Conquest of Makwanpur

Conquest of Makwanpur

Preparation of Conquest of Makwanpur

The major reason Prithvi Narayan Shah desired to conduct the Conquest of Makwanpur was to further surround the valley and avenge the humiliation he suffered as well.

The first action P.N. Shah conducted was naming the son of the dead Kalu Pande’s son Bansharaj Pande king. He allowed Pande and Basnet to take the lead in the war. He ordered the armies at Nuwakot to depart to Dahachowk.

From Dahachowk, he determined the road to Makwanpurgadi. He hired Water Carriers and Weapon Carriers as well.

Kulananda Dhakal provided the auspicious date to P.N. Shah and 1100 Gorkhali Soldiers marched for battle in 1762 C.E. August 21. They reached Makwanpur and divided the army into various parts.

Attack on Makwanpur

The war was not at high stake as it was certain that Gorkhali would defeat Makwanpur but the Conquest of Makwanpur wouldn’t be completed. Hence, Digbandhan Sen, with his valuable property and his family ran away to another fort called Harihargadi.

However, Digbandhan Sen kept his army in Makwanpur and a vicious battle ensued in Makwanpur.

The war lasted for 8 whole hours through the night. The casualties were equal with Gorkhali’s launching highly aggressive attacks. Then the tide of battle turned away. The soldiers of Makwanpur started escaping the fort and Gorkhali officially defeated Makwanpuri soldiers.

Nearly 400 Makwanpuri soldiers died whereas 50 Gorkhali soldiers died. This was highly beneficial because Gorkhali’s gathered 700 Guns, arms, and ammunition.

Despite defeating Makwanpur, Digbandhan Sen, The King was still alive and safe. Until and unless the King wouldn’t be defeated.

The soldiers couldn’t leave Makwanpur. Hence, the soldiers rode to Hariharpurgadi towards the King of Makwanpur for the complete Conquest of Makwanpur.

Conquest of Harihargadi

The Fort of Hariharpurgadi was situated at a great height. The surrounding Hills could be clearly seen and it was easy to escape to Kathmandu from Hariharpurgadi. The Soldiers of Gorkha, after conquering Makwanpur decided to prepare for one month.

At the date of October 4 1762 C.E., a vicious war began in Hariharpurgadi. 55 Gorkhali and 500 Makwanpurgadi soldiers died and the fort of Hariharpurgadi was cleared. Gorkhali won Hariharpurgadi.

The family of Digbandhan Sen was captured, however, Digbandhan Sen and his Minister escaped to India.

Hence, this wouldn’t be the last battle for Gorkha with Makwanpur. This meant that the Conquest of Makwanpur still continued. Digbandhan Sen was quite clever and ran away time and again. This also shows the cowardice of Digbandhan Sen.

Conquest of Timalkot

Among the three primary areas of Makwanpur were Hariharpurgadi, Makwanpurgadi, and Timalkot. The final stop before Gorkhali conquered Makwanpur was Timalkot.

Timalkot had actually been abandoned and hence only a few soldiers remained at Timalkot. Under the leadership of Daljit Shah, Gorkhalis attacked Timalkot and established absolute rights over Makwanpur.

After Digbandhan Sen escaped and reached Bengal, he contacted the Nawab, or the King of Bengal, and requested armies for defeating the Gorkhalis. The Nawab of Bengal was quite dissatisfied with the British East India Company which completely controlled their affair.

Hence, to gain a competitive edge over BEIC, The then Nawab Mir Qasim under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Gurgin Khan sent an army amassing 3 thousand or 6 thousand. The army traveled through the plains of Terai and reached Makwanpur Area.

When the protector of Makwanpur was informed of the incoming army, he quickly sent a message to P.N. Shah in Dahachowk. P.N. Shah also responded and sent a large army to combat the Bengali Soldiers. As the Bengali Army was massive, direct warfare was doomed to be lost.

So, Gorkhali Armies set to hit and run method as well as Guerrilla War. Many were killed through this warfare method. Some Accounts say that 1700 Soldiers of Gurgin Khan were killed.

Not considering the fact, Gorkhali’s defeated The Bengali Army and obtained 500-600 guns. After that in 1763 February 13, Gorkhalis attacked the place where Digbandhan Sen was living.

Digbandhan Sen ran away again with his Inner Queen and his sister but the rest of the Family was captured again. Digbandhan Sen neither helped the army of Gurgin Khan nor his own armies. He lived for himself and it backfired.

The Nawabs would kill Digbandhan Sen for not assisting Bengali Army. The Gorkhalis would also kill him or with his humble request, imprison him.

Digbandhan Sen sent a letter of Submission to P.N. Shah. Digbandhan Sen was imprisoned in Gorkha and hence, Gorkha officially ended the monarchy of Makwanpur. The Conquest of Makwanpur was also completed.

Conclusion

The defeat of Makwanpur had massively positive changes in the position of Gorkha in Nepali Geography. The landmass of Gorkha had increased. The Kathmandu Valley was surrounded in the East as well as South.

The Economic Blockade was strengthened. More than 1000 new Arms and ammunition were secured and the road to defeating the Kathmandu Valley was getting much easier.