Pande family (Nepal)

The Pande family or Pande dynasty (Also spelled as Pandey or Panday) ( ne, पाँडे वंश/पाँडे काजी खलक; or ) was a Rajput Chhetri political family that directly ruled Nepali administration affairs since the 16th century to 19th century as Mulkaji and Mukhtiyar (Prime Minister). This dynasty/family was one of the four noble family to be involved in active politics of Nepal together with Shah dynasty, Basnyat family and Thapa dynasty before rise of Rana dynasty. Pande dynasty is the oldest noble family to hold the title of Kaji. This family was decimated from political power in 1843 CE from the political massacre conducted by Prime Minister Mathabar Singh Thapa as a revenge for his uncle Bhimsen's death in 1839.

The family is descended from nobleman Ganesh Pande of the Gorkha Kingdom. Kalu Pande and Tularam Pande were descendants of Ganesh Pande. Pande dynasty and Thapa dynasty were the two chief political families who alternatively contested for central power in the Nepalese court politics. The Pande family was divided into two section Kala Pandes and Gora Pandes who were always aligned to opposite political factions. The Pande aristocratic family of ''Gora'' (White) Pande section was connected to Thapa dynasty through daughter of Chief Kazi Ranajit Pande, Rana Kumari who was married to ''Kaji'' General Nain Singh Thapa and to Rana dynasty through Nain Singh's son-in-law Bal Narsingh Kunwar. The Pande family of ''Kala'' (Black) Pande section was maritally linked to Basnyat Family through Chitravati Pande who married ''Kaji'' Kehar Singh Basnyat.

Ancestral Background

Ganesh Pande was the first ''Kaji'' (Prime Minister) of King Dravya Shah of Gorkha Kingdom established in 1559 A.D. The Pandes were considered as Thar Ghar aristrocratic group who assisted the administration of Gorkha Kingdom. ''Kaji'' Kalu Pande (1714–1757) who belonged to this family became a war hero after he died at the Battle of Kirtipur. These Pandes were categorized with fellow Chhetri ''Bharadars'' such as Thapas, Basnyats and Kunwars.http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/contributions/pdf/CNAS_02_01_09.pdf

The inscription installed by son of Tularam Pande, ''Kapardar'' Bhotu Pande, on the Bishnumati bridge explains their patrilineal relationship to Ganesh Pande, Minister of Drabya Shah, the first King of Gorkha Kingdom. The lineage mentions Ganesh Pande's son as Vishwadatta and Vishwadatta's son as Birudatta. Birudatta had two sons Baliram and Jagatloka. Tularam and Bhimraj were sons of Baliram and Jagatloka respectively. ''Kaji'' Kalu Pande was the son of Bhimraj. Bhotu Pande mentions Tularam, Baliram, and Birudatta respectively as his ancestors of three generations. However, Historian Baburam Acharya contends a major flaw in the inscription. Ranajit Pande, the second son of Tularam was born in 1809 Vikram Samvat. Baburam Acharya assumed 25 years for each generation where he found Vishwadatta to have been born in 1707 Vikram Samvat. Thus, on this basis, he strongly concluded that Vishwadatta could not have been the son of Ganesh Pande, who was living in 1616 Vikram Samvat, when Drabya Shah was crowned King of Gorkha. He points that the names of two more generations seem to be missing.

Caste Background

Historian Baburam Acharya speculates that Ganesh Pande was a Brahmin, however, there was no conclusive evidence to the claim. He makes the assumption based on the claim of ancestry from Ganesh Pande by Pande Brahmins of Upamanyu gotra. He further assumes that Baliram and Jagatloka were Brahmins due to their Brahmin-looking name and assumes Tularam and Bhimaraj as Chhetri.

Relation between Kalu and Tularam

As per Historian Baburam Acharya, Tularam was a brother (first cousin) of Bhimraj, the father of Kalu Pande. However, Historian Rishikesh Shah

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases