Dhir Shumsher Rana

Dhir Shumsher Kunwar (1828 – 1884 Kathmandu), after 1848 known as Dhir Shumsher Kunwar Ranaji or Dhir Shumsher Jang Kunwar Ranaji or shortly Dhir Shumsher Rana His brothers from Ganesh Kumari were – Jang Bahadur, Bam Bahadur, Badri Narsingh, Krishna Bahadur, Ranodip Singh and Jagat Shamsher. His step brothers include – Bhakta Bir and Jaya Bahadur. He was known as "Sannani" in his family.

Life Kot Massacre and Europe visit

Jung Bahadur Kunwar and his brothers massacred around 29 nobles in the Kot Massacre and consolidated the key administrative posts. Dhir Shumsher, the youngest brother of Jang Bahadur was crucial in the Kot Massacre, when he struck Khadga Vikram, who had attempted to attack one of his brothers, Krishna Bahadur Kunwar Rana. He received the military rank of colonel on the subsequent day of Kot Massacre. He accompanied his eldest brother Prime Minister Jang Bahadur Rana in the 1851 Europe visit. He experienced new social entertainments during the tour of England. In one of the organized wrestling matches, Dhir defeated an English wrestling Champion. In his Paris tour, he received minor injuries when he was struck by a bullet from a young girl who misfired a shot from Jang Bahadur's pistol.

In the Vikram year 1910 (1853 A.D.), General Dhir Shumsher occupied the sixth position in the government among the members of the Rana family, and his yearly emoluments amounted to NPR 21,853.00.

1855–56 Tibetan War

Government of Nepal declared war on Tibet on the grounds of mistreatment of Nepalese Newari traders and Nepalese representative (Nayak) in Lhasa, and Nepalese mission to Peking. The Kuti front was led by General Dhir Shumsher with 4678 troops under his control. On 3 April 1855, General Dhir Shumsher defeated a small Tibetan forces at Chusan and captured the Kuti front and further advanced to Suna Gompa. His victory at Kuti front was described by Jung Bahadur as:

He built a logistics base in Duguna village near Listi in Nepal at the border. Among the seventeen sons, only nine were high caste Ranas (A or B) while remaining eight were C Class Ranas who were born out of mistresses and ritually low caste women. The list of seventeen sons of Dhir Shumsher are: Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (by sister of Lalit Man Singh Basnet) (Prime Minister of Nepal) Dambar Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana (by Gharti lady) (Aide-de-camp general of the Prime Minister) Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (by Nanda Kumari Thapa) (Commander-in-chief of the Nepalese Army) Rana Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana (Commander-in-chief of the Nepalese Army) Dev Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (by Nanda Kumari Thapa) (Prime Minister of Nepal) Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (by Nanda Kumari Thapa) (Prime Minister of Nepal) Bhim Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana (by Nanda Kumari Thapa) (Prime Minister of Nepal) Fatte Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Lalit Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Jit Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Durga Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Purna Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Jadu Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Shere Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Juddha Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana (by Juhar Kumari Devi, a Rajput wife from Kangra) (Prime Minister of Nepal) Khamba Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana Harka Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana

Among the Shamsher factions, families of Chandra Shamsher and Juddha Shamsher were mostly A Class and later they removed all B and C Class Ranas from power in March 1934.

Daughters One of daughter of Dhir Shumsher, Princess Khadga Divyeshwari Devi was married to Chautariya Lakshmi Narayan Shah of Salyan. In Vikrama 1966, she received a house on inheritable Bakas-Birta tenure from King Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah Dev.

Personality Indian Historian Ishwari Prasad opines that Dhir Shumsher "…possessed the qualities of a soldier and a statesman and was fully acquainted with the condition of Nepal." Laurence Oliphant who met Jang Bahadur and Dhir Shumsher at Ceylon in their return journey from Europe wrote following about Dhir: Historian Ishwari Prasad writes about: Writer Madhvi Yashin described Dhir as "…a man of blood and iron." Similarly, Writer Charles Allen also described Dhir as "… both a hard-bitten warrior and a statesman." He further contends that Dhir "…He effectively ruled Nepal in his brother’s name and through a series of succession passed to his own male line."

Memorials equestrian statue of Dhir Shumsher An equestrian statue of Dhir Shumsher was constructed at the middle of Tundikhel.

Death and aftermath Dhir Shumsher did not manage the role of succession to favour his eldest son Bir Shamsher. Dhir Shumsher died on 14 October 1884. His death cleared way for his sons to overpower their cousins and conduct the 1885 Shamsher coup where Prime Minister Ranodip Singh Kunwar and Jung Bahadur's eldest son Jagat Jung was killed as all factions of Ranas knew that Jagat Jung would murder and destroy Shamsher family if he succeeded the uncle Maharaja Ranodip Singh Kunwar. By the coup of 1885, Shamsher brothers established the "rule of seventeen brothers" and a new era in Nepal.

Ancestry

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