Swarup Singh Karki () or Swaroop Singh Karki, was a Nepali politician, courtier, military commander and minister. He was popular for his singing prowess and court conspiracies. He was selected as

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

(prime minister) in the reign of King

Pratap Singh Shah Pratap Singh Shah, King of Nepal (), (16 April 1751– 17 November 1777), was King of Nepal. He was the eldest son of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king who started the unification of Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic ...

and a significant politician in the regent rule of

Queen Rajendra of Nepal Rajendra Rajya Lakshmi Devi (died 1785), was the consort of Pratap Singh Shah, king of the Kingdom of Nepal. She was the regent of Nepal during the minority of her son Rana Bahadur Shah between 1777 and 1785.Queens of the Shah Dynasty in Nepal. Pr ...

. He was one of the most influential court politician in the rule of King Pratap Singh and Queen Rajendralaxmi, others being his rival

Bahadur Shah of Nepal Prince Bahadur Shah () was the youngest son of King Prithvi Narayan Shah of modern Nepal. He became the regent of Nepal for a brief period after the death of his predecessor Queen Rajendra Laxmi and accelerated his father's campaign for the conq ...

and

Vamsharaj Pande Vamsharaj Pande (a.k.a. Bamsa Raj Pande, Vansha Raj Pande, or Bangsha Raj Pande) (; translit. ''vaṃśarāja pām̐ḍe'') was a Nepalese politician, military officer and minister of state. He was a significant army commander of Kingdom of Nepa ...

. Vamsharaj was his perceived career rival. His life and career ended when Prince Bahadur Shah was appointed as regent in 1785.

Early life

He was born in 1808 B.S. He belonged to Chaudandi state of Sen Kings in the Eastern Nepal. He was

Chhetri Chhetri (Kshetri, Kshettri, Kshetry or Chhettri), ( ; IAST: ''Kṣetrī'') historically called Kshettriya or Kshetriya or Khas are Nepali language, Nepali speaking people historically associated with the warrior class and administration, some of ...

Mudulla(

Karki (surname) Karki (Devanagari: कार्की) is a Chhetri surname from Nepal and a Kumaoni Rajput clan in Uttarakhand. Khasa Kingdom Karki was a title given to tax collecting officers in the medieval Khasa Kingdom. A branch of Karki Chhetris were al ...

) by ethnicity and was employed under King Karna Sen of Chaudandi. He later took asylum under

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 ...

after the conquest of Kathmandu and Patan by Gorkha due to disagreement with the Kirati chief. He was appointed as

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 ...

by the King Prithvi Narayan Shah on the recommendation of Crown Prince

and was sent to the Battle of Bhaktapur in 1769 A.D. He was known as a good singer who often persuaded then Crown Prince

and sidelined with non-Gorkhali courtiers such as Pandit Vrajnath Poudyal of Syangja Rising and Crown Prince's Newar

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

Maiju Rani in the Tantric practices of the Crown Prince.

Tribhuwan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs across a wide rang ...

History Association and Instruction Committee also asserts Kaji Parashuram Thapa in the group headed by Brajnath and Swarup. The non-Gorkhali group remained in Kathmandu for running administration and old hereditary courtiers from Tharghars remained at Nuwakot for military conquests with King Prithvi Narayan Shah. The traditional Tharghar (Gorkhali nobility) courtiers favored Prince Bahadur Shah over Pratap Singh Shah.

Court politics and military career

When Crown Prince

ascended the throne in January 1775, Swarup and his group became the most influential persons in the court. In order to prevent Prince Bahadur Shah from being a ''Chautariya''(royal chief minister), Swarup marched with army to Nuwakot to confine Prince Bahadur who was then mourning the death of his father former King Prithvi Narayan Shah. He confined Bahadur Shah and Prince

Dal Mardan Shah Dal Mardan Shah was a king of the Malla state of Patan in Nepal (r. 1764–1765). He was a son of Nara Bhupal Shah and the younger brother of Prithvi Narayan Shah.He led one of the troop when Prithivi Narayan Shah Prithvi Narayan Shah (; 7 ...

with consent from newly reigning King Pratap Singh Shah who was considered to have no distinction of right and wrong. In the annual Pajani (renewal) of that year, Swarup Singh was promoted to the position of Kaji along with

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 ...

Amar Singh Thapa Amar Singh Thapa distinguished as Badakaji Amar Singh Thapa(), or Amar Singh Thapa The Elder, (also spelled Ambar Simha) also known by the honorific name Bada Kaji ("Senior Kaji") or Budha Kaji ("The Old Kaji"), was a Gorkha Kingdom, Gorkhali mil ...

and Parashuram Thapa. In

Falgun Falgun or Phalgun (; ) or Phagun () is the eleventh month of the year in the Bengali calendar, the Assamese calendar, and the Nepali calendar. In the revision of the Bengali calendar used in Bangladesh since October 2019, the month has 29 days ...

