OTD 23 June 1903 Tribhuwan Bir Bikram Shah King of Nepal

On 23 June 1903, King Tribhuwan, also written Tribhuvan, was born
in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.

Source picture: Wikipedia


Family

Tribhuvan was the son of Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah and
Queen Divyeshwari Laxmi Devi Shah.

Reign

After the death of his father, Tribhuvan ascended the throne
on 11 December 1911 at the age of 8. His mother was
appointed as regent until King Tribhuvan would come to his
age.


Tribhuvan and his sons - Source picture: Wikipedia



Love and marriage

In March 1919, King Tribhuvan married Queen Kanti of Nepal
as his first wife. In a double ceremony he took Queen Kanti's
sister, Queen Ishwari as his second wife. He also had junior
wives.

King Tribhuvan had 3 sons and 13 daughters.

Source picture: Wikipedia

Duty

In that time, the position of monarch was mainly titular. The real power in
the country was executed by the conservative Rana family, which supplied
the country with its hereditary Prime Minister.

During World War I, tensions between the royal family and the Ranas came
to a head. The Ranas wanted to join the war in support of Britain, which
controlled India to the south.

King Tribhuvan worked closely with Praja Parishad (a political party)
to abolish the Rana regime.

In November 1950, King Tribhuvan took refuge at the Indian Embassy.
On 7 November 1950, the Prime Minister announced that the four-year-old
grandson would become the new King of Nepal. He was crowned the
same day.

The removal of the King led to huge demonstrations in the country.
On 22 November 1950, the Prime Minister of India officially
announced that India was not going to recognize the new King as
legal King of Nepal.

Finally an agreement was reached according to which King Tribhuvan
had to form a new government.

On 18 February 1951, King Tribhuvan was declared monarch of
Nepal again.

Three days after his return, King Tribhuvan formally declared an
end to the rule of the Rana family. He established a democratic system.

Source picture: Wikipedia

Death

King Tribhuvan died on 13 March 1955 in Zürich, Switzerland under
strange circumstances. He was 52. He was succeeded by his eldest
son Mahendra.

Legacy

Following places in Nepal are named after him:

- International airport in Kathmandu: Tribhuvan International Airport;
- Tribhuvan Highway, the oldest highway in Nepal;
- Tribhuvannagar a city
- Tribhuvan University.

Also the Tribhuvan Challenge Shield a football association was
named after him.

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