Tribhuvan of Nepal

King of Nepal from 1911 to 1950 and 1951 to 1955

Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev
श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज त्रिभुवन वीर विक्रम शाह देव

King Tribhuvan in the 1930s

King of Nepal
Coronation| 20 February 1913
Reign| 12 December 1911 – 7 November 1950
Predecessor| Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah
Successor| Mahendra
Reign| 18 February 1951 – 13 March 1955

Born| (1906-06-30)30 June 1906
Kathmandu, Nepal
Died| 13 March 1955(1955-03-13) (aged 48)
Zürich, Switzerland
Spouse| 1st consort-Queen Kanti
2nd consort-Queen Ishwari
Issue
(among others)| King Mahendra
Prince Himalaya
Prince Basundhara
Princess Trilokya
Princess Nalini
Princess Vijaya
Princess Bharati
| Regnal name

Shree Paanch Maharajadhiraj Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev
Nepali| श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज त्रिभुवन वीर विक्रम शाह देव
Dynasty| Shah dynasty
Father| King Prithvi Bir Bikram
Mother| Divyeshwari Lakshmi Devi Shah
Religion| Hinduism

Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Nepali: श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज त्रिभुवन वीर विक्रम शाह देव), (30 June 1906 – 13 March 1955)[1][2] was King of Nepal. Born in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, he ascended to the throne at the age of five, upon the death of his father, Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah, and was crowned on 20 February 1913 at the Nasal Chowk, Hanuman Dhoka Palace in Kathmandu,[3] with his mother acting as regent.[1] At the time of his crowning, the position of monarch was largely ceremonial, with the real governing power residing with the Rana family.[1]

## Personal life

[edit]

Tribhuwan had tattoos from his neck to the ankles, including a snake on the biceps of the right arm and on his body, images of ferns, flowers and peacock feathers.[4][failed verification] Green was his favorite color.[5] Many of his ornaments, keys, gifts, clothes had the word "T" inscribed on them.[6] He frequently ordered by mail through mail order catalogs.[7] He smoked Lucky Strike cigarettes.[8]

Tribhuwan was summoned to Singha Durbar every Thursday and kept waiting for hours for a visit with the Rana Prime Minister.[9]

## Family

[edit]

Crowning of Tribhuvan; aged five

Tribhuvan was born on 30 June 1906 to Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah and Divyeshwari Lakshmi Devi Shah. After the death of his father, Tribhuvan ascended the throne on 11 December 1911, at the age of five. Queen Mother Divyeshwari Lakshmi Devi was appointed regent until Tribhuvan came of age.

He married at age 12 in a double ceremony. He married first at the Narayanhity Palace in March 1919 to Kanti.[10] The same day he also married Kanti's sister Ishwari. He also had junior wives.

His first child and successor to the throne, Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, was born when both Tribhuvan and his wife, Queen Kanti Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah, were just 13 years old, on 11 June 1920.

## Later life

[edit]

Tensions between the royal family and the Ranas began during World War I. The Ranas wanted to join the war in support of Britain.[11] The Shahs were reluctant and wished to remain neutral. The then prime minister, Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, pressured the young king and threatened his mother, eventually forcing Tribhuvan to order the troops to war.[1]

By the mid-1930s, popular discontent with the Ranas led to the establishment of several movements, notably the Nepal Praja Parishad, to which Tribhuvan himself gave his explicit support, to overthrow the Ranas. In each instance, however, the Ranas responded harshly, banning the liberal movements and executing their leaders.[citation needed] Tribhuvan worked closely with the Praja Parishad to abolish the Rana regime.

