Late King Birendra Bir Birram shah dev
Early life:
Late King Birendra was born at the Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu as the eldest son of the then Crown Prince Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his wife Crown Princess Indra Rajya Laxmi.Late King Birendra was the first Nepalese monarch to receive a formal education. He spent eight years studying at St Joseph's College a Jesuit school in Darjeeling, India. On 13 March 1955 his grandfather King Tribhuvan died and his father succeeded to the Nepalese throne. With his father's ascension Birendra became the Crown Prince of Nepal.
Reign:
Birendra succeeded to the throne on 31 January 1972 on the death ofhis father. On his ascension he was effectively an absolute monarchas he inherited a country where political parties were banned and heruled through a system of local and regional councils known aspanchayats.Birendra resented the absolute monarch tag maintainingthat he presided over a democracy in which representatives to theassembly were indirectly elected and saying that his poor andbackward country could not afford a democracy based on partypolitics and that it needed firm and decisive government.His firsttrips abroad as king were to India in October 1973 and China twomonths later as he believed that Nepal, sandwiched between the twoAsian powers, should have good relations with both.In an attempt to maintain the panchayat system of government prominent leaders of the Nepali Congress Party were arrested.Because of the growing pro democracy movement Birendra announced that a referendum to decide between a non-party and a multi-party system would be held. The referendum was held in May 1980 with the non-party system winning by a margin of 55% to 45%.During the 1980s the restraints that had been imposed on political organisations were starting to ease and liberal student-led groups were starting to appear demanding constitutional change in Nepal.
Although King Birendra had been educated within the constraints of western constitutional monarchy, after his accession to the throne in 1972 he ruled his country as an absolute monarch, albeit a benign one. But in 1990, following a series of strikes and pro-democracy riots, he was forced to agree a new democratic constitution framed along British lines.The King was never so popular with his subjects as when most of his powers had been taken away from him. A well-meaning, serious and rather shy man, he proved himself temperamentally well suited to the role of constitutional monarch.The first 10 years of democracy in Nepal were marred by political instability; yet King Birendra steadfastly refused to go beyond the rights given him under the 1990 constitution to "be informed", to "encourage" and to "warn".
Prince Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was born at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Kathmandu, on December 28 1945, the first son of six children of the then Crown Prince Mahendra and his wife, Princess Indra.
Although the Shah dynasty had been kings of Nepal since 1767, for more than a century, until 1950, their role had been largely ceremonial. Real authority during this period had been vested in the Rana shogunate of royal vizirs who had seized power in 1846, establishing a line of hereditary prime ministers. As the Ranas had grown corrupt and unpopular, the monarchy had became an object of veneration and in later years a rallying point for democratic opposition to Rana rule. In February 1951, Birendra's grandfather, King Tribhuvana, led a national insurrection against the Ranas and was restored as the country's rightful ruler.Once in power, however, King Tribhuvana proved a reluctant democrat. A succession of short-lived governments ruling under an interim constitution attempted to persuade the King to call a constituent assembly that would frame a permanent constitution, but he continued to prevaricate. When King Tribhuvana died in 1955, his son Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev carried on as before.Eventually, after large-scale civil disobedience, King Mahendra announced that elections for a representative assembly would take place in February 1959. Eighteen months after the new government had been formed, disagreements between the Prime Minister and the King led to a royal coup.
On his father's death in 1972, King Birendra consulted his court astrologers who advised him to delay his coronation for three years - the most auspicious moment for his crowning being at 8.37 am precisely on February 4 1975. Soon after dawn on that day, King Birendra was driven to the temple of his ancestral palace, the Hanuman Dhoka ("gate of the monkey god"). There he was smeared with mud taken from various symbolic places - the bottom of a lake, the tusk of an elephant, a mountain, the confluence of two rivers and the doorstep of a prostitute's house. Then, with Queen Aishwarya beside him, he was cleansed with butter, milk, yoghurt and honey as priests chanted praises and salutations.
The coronation ceremony was attended by statesmen and political leaders from 60 nations, with the Prince of Wales representing the British Royal Family. The King's personal guests included his former housemaster at Eton, Peter Lawrence, three other masters and 15 old boys. At the ordained time, the chief priest placed on the King's head the emerald green crown, encrusted with jewels and adorned with feathers from a bird of paradise.
