Triratna Man Tuladhar () (1905-1986) was one of the largest Nepalese traders in traditional

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

and the president of the

Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa The Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa opened in 1943, the first ever organization of businesses formed by Nepalese traders based in the Tibetan capital. The Newar merchants conducted trade between Lhasa and Kolkata transporting goods over the H ...

in the 1940s.

Early life

Triratna Man (alternative name: Lhandur) was born at Nyata,

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, the eldest of the three sons of trader and philanthropist Dharma Man Tuladhar and mother Hera Lani

Tuladhar Tulādhar (Devanagari: तुलाधर) is a Nepali/Nepalese caste from the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The name Tuladhar is derived from the Sanskrit words "tula" (weighing scale) and "dhar" (possessor), thus meaning scal ...

. He was educated at home, and taught himself English and Chinese. He learned Tibetan and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

during his stay in Tibet and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1913, he was married to Punya Maya

Kansakar Kansakār () or Kasāh (कसाः) is a Nepalese caste group belonging to the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. In Sanskrit, Kansakar means bronze worker, and their traditional occupation has been metal working and trading. Tod ...

. Triratna Man was also an activist in the movement to revive

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...

in Nepal; and in 1924, became a member of the Buddhist Relief Association founded by Buddhist scholar and leader

Dharmaditya Dharmacharya Dharmaditya Dharmacharya () (born Jagat Man Vaidya) (1902–1963) was a Nepalese author, Buddhist scholar and language activist. He worked to develop Nepal Bhasa and revive Theravada Buddhism when Nepal was ruled by the Rana dynasty and both wer ...

Business in Tibet

Triratna Man belonged to a long line of Lhasa Newar merchants. His family owned a business house in Lhasa known as Chhusingsyar which has a history dating from 1790 AD. The firm conducted trade between Nepal, India and Tibet. Its main business was musk, brocade, gems, textiles and general merchandise. Besides its main shop in Lhasa, the firm maintained shops in

Gyantse Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse; ; ), is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in Tibet (after Lha ...

and

Phari Phari or Pagri (; ) is a town in Yadong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China near the border with Bhutan. The border can be accessed through a secret road/trail connecting Tsento Gewog in Bhutan () known as Tremo La. the town had a popul ...

, and in

Kalimpong Kalimpong is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The region comes under Gorkhaland Territo ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

and

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

in India. The firm in Kolkata was known as Dharma Man Purna Man - Tibetan Musk Depot. Triratna Man went to Lhasa for the first time in 1928 and managed the family business. He returned to Nepal in 1929. He made two more trips to Lhasa, and lived there from 1935-1941 and from 1947-1953, spending a total of 13 years in Tibet. In 1947, Triratna Man became president of the Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa and held the post for a year. After he returned to Nepal leaving the business in the care of his sons, he was elected to the executive committee of the Kathmandu Chapter of the association in 1955. He sat on the committee until 1957. His eldest son

Pratek Man Tuladhar Pratek Man Tuladhar () (1924–1991) was a Nepalese trader and philatelist. Born in Kathmandu into a family of hereditary merchants, he spent his youth in Lhasa, Tibet, where they owned a business house. During his stay in Tibet (1939–1960), al ...

wound up the business house of Chhusingsyar and returned to Nepal in 1960. The traditional Tibet trade came to an end following the

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

of 1962 when the trade route through

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

was shut down. Triratna Man then settled down to a quiet life in Kathmandu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuladhar, Triratna Man 1905 births 1986 deaths People from Kathmandu Nepalese merchants Newar people