Birendra of Nepal

"Birendra" redirects here. For other uses, see Birendra (disambiguation).

Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev
Circa 1967
King of Nepal
Reign	31 January 1972 – 1 June 2001
Coronation	24 February 1975
Predecessor	Mahendra
Successor	Dipendra
Born	(1945-12-28)28 December 1945 Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Kathmandu, Nepal
Died	1 June 2001(2001-06-01) (aged 55) Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Kathmandu, Nepal
Spouse	Aishwarya Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah
Issue	King Dipendra Princess Shruti Prince Nirajan
Regnal name Shree Paanch Maharajadhiraj Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev
Dynasty	Shah
Father	Mahendra
Mother	Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi
Religion	Hinduism

Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Template:Lang-ne देव) (28 December 1945 – 1 June 2001) was the tenth Shah Ruler and the King of Nepal from 1972 until his assassination by his own son Dipendra in 2001. He was the eldest son of King Mahendra.

Early life and education

Birendra was born at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in Kathmandu as the eldest son of the then Crown Prince Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his first wife, Crown Princess Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi.

Birendra spent eight years studying at St Joseph's School, a Jesuit school in Darjeeling, with his brother Gyanendra. On 13 March 1955, their grandfather King Tribhuvan died and their father succeeded the Nepalese throne. With his father's ascension, Birendra became the crown prince of Nepal.

In 1959, Birendra was enrolled at Eton College in the United Kingdom. After studying at Eton until 1964, he returned to Nepal where he began to explore the country by traveling on foot to the remote parts of the country where he lived humbly with what was available in the villages. He later completed his education by spending some time at the University of Tokyo, before studying political theory at Harvard University from 1967 to 1968. Birendra enjoyed travelling in his youth, and went on trips to Canada, Latin America, Africa, many parts of India, and a number of other Asian countries. He was also an art collector and supporter of Nepalese craftspeople and artists and learned to fly helicopters.

Birendra was married to Aishwarya Rajya Lakshmi Devi from the Rana family, his second cousin, on 27 February 1970. The wedding, which was billed as one of the most lavish Hindu nuptial ceremonies in history, cost $9.5 million to stage.

Early reign

Birendra ascended to the Nepalese throne on 31 January 1972, at the age of 27, after the death of his father, King Mahendra. However, his coronation took only later in 1975 due to Nepalese monarch belief for auspicious occasion for coronation. On his ascension, he was effectively an absolute monarch, as he inherited a country where political parties were banned and he ruled through a system of local and regional councils known as panchayats. His first trips abroad as king were to India in October 1973 and China two months later.

1980 referendum

In an attempt to maintain the panchayat system of government prominent leaders of the Nepali Congress Party were arrested. Because of the growing pro-democracy movement Birendra announced that a referendum to decide between a non-party and a multi-party system would be held. The referendum was held in May 1980 with the non-party system winning by a margin of 55% to 45%. During the 1980s the restraints that had been imposed on political organizations were eased, and liberal student-led groups started to demand constitutional change in Nepal.

Democratic era

Birendra shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

In 1990, a series of strikes and pro-democracy riots broke out in Nepal. Due to the riots, Birendra lifted the ban on political parties and agreed to become a constitutional monarch in April 1990. He appointed an independent Constitution Recommendation Commission to represent the main opposition factions and to prepare a new constitution to accommodate their demands for political reform. The commission presented him with the draft of the proposed constitution on 10 September 1990. The new constitution would make Birendra head of state of a constitutional monarchy with a system of multiparty democracy. The draft constitution was approved by the Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and his cabinet and so, on 9 November 1990, Birendra promulgated the new constitution transformed Nepal into a constitutional monarchy. As a constitutional monarchy, Birendra became more popular than he was as a autocratic ruler attributing to his democratic views and behaviors as well as the inability of the political parties. Birendra, however, could not prevent the Nepalese Civil War, a conflict between Maoist rebels and government forces, which lasted from 1996 until 2006.