During the subsequent durbar, the King announced that he had ordered his government to make primary education available and free for every child, but disappointed those Nepalis who hoped that he would promise progress towards democracy. The King was said to have been dissuaded from such a move by his palace advisers and Queen Aishwarya, although at the time he himself saw democracy as an unwelcome adjunct to his ambition to develop his country. "The people ask us for hygienic drinking water, roads, schools and hospitals, not for democracy," he once remarked. He saw himself as a divinely appointed technocrat.
King Birendra's early ambitions included the introduction of a New Education System Plan to address the country's 85 per cent illiteracy rate, and the establishment of a National Development Service which required all post-graduate students to work for 10 months in the villages as a prerequisite for their degrees. He also divided the country into five development regions, and "development" became the ideology of the state.And Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah (27 June 1971 – 4 June 2001) was a member of the Nepalese Royal Family, who briefly reigned in coma as King of Nepal from 1 June to 4 June 2001. The Official report submitted by the investigation team formed by the local government tells that as the Crown Prince, he allegedly killed his family at a royal dinner, including the previous King, on 1 June 2001. Dipendra was also mortally wounded by an allegedly self-inflicted gunshot to the side of the head. After the murder of his father, he officially became king for three days as he lingered in a coma.And Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (born 7 July 1947) reigned as the final monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal. During his life, he has held the title of King twice: between 1950 and 1951, as a child when his grandfather Tribhuvan was forced into exile in India; and from 2001 to 2008, following the Nepalese royal massacre.
Late King Birendra was born at the Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu as the eldest son of the then Crown Prince Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his wife Crown Princess Indra Rajya Laxmi.Late King Birendra was the first Nepalese monarch to receive a formal education. He spent eight years studying at St Joseph's College a Jesuit school in Darjeeling, India. On 13 March 1955 his grandfather King Tribhuvan died and his father succeeded to the Nepalese throne. With his father's ascension Birendra became the Crown Prince of Nepal.
Reign:
Birendra succeeded to the throne on 31 January 1972 on the death ofhis father. On his ascension he was effectively an absolute monarchas he inherited a country where political parties were banned and heruled through a system of local and regional councils known aspanchayats.Birendra resented the absolute monarch tag maintainingthat he presided over a democracy in which representatives to theassembly were indirectly elected and saying that his poor andbackward country could not afford a democracy based on partypolitics and that it needed firm and decisive government.His firsttrips abroad as king were to India in October 1973 and China twomonths later as he believed that Nepal, sandwiched between the twoAsian powers, should have good relations with both.In an attempt to maintain the panchayat system of government prominent leaders of the Nepali Congress Party were arrested.Because of the growing pro democracy movement Birendra announced that a referendum to decide between a non-party and a multi-party system would be held. The referendum was held in May 1980 with the non-party system winning by a margin of 55% to 45%.During the 1980s the restraints that had been imposed on political organisations were starting to ease and liberal student-led groups were starting to appear demanding constitutional change in Nepal.
Although King Birendra had been educated within the constraints of western constitutional monarchy, after his accession to the throne in 1972 he ruled his country as an absolute monarch, albeit a benign one. But in 1990, following a series of strikes and pro-democracy riots, he was forced to agree a new democratic constitution framed along British lines.The King was never so popular with his subjects as when most of his powers had been taken away from him. A well-meaning, serious and rather shy man, he proved himself temperamentally well suited to the role of constitutional monarch.The first 10 years of democracy in Nepal were marred by political instability; yet King Birendra steadfastly refused to go beyond the rights given him under the 1990 constitution to "be informed", to "encourage" and to "warn".
Prince Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was born at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Kathmandu, on December 28 1945, the first son of six children of the then Crown Prince Mahendra and his wife, Princess Indra.