1832 B.S., he succeeded in exiling Bahadur Shah, Dal Mardan Shah and Guru Gajraj Mishra on three heinous charges. The reign of King Pratap Singh was characterized by the constant rivalry between Swarup and

, a member of the leading

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. The document dated

Bikram Samvat Vikram Samvat (ISO: ''Vikrama Saṁvata''; abbreviated VS), also known as the Vikrami calendar is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent and still also used in several Indian states and Nepal. It is a lunisolar calendar, ...

1833

Bhadra ''Bhadra'' is a Sanskrit word meaning 'good', 'fortune' or 'auspicious'. It is also the name of many men, women and objects in Hinduism. Male Figures King of Chedi Bhadra was a king of Chedi Kingdom who participated in the Kurukshetra War from t ...

Vadi 3 Roj 6 (i.e. Friday 2 August 1776), shows that he had carried the title of

along with Vamsharaj Pande. He led the Nepali/Nepalese army to an attack on Bhubaneshwar and Kabilas area in the Saptari region and successfully conquered those places. The deposed When the senior courtier Abhiman Singh Basnyat conquered Someshwar in Chitwan, Swarup, in order to get credit, reached there after the success. This angered Abhiman Singh and

, son of former 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 ...

, who reported the plot to King Pratap Singh. He was exiled on that ground from the

Kingdom of Nepal The Kingdom of Nepal was a Hindu monarchy in South Asia, founded in 1768 through the unification of Nepal, expansion of the Gorkha Kingdom. The kingdom was also known as the Gorkha Empire and was sometimes called History of Asal Hindustan, ...

on 1834 B.S. It was also the last moments of reign of King Pratap in 1777 A.D. After he was expelled by King Pratap, he fled to Palpa and took side with the Sen Kings of Palpa, his native state Chaudandi, and King of Parbat. He was then considered a fugitive and rebel in the Kingdom of Nepal. Chaudandi King Karna Sen's widow had adopted the son of Palpa King Mukunda Sen, Prince Dhwajbir Sen through the consignment of Swaroop. Swaroop Singh was assigned to take Prince Dhwajbir to Calcutta to summon British military support against expanding

. Chaubisi confederacy attacked Gorkha Kingdom on Sirhanchowk Gadhi (fort) at north and established their own position on 2 January 1782 A.D. Commander Garud Dhoj Pant of Tanahun Kingdom launched attack on Gorkhali side with combined army of Lamjung and Parbat and also included soldiers from Kaski, Palpa, and Pyuthan. Queen Rajendra Lakshmi Devi wanted ultimate destruction of trade route of Lamjung. Thus, Swaroop Singh and his rival Vamsharaj was called back from their exile in

Bettiah Bettiah is a city and the administrative headquarters of West Champaran district ( Tirhut Division) - ( Tirhut). It is near the Indo-Nepal border, northwest of Patna, in the state of Bihar, India. History In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a B ...

to launch an attack on the Lamjung Kingdom. His entrance in the royal court of Nepal was opposed by courtiers. Later, a reconciliation was done with him and Vamsharaj. Swarup appointed

Daljit Shah Daljit Shah () was a Prince of the Gorkha Kingdom. He was active during the military campaign known as the Unification of Nepal led by his brother, King Prithvi Narayan Shah. He held the rank of Chautaria, and Kaji (Nepal), Kaji. Shah commanded v ...

as Chautariya in 1841 B.S. and took the support of Kaji Bhim Khawas.

Vamsharaj conspiracy and death

was beheaded on the conspiracy of Queen Rajendra Laxmi with his support. In the special tribunal meeting at Bhandarkhal garden, east of Kathmandu Durbar, Swaroop Singh held Vamsharaj liable for letting the King of Parbat, Kirtibam Malla, escape from the battle a year ago. He had a fiery conversation with Vamsharaj before Vamsharaj was declared guilty and was subsequently executed by beheading. Historian

Rishikesh Shah Rishikesh Shah (May 16, 1925 – November 13, 2002) was a Nepalese writer, politician and human rights activist.http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_121-122_01.pdf On 2 July 1785, his stiff opponent Prince Regent

was arrested and on the eleventh day of imprisonment on 13 July, his only supporter Queen Rajendra Laxmi died. Then onwards, Bahadur Shah took over the regency of his nephew King

Rana Bahadur Shah Rana Bahadur Shah, King of Nepal (; 25 May 1775 – 26 April 1806) was King of Nepal, he succeeded to the throne after the death of his father, King Pratap Singh Shah. He ruled under the regencies of his mother, Queen Rajendra Rajya Lakshmi D ...

and in the first moments of his regency ordered Swaroop Singh who was in

Pokhara Pokhara ( ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. Named the country's "capital of tourism" it is the List of cities in Nepal, second largest city after Kathmandu, with 599,5 ...

to be beheaded there on the charges of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. He had gone to Kaski to join Daljit Shah's military campaign of Kaski fearing retaliation of the old courtiers due to his conspiracy against Vamsharaj. He was executed on 24th Shrawan 1842 B.S.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karki, Swaroop Singh Nepalese generals Prime ministers of Nepal Nepalese military leaders 1751 births 1785 deaths Executed Nepalese people People executed for treason People of the Nepalese unification People from Udayapur District