Notable works and Improvements

Diplomatic campaign

President Ronald Reagan with King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev

He managed to maintain Nepal’s independence despite encroaching influences by India, China, and the Soviet Union. He prevented the breaking up of mustang from Nepal and Tibet from China during Mustang revolution. The disarmament of Khampas rebellions working against china brought Nepal-china relations to a new height. His compatriots remember him for his extensive campaign and contribution for the establishment of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and south Asian food reserve. During his reign he was also able to set up the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu. He was able to establish diplomatic relations with additional 46 countries taking the total number of countries for diplomatic relations from 49 to 96. He furthered strengthened Nepal's policy of neutrality by promoting Nepal as zone of Peace in the UN. He believed that Nepal, sandwiched between the two Asian powers, should have good relationship with both.

Promotion of Peace

He proposed Nepal to be declared a zone of Peace in the united nations meeting taking consideration Nepal's historical peace status, birth of Gautam buddha and its historical policy of Non-alignment to any foreign powers. This proposal was supported by 116 countries in the UNO. He later established a "Peace Keeping Training Camp" in 1986. This was later restructured into a training institute in 2001 for training peace keeping forces . It was later renamed as Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre. This institute, was later restructured as the training organization through which Nepal started sending trained Peace keeping forces in cooperation with the UN and became an active member of it. In 1974, King Birendra was successful to peacefully disarm the Khampas rebellions settled in the northern Himalayan region by giving land, money and citizenship to ones who surrendered their arms and confiscating weapons as well prohibiting to move towards the Tibetan region to others who did not surrendered. Birendra is also attributed for blocking the use of army for suppressing the Maoist revolution in the country which would further aggravate the situation and disturb the peace in the nation.

Environment Protection

Tibetan Snowcock at Sagarmatha National Park

King Birendra was regarded as a lover of nature and a great supporter of nature conservation. The trend of nature conservation from the government started during his reign. The dramatic decline of the rhino population due to massive Terai migration and the extent of poaching prompted the government to institute the Rhino Patrol force (Nepali: गैडा गस्ती ) of 130 armed men and a network of guard posts all over Chitwan. To prevent the extinction of rhinos through a legal system National park law was introduced which gazetted the Chitwan National Park in December 1970, with borders delineated the following year and established in 1973.

The Greater one-horned rhinoceros at Chitwan National Park

For the purpose of conservation of Tigers in the nation, an area of 368 km² was gazetted as Royal Karnali Wildlife Reserve in 1976 which was later proclaimed as Royal Bardiya Wildlife Reserve in 1982. The Babai River Valley was further added to this reserved area in 1984. A flourishing ecosystem in the reserve later led to the proclamation of the area as national park in 1988. The country's fourth protected area was established in 1976 from the Himalayan area of Langtang and named as Langtang National Park. For this purpose, an area of 1,710 km² was reserved in the district of Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Sindhulpalchok . He also gazetted another wildlife reserve in 1976 as Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve. In the same year, he also established Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in the Terai region of far-western province which was later enlarged and converted to national park in the late 1980s. Also, another protected area, Rara National Park was established in the same year in order to protect the unique flora and fauna of Humla, Mugu and Jumla regions and to fulfil his father, King Mahendra's dream of creating a pristine nature reserve with a reserved area of 106 km² in the Mugu and Jumla districts which also includes the famous Rara Lake. The last National Park to be established as part of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape in the same year was Sagarmatha National Park in with reservation of area of 1,148 km² in the Solukhumbu District.

In 1984, a 225 km² area of Bajhang, Bajura, Achham and Doti was set aside as a protected area in the Far-Western Region, Nepal and was named Khaptad National Park. In the same year, he also established Parsa Wildlife Reserve which was later extended to a National Park. Similarly, the nation's only trans-Himalayan national park, Shey Phoksundo National Park, was established in 1984 with an area of 3,555 square Kilometers in the districts of Dolpa and Mugu in the Karnali Province which also included the famous Phoksundo Lake.

