Mahendra of Nepal

Although Tribhuvan was nominally king since 1911, the royal family had been held captive in Narayanhiti Palace since the rise of the prominent Rana dynasty.

Even though he did not have an official education, King Mahendra was privately educated inside the palace and learned politics, economics and Nepali literature, history and culture.

Inside the palace, King Mahendra had a love affair with a concubine, named Geeta Gurung through which a child was born at the age of 13.There was only one child named Rabindra Shah.

Since the concubine was not a Thakuri, his marriage could not take place and the royal family decided to marry their son with the Rana family.

Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज महेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव), (11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was the ninth King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972, which was due to heart attack as told in an interview by his personal physician Dr. Mrigendra Raj Pandey.

King Mahendra was born on 11 June 1920 (1977 B.S) at the Narayanhiti Palace to King Tribhuvan of Nepal.

King Mahendra was the eldest child of King Tribhuvan and Queen Kanti.

Under the Rana dynasty, the power of the king was reduced to that of a figurehead.

In 1940, He married Indra Rajya Lakshmi, the granddaughter of Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana and daughter of General Hari Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana.

Mahendra had three sons, Birendra, Gyanendra, and Dhirendra and three daughters Shanti, Sharada, and Shobha.

His first wife, Crown Princess Indra died in 1950.

After the death of his first wife Indra Rajya in 1950, the then Prince Mahendra was in a love affair with sister in law, Ratna, but King Tribhuvan was planning to prevent his son from marrying Rana's daughter Ratna under any circumstances.

Prince Mahendra did not like the pressure of his father to marry the girl of his choice.

King Tribhuvan, on the other hand, was not in favor of expanding relations with the Rana family, even more so with Shamsher's Clan.

King Tribhuvan was outraged by the insult inflicted on him by Juddha Shamsher, but the dispute had been going on for a long time.

During his reign, Nepal experienced a period of industrial, political and economic change which opened it to the rest of the world for the first time after the 104-year-long reign of the Rana rulers, who kept the country under an isolationist policy, came to an end in 1951.

In 1951 King Tribhuvan launched a successful political movement against the Ranas and established Nepal as a constitutional monarchy.

Mahendra was not happy that King Tribhuvan had reduced the rights of the monarchy in the 1951 (2007 B.S) Interim Constitution while bidding farewell to the Rana dynasty after the 1951 revolution.

In 1952, two years after the death of his queen, Mahendra married Indra's younger sister, Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi.

This created bad relations between him and his father.

This marriage produced no children as King Mahendra had married on the condition his personal life should not hinder his national duties and the queen agreed to be childless.

Mahendra became the king of Nepal as the successor of King Tribhuvan.

When King Tribhuvan left for Europe for treatment, Mahendra got the authority from the then King Tribhuvan.

He inherited the throne aged 34 as a constitutional monarch.

He became king on 13 March 1955 but his coronation took place on 2 May 1956 due to the one year mourning period of death of his father.

On January 27, 1956 (Magha 13, 2012 B.S) King Mahendra appointed Acharya as the Prime Minister of Nepal.

The first five-year plan was launched during his tenure as prime minister.

During his time, Nepal Rastra Bank and the Supreme Court were established.

Acharya's tenure is also seen as a golden age for Nepal in foreign relations.

In addition to establishing diplomatic relations with many countries, the government was able to establish close ties with the Chinese government.

The Chinese government had provided Rs 60 million to Nepal on 7 October 1956 (Ashwin 22, 2013 B.S).

Tanka Prasad Acharya resigned as Prime Minister in July 1957(Ashadha 2014 B.S).

Kunwar Indrajit Singh was appointed Prime Minister by King Mahendra in 1957 (2014 B.S) His cabinet included Education Minister Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota.

He tenure was mostly spent in attempts to curtail his own enemies He was later replaced by a government led by Suvarna Samsher Rana.

According to General Nara Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana, he was dismissed by King Mahendra because he tried to stage a coup against the king and relegate him to a 'puppet king', just like in the Rana days.

On the basis of the royal announcement on February 1, 1958, a Constitution Drafting Commission was formed on March 27, 1958, to take the country towards a parliamentary system.

King Mahendra had promulgated the constitution in 1959(2015 B.S) to take the country towards a parliamentary system.

On the basis of the draft prepared by the Constitution Drafting Commission, the Constitution of the Dominion of Nepal(2015) was announced on February 12, 1959 (Falgun 1, 2015 B.S) from King Mahendra.

Sections 73 and 75 came into force on February 12, 1959, and the rest of the sections came into force from June 17, 1959.

Following the 1960 coup d'état, he established the partyless Panchayat system which governed the country for 28 years until the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1990.