After the Massacre, on 15 September the Queen appointed Jung Bahadur as the Prime Minister and the Commander-in-chief. After meeting with the Queen and the King, Jung Bahadur went to meet the resident at the British residency. There he informed the resident about the massacre and also convinced him that the new government would have good relationships with the British. On 23 September, all officers of military and bureaucracy were called upon to their respective offices within 10 days. Then, Jung Bahadur appointed his brothers and nephews to the highest ranks of the government.[8]
Bhandarkhal massacre
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The Queen commanded Jung Bahadur to remove Prince Surendra from the rank and declare Ranendra as the new Prince but Jung Bahadur ignored it which resulted in the Queen holding a vendetta against him. A few people who had survived the Kot Massacre were secretly planning to take revenge on Jung Bahadur. The Queen secretly contacted them and conspired to assassinate Jung Bahadur. A plan was formed to assassinate Jung Bahadur in a gathering to be organized in the garden of Bhandarkhal situated at the eastern end of the palace.
Jung Bahadur had already placed his spies inside the palace to gather information about the Queen and the events in the palace. These spies were handed the duty of informing Jung Bahadur about the happenings in a secret manner. A certain Putali Nani whom Jung Bahadur had already taken on his side also worked inside the palace and she informed Jung Bahadur about the conspiracy.
After receiving a command from the Rawal Queen to come to Bhandarkhal, Jung Bahadur took his fully armed troops and headed towards the garden. Birdhwaj was given the duty to bring Jung Bahadur in time. When he reached the temple of Jor-Ganesh, he saw Jung Bahadur approaching with the troops. Sighting him, Jung Bahadur signaled Capt. Ranamehar and Ranamehar killed Birdhwaj Basnyat. The troops then marched towards Bhandarkhal where seeing Jung Bahadur approach fully armed with his troops, the conspirators started to flee. 23 people were killed in the massacre and 15 escaped.[9] The next day, all property was seized of those who had been involved in this massacre. Jung Bahadur then imprisoned the Queen. Jung Bahadur then called for a meeting of the Council in the name of King Rajendra and charged the Queen with trying to assassinate the Prince and the Prime Minister. Queen right's were taken away at the agreement of the council. The Queen asked Jung Bahadur to let her go to Benaras (Varanasi) with all her family which Jung Bahadur agreed to. The King went alongside the Queen.[8]
After the massacres of Kot and Bhandarkhal, the Thapas, Pandes, and other citizens had settled in Benaras. Similarly, some citizens had gone to settle in Nautanwa and Bettiah. Guru Prasad Shah of Palpa too had gone to live with the King of Bettiah. After knowing about the presence of the King and the Queen in Benaras, Guru Prasad went there and started to gather an army, planning to overthrow Jung Bahadur. After staying for about two months in Benaras, King Rajendra started to show interest in this conspiracy. The King met with Guru Prasad and assured him of his support for the plan. The King also provided some financial aid. After receiving support from the King, Guru Prasad started to organize the Nepalese people living outside the country. They started gathering people who had come in search of work and started training them.
Jung Bahadur Statue in Tundikhel, Kathmandu
Meanwhile, the spies in Benaras who were analyzing each step of the King were providing reports to Jung Bahadur every week. Understanding the activities going on in Benaras, Jung Bahadur called a meeting of the Council where he issued a charter mentioning, "Now we cannot obey the King, from now on we will work in accordance to the commands of Prime Minister Jung Bahadur," and sent it to Benaras. After receiving such a letter from Jung Bahadur, the King panicked and consulted with his new ministers as well as his Guru.
The Guru and others suggested the King send a letter to the Army mentioning that the troops shall assist the King, not the Prime Minister. The King put his stamp in the letter and sent it with Kumbhedan and Sewakram. They secretly reached Kathmandu and stayed in the house of one landowner of Killagal. The spies of Jung Bahadur captured them from the house and destroyed the house the next morning. A pistol and a letter were found with them. Immediately, they were imprisoned and after a few days they were hanged.
On 12 May 1847, Jung Bahadur gave a speech in Tudikhel. In it, he accused the King of attempted assassination of the Prince and the Prime Minister. The Council then decided to dethrone King Rajendra deeming him mentally ill, and on the same day Surendra was crowned as the new king of Nepal.
Hearing the news of the coronation of Surendra, Rajendra decided to take the responsibility of removing Jung Bahadur upon himself and declared himself the leader of the army. He then left Benaras. Rajendra then appointed Guru Prasad Shah as the Chief of the Army for the operation of removal of Jung Bahadur Rana from Nepal and started to accumulate weapons and training the troops. The training of the troops was done in the camp of the King of Bettiah who was a good ally of Rajendra. Along with this, some treasure and weapons were bought from secret groups in Benaras, Prayag, etc., and sent to Bettiah. The King of Bettiah also provided some arms and a few elephants. A plan to attack Nepal was made.
Antagonism from the Company forced Rajendra and his troops to enter Nepal. On 23 July, the troops reached to a village called Alau in Parsa and set a camp there. The number of troops available at Alau was around three thousand, a thousand less than the number at Betiah, due to many deserters who had fled mid-way.
One spy group of the Government of Nepal was keeping a close eye on the event of the rebel groups at Betiah. They sent the news to Jung Bahadur, immediately after which he sent a troop under the leadership of Sanak Singh Tandon to Alau. They were told to suppress the rebellions, arrest Rajendra and bring him to Kathmandu. On 27 July, the Gorakhnath Paltan reached and rested in a village called Simraungadh, not too far from Alau.