In order to preserve the royal tradition of Hunting as a hobby but also to prevent the depleting wild life resource he established Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve in 1987 AD. King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation in memorial of his father, with the then prince Gyanendra as the chairman was also established in 1990. With the establishment of Mahendra trust he declared Annapurna Conservation Area

Economic reforms

Focusing on sustainability and environmental conservation, on 28 December 1975 (1975-12-28), trolley bus system was established in Nepal from the aid of People's Republic of China. Bhrikuti Pulp and Paper was established in 1985 under the Companies Act 2021 (Bikram Sambat) with support from the People's Republic of China. He followed in the path of his father to establish industrial estates by establishing Nepalgunj Industrial Area(1973), Pokhara Industrial Area(1974), Butwal Industrial Area(1976), Bhaktapur Industrial Area(1979), Dhankuta Industrial Area(1980), Birendranagar Industrial Area(1981), Gajendranarayan Industrial Area(1986) respectively.

Birendra is initially credited for devising the plan of Melamchi water project to Kathmandu. Hetauda Textile, Gorakhali Tires Industries, Udayapur Cement Industries Limited, Nepal Metal company, Nepal Pharmaceuticals were all established during his time. King Birendra, was the patron of Pashupati Area Development Trust. In April 1979, Nepal Oriental Magnesite factory was established with a joint investment of Nepal government and Orissa Industries, India at Lakuri Danda in Dolakha District with the objective of producing dead burnt magnesite and talc powder. In 1983 he was able to establish a Nepal-Pakistan Joint Economic Commission bringing in significant foreign investments in the country. He is also credited for establishing the first television channel of Nepal Nepal Television in 1984.

Lumbini Sugar Mills at Sunwal, Nawalprasi was built with the technical assistance from china in 1982.

TU Teaching Hospital was established in 1982 with the economic support from Japan International Cooperation Agency. He established Securities Exchange Center Ltd in 1976 to manage and promote the buying and selling of stocks and bonds in the nation. This center was later developed to what we know today as Nepal Stock Exchange.

Various Studies in 1972 showed that building road connectivity in hilly and rural areas were more expensive than air connectivity. So, the then government took the policy of connecting rural areas with airports and build roads only when there is high amount of traffic flow. Under this policy, Baglung Airport (Balewa Airport), Dhorpatan Airport, Mahendranagar Airport and Rukum Chaurjahari Airport was established in the year 1973. Sanphebagar airport was established in 1975. Simikot Airport was established on 18th March 1977, Dolpa Airport, was established in 1978 and Ramechhap airport in 1979. Doti Airport, also known as Silgadhi Airport was established in 1973 with the blacktopped runway. Talcha Airport, also known as Rara Airport was built in 1975.Taplejung Airport located in Phungling, also called Suketar Airport, Jiri Airport and Phaplu Airport and Bajhang Airport was built in 1976. Rolpa Airport in 1980, Manang Airport in 1981, Bajura airport in 1984 and Darchula Airport in 1986.

He built the first dry port of Nepal with economic aid of china at Tatopani. The establishment of Gorakhali Tires Industries and Gorakhali rubber Industries led to the cultivation of rubber for the first time in Jhapa, Illam and many other places of eastern Nepal. A 60 Megawatt hydropower project at Kulekhani began operation in 1982 with economic aid from the World Bank, Kuwait, and Japan.

The Lamosangu-Jiri road was commissioned in 1985 with swiss government aid.

Almost a roadless country, with merely 380 km of road in 1951, Nepal had a total length of 7402 Km of roads in 1991 With comparison to 1950, power generation was increased 70 times, irrigation facilities 13 times, school enrolment 134 times, the number of hospital beds 12 times till 1980. Epidemic diseases had been practically eradicated, and infant mortality rates halved. Piped water was supplied to most villages .Due to these economic reforms, by 1986, there were 2,054 industrial establishments employing about 125,000 workers in the nation. During his reign Nepal was opened up to extensive tourism. Between 1990 and 1991, Nepal exported more than 165 million dollar's worth of goods, and tourists spent 126 million dollars in Nepal. The adult literacy rate was more than doubled to 37.7 percent from merely 18% in 1970. There were only 25 telephone lines in 1951, and in 1989 there were 44,514 lines. Radio Nepal had 600,000 receivers in 1991 accounting for, 1 receiver per 32 persons. Nepal Television was launched in 1985 with French aid, and in 1989 there were 35,100 receivers, accounting for, 1 receiver per 539 persons. By 1990, satellite dishes and video rental services were commonly available.

