Chief of the Nepalese Army explained

The Chief of the Nepalese Army (or Gorkhali Army) (Nepali: नेपाली सेनाको प्रधानसेनापति) is the military position of army head of the Nepalese Army, initially known as Gorkhali Army. The Chief of the Nepalese Army had been from among the Kaji officers during the 18th century. During the reign of Bhimsen Thapa, the title of Commander-in-Chief was introduced for the first time for denoting the army chief. Later in the late 1970s, the title was changed to Chief of Army Staff (CoAS). Currently, the Chief of Army Staff is the Chief of the Nepalese Army.

History

The Chief of Nepalese Army have been mostly drawn from noble Chhetri families from Gorkha such as "Pande dynasty", "Basnyat dynasty", and "Thapa dynasty" before the rule of "Rana dynasty". During the Shah monarchy, the officers were drawn from these aristocratic families. During the Rana dynasty, Ranas overtook the position as birthright. The first army chief of Nepal was King Prithvi Narayan Shah who drafted and commanded the Nepali (Gorkhali) Army. The first civilian army chief was Kaji Kalu Pande who had significant role in the campaign of Nepal. He was considered as army head due to the undertaking of duties and responsibilities of the army but not by the formalization of the title. Both Indra Adhikari and Shiva Ram Khatri mentions Kalu Pande, Vamsharaj Pande, Damodar Pande, Abhiman Singh Basnyat as Chief of Nepalese Army before first titular Commander-in-Chief Bhimsen Thapa.

Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa was the first person to use Commander-in-Chief as the title of army chief. He was given the title of General as an additional portfolio to the position of Mukhtiyar. During the Anglo-Nepalese War, Bhimsen bore all the responsibilities of the army as a Commander-in-Chief. King Rajendra Bikram Shah appointed Bhimsen to the post of Commander-in-Chief on 1835 A.D. and praised Bhimsen for long service to the nation. However, on 14 June 1837, the King took over the command of all the battalions put in charge of various courtiers, and himself became the Commander-in-Chief. Immediately after the incarceration of the Thapas in 1837, Dalbhanjan Pande and Rana Jang Pande were the joint head of military administration. However, Rana Jang was removed after 3 months in October 1837. During the Rana dynasty, the founding Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana made the position hereditary on agnatic rolls of succession. The Commander-in-Chief was made the second rank in the hierarchy to Prime Minister of Nepal and was made to succeed as the Prime Minister in case of death of reigning Prime Minister. Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) was second in the hierarchy than Supreme Commander during Rana Era. The eradication of Rana dynasty from power after Revolution of 1951 did not end Ranas' dominance. During the Panchayat period, the Ranas continued to dominate the rank of Commander-in-Chief of Nepalese Army. In the late 1970s, Commander-in-Chief was replaced by new term Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) from the reign of General Singha Pratap Shah.

List of Chiefs of the Nepalese Army

List of Pradhan Senapati (Chief Generals) of Gorkhali Army (1743–1835)

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Notes
–	Prithvi Narayan Shah		c.1743	c.1743	Founder of Gorkhali Army
1.	Kaji Shivaram Singh Basnyat		c.1743	February 1747	First civilian army chief of Gorkhali forces.
2.	Kaji Vamshidhar "Kalu" Pande		February 1747	June 1757
3.	Kaji Vamsharaj Pande		??	July 1785	Probably, joint chief of army with others.
4.	Kaji Abhiman Singh Basnyat		??	April 1794	Probably, joint chief of army with others.
5.	Kaji Damodar Pande		??	March 1804	Probably, joint chief of army with others.
–	Rana Bahadur Shah		1804	April 1806
6.	General Bhimsen Thapa		1811	1835

List of Commanders-in-Chief of the Nepalese Army (1835–1979)

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Unit of Commission
6.	General Bhimsen Thapa		1835	14 June 1837
7.	Kaji Rana Jang Pande		June 1837	October 1837
8.	Mukhtiyar/Chautariya/General Chautariya Pushkar Shah		August 1838	April 1839
9.	General Mathabar Singh Thapa		November 1843	17 May 1845
10.	General Jung Bahadur Rana		15 September 1846	1 August 1856
11.	General Bam Bahadur Kunwar		1 August 1856	25 May 1857
12.	General Krishna Bahadur Kunwar Rana		25 May 1857	1862
13.	General Ranodip Singh Kunwar		1862	27 February 1877
14.	General Jagat Shumsher Rana		27 February 1877	11 May 1879
15.	General Dhir Shumsher Kunwar Rana		11 May 1879	14 October 1884
16.	General Jit Jung Rana		October 1884	22 November 1885
17.	General Khadga Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		22 November 1885	13 March 1887
18.	General Rana Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		March 1887	June 1887
19.	General Dev Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		June 1887	5 March 1901
20.	General Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		5 March 1901	27 June 1901
21.	General Bhim Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		27 June 1901	26 November 1929
22.	General Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		26 November 1929	14 October 1932
23.	General Rudra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		14 October 1932	18 March 1934
24.	General Padma Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		18 March 1934	29 November 1945
25.	General Mohan Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		29 November 1945	30 April 1948
26.	General Baber Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		30 April 1948	1951
27.	General Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		1951	1953
28.	General Kiran Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		1953	1956
29.	General Toran Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		1956	1960
30.	General Nir Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		1960	1965
31.	General Surendra Bahadur Shah		1965	1970
32.	General Singha Bahadur Basnyat		1970	10 May 1975
33.	General Guna Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana		10 May 1975	10 May 1979

List of Chiefs of the Army Staff of Nepal (1979–present)

See main article: Chief of the Army Staff (Nepal).

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Unit of Commission
34.	General Singha Pratap Shah		15 May 1979	15 May 1983
35.	General Arjun Narsingh Rana		15 May 1983	15 May 1987
36.	General Satchit Jung Bahadur Rana		15 May 1987	15 May 1991
37.	General Gadul Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana		15 May 1991	4 May 1995^[1]
38.	General Dharmapaal Barsingh Thapa		15 May 1995	15 May 1999
39.	General Prajwalla Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana		19 May 1999	9 September 2003
40.	General Pyar Jung Thapa		10 September 2003	9 September 2006
41.	General Rookmangad Katawal		9 September 2006	9 September 2009
42.	General Chhatra Man Singh Gurung		9 September 2009	5 September 2012	Shreenath Battalion
43.	General Gaurav Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana	100px	6 September 2012	10 September 2015^[2]	Purano Gorakh Battalion
44.	General Rajendra Chhetri		10 September 2015	8 September 2018^[3]	Rajdal Battalion
45.	General Purna Chandra Thapa		9 September 2018^[4] ^[5]	9 September 2021	Gorakh Bahadur Battalion^[6]

Bibliography

• • • • • • • • Book: Karmacharya . Ganga . Queens in Nepalese Politics: An Account of Roles of Nepalese Queens in State Affairs, 1775-1846 . 2005 . Educational Publishing House . 978-99946-33-93-7 . en.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Former army chief Gadul Shamsher Rana no more. 6 April 2016.
2. Web site: Tough challenges ahead for new NA chief Chhetri - The Himalayan Times. 10 September 2015.
3. Web site: Thapa to take charge of Nepali Army as acting CoAS - The Himalayan Times. 9 August 2018.
4. Web site: General Purna Thapa is new chief of Nepal Army. 9 September 2018. The Economic Times.
5. Web site: Thapa sworn in as new Army chief.
6. Web site: Thapa likely to be appointed Nepali Army chief. 4 November 2017.