[The word ‘Rana’ used to be ‘an official title’ offered to some ‘Magars’ (‘indigenous people’ in today’s terms) in the medieval Nepal. It was a popular title in entire south Asia during the middle ages. It also comes from another Sanskrit word –rana, literally battle or skirmish. So basically, Rānā later became an honorary earned title in the battle.]
By B K Rana
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Magwār Vishāyā’ – literally ‘Magwār (Magar) district’ or Magrāt and 'Shohab Rane' also.
Picture from 'The Two Earliest Copper-plate Inscriptions from Nepal 1977'. |
Dhanabajrā Bajrāchāryā, a prominent epigraphist of
Nepal, has exclusively written that both the Rānakas and Rānes were the 'Rānā Magars' of today’s Himalayan region (Bajrāchāryā 2064:16, 32, 43). And many Nepalese as well as western scholars also
seem to have agreed on it. And there were at least two ‘Rānakas’ and one
‘Rāne’ in the early medieval history of Nepal:
a) Suvarnakar Rānaka[4] of Gulmi :
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"नेपाल सम्बत् ११९ अर्थात् बिक्रम सम्बत् १०५५ मार्ग शुक्ल पूर्णिमाका दिन श्रीगण्डी
गुल्ममा बस्ने सुवर्णकार श्रीराणकले प्रतिष्ठा गरेको हो ।महाराजाधिराज परमेश्वर श्री नरेन्द्रदेवभट्टारक श्री उदयदेव भट्टारकको द्वैराज्यमा यो लेखिएको हो । |
b) Gaṇgā Rānaka[5] of Lamjung:
He
also translated 'Asthashahashrikā Pragyāpārmitā' in Bikram Sambat 1126 i. e 1069 A.D. and which was preserved in Ngor Lamasery, near Lhasa in Tibet. The lamasery was
destroyed following the Tibetan takeover by China in 1959.
c) Sohaba Rāne[6] of Magwar Vishaya:
He is
written ‘Rāne’ not ‘Rānaka - (Bikram Sambat – 1157, i. e 1100 A. D.) - was an administrator of Magwar
Vishaya (Magar district). Vishaya
meant district in the Lichhivi period (450 – 750 AD) of Nepalese
history. This Magwara Vishaya, which, as Dhanabajrā Bajrāchārya
believes later became Magarāt, was the neighbouring Vishaya or district of Paṇnaga Vishaya. (Bajrāchāryā 2064:18,41)
As
stated above, I shall write here only on the Rana Magars of the Himalayan
region. And, we have no archaeological evidence to attest whether those two
above mentioned: Suvarnakar Ranaka of Gulmi and Ganga Ranaka of Lamjung were
any 'Rana Magars' because 'Rana' or 'Ranak' directly comes from Sanskrit word
‘Raja’ or 'Rajan' meaning 'man of royal tribe, subordinate ruler or military
caste' and was a widely used title in the medieval South Asian history.
(Sircar, 1966 : 272,275).
The name word ‘Raja’ or ‘Rajan’ also comes from Sanskrit
root ‘rj’or ‘raj’ meaning ‘to be bright or to shine’ or ‘ranj’ meaning – ‘to
become red or charming or attractive’ – to be dear to all who would later
follow the person (Roy, 1994 : 103). And it seems parallel to ‘reg’, related to
the Latin verb ‘regree’ that would mean ‘to direct, lead, guide or rule’.
We do
not have any other ‘Rānakas or Rānes’ other than those three historical figures
mentioned above in the recorded history
of Nepal. But we have quite a number of
Rana Magars who have contributed to the founding of Gorkha kingdom, protecting and developing it into present day
Nepal as well.
Other ‘Rānā Magars'
Gaṇgā
Ram Rānā Bhusāl Magar also played a major role to install Drabya Shah as the King of Gorkha Kingdom on
Wednesday Bhadra 24, 1616 Bikram Sambat[7]. He is
described as one of the prominent
figures in the Gorkharājvānshāvali – which has 'the lone distinction of being the only genealogical accounts of the Shah kings of Nepal' (Hasrat 1970:90). We do not know
any other ‘Rana Magars’ prior to him in the history of Gorkha kingdom.
I grew
up listening to ‘Gangā Rām Rānā Bhusal Magar’ and his descendants' oral
(hi)stories from my grandparents and my grandparents had also heard those
(hi)stories from their grandparents and so on.
Nar
Bhupāl Shāh's son King Prithivi Nārāyān Shāh flayed ‘Kaji Jayant Rānā Gyāmi
Magar’ as the latter had deserted the former - alive after subduing Nuwakot on
Ashwin 15, 1801 Bikram Sambat.
After
the death of his father king Singh Pratap Shah,
king Rana Bahadur Shah was coronated on December 17, 1777 and on that
very day Sarvjit Rana Magar was also appointed
Mool Kaji (prime minister in
today’s sense) of Nepal (Shah 1975:33).