           Fertile lands in the Terai Region and diligent peasants in the Hill Region provided greater supplies of food staples, increasing the daily caloric intake of the population to 2,208 calories per capita in 1988-90 from about 1,900 per capita in 1965 . Moreover, areas with access to irrigation facilities increased from approximately 6,200 hectares in 1956 to nearly 583,000 hectares by 1990 . The most important food crop, rice amounted to a little more than 1 million tons in 1961 and by 1991 more than 3 million tons were produced. By 1988 approximately 3.9 million hectares of land were used for the cultivation of rice . Corn production was increased to over 1 million tons in 1991 from 500,000 tons in 1961.

         The most successful industry during the Panchayat era was carpet and garment industry. As a result of relief effort for Tibetan refugees by the Red Cross in the 1960s, Tibetan-style carpet industry began in Nepal. Switzerland initially subsidized the export to Western Europe, and the industry was boosted by the vogue in the West for Tibetan culture. At first, wool was imported from Tibet, but later was supplemented by imports from Australia and New Zealand. By 1985, the industry was Nepal's principal source of foreign exchange, and it is estimated that people involved in the business, either full- or part-time, amounted to 1 million in 1986-7. There were some problems of pollution and child labor. 30 percent of the work force of this industry was comprised of children (108). The export figures were inflated due to Indian carpets smuggled into Nepal to be re-exported. Moreover, there was competition with the relatively high-quality Indian carpets. Nevertheless, this example serves as an example of what might be achieved with the right combination of local self-help and foreign technical assistance.

In 1983, the United States reduced the quotas for import from India; in response, many Indian entrepreneurs moved their factories into Nepal, greatly boosting the Nepalese ready-made garment industry. In the final year of Panchayat regime, carpet and garment industry accounted for 81 percent of foreign exchange earnings and 71 percent of exports.

Political achievements

Administrative division of Nepal with 5 development regions

During the reign of King Birendra, referendum was held in 2037 BS for democracy wherein options were a multi-party system or a Panchayati system. During the Panchayat era and after the national referendum, he divided the nation into 5 development regions in order to create balanced development and visited each division once a year; the visits were discontinued after 1990 democracy movement. Beginning in the early 1990s, a popular pro-democracy movement led to demonstrations that erupted into bloody clashes between the police and the demonstrators. Submitting to the citizen's pressure, Birendra lifted the ban on political parties and on 9 November 1990, approved a new constitution that preserved his status as head of the state under a constitutional boundaries but confirmed multiparty democracy, a separation of powers, and the protection of human rights. A new general election on the basis of this constitution took place on 1992 (2048 B.S)

Despite previously being an autocratic rule and constant pressure from the supporters and royal members, the king always played the role of constitutional monarch by the book and never overstepped his boundaries. King Birendra was always there when there was some political crisis in the nation. Mid-term elections, 2051 and General Election, 2056 can be attributed to his good governance. The King used to ask the Supreme Court for its advice on any political matters that could concern the constitution so that he would never overstep the boundaries of the constitution. He created a culture where the king and prime minister would meet every Thursday at his palace to discuss matters of state.

After the introduction of democracy, the newly created parliament introduced more than 500 new laws with the royal approval in 12 years of his democratic reign.

Social reforms

Realizing Low literacy levels as the main hindrance to nations progress, King Birendra made development of education system his national priority. The five year plan starting from 1971 was mainly focused in building new educational institutions and upgrading the efficiency of the current education system. On the auspicious occasion of his coronation, King Birendra declared primary education to be free for all Nepalese citizens. Similarly, in 1978 with a royal approval all educational material started to be distributed free of costs to educational institutions. King Birendra became the patron of Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology which worked in the field of developing science and technology in the nation. He established Mahendra Sanskrit University in 1986 to preserve the language and culture in the region. Dowry system was criminalized in Nepal in 1976 under the Social Practices Reform Act (2033 B.S). Under the five year plan, King Birendra started the policy of National Service which required the post-graduate students to contribute their one-year of service to the development works in the rural areas. He initiated the process of preserving the history by establishing Natural History Museum in 1975.On 22 September 1976 he enacted Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 2033 prohibiting the trade, smuggling or any kind of drug trafficking in the country.