King Tribhuvan in 1937

In November 1950, King Tribhuvan took refuge at the Indian Embassy. He was accompanied by his son Mahendra and the eldest grandson Birendra, among others. The then prime minister, Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana became furious and responded to Tribhuvan's move by calling an emergency meeting of the cabinet on 7 November 1950 at Singha Durbar. In that meeting he announced Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, the four-year-old grandson of Tribhuvan, as the new King of Nepal. On 10 November, two Indian planes landed at Gauchar Airport (now called Tribhuvan International Airport) and the royal family fled to New Delhi excluding the infant King, Gyanendra. Tribhuvan was formally welcomed by Indian prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and other high officials.[citation needed]

The removal of the king led to huge demonstrations in the country that compelled the Rana prime minister, Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana to negotiate with Tribhuvan and the Nepali Congress. On 22 November 1950, Jawahar Lal Nehru, the prime minister of India, officially announced that India was not going to recognize Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah as the legitimate King of Nepal.[citation needed]

When Mohan Shumsher saw that the situation was out of his control, he sent the king's brother-in-law,[citation needed] Sir Kaiser Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana and Bijaya Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana to New Delhi for peace talks. In New Delhi, King Tribhuvan, representatives of the Nepali Congress and the Rana Government all sat together to discuss the situation. At last an agreement was reached according in which King Tribhuvan was to form a new ministry, under his leadership, consisting of the Nepali Congress and the Ranas on an equal basis.

Tribhuvan then flew back to Nepal, along with the members of the royal family and the leaders of the Congress Party on 15 February 1951. On 18 February 1951, Tribhuvan returned from India as the monarch. Three days after the return, Tribhuvan formally declared an end to Rana's family rule and established a democratic system, but Mohan Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana continued as the prime minister for a few more months.

## Congress Rana Government

[edit]

According to the New Delhi Agreement, Tribhuvan announced on 13 February 1951, a cabinet headed by Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana. The following were the members of the Cabinet.

From the Rana clan:

* Sir Mohan Shamsher – Prime minister and Foreign Affairs.
* Sir Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana\- (younger brother of Mohan Shamsher; was in line for the next premiership) – Defence.
* Chudraj Shamsher – ("B" class Rana representative) – Forests.
* Nripa Janga Rana – ("C" class Rana representative) – Education.
* Yagya Bahadur Basnyat – (Rana Bhardar) – Health and Local self-government.

From the Nepali Congress side:

* Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala – Home.[12]
* Subarna Shamsher Rana\- (even though a Rana, he represented the Nepali Congress) – Finance.
* Ganesh Man Singh – Commerce and Industry
* Bharatmani Sharma – Food and Agriculture
* Bhadrakali Mishra – Transport.

This cabinet was reshuffled on 10 June 1951 to replace Baber Shamsher by Shangha Shamsher and Bharatmani Sharma by Surya Prasad Upadhyaya. This cabinet was dissolved in November 1951 and MP Koirala became the new prime minister.[13]

## Death

[edit]

Tribhuvan died at 3pm (GMT +2) March 9, 1955 at a clinic in Zürich, Switzerland. He was 49. His body was taken away from the clinic at 7:15pm, March 16 to the airport en route to Gauchar, Kathmandu. He was succeeded by his eldest legitimate son, Mahendra.[4]

## Legacy

[edit]

The international airport in Kathmandu, Tribhuvan International Airport, the oldest highway in Nepal Tribhuvan Highway, the 2nd oldest association football tournament in Nepal, Tribhuvan Challenge Shield, a city, Tribhuvannagar in Dang valley, and the country's largest university (Tribhuvan University) are named after him.

## Issue

[edit]

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### Children born to primary wives

[edit]

King Tribhuvan had two official wives who were crowned queen consorts:

* Queen Kanti Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (1906–1973), crowned senior queen consort on the same day as her marriage to the king, in 1919. They had four children:
* King Mahendra of Nepal (1920–1972), married firstly Lady Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah and secondly Princess Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah. He had children by his first wife;
* Prince Himalaya of Nepal (1921–1980), married Lady Princep Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah. He had no children;
* Princess Trilokya of Nepal (born 1922), married Raj Kumar Sri Hardyal Singh. She had children;
* Princess Vijaya of Nepal (born 1925), unmarried;
* Princess Bharati of Nepal (1927–2020), married Maharaja Sri Pradeep Chandra Bhanj Deo, the Maharaja of Mayurbhanj. She had children.
* Queen Ishwari Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (1907–1983), crowned junior queen consort on the same day as her marriage to the king, in 1919. They had two children:
* Prince Basundhara of Nepal (1921–1977), married Lady Helen Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah. He had children;
* Princess Nalini of Nepal (1924–2020), married Raja-i-Rajgan Raja Shri Shiv Rattan Dev Singh Sahib Kalan Bahadur, the Raja of Poonch. She had children.

