The Chief of the Nepalese Army (or Gorkhali Army) () 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 the 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. KajiShivaram Singh Basnyat c.1743 February 1747 First civilian army chief of Gorkhali forces. 2. KajiVamshidhar "Kalu" Pande February 1747 June 1757 3. KajiVamsharaj Pande ?? July 1785 Probably, joint chief of army with others. 4. KajiAbhiman Singh Basnyat ?? April 1794 Probably, joint chief of army with others. 5. KajiDamodar Pande ?? March 1804 Probably, joint chief of army with others. – Rana Bahadur Shah 1804 April 1806 6. GeneralBhimsen 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. GeneralBhimsen Thapa 1835 14 June 1837 7. KajiRana Jang Pande June 1837 October 1837 8. Mukhtiyar/Chautariya/GeneralChautariya Pushkar Shah August 1838 April 1839 9. GeneralMathabar Singh Thapa November 1843 17 May 1845 10. GeneralJung Bahadur Rana 15 September 1846 1 August 1856 11. GeneralBam Bahadur Kunwar 1 August 1856 25 May 1857 12. GeneralKrishna Bahadur Kunwar Rana 25 May 1857 1862 13. GeneralRanodip Singh Kunwar 1862 27 February 1877 14. GeneralJagat Shumsher Rana 27 February 1877 11 May 1879 15. GeneralDhir Shumsher Kunwar Rana 11 May 1879 14 October 1884 16. GeneralJit Jung Rana October 1884 22 November 1885 17. GeneralKhadga Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 22 November 1885 13 March 1887 18. GeneralRana Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana March 1887 June 1887 19. GeneralDev Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana June 1887 5 March 1901 20. GeneralChandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 5 March 1901 27 June 1901 21. GeneralBhim Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 27 June 1901 26 November 1929 22. GeneralJuddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 26 November 1929 14 October 1932 23. GeneralRudra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 14 October 1932 18 March 1934 24. GeneralPadma Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 18 March 1934 29 November 1945 25. GeneralMohan Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 29 November 1945 30 April 1948 26. GeneralBaber Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 30 April 1948 1951 27. GeneralKaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 1951 1953 28. GeneralKiran Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 1953 1956 29. GeneralToran Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 1956 1960 30. GeneralNir Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 1960 1965 31. GeneralSurendra Bahadur Shah 1965 1970 32. GeneralSingha Bahadur Basnyat 1970 10 May 1975 33. GeneralGuna Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 10 May 1975 10 May 1979
List of Chiefs of the Army Staff of Nepal (1979–present)
No. Name Portrait Took office Left office Unit of Commission 34. GeneralSingha Pratap Shah 15 May 1979 15 May 1983 35. GeneralArjun Narsingh Rana 15 May 1983 15 May 1987 36. GeneralSatchit J.B.R. 15 May 1987 15 May 1991 37. GeneralGadul Shumsher J.B.R. 15 May 1991 4 May 1995 38. GeneralDharmapaal Barsingh Thapa 15 May 1995 15 May 1999 39. GeneralPrajwalla Shumsher J.B.R. 19 May 1999 9 September 2003 40. GeneralPyar Jung Thapa 10 September 2003 9 September 2006 41. GeneralRookmangad Katawal 9 September 2006 9 September 2009 42. GeneralChhatra Man Singh Gurung 9 September 2009 5 September 2012 Shreenath Battalion 43. GeneralGaurav Shumsher J.B.R. 6 September 2012 10 September 2015 Purano Gorakh Battalion 44. GeneralRajendra Chhetri 10 September 2015 8 September 2018 Rajdal Battalion45. GeneralPurna Chandra Thapa 9 September 2018 9 September 2021 Gorakh Bahadur Battalion46. GeneralPrabhu Ram Sharma 9 September 2021 8 September 2024 Purano Gorakh Battalion47. GeneralAshok Raj Sigdel 9 September 2024 Incumbent Devidutta Battalion
References
Bibliography