Development policy

Birendra took the policy of road development according to the population and daily road traffic and connecting the rural areas with airports. He performed many restructuring of the governmental organization for the purpose of achieving developmental goals. He stressed roadbuilding, sanitation and scientific as well as technical trainings. A comprehensive study performed regarding the central planning agency triggered the restructuring of the National Planning Commission in 1972 and minor changes in 1987.

Criticism

Stagnant Economy

Though King Birendra is remembered as development friendly king he is also criticized for his inability to drive the country towards rapid development efforts like his father King Mahendra. He had the political will but simply not the skill through which development efforts could be rapidly gained. His policy of sustainable development shown by his efforts for conservation of nature, culture and history became the hindrance of economic development. The panchayat regime created a stagnant economy during his reign as an autocratic ruler.

The agricultural production grew on average rate of 2.4 percent per annum from 1974 to 1989, but it was slower than the population growth which was on average 2.6 percent per annum. Some economist claim that Nepal was lucky to avoid Malthusian catastrophe during this period. By the end of Panchayat era, only about 10 percent of the country's workforce were involved in industry and enterprises were largely limited to Birgunj, Hetauda and Katmandu area. There were unfortunately inadequate arrangements for getting agricultural produce to the market which hindered agricultural industries.

Administrative Failure

Historians point out was that the panchayat Regime und King Birendra was a Failure. He was not able to bring in much Foreign Direct Investment during his period and all the programs he brought or all the reforms he made was the continuation of his father's legacy. He restructured various organization previously established by his father and implemented various development plan envisioned by his father. However, he was not able to bring any radical change in the country. Moreover, some historians also claim that the illegalizing of cannabis trade done during his era created mass unemployment which eventually became one of the reason of Maoist revolution.

Failure of forest conservation

There were rapid increase of arable agricultural land, however it also led to mass deforestation. Even though specially protected national parks were set up and forest were brought under central control, individuals were either unaware of the change or were quick to change the forests into agricultural land. In 1980, Nepal reached 30% forest cover from 60% in 1950. Over the long term, central management proved unsatisfactory and the government tried to solve the problem by involving local Panchayat which was also a failure since there were often conflicts between government agencies responsible for timber extraction and government agencies responsible for conservation. Moreover, the extracted timber was sold cheaply, which did not contribute much to the economy. Ecological imbalance resulting from deforestation also prevented progress.

Killer of Panchayat system

Some people claim Birendra solely for the fall of panchayat regime.

Memorial

Many structures, institutions and honors have been built in the memory of King Birendra. Monuments erected in his name were renamed after the restoration of the parliament in 2063 BS and the end of the monarchy in 2065 BS. After the political changes of 2063 BS, an attempt was made to rename the highway built in the name of the king as Lok Marg.

King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya Statue

1. Birendra statue (Nepalgunj)
2. Birendra statue (Dang )
3. Birendra statue, Birendranagar (Surkhet )
4. Birendra statue, Swargapuri ( Shivapuri )
5. Birendra statue, Jawalakhel (Lalitpur )
6. Birendra statue, Bindhyabasini Temple (Pokhara)
7. Shree Birendra Higher Secondary School, Jhapa
8. Shree Birendra Sarwajanik Higher Secondary School, Morang
9. Birendra Secondary School, Baitadi
10. Birendra Secondary School, Syangja
11. Birendra Secondary School, Nuwakot
12. Birendra Secondary School, Parbat
13. Birendra Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya, Bhaktapur
14. Birendra Multiple Campus, Bharatpur
15. Birendra Memorial College , Dharan
16. Birendra Army Hospital
17. Birendra Memorial Cup
18. Birendra Multiple Campus
19. Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre
20. Birendranagar
21. Birendranagar, Chitwan
22. Birendranagar Jaycees
23. Birendranagar Airport
24. Birendra Chowk , (Birendranagar)
25. Birendra chowk, Kageshwari-Manohara Municipality
26. Birendra chowk , Phungling Municipality
27. Birendra Chowk, Dharan
28. Birendra Chowk, Tulsipur, (Dang)
29. Birendra Lake (Birendra Tal), Gorkha
30. Birendra Museum, Kathmandu Durbar Square
31. Birendra Beer, Zürich

Assassination

Main article: Nepalese royal massacre

Narayanhiti Palace where the Nepalese royal massacre occurred.

