- Basanta Bhujel
It is the rule of sociology that the winner ends the history of the losers. This effort is still going on. But there was also an era when not only the lineage of the winning side but also the lineage of the winning side was eliminated. In the case of Nepal, the last caste and clan to be affected by it is ‘Sen meaning Bhujel.’
Who are the senators? How many centuries did the Sens rule in present day Nepal, India and Tibet? What was the size of Sen state? What was the splendor like? That is very much mentioned in the history of Nepal. In this regard, I have also briefly mentioned this report in the past issues of Nepal Online. That article is also included in my recently published book ‘Lockdown Diary’. In this article, I’ll be discussing about Sen and his descendants? I have briefly discussed in this regard.
Historian Dr. Rajaram Subedhi has mentioned that after the conquest of Palpali Sen Rajya by the Gorkhali army during the reign of Bahadur Shah, all the male members of the Rajkhalak were hunted down and killed. The historian said that a small child was left as a girl and his mother was missing in the forest of Dandakteri area of Gulmi. Subedhi said, “The descendants of those children began to identify themselves as Senwali.” Surya Bahadur Sen has also discussed this at length in his book. But other than that one view of Rajkhalak, are there any other sens? Where did you go Shouldn’t the population of the Sens, who have ruled for hundreds of years, be at least one million in Nepal at this time? But the population of the Sens is not even 10,000.
As we continue to study and research, listening to the legends reveals a lot. After the conquest of Palpa by the Gorkhalis, giving their ethnic identity would endanger their lives and property. That’s where it came from. In this process, some of the senes were transformed into crocodiles and some of the senes into chhetris. Some senators were enslaved. Some of the Sens hid in the forest far from the reach of the state. As the Sahara property was looted, some of the Sens became the servants of others. One of them hid in the Bhujela forest of Baglung area and made a living for a few years. Which is known as Bhujel caste. Are they Janajati or Khas? Lost that identity. As a mixed caste of Khas and Janajati, they were made ‘Khabas’. At that time, after the Brahmins got married to a water-carrying caste, their descendants were given the ethnic identity of Khatri. After Bhujel married a Khas woman, the children born were given ‘Khawas’ ethnic identity. According to Prof. Dr. Jagman Gurung, not only Bhujel but any other tribe started giving Khabas ethnic identity after marrying a Khas woman.
Just as Khatri was mixed in the field, Khawas was mixed in Bhujel. Thus, within the Sen dynasty Bhujel, Khawas, Gharti and Nishel became three sub-castes. Of the three sub-castes within the Sen dynasty Bhujel, it was natural for the Khabas to have access to state power. Because Nasnat was attached to their power. But the situation of Nishel and Gharti was getting worse and worse. Until Chandrashamsher abolished slavery, the Ghartis could not live a humane life. After the abolition of slavery, most of the Ghartis transformed themselves into Chhetri. Most of them started writing Gharti-Chhetri, some of them started writing Thapa. Tek Bahadur Gharti, who became agriculture minister in Khil Raj Regmi’s government five years ago, used to write Thapa before he became a minister. His relatives are all Chhetri. But only to become a minister did he reveal his true ethnic identity. The number of Gharti is also very low as it is difficult to reveal the ethnic identity.
But the Khawas, like Pandey and Thapa, were harta kartas at the palace at that time. Garbhayo Khawas and Tribhuvan Khawas were trusted figures of the modern Shah’s court and were high-ranking officials of the military command. In terms of power, Gagan Singh Khawas was no less than King Rajendra and Chautaria Prime Minister Fateh Jang Shah. Under him, an army box of seven regiments was formed from Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah. Because the queen knew that her relatives had come to the palace as Khawas. Gagan Singh and Rani Rajyalakshmi had a close family relationship. How can they make the country prosperous? Strengthen? Used to have secret discussions in this regard. Gagan Singh was aware that the country was devastated by the quarrel between Pandey and Thapa. Gagan Singh had also received information through his plant that he had started serving the British to strengthen himself. As long as Gagan Singh remained, the British decided that their mission in Nepal would not be successful By conspiring, Thapa made Khalak’s nephew Jung Bahadur powerful. But Jang Bahadur, who had ambitions to rule autocratically, saw Gagan Singh as the main obstacle in his path. Jung Bahadur came to the conclusion that he could not become an autocratic ruler as long as Gagan Singh remained. But it was not easy to get rid of Gagan Singh as the queen was very trustworthy. Chatur Jung Bahadur preached that Gagan Singh. While their relationship was with the disciple family. The rulers of that time followed Jang Bahadur’s lead. Gagan Singh cut. The queen was deported. Bajir Singh Khawas, son of Gagan Singh Khawas, had to flee to West Siliguri as Pandit Rani was betrayed by Pandit Vishwaraj Pandey during the Bhandarkhal festival. After Gagan Singh’s assassination, Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah immediately gave the real treasure of the state to Gagir Singh’s son Bajir Singh Khawas. Ambitious to rule, Jung Bahadur saw Gagan Singh as the main obstacle in his path. Jung Bahadur came to the conclusion that he could not become an autocratic ruler as long as Gagan Singh remained. But