At dawn the next day the troops from Kathmandu started firing cannons at the camp. Great panic spread over the camp. Few armies from the King's side resisted and fought with Government forces. The former King too, for a certain period led his troops. Guru Prasad fled from the location. Around a hundred soldiers of the King were killed in the battle and the King was captured and brought to Kathmandu.
The battle of Alau was a decisive one between the forces of King and Jung Bahadur. The King lost significantly in the battle. The battle of Alau had helped Jung Bahadur strengthen his dictatorship. Rajendra was imprisoned in an old palace in Bhaktapur.[8]
Towards the end of 1848, a vicious battle waged between the British and the Sikhs in Punjab. After hearing the news, Jung Bahadur met with the Resident and assured him of the Nepal Government's support to the British. But the Governor-General rejected the proposal fearing the possibility of the Nepali troops changing sides with Sikhs. Jung Bahadur then decided to demonstrate his power to the English. He was passionate about hunting but after being the Prime Minister he had not found an opportunity to hunt. In 1848, Jung Bahadur planned to go to the Terai with a dual purpose, one for hunting and another to show off his power to the English. On 22 December, with the King and a large group alongside him, Jung Bahadur left Kathmandu. The group included thirty-two thousand soldiers on foot, fifty-two cannons, three hundred risalla and two hundred and fifty mules. After getting the information of this large force near its boundary, the Governor-General sent a message to the Resident asking him to figure out the reality of the matter.
The King and Jung Bahadur then camped in a village called Bisauli which was not too far from the territories of the company. But the spread of cholera and malaria, which started killing the soldiers forced them to return.[8]
Portrait by Bhajuman Chitrakar, 1849. Given to the East India Company by the sitter in 1850, in London. It later hung in the office of the Foreign Secretary until removed by Jack Straw, & allocated to the British Library, where it remains
After the Treaty of Sugauli, the British gained access to the internal matters of Nepal. Although the previous Prime Ministers of Nepal before him had somewhat resisted the Resident's involvement in the internal matters of Nepal, Jung Bahadur was of the strong opinion that neither the Resident nor the Governor-General ought to have any direct involvement in the matters of Nepal. He, therefore, wanted to establish a direct relationship between the Government of Nepal and the Queen and Prime Minister of Great Britain. He also had a keen interest in understanding the real power of the British. For these ends, he desired to travel to Great Britain.
Jung Bahadur expressed his desire to the then Resident, Col. Thorsby. Thorsby suggested Jung Bahadur to write a letter, which he did, and sent it to Calcutta. The Governor-General conveyed the message to Britain where they accepted the request and also asked them (Governor-General) to manage the necessary provisions, after which, James Broun-Ramsay, sent a letter of acceptance to Kathmandu. The visit was to be of diplomatic nature and Jung Bahadur was to visit as a Royal Ambassador.
After appointing his brother, Bam Bahadur Kunwar as an interim Prime Minister, and Badri Narsingh as the interim Commander-in Chief, on 15 January Jung Bahadur left Kathmandu to Calcutta. During his stay at Calcutta, he met with the Lord and Lady Dalhouse and participated in a royal program. He also went to visit the Jagannath Temple . On 7 April the Nepalese team left Calcutta in P & O Heddington.The ship reached the Suez Canal through Madras, Sri Lanka and Eden.
In Egypt, Jung Bahadur and the team visited Cairo and Alexandria, where he met with Abbas Helmi. On 15 May 1850, the team reached Southampton.
In Britain, Jung Bahadur met and discussed various topics with Sir John Hubhouse, the chairman of the Board of Trade, the Duke of Wellington and others. On 19 June, Jung Bahadur and Queen Victoria met at a program organized in the Royal Palace. Jung Bahadur also visited the Parliament and closely observed the workings of the House of Commons and the British system. He visited the ministers and dukes and in one such meeting he proposed a direct relationship between the British and Nepalese, which the British Government rejected.
In Scotland, he was welcomed by William Johnston (Lord Provost). There, he visited various forts and industries.
On 21 August 1850, Jung Bahadur and the team departed towards France. There he met with the then President of France. In France too, he expressed his desire to establish a direct relationship between Nepal and France, but the French President insisted on forming the relationship through the British Embassy, as there was no diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Jung Bahadur and the team stayed at France for about six weeks. On 3 October they departed from Paris and on 6 November reached Bombay.
In India, he married an Indian girl.[8]
During his visits, he unsuccessfully tried to deal directly with the British government. The main outcome, however, of the tour was a positive development in British-Nepal relationship. Recognizing the power of industrialized Europe, he became convinced that close co-operation with the British was the best way to guarantee Nepal's independence.
On 29 January 1851, Jung Bahadur returned to Nepal.
Jung Bahadur was impressed by the rule of law, the parliament and the democratic system in Britain. In Nepal, there were no written Acts. Different types of punishment were given to similar kinds of criminal acts. Realizing that the prevalent system would not be beneficial in the long run in Nepal, Jung Bahadur established a Kausal Adda in order to work on establishing Acts. Selecting around two hundred members for the Adda, Jung Bahadur commanded them to draft legal codes as soon as possible.
The adda began its work by carefully studying the tradition, castes, race, class as well as religious situation of Nepal. Some members also studied the Hindu Ain being used in the courts of the English in the Company. After three years of vigorous research, a detailed Act was prepared. This Act included the workings of court, system of punishment, and different administrative sections. They however, could not address the issue of caste inequality as a progressive policy on such could have resulted in protests and turmoil in Nepalese society.
On 6 January 1854, the Muluki Ain was enacted in Nepal. This Act cleared confusions concerning religious laws. The decisions on cases happened on time.
Jung Bahadur, with the Muluki Ain, formed the base of modern law in Nepal.[8]