Monday, December 5, 2011

The First Attack on Kirtipur (1757 A.D)

After the victory over Nuwakot, Prithvi Narayan Shah began to occupy the places that are located east of the Kantipur ( now Kathmandu). They were Naladum, Mahadevpokhari, Dahachok, Sankhu, Changu, Dolakha, Shindhupalchowk, Lamidanda, Pharping, Chitlang etc. According to the friendship treaty with Bhadgaon ( now Bhaktapur), some of these places had to be given to Bhadgaon as gifts, but Gorkha did not do so. That act of betrayal seriously annoyed King Ranajit Malla of Bhadgaon. He wanted to distance himself from the Gorkhalis. The Malla rulers of Kathmandu clearly understood the intention of Prithvi Narayan Shah to attack and occupy the Kathmandu Valley. Therefore, King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kantipur sought the help of Patan and Bhadgaon to defend the attack of Gorkhali forces. The three kingdoms ( Patan, Bhadgaon and Kantipur) jointly organized a common force to face the Gorkhali invasion. Jaya Prakash Malla took the leadership of the united force. On the other hand, the series of victories had encouraged Gorkha to attack Kirtipur immediately. On May 5, 1757 A.D., the Gorkhalis attacked Kirtipur on the Day of 'Vijayadashami' ( one of the most great festival of Hindus). Serious fighting took place for six hours at Balkhu and about four hundred Gorkhali soldiers were killed by the 3000 well-equipped soldiers of the united force. General Kalu Pandey of Gorkha was also killed. Prithvi Narayan Shah himself had a narrow escape. He saved his life by running overnight to Nuwakot. In this battle 400 Gorkhali soldiers were killed. However, he kept his soldiers at Dahachowk. The death of Kalu Pandey was a great loss to the Gorkhalis. The loss was due to the hasty decision of Prithvi Narayan Shah who never listened to the wise advice of the courtiers like Kalu Pandey.

No comments:

Post a Comment