it was not easy to get rid of Gagan Singh as the queen was very trustworthy. Chatur Jung Bahadur preached that Gagan Singh and Rani had sex. While their relationship was with the disciple family. The rulers of that time followed Jang Bahadur’s lead. Gagan Singh cut. The queen was deported. Bajir Singh Khawas, son of Gagan Singh Khawas, had to flee to West Siliguri as Pandit Rani was betrayed by Pandit Vishwaraj Pandey during the Bhandarkhal festival. After Gagan Singh’s assassination, Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah immediately gave the real treasure of the state to Gagir Singh’s son Bajir Singh Khawas. Ambitious to rule, Jung Bahadur saw Gagan Singh as the main obstacle in his path. Jung Bahadur came to the conclusion that he could not become an autocratic ruler as long as Gagan Singh remained. But it was not easy to get rid of Gagan Singh as the queen was very trustworthy. Chatur Jung Bahadur preached that Gagan Singh and Rani had sex. While their relationship was with the disciple family. The rulers of that time followed Jang Bahadur’s lead. Gagan Singh cut. The queen was deported. Bajir Singh Khawas, son of Gagan Singh Khawas, had to flee to West Siliguri as Pandit Rani was betrayed by Pandit Vishwaraj Pandey during the Bhandarkhal festival. After Gagan Singh’s assassination, Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah immediately gave the real treasure of the state to Gagir Singh’s son Bajir Singh Khawas. Arrived But it was not easy to get rid of Gagan Singh as the queen was very trustworthy. Chatur Jung Bahadur preached that Gagan Singh and Rani had sex. While their relationship was with the disciple family. The rulers of that time followed Jang Bahadur’s lead. Gagan Singh cut. The queen was deported. Bajir Singh Khawas, son of Gagan Singh Khawas, had to flee to West Siliguri as Pandit Rani was betrayed by Pandit Vishwaraj Pandey during the Bhandarkhal festival. After Gagan Singh’s assassination, Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah immediately gave the real treasure of the state to Gagir Singh’s son Bajir Singh Khawas. Arrived But it was not easy to get rid of Gagan Singh as the queen was very trustworthy. Chatur Jung Bahadur preached that Gagan Singh and Rani had sex. While their relationship was with the disciple family. The rulers of that time followed Jang Bahadur’s lead. Gagan Singh cut. The queen was deported. Bajir Singh Khawas, son of Gagan Singh Khawas, had to flee to West Siliguri as Pandit Rani was betrayed by Pandit Vishwaraj Pandey during the Bhandarkhal festival. After Gagan Singh’s assassination, Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah immediately gave the real treasure of the state to Gagir Singh’s son Bajir Singh Khawas. Bajir Singh Khawas, son of Gagan Singh Khawas, had to flee to West Siliguri as Pandit Bishwaraj Pandey betrayed Raja Rani during the festival. After Gagan Singh’s assassination, Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah immediately gave the real treasure of the state to Gagir Singh’s son Bajir Singh Khawas. Bajir Singh Khawas, son of Gagan Singh Khawas, had to flee to West Siliguri as Pandit Bishwaraj Pandey betrayed Raja Rani during the festival. After Gagan Singh’s assassination, Rani Rajyalakshmi Shah immediately gave the real treasure of the state to Gagir Singh’s son Bajir Singh Khawas.
Shortly after the Bhandarkhal festival, Jang Bahadur cut off the former minister Bhim Khawas (Talaksari) and one of his sons in the Bishnumati river on March 19, 1860 BS. Another son was taken to Chobhar Toudah and drowned. Another son was trapped in a tree on the other side of the river and kept in the camp for three days. Subba Shankhadhar killed Khawas by wrapping his entire hair in a pine tree and setting it on fire.
Jung Bahadur’s cruelty was not limited to this. He issued the Muluki Act and put the Bhujel caste like Chhetri in the list of drunkards. In the list of drunkards, even the so-called lower rank, i.e. Masinya, was included in the list of drunkards. Masinya means – ‘not qualified for any position in the state machinery.’ Fearing that the Bhujels might avenge his genocide at some point, Jang Bahadur made a prohibition in the Civil Code. Nishel, a by-product of Bhujel, is a corruption of this forbidden word.
It is said that the massacre of Bhujel caste was the first in the time of Bahadur Shah and the second in the time of Jung Bahadur, but the Bhujel caste has a history of first massacre about 500 years before the time of Bahadur Shah.
Studying the oral history of the Bhujel caste on the basis of myths and legends, it is found that 22 generations have ruled in the Dhorpatan region. The Bhujel kingdom seems to have ceased to exist with the rise of the Baise kingdom in the middle of the 13th century. V.S. Various studies and researches have shown that the Bhujels ruled their own kingdom till 1372 BS. The Bhujel kingdom was abolished by the descendants of King Dugar Singh Malla Samala, the founder of the Galkot and Rukum kingdoms. Historians say that there is a fort of Bhujel kingdom at Arnakot at an altitude of 1825 meters near Rajkot. According to the time and circumstances, after the defeat in the war, the caste was forced to choose one of the two options at that time. One was to accept the discrimination imposed on them by the victorious state power and the other was to flee for their own safety.
Bhujel, who had fled elsewhere, established another state in Palpa. As a Sen state, it expanded to the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Ganges in the south, the state from 22 to 24 in the north, and the state of Nepal in the northeast. Such a large empire in this land was neither before nor after.
(Bhujel is a retired engineer in the British Army)
