Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana
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Field Marshal Sir Kaiser Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GBE (8 January 1892 – 7 June 1964) was a
field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
in the
Royal Nepalese Army The Nepali Army ( ne, नेपाली सेना, translit=Nēpālī Sēnā), technically the Gorkhali Army ( ne, गोरखाली सेना, translit=Gōrakhālī Sēnā, label=none; see ''Gorkhas''), is the Ground warfare, land ...
. He was the third son of Maharaja Sir Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO the fifth Prime Minister of Nepal of the Rana dynasty and Bada Maharani Chandra Loka Bhaktha Rajya Lakshmi.


Early life

He was the younger brother of Shree Tin Maharaja Sir Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana and Sir Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana. From 1909 for some years he had Basanta Kumar Mallik.


Family

Kaiser Shamsher married twice and had five sons and five daughters. On 20 April 1904 he married his first wife at the Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu, Princess Lakshmi Rajya Laxmi Devi of Nepal (1895–1954), the then heir apparent and eldest daughter of King Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. In 1943 at Kaiser Mahal in Kathmandu, Kaiser Shamsher married Krishna Chandra Kumari Devi, daughter of Mukunda Bahadur Singh, of Bajura.


Later life

During his lifetime Kaiser Shamsher occupied various posts and had many responsibilities both in the civil and the military administration. In 1901 he was appointed major general. In 1920 Kaiser Shamsher became a lieutenant general. In 1922–1930 he served as the chairman of the Kathmandu municipality. Later he was the Southern commanding general (1934–1945) and Eastern commanding general (1945–1947). Kaiser Shamsher worked as director general of various institutions, such as the Royal Museum (1928–1939), the Archaeology Department (1931–1939), and the Foreign Affairs Department (1932–1937). As a foreign minister of Nepal, he attended the ceremony of
Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. ...
on 12 May 1937 at Westminster Abbey in London. In 1947–48 Kaiser Shamsher was appointed as Nepal's ambassador to the
Court of St. James A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...
. In 1951–53 he was commander-in-chief. He also served as minister of Defence (1951–1955) and minister of finance and administration (1952–53). In 1956 Kaiser Shamsher was promoted to field marshal. Kaiser Shamsher died on 7 June 1964 at the age of 72.


Wealth

Kaiser Shumsher owned
Kaiser Castle ''Kaiser'' is the German word for " emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly a ...
a
Banaras Cantt
in Banaras, India. The building was given out (free of rent) to the Zoological Survey of India from 1942 to 1949. A species of crustacean Nichollsia kashiense is found to have been discovered in the castle area.


Kaiser Library

Kaiser Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana was an avid book collector, and his personal library at the Kaiser Mahal is now open to the public. The Kaiser Library is situated in the Keshar Mahal near the Western Gate of the Narayanhity Royal Palace. The library, unique for its architecture, houses more than sixty thousand books, documents, periodicals and manuscripts. and is one of the oldest libraries in Nepal. From a very young age Kaiser Shamsher bought and collected books and newspapers, and visited England with his father. He was very much impressed by the government of England, as well as by the library system and the proper management of books there. Book collection was his hobby and his visit to Britain & British libraries led to the increase in the number of his books and change in the structure of his own library. From England, he brought back with him many books to Kathmandu. Access to the library was limited to the members of his family, special people of the nation and special visitors from abroad. In his will he bequeathed his library to the government, thereby making it a national property accessible to all. It was established in 1969 A.D. with the donated personal collection by his widow Krishna Chandra Kumari Devi.Klib
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Honours


National honours

* Member of the Order of Ojaswi Rajanya, 1st Class. * Member of the Order of Om Rama Pata, 1st Class. * Member of the Order of the Three Divine Powers, 1st. Class. * Member of the Order of Gurkha Right Hand, 1st. Class. * Great Earthquake Medal (1935). * Royal Jubilee Medal (11 December 1936). * Long Service Medal. * King Mahendra Coronation Medal (2 May 1956).


Foreign honours

* :
Delhi Durbar Medal Delhi Durbar Medals were instituted by the British Raj, United Kingdom to commemorate the Delhi Durbar where the new Emperor of India was proclaimed, in 1903 for Edward VII, and in Delhi Durbar Medal (1911), 1911 for George V. On both occasions t ...
(12 December 1911). * : King George VI Coronation Medal (1937). * : Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE – 17 January 1924). * : Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE – 29 April 1937). * : Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of the Legion of Honour Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
(24 May 1934).


See also

* Garden of Dreams * Rana Dynasty * Rana palaces of Nepal


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Kaiser Shamsher Jang Bahadur Members of the Order of Tri Shakti Patta, First Class Members of the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu, First Class Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Finance ministers of Nepal Nepalese military personnel 1892 births 1964 deaths Nepalese royalty Ambassadors of Nepal to the United Kingdom Rana regime 20th-century Nepalese nobility 19th-century Nepalese nobility Children of prime ministers of Nepal Nepalese Hindus