Ganesh Pandey

Ganesh Pandey or Ganesa Pande (Nepali:गणेश पाण्डे वा गणेश पाँडे) (born circa 1529-1606) was Minister and Accomplice of King Dravya Shah of Gorkha.[1] He helped Dravya Shah to become King of Gorkha and was later appointed Minister (Bhardar) of Gorkha Rajya.[2][3] He is the founder of the aristocratic Pande family. His descendants were Kalu Pandey, Kaji of Gorkha and his sons Dewan Kaji Bamsa Raj Pandey and Mulkaji Damodar Pande and also Kaji Tularam Pande.

Ganesh Pande
श्री गणेश पाँडे
Kaji (Mantri) of Gorkha Kingdom
MonarchDravya Shah
Preceded byestablished
Personal details
Borncirca 1529 A.D
Diedcirca 1606 A.D
ChildrenBiswadatta Pande
Relativessee Pande family

Coronation of Dravya Khan Shah

Dravya Shah was the youngest son of Yasho Brahma Shah, Raja (King) of Lamjung and grandson of Kulamandan Shah Khad, Raja (King) of Kaski.[3] He became the king of Gorkha with the help of accomplices namely Kaji Ganesh Pandey. He ascended the throne of Gorkha on 1559 A.D. 19th century writer Daniel Wright describes the coronation of Dravya Shah as:

On Wednesday the 8th of Bhadon Badi, Saka 1481 (A.D. 1559) Rohini Nakshatra (i.e. the moon in the Rohini mansion) being an auspicious day, Drabya Shah aided by Bhagirath Panth, Ganesa Pande, Gangaram Rana, Busal Arjyal, Khanal Bohra and Murli Khawas of Gorkha, concealed himself in a hut. Ganesa Pande had collected all the people of who wore the brahmanical thread such as the Thapas, Busals, Ranas and Maski Ranas of the Magar tribe, they went by the Dahya Gauda route and the Durbar. Drabya Shah killed the Khadka Raja[note 1] his own hand, with a sword, during the battle ensued. At the same auspicious moment Drabya took his seat on the gaddi, amidst the clash music.

— History of Nepaul[3]

Previously, the local Ghale people had chosen their king from the winners of an annual running race. Dravya Shah was not a physically robust man but he was cheater his way to the win. He was backed by the Bhattarai, Aryal, Adhikari, Pant and Acharya clans who were Jaisi Brahmin. By 1570, when Dravya Shah died, the running race was but a memory among the people. Dravya Shah used the army of the Magar (an ancient tribe of Nepal) to invade neighboring states and his successors continued this aggression to increase the territory belonging to Gorkha. Kaji Ganesh Pande was his first minister of Gorkha.

Descendants

Ganesh Pande was the first Kaji (Prime Minister) of King Dravya Shah of Gorkha Kingdom established in 1559 A.D.[2][3] The Pandes were considered as Thar Ghar aristrocratic group who assisted the administration of Gorkha Kingdom.[4] Kaji Kalu Pande (1714-1757) belonged to this family[5] became a war hero after he died at Battle of Kirtipur.[6] These Pandes were categorized with fellow Chhetri Bharadars such as Thapas, Basnyats and Kunwars.[7]

The inscription installed by son of Tularam Pande, Kapardar Bhotu Pande, on the Bishnumati bridge explains their patrilineal relationship to Ganesh Pande, Minister of Drabya Shah, the first King of Gorkha Kingdom.[8] The lineage mentions Ganesh Pande's son as Vishwadatta and Vishwadatta's son as Birudatta. Birudatta had two sons Baliram and Jagatloka. Tularam and Bhimraj were sons of Baliram and Jagatloka respectively. Kaji Kalu Pande was the son of Bhimraj. Bhotu Pande mentions Tularam, Baliram, and Birudatta respectively as his ancestors of three generations.[8] However, Historian Baburam Acharya contends a major flaw in the inscription. Ranajit Pande, the second son of Tularam was born in 1809 Vikram Samvat. Baburam Acharya assumed 25 years for each generation where he found Vishwadatta to have been born in 1707 Vikram Samvat. Thus, on this basis, he concluded that Vishwadatta could not have been the son of Ganesh Pande, who was living in 1616 Vikram Samvat, when Drabya Shah was crowned King of Gorkha. He points that the names of two more generations seem to be missing.[8]

Death

During the expansion under King Ram Shah, Kaji Ganesh Pandey led the army against Ghale Raja of Sallayan, in which the Kaji died in the combat. Shah was furious and ordered the soldiers to go back "for running from the field of battle and ordered them to go back to redeem their hounour, which they finally did".[9] Ghale Raja was defeated and killed by a sword.[9]

Notes
  1. Khadka Raja belonged to Khas tribe.[3]

References
  1. Shrestha 2005, p. 129.
  2. Regmi 1975, p. 30.
  3. Wright 1877, p. 278.
  4. Pradhan 2012, p. 8.
  5. Singh 1997, p. 126.
  6. Wright, Daniel (1990). History of Nepal. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. Retrieved 7 November 2012. Page 227
  7. http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/contributions/pdf/CNAS_02_01_09.pdf
  8. Acharya 1979, p. 43.
  9. Singh, Mahendra Man (30 June 2013). Forever Incomplete: The Story of Nepal. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-81-321-1805-3. Archived from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.

Sources
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