Prabha Devi, was secretly assassinated on 28 September 1801, by the supporters of Raj Rajeshwari Devi. Damodar ...

, and Jahar Singh Basnyat. King

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 ...

formed an alliance with

Basnyat family Basnyat/Basnet family or Basnyat/Basnet dynasty () was a Khas-Chhetri and a warlord clan family involved in the politics and administration of the Gorkha Kingdom and Kingdom of Nepal. This family got entry into Thar Ghar aristocracy group of G ...

and

Pande family The Pande family or Pande dynasty (also spelled as Pandey or Panday) (; or ) was a Chhetri political family with ancestral roots from Gorkha Kingdom that directly ruled Nepali administration affairs from the 16th century to 19th century as ...

of Gorkha in his quest for the unification of Nepal. As per his Divya Upadesh, King Prithvi Narayan is known to have arranged the marriage between Kaji Kehar Singh and Chitra Devi, the daughter of Kaji of Gorkha

Kalu Pande Vamshidhar Pande () known by Alias Kalu Pande () was a Nepalese politician and general who was appointed as Kaji of The Gorkha Kingdom. He was born in 1713 A.D. in a Gorkha family. He was the commander of the Gorkhali forces during the Un ...

. His father Shivaram Singh was addressed as Senapati Badabir (Brave Chief of the Army) in all the documents of that era. He died in the defensive battle of Sanga Chowk during

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 ...

on 1803 B.S.

Career

He actively took part in Unification battles of Nepal. He, along with Kaji Vamsharaj Pande, Mahoddam Kirti Shah,

Surpratap Shah Surapratap Shah () or Surya Pratap Shah () was a prince of the Gorkha Kingdom. He was active during the battles referred to as the Unification of Nepal led by his brother, King Prithvi Narayan Shah Prithvi Narayan Shah (; 7 January 1723 – ...

, Dal Mardan Shah, Rana Rudra Shah, Nandu Shah, Kaji Naahar Singh Basnyat and Kaji

, was dispatched with approximately 1,100 fighting troops to encircle the Makawanpur fortress by the dawn of 20 August 1762. After consolidation of Kathmandu valley states, King

waged war against western Chaubise (24) Confederacy on 1770 A.D., under military leadership of Kaji Bamsharaj Pande, Kaji Kehar Singh Basnyat, and

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

Prabhu Malla, to initial success. In 1771 A.D., the Gorkhali forces lost the war against 24 Chaubise principalities and Kaji Bamsharaj was captured by soldiers of Parbat Kingdom as a war prisoner. Kaji Kehar Singh died in the battlefield at Satahun. His brother Dhaukal Singh Basnyat and another military officer Sriharsh Pantha narrowly escaped after the tough confrontation at Dhor.

References

Books

* * * * * * * * * Year of birth missing Year of death missing Basnyat family Nepalese generals People of the Nepalese unification Nepalese military personnel killed in action 18th-century Nepalese people {{Nepal-bio-stub