Famous Personalities

Prithvi Narayan Shah was born to Queen Kaushalyavati, the second wife of king Narabhupal Shah, on 7th January 1723 A.D. (27 Paush, 1779 B.S.). One night when Kaushalyavati had a dream of swallowing the sun, she woke up and narrated the story of her dream to her husband. On hearing it, King Narabhupal Shah severely beat her. The queen wept and did not sleep for the rest of the night. In the morning, King Narabhupal Shah said to the queen, "I have between you simply not to let you sleep,for the dream you dreamt is a very good one, and to make it fruitful you should not have slept". The queen was very pleased to hear it. Seven months after this incident, Prithvi Narayan Shah was born to her. On the very day of his birth, the senior Queen Chandraprabha also gave girth to a son called Brindakeshar. There arose a question in the palace as to who should be made the Crown Prince, but Brindakeshar died soon and Prithvi Narayan Shah became the undisputed successor. Prithvi Narayan Shah had four brothers, viz, Mohaddam Kirti Shah, Dal Mardan Shah, Dalajit Shah and Surpratap Shah. The elder queen Chandra Prabhavati did not have her own son.

Prithvi Narayan Shah was brave, clever, and courageous from his childhood. He got good moral education and training from Chandra Prabhavati, Aryal and Joshi as well. He became brave, courageous, active, able administrator and good organiser. He always hated luxurious life. At the age of five, he began to study and, at the age of eleven his "Bratabandha" ceremony was held in Dhading. He was appointed as a co-regent along with Queen Chandra Prabhavati by Narabhupal Shah after his defeat at Nuwakot. Thus, Prithvi Narayan Shah gained experience of administration since his childhood.

Once he went to visit the temple of Gorakhnath, at the age of six. There he met an old man who asked him for some yogurt. The boy went to nearby houses andbrought some yogurt. The old man swallowed all the yogurt and when there was a little left in his mouth, he asked the boy to stretch out his hand. He spat a little yogurt into the boy's hand and told him to eat that yogurt. The boy did not like to eat it and threw it away immediately. The yogurt from his hand happened to fall on his feet. Then the old man said, "If you had eaten that yogurt you would vave succeede in what you speak of, but since the yogurt fell on your feet, you will conquer the lands that your feet tread upon". Saying so, the old man vanished. It is said that the old man was no other than Gorakhanath himself.

At the age of fourteen, Prithvi Narayan was married with twelve years old Indra Kumari, the daughter of King Hemakarna Sen of Makawanpur. Queen Chandra Prabhavati wanted to have matrimonial relation with Makawanpur with a view to get some help of arms and ammunition from Makawanpur. The marriage ceremony was held in Makawanpur. After the Marriage was solemnised, Prithvi Narayan Shah wanted to take his wife with him, but according to the custom of Makawanpur, she was not to be sent to her husband immediately after the marriage. He came alone to Gorkha. After some time, he went Makawanpur to take his wife. But a dispute arose between Prithvi Narayan Shah and the king of Makawanpur and Prithvi Narayan Shah left again Makawanpur alone. On his way back to Gorkha, he went to see the kingdoms of the valley. He disguised himself as an ordinary man and from the hill of Chandragiri he saw the valley kingdoms, which he wanted to conquer for himself.On 21st January 1740 A.D., Crown Prince Prithvi Narayan Shah went to Chepe and concluded a treaty with Ripu Mardan Shah, the king of Lamjung. They agreed to maintain cordial relation with each other.

He was very displeased with the king of Makawanpur, and in retaliation, he married Narendra Laxmi, the daughter of Abhiman Singh, a Rajput of Benaras. The marriage ceremony was held at Gorakhpur in February 1740 A.D. Then Queen Chandra Prabhavati sent Prithvi Narayan Shah to Bhaktapur to study the situation of the Kathmandu valley. Prithvi Narayan Shah contracted a friendship with Bir Narasimha Malla, son of Ranjit Malla, and stayed for three months in Bhaktapur. Having acquainted himself with the geographical, political, economic and strategic position of the valley, he went back to Gorkha in 1740 A.D. via Nuwakot. At that time he also maintained a friendly relation with Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu. In the meantime, Narabhupal Shah died and Prithvi Narayan Shah ascended the throne of Gorkha on 3rd April 1743 A.D.

When the king of Makawanpur heard that Prithvi Narayan Shah had ascended the throne of Gorkha, he invited him to visit Makwanpur and take his wife with him. Prithvi Narayan Shah was unwilling to go to Makawanpur to invade the valley. So, he went to Makawanpur. But no good understanding between the two kings could be established. It so happened that the soldiers of Makawanpur saluted Prithvi Narayan Shah without removing their shoes. Prithvi Narayan Shah considered this as an insult. So, in a fit of passion, he beheaded some of them with his sword. At this, there were serious exchanges of hot words between Prithvi Narayan Shah and the Prince of Makawanpur, Digbhandhan Sen. Prithvi Narayan Shah returned to Gorkha empty-handed but with full information about the Malla rulers of Kathmandu valley.