Diamond Shumsher Rana (5 July 1918 – 11 March 2011) was a Nepali writer and political activist known for his acclaimed novels ''Basanti'' and ''Seto Bagh''.

Life and career

He was born at Tansen Durbar in Palpa, where his grandfather, Sher Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, was governor. His father Buddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana was a colonel in the Royal Nepal Army.
Rana enjoyed a privileged upbringing and was a captain in the Royal Nepal Army. In 1948 Rana travelled to Benaras, India and had his first novel ''Basanti'' published. In

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, he had aligned himself with an anti-establishment faction of the Rana regime and was arrested, court-martialled and sentenced to death but was later freed after members of the

Rana family Rana dynasty ( ne, राणा वंश, IAST=Rāṇā vaṃśa , ) is a Chhetri dynasty that imposed totalitarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other ...

pressured the regime for his release Rana later joined the political opposition and was a member of the

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ne, नेपाली कांग्रेस ; abbr. NC) is the largest social democratic political party in Nepal. As per the results of recent local election, ''Nepali Congress'' stands as the single largest party o ...

Party from 1954 to 1987."My Republica, Anti-Rana novelist Diamond Shumsher dead"
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Bibliography

* ''Basanti'' (1948) * ''Seto Bagh'' (1970) * ''Anita'' * ''Griha Prabesh'' * ''Satprayas'' (Sequel to ''Seto Bagh'') * ''Pratibaddha'' * ''Dhanko Dhabba''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Diamond Shumsher 1918 births 2011 deaths People from Palpa District Nepalese male writers Nepali-language writers Nepalese male novelists Nepalese politicians 20th-century novelists Jagadamba Shree Puraskar winners