Birendra and his whole family were gunned down by Crown Prince Dipendra at a royal dinner on 1 June 2001. Almost all of the royal family members were killed in the massacre except Gyanendra Shah, Birendra's younger brother. Dipendra was proclaimed the king but died a few days later of self-inflicted gunshot wounds sustained in the massacre. Consequently, Gyanendra was made the king.

Personality

From a very young age, Birendra was described by his Eton teachers as a kind prince. He was remembered by his Eton classmates as a "very, very nice bloke who was embarrassed when his full title was read out at the school assembly." Very famous Nepalese media personality, Neer Shah describe Birendra as kind and development loving king. Royalist around the king define him as a simple king who was able to listen to others view. They also criticize him for his weakness of not being able to deny the requests of people around him and his habit to act like a clerk and work himself rather than order others.

Birendra allowed the 2036 B.S. Janmat Sangraha (1980 Referendum) which was considered a move towards democracy. However, the leaders advocating for democracy and historians have claimed that the referendum was rigged. After People's Movement I that resulted in few hundred deaths, he established a constitutional monarchy in Nepal.

Some historians have speculated that Birendra's democratic views and simple nature may have led to the success of the People's Movement I (1990). He is credited for introducing SAARC in Asia in order to strengthen the foreign relations of Nepal with the other South Asian countries.

Titles and honours

National orders

• Sovereign of the Order of Nepal Pratap Bhaskara
• Sovereign of the Order of Ojaswi Rajanya
• Sovereign of the Order of Nepal Taradisha
• Sovereign of the Order of Tri Shakti Patta
• Sovereign of the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu
• Most Glorious Mahendra Chain
• Recipient of the King Mahendra Investiture Medal (02/05/1956)

Foreign orders

• Thailand:
  • Collar of Order of the Rajamitrabhorn, (1979)
• Denmark:
  • Knight of the Order of the Elephant, (17 October 1989)
• Japan:
  • Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, (1975)
• Cyprus:
  • Collar of the Order of Makarios III of Cyprus, (1980)
• Kingdom of Laos:
  • Collar of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol, (1970)
• Netherlands:
  • Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, (22 March 1975)
• France:
  • Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, (02/05/1983)
• Germany:
  • Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, (1986)
• Spain:
  • Collar of the Royal Order of Charles III, (19 September 1983)
• Pakistan:
  • Nishan-e-Pakistan, (1983)
• Romania:
  • Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania, (1975)
• Chile:
  • Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of Chile (1989)
• Finland:
  • Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose, (1988)
• Egypt:
  • Collar of the Order of the Nile, (1974)
• Yugoslavia:
  • Great Star of the Order of the Yugoslav Star, (2 February 1974)
• Romania:
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of 23 August (1987)
• United Kingdom:
  • Recipient of the Royal Victorian Chain (23 February 1975)

Association honours

• Japan:
  • Golden Pheasant Award of the Scout Association of Japan, (1978)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Birendra of Nepal

16. Trailokya, Crown Prince of Nepal 8. King Prithvi of Nepal 17. Lalit Rajeshwori Rajya Lakshmi Devi 4. King Tribhuvan of Nepal 9. Divyeshwari Rajya Lakshmi Devi 2. King Mahendra of Nepal 10. Arjan Singh Sahib, Raja of Chhatara, Barhgaon and Oudh 5. Kanti Rajya Lakshmi Devi 11. Krishnavati Devi Sahiba 1. King Birendra of Nepal 24. Dhir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana 12. Juddha Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, Maharaja of Lambjang and Kaski 25. Juhar Kumari Devi 6. Hari Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana 26. N. Bikram Shah 13. Padma Kumari 3. Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi 14. N. Bikram Shah 7. Megha Kumari Rajya Lakshmi

See also

• List of state visits by Birendra
• Wedding of Birendra and Aishwarya
• Coronation of Birendra

References

• Album of late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev by Narayan Prasad Shiwakoti: Published in 1995 – Election