On the king’s uncle Bahadur
Shah’s order later, Sarvjit Rana Magar was beheaded on 1835 Bhadra 19 Bikram
Sambat. He was alleged to have been a paramour of the regent queen Rajendra Laxmi.
The
Kot Massacre began as soon as one of Jung Bahadur Rānā's men gunned down
‘General and Minister Abhimān Singh Rānā Magar’ on September 14, 1846. There
are lot more ‘Rānā Magars’ and ‘Thāpa Magars’ to name in this list from
Nepalese history. I have posted a brief note on Āles, Thāpās and Rānās on May 27, 2018 already.
The
word ‘Rana’ used to be ‘an official title’ offered to some ‘Magars’
(‘indigenous people’ in today’s terms) in the medieval Nepal. It was
a popular title in entire south Asia during the middle ages. It also comes from another Sanskrit word – rana literally battle or skirmish.
So basically, Rānā later became an honorary earned title in the battle.
There
is an interesting note by Eden Vansittart, in his own words , “ In former days
any Thāpā who had lost three generations of ancestors in battle became
Rānā, but with the prefix of his Thāpā
clan. Thus a Reshmī Thāpā would become a Reshmī Rānā”. He even has offered an instance of it - “in
the 5th Gurkhas, where a havildar, Lachman Thāpā, and a naick ,
Shamsher Rānā” being the “descendants
from two Thāpā brothers; but three generations of descendants from one of these brothers having been killed in
battle, Shamsher Rānā’s ancestors
assumed the title of Rānā; Lachman Thāpā’s ancestors not having been killed in
the battle for three generations, he remains a Thāpā" (Vansittart 1896:
109).
The
author Vansittart even has yet another interesting note that a progeny from a
Khas and Rana Magar woman would
become a Matwala Khas ‘Bhat Rana’
(Vansittart 1896: 90). There are quite a number of Rānā Bhāts in the western
part of the country today.
References
Adhikary,
Surya Mani 1997: The Khasa Kingdom :A Trans-Himalayan Kingdom of the Middle Age –
Nirala Publications, 2595 Kucha Chellan, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002
Bajracharya,
Dhanavajra 2064 BS : Gopālarajvānshāvaliko
Aitihāsik Vivechanā – Nepāl ra Asiyālī Anūsandhāna Kendrā, Tribhuvan
Vishwāvidhyālayā, Kirtipur, Kathmandu.
Hasrat, Bikram Jit 1970: History of Nepal – as told by its own and contemporary chronicles –
printed in India at the V. V. Research Institute Press by Dev Datta Shastri and
published by the editor at 5, Krishan Nagar, Hosiyarpur, Punjab, India.
Pant,
Mahes Raj & Sharma, Aishvarya Dhar 1977 : The Two Earliest Copper-plate Inscriptions from Nepal: Nepal
Research Centre, Miscellaneous Papers No 12.
Roy,
Kumkum 1994: The
Emergence of Monarchy in North India. Eighth
- Fourth Centuries BC, As Reflected in the Brahmanical Tradition.
Oxford University Press.
Sarkar,
D. C. 1966 : Indian Epigraphical
Glossary – Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi, Varanasi, Patna.
Shah, Rishikesh 1975 : An
Introduction to Nepal - Ratna Pustak Bhandar, Kathmandu Nepal.
Vansittart , Eden 1896: Notes
on Nepal – Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing India.
*
[1] Some people write Rānā Maṇgars’
[2] “Many Magars were also employed in the army as they
had family surnames such as Thapa, Rana,
Budha and Budhathoki” – Surya Mani Adhikary – The Khasa Kingdom :A
Trans-Himalayan Kingdom of the Middle Age – 1997: 90.
[3] I am writing, not about the Rānā rulers of Nepal (1846
-1950) because prime minister Jung Bahadur Rana was originally a Kuṇwar
who received the hereditary title ‘Rānā’
from the king only on May 5, 1848 . We understand why he needed to obtain 'Rana' title. It's also not my interest to write on those ‘Mahārānas or Rānās, the Sisodiya clan of Rajput of Mewar, India, who believe
they descended from the mythical Rama of the solar dynasty.
[4] Sambat 119
mārgashir shukladivā pūrmāsthāpitḻ
Shri gandigulmaknivāsina Shuvarakāra shrirāṇakasya
Mahārājdhirāja parameshwārashrinarendrādevabhattāraksya shriudayadevayo
Bhattārakayo ubhayarajya likhitamiti
[5] Sambat 189 bhādrapada (diva)se shrimashankara
devarāya shri lumjungevāstavya Gaṇgā rāṇakeṇa likhitmidam
2) Shwār, shrimatshivadevamaharajai | shri Ramdiva samtta vijayrajai |
3)Magwarvishaya |jhānteshwarabhattarakasa |tadhe gauthinpanchālikeṇa:
chhepa
4)ram gwanda opalema || shri idā bhāvo nāyaka | shri dhaknap nāyaka |
shri soha-
5) varane | Yete padhana vartniya |
[7] There is another date
also, Wednesday September 23, 1559 (Vansittart, 1896: 31) sounds incorrect to
me.
