Mahendra of Nepal 313135 225948840 2008-07-16T04:10:52Z 65.9.154.20 {{Infobox_Monarch | name =महेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह<br>Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah | title =[[King of Nepal]] | image =[[Image:King_of_Nepal_1958.jpg|180px|Mahendra of Nepal (second from left) in a 1958 visit to Israel's [[Weizmann Institute of Science]].]] | imagesize = 180px | reign =[[1955]]-[[31 January]] [[1972]] | coronation = | predecessor = [[Tribhuvan]] | successor = [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]] | suc-type = Heir-Apparent | heir = [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]] | consort = | issue =[[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]],[[Gyanendra of Nepal|Gyanendra]], [[Dhirendra of Nepal|Dhirendra]] | royal house =[[Shah dynasty]] | royal anthem =Shrimann Ghambir | father = | mother = | date of birth ={{birth date|1920|06|11|mf=y}} | place of birth = | date of death ={{death date and age|1972|1|31|1920|06|11|df=y}} | place of death = Diyalo Bangala, Chitwan, Nepal | buried = |}} '''Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah (महेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह), King of Nepal''' ([[June 11]], [[1920]] - [[January 31]], [[1972]]) was king of [[Nepal]] from [[1955]] to [[1972]]. He was also made a [[List of British Field Marshals|British Field Marshal]] in 1960. He succeeded his father, [[Tribhuvan]], who had, after years as a puppet of the [[Rana family]], finally managed to break their more than 100-year hegemony over the country. A younger son, [[Gyanendra of Nepal|Gyanendra]], was king as a small child from [[1950]] to [[1951]] when Tribhuvan, Mahendra and Birendra had fled the country to escape from the Rana family. After 50 years, Gyanendra reassumed the throne when his brother King [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]] was killed in [[2001]]. So, this is the man who became king after his son. This put a severe chip on his shoulders. He wanted to be seen as a tough guy. Nepal is a feudal and poor country. Poverty is alarmingly high. There are no basic infrastructure throughout the country and it has been the fault of the ruling people of Nepal that the country is in such a mess. Mahendra was enthroned after a suspicious death of his father. Nepal had just entered a multi party democratic system of governance when he became King of Nepal. He was, however, not a supporter of [[parliamentary democracy]]. He wanted to be a strong man of Nepal with all the powers on him. He was a tyrant born into a royal family. He saw himself as an incarnation of Hindu god, someone who was born to rule. He wanted his subjects to populate his country and follow him blindly. He was disdainful of non royal people and anyone whom he deemed as not par to his status in royalty or class. He certainly did not wish to stay quiet while politicians ran the government. He also wished to show himself different than his father, the late king Tribhuvan. The first agenda in his mind was to quash any attempts by the politicians to hold a [[Nepalese Constituent Assembly]] election, something his father had promised to Nepali people. Worst still, he staged a coup with the help of [[Nepal Army]], the army he considered to be his [[private army]]. He jailed the [[prime minister]] and much of the cabinet members, promulgated a [[constitution]] in effect banning the political parties. The then [[prime minister]] considered [[Mahendra]] to be his friend but he soon realized that the notion of friendship between a [[royal]] and a [[commoner]] is non existent in [[Mahendra]]'s lexicon. After his sudden death, he was succeeded by his son [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]]. ==See also== * [[History of Nepal]] {{start box}} {{succession box| title=[[Crown Prince|Crown Prince of Nepal]]| years=[[1920]]&ndash;[[1950]]| before=[[Tribhuvan of Nepal|Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah]]| after=[[Gyanendra of Nepal|Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah]]}} {{succession box two to one| title1=[[Crown Prince|Crown Prince of Nepal]]| years1=[[1951]]&ndash;[[1955]]| before1=[[Gyanendra of Nepal|Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah]]| title2=[[Kings of Nepal|King of Nepal]]| years2=[[1955]]&ndash;[[1972]]| before2=[[Tribhuvan of Nepal|Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah]]| after=[[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra Bir Bikram Shah]]}} {{end box}} {{mnb|Note.|1}} Possibly no heir for the time period of [[1911]] through [[1920]]. Previous Crown Prince: [[Tribhuvan of Nepal|Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah]], from [[1906]] to [[1911]]. {{Nepal-bio-stub}} {{Asia-royal-stub}} [[Category:1920 births|Mahendra of Nepal]] [[Category:1972 deaths|Mahendra of Nepal]] [[Category:Nepalese monarchs|Mahendra of Nepal]] [[Category:British Field Marshals]] [[Category:Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain]] [[de:Mahendra]] [[et:Mahendra]] [[es:Mahendra de Nepal]] [[fr:Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah]] [[it:Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev]] [[ja:マヘンドラ・ビール・ビクラム・シャー・デーヴ]] [[no:Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah]] [[pl:Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev]] [[ru:Махендра]] [[fi:Mahendra]] [[sv:Mahendra av Nepal]] [[zh:马亨德拉]]