| King ofNepal | |
|---|---|
| Mahārājdhirāja | |
.svg) Royal coat of arms (before 2006) | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Style | His Majesty |
| First monarch | Prithvi Narayan Shah |
| Last monarch | Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah |
| Formation | 25 September 1768; 257 years ago (1768-09-25) |
| Abolition | 28 May 2008 |
| Residence | Narayanhiti Palace,Kathmandu |
| Appointer | Hereditary |
| Pretender | Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah |
Theking of Nepal (traditionally known as themahārājdhirāja i.e. great king of kings;Nepali:महाराजधिराज) wasNepal'shead of state andmonarch from 1768 to 2008. He served as the head of the Nepalese monarchy—Shah dynasty. The monarchy was abolished on 28 May 2008 by the1st Constituent Assembly.[1] Thesubnational monarchies inMustang,Bajhang,Salyan, andJajarkot were abolished in October of the same year.[2]
The Kingdom of Nepal was founded on 25 September 1768 byPrithvi Narayan Shah, aGorkha king who succeeded inunifying the kingdoms ofKathmandu,Patan, andBhaktapur into a single state under hisShah dynasty. The Kingdom of Nepal wasde jure anabsolute monarchy for most of its history. However, from 1846 until the1951 revolution, the country wasde facto ruled by the hereditaryprime ministers from theRana dynasty, reducing the role of the Shah monarch to that of afigurehead. In November 1990, after theJana Andolan movement, a newconstitution was adopted and the country became aconstitutional monarchy.
On 13 February 1996, theNepalese Civil War was launched by theCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist), with the aim of overthrowing the kingdom and establishing a "people's republic".
On 1 June 2001, nine members of the royal family, including KingBirendra and QueenAishwarya, were killed in amass shooting at theroyal residence. Crown PrinceDipendra was implicated in an official investigation. There is a huge controversy concerning this, as there was no practical investigation on that which proves his involvement. Many Nepali people believe that there might be many other people involved in the massacre.[3] Immediately after the massacre, Dipendra was proclaimed king while in acoma, but he died on 4 June 2001, after a three-day reign.[4] His uncle, PrinceGyanendra, was appointedregent for the three days, then ascended the throne himself after Dipendra died.
On 1 February 2005, as the security situation deteriorated in thecivil war, KingGyanendra staged acoup d'état, declared astate of emergency, suspended the constitution and assumed direct control over the country.[5] On 24 April 2006, after theLoktantra Andolan movement, the king agreed to give up absolute power and to reinstate the dissolvedHouse of Representatives.[6][7] On 21 November 2006, the civil war was ended with the signing of theComprehensive Peace Accord.[8] On 15 January 2007, the King was suspended from exercising his duties by the newly formedinterim legislature. Finally, on 28 May 2008, the kingdom was officially abolished by the1st Constituent Assembly and theFederal Democratic Republic of Nepal was declared.[9] Thesubnational monarchies inMustang,Bajhang,Salyan, andJajarkot were also abolished in October 2008.[10]
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