## Honours

[edit]

National

* Sovereign of the Order of Ojaswi Rajanya
* Sovereign of the Order of Nepal Taradisha
* Sovereign of the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu
* Sovereign of the Order of Tri Shakti Patta

Foreign

* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Supreme Sun, 1 March 1950
* Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Italian Republic, 16 October 1954[14]
* Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 1954

## Ancestry

[edit]

He is a descendant of popular personalities such as Maharaja Jang Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji, Kaji Tularam Pande, Sardar Ramakrishna Kunwar and Kaji General Amar Singh Thapa.

Ancestors of Tribhuvan of Nepal

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 8\. King Surendra Bikram Shah of Nepal

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| 4\. Trailokya, Crown Prince of Nepal|

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| 9\. Trailokya Rajya Lakshmi Devi of Nepal

| 2\. King Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal|

|  |  |  |  |
| 10\. Jang Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji, 1st Maharaja of Lamjung and Kaski

| 5\. Queen Lalit Rajeshwori Rajya Lakshmi Devi of Nepal|

|  |  |
| 11\. Hiranyagarbha Kumari Devi, Maharani of Lamjung and Kaski

| 1\. King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |

|  |

|  |  |

| 3\. Divyeshwari Rajya Lakshmi Devi of Nepal|

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## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tribhuvan of Nepal.

1. ^ a b c d Harris M. Lentz (2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 571\. ISBN 9781134264902.
2. ^ नेपालको शाह तथा राणा वंशावली: विष्णु प्रसाद श्रेष्ठ
3. ^ "National Archives NextGen Catalog". catalog.archives.gov. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
4. ^ a b Leuchtag, Erika (1958). Erika and the King. Coward-McCann. p. 60.
5. ^ Leuchtag, Erika (1958). Erika and the King. Coward-McCann. p. 82.
6. ^ Leuchtag, Erika (1958). Erika and the King. Coward-McCann. p. 83.
7. ^ Leuchtag, Erika (1958). Erika and the King. Coward-McCann. p. 70.
8. ^ Leuchtag, Erika (1958). Erika and the King. Coward-McCann. p. 46.
9. ^ Leuchtag, Erika (1958). Erika and the King. Coward-McCann. p. 70.
10. ^ "Photograph of King Tribhuvan and Queen Kanti". Archived from the original on 10 May 2017.
11. ^ "Hundred years on". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
12. ^ www.nepalicongress.org. "NepaliCongress.org- Nepali Congress Official website – Political party of Nepal". www.nepalicongress.org. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
13. ^ "Google Groups". groups.google.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
14. ^ informatici, Segretariato generale della Presidenza della Repubblica – Servizio sistemi. "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana". www.quirinale.it. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

Tribhuvan of Nepal

Shah dynasty

Born: 30 June 1906 Died: 13 March 1955

Regnal titles
Preceded by

Prithvi

|  King of Nepal
1911–1950  | Succeeded by

Gyanendra

Preceded by

Gyanendra

|  King of Nepal
1951–1955  | Succeeded by

Mahendra

* v
* t
* e

Heads of state of Nepal

Kings|

* Prithvi Narayan Shah
* Pratap Singh Shah
* Rana Bahadur Shah
* Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah
* Rajendra Bikram Shah
* Surendra Bikram Shah
* Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah
* Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah
* Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah
* Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah
* Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah
* Birendra Bir Bikram Shah
* Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah
* Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah

Presidents|

* Girija Prasad Koirala*
* Ram Baran Yadav
* Bidya Devi Bhandari
* Ram Chandra Poudel

* *acting head of state

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Netherlands
* Israel

Other|

* NARA
* Yale LUX

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