Nain Singh Thapa

General Kaji
Nain Singh Thapa
General Kaji Nain Singh Thapa
जनरल काजी; नैनसिंह थापा
	Portrait of Thapa Kaji Nain Singh
Personal details
Born	c. AD 1777; Borlang, Gorkha district
Died	1728 Saka Era (1806/07 AD); Kangra Fort, Garhwal Kingdom
Children	Mathabar Singh Thapa, Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal, Ujir Singh Thapa, Ganesh Kumari (mother of Jung Bahadur Rana)
Parents	Amar Singh Thapa (sardar) (father); Satyarupa Maya (mother);
Relatives	Bhimsen Thapa (brother); Ranajit Pande (father-in-law); Balbhadra Kunwar (nephew); Jang Bahadur Rana (grandson)
Residence	Thapathali Durbar
Military service
Allegiance	Nepal
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Battles of Unification of Nepal

Nain Singh Thapa or Nayan Singh Thapa (Nepali: नैनसिंह थापा/नयनसिंह थापा) (died late 1806 or early 1807) was a Nepalese Kaji (minister) and a military general. He died in the offensive campaign of Kangra from bullet injury. He was the owner of the Thapathali Durbar temple complex.

Career

He was a Kaji and General of Nepal Army.^[1] A royal order was decreed on Ashwin Sudi 2, 1862 V.S. (September 1805), for the preparations of the Kangra campaign.^[2] In September 1805, while being deputed at Kangra Fort, his brother Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa ordered him to arrest military deserters.^[3] Gorkhali forces under Badakaji Amar Singh Thapa, Rudrabir [Shah] and Nain Singh overran Nalagarh and crossed Sutlej river.^[4] They fought against and defeated King Sansar Chand at Mahal Mori in May 1806.^[4]^[5] Sansar Chand fled to Kangra fort^[5] after taking refuge at Sujanpur Tira.^[4] Widow of Kirti Chand, Commander of Kangra Army and Nain Singh, the Nepalese commander led the battle at Tira Sujanpur.^[6] The Gorkhali invasion became persistent and irresistible.^[5] On Saturday V.S. 1863 Kartik Badi 13 (i.e. 8 November 1806), there was a letter which positioned Bhakti Thapa under the joint authority of Badakaji Amar Singh Thapa and Nain Singh.^[7] Nain Singh came with a reinforcement of 1500 men along with Sardar Udatta Shahi leading 3 companies while Subba Ranganath Gurung and Prahlad Gurung had led 4 companies.^[8] Nain Singh and Amar Singh were entrusted with the main Nain Singh fought at Kangra fort and was mortally wounded from which he died^[9]^[10] in the winter of 1806/1807.^[11] The Bhasavamshawali also states the death of Nain Singh on 1728 Saka Era i.e. (1806/7) A.D.^[7] The event was sketched by 19th-century Garhwali poet and painter Mola Ram. In an 1852 interview, Jang Bahadur Rana mentioned the death of his maternal grandfather Nain Singh at Kangra.^[11]

Family tree

He was born as second son to Sanukaji Amar Singh Thapa.^[12] Nayan Singh Thapa had 4 brothers – Bhimsen Thapa, Bhaktawar Singh, Amrit Singh and Ranbir Singh and two step-brothers – Ranzawar and Ranbam.^[12] He was father of Mathabarsingh Thapa, Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal and grandfather of Jung Bahadur Rana.^[13] He was the son-in-law of Chief Kazi Ranajit Pande of noble Pande family and father-in-law of Kazi Bal Narsingh Kunwar of the noble Kunwar Rana family.^[14] Kumar Pradhan asserts that Sher Jung Thapa was son of Nain Singh Thapa, whom Bhimsen adopted^[12] while Baburam Acharya contradicts that Sher Jung Thapa was nephew of Mathabarsingh Thapa and was sixteen years old in April 1835.^[15]