Although the Shah dynasty had been kings of Nepal since 1767, for more than a century, until 1950, their role had been largely ceremonial. Real authority during this period had been vested in the Rana shogunate of royal vizirs who had seized power in 1846, establishing a line of hereditary prime ministers. As the Ranas had grown corrupt and unpopular, the monarchy had became an object of veneration and in later years a rallying point for democratic opposition to Rana rule. In February 1951, Birendra's grandfather, King Tribhuvana, led a national insurrection against the Ranas and was restored as the country's rightful ruler.Once in power, however, King Tribhuvana proved a reluctant democrat. A succession of short-lived governments ruling under an interim constitution attempted to persuade the King to call a constituent assembly that would frame a permanent constitution, but he continued to prevaricate. When King Tribhuvana died in 1955, his son Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev carried on as before.Eventually, after large-scale civil disobedience, King Mahendra announced that elections for a representative assembly would take place in February 1959. Eighteen months after the new government had been formed, disagreements between the Prime Minister and the King led to a royal coup.
On his father's death in 1972, King Birendra consulted his court astrologers who advised him to delay his coronation for three years - the most auspicious moment for his crowning being at 8.37 am precisely on February 4 1975. Soon after dawn on that day, King Birendra was driven to the temple of his ancestral palace, the Hanuman Dhoka ("gate of the monkey god"). There he was smeared with mud taken from various symbolic places - the bottom of a lake, the tusk of an elephant, a mountain, the confluence of two rivers and the doorstep of a prostitute's house. Then, with Queen Aishwarya beside him, he was cleansed with butter, milk, yoghurt and honey as priests chanted praises and salutations.
The coronation ceremony was attended by statesmen and political leaders from 60 nations, with the Prince of Wales representing the British Royal Family. The King's personal guests included his former housemaster at Eton, Peter Lawrence, three other masters and 15 old boys. At the ordained time, the chief priest placed on the King's head the emerald green crown, encrusted with jewels and adorned with feathers from a bird of paradise.
During the subsequent durbar, the King announced that he had ordered his government to make primary education available and free for every child, but disappointed those Nepalis who hoped that he would promise progress towards democracy. The King was said to have been dissuaded from such a move by his palace advisers and Queen Aishwarya, although at the time he himself saw democracy as an unwelcome adjunct to his ambition to develop his country. "The people ask us for hygienic drinking water, roads, schools and hospitals, not for democracy," he once remarked. He saw himself as a divinely appointed technocrat.
King Birendra's early ambitions included the introduction of a New Education System Plan to address the country's 85 per cent illiteracy rate, and the establishment of a National Development Service which required all post-graduate students to work for 10 months in the villages as a prerequisite for their degrees. He also divided the country into five development regions, and "development" became the ideology of the state.And Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah (27 June 1971 – 4 June 2001) was a member of the Nepalese Royal Family, who briefly reigned in coma as King of Nepal from 1 June to 4 June 2001. The Official report submitted by the investigation team formed by the local government tells that as the Crown Prince, he allegedly killed his family at a royal dinner, including the previous King, on 1 June 2001. Dipendra was also mortally wounded by an allegedly self-inflicted gunshot to the side of the head. After the murder of his father, he officially became king for three days as he lingered in a coma.And Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (born 7 July 1947) reigned as the final monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal. During his life, he has held the title of King twice: between 1950 and 1951, as a child when his grandfather Tribhuvan was forced into exile in India; and from 2001 to 2008, following the Nepalese royal massacre.
Gyanendra's second reign ended in 2008, when the monarchy was dissolved and the Federal Republic of Nepal formed in its place. Gyanendra became a private citizen and was stripped of his royal titles and status. His reign is considered to have been a disaster for the monarchist cause in Nepal; in particular, his decision to impose direct rule caused the Maoist insurgency and the moderate democratic political parties to unite in opposition to his absolute rule, an alliance which under any other circumstances would have been extraordinarily unlikely.
In February 2005, Gyanendra took complete control of the government, dismissing the elected parliament. Following opposition to his direct rule he was forced to return power to parliament in April 2006, which in turn reduced the king's status to that of a ceremonial monarch. He continued as such until 28 May 2008 when he was peacefully deposed and Nepal became a federal republic. There have been some calls from parties loyal to the monarchy for a referendum to decide on the need for a monarchy after the constitutional crisis brought about the resignation of the Maoist-led government.It so again the country peopel,
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