Giri Prasad Burathoki

Last updated
Major General Giri Prasad Burathoki, OBE Major General Giri Prasad Burathoki, OBE.jpg
Major General Giri Prasad Burathoki, OBE

Major General Giri Prasad Burathoki was a Gurkha officer and Nepalese politician. He was born in 1898 at Bharse, Gulmi District, Nepal. He left his village at a young age to join the British army in India and was involved in World War I and World War II. He showed great bravery and distinguished service during his military career with the British for which he was conferred the title of "Sardar Bahadur" and was awarded the Order of British Empire, Order of British India, Military Cross and many other medals. He retired as an "Honorary Captain" of the British Indian Army.

On his return home, he was made the District Commissioner of Gulmi District from 1951 to 1956. Thereafter, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from Gulmi District in 1959 and also served the first Speaker of the House. The House was dissolved by King Mahendra, but he was later nominated to the National Panchayat and made an Assistant Minister. He won successive elections and served as the first Defense Minister of Nepal for nearly a decade. [1] For his service to the nation, he was conferred the medals of the Order of Tri Shakti Patta Class I and Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu Class I. He was also conferred the title of Honorary Major General of the Nepal Army.

He died in 1981. His elder son, late Colonel Shri Prasad Burathoki also joined the British Indian Army and later the Indian Army and after his retirement served as a Minister of State of Nepal Government. His younger son, Major General Nara Bahadur Burathoki, who was the first Magar Major General of Nepalese Army after the fall of the Rana dynasty, retired from the Nepal Army after a long distinguished service.

Related Research Articles

The Magar, also spelled as Mangar, and Mongar, are the ethnolinguistic groups, indigenous to Western Nepal and North India representing 7.1% of Nepal's total population according to the 2011 Nepal census. The original home of the Magar people was to the west of Gandaki river, and roughly speaking, consisted of that portion of Nepal which lies between and around about Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, and Palpa. This part of the country was divided into twelve districts known as "Bahra Magarat", which included the following regions of that period: Argha, Khanchi, Bhirkot, Dhor, Garhung, Ghiring, Gulmi, Isma, Musikot, Pyung, Rising, Satung, and Pyung. During the medieval period, the whole area from Palpa to Rukum Rolpa was called the "Magarat", a place settled and inhabited by Magars. Another Confederation of Eighteen Magar Kingdoms known as "Athara Magarat" also existed, and was originally inhabited by Kham Magars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sardar</span> Persian-language title of nobility

Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar, is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been used to denote a chief or leader of a tribe or group. It is used as a Persian synonym of the title Emir of Arabic origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Om Prakash Malhotra</span>

General Om Prakash Malhotra,, best known as OP Malhotra, was a senior army officer in the Indian Army who served as the 10th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1978 – 1981. Upon retiring from his military service in India, he served in the Indian Foreign Service when he tenured as the Indian Ambassador to Indonesia 1981-1984, and later served as a political administrator in India as the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh 1990-1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jung Bahadur Rana</span> Former prime minister of Nepal

Jung Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji, belonging to the Kunwar family was a Khas Chhetri ruler of Nepal and founder of the Rana Regime in Nepal. Jung Bahadur took control of the government after killing an alleged usurper Gagan Singh, who was accused of plotting with the junior queen in 1846 to become prime minister by putting the queen's son on the throne. His original name was Bir Narsingh Kunwar but he was popularly known as Jang Bahadur, a name given to him by his maternal uncle Mathabar Singh Thapa. Mathabar Singh Thapa used to call Jang Bahadur Jangay for his boldness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Order of Merit</span>

The Indian Order of Merit (IOM) was a military and civilian decoration of British India. It was established in 1837, although following the Partition of India in 1947 it was decided to discontinue the award and in 1954 a separate Indian honours system was developed, to act retrospectively to 1947. For a long period of time the IOM was the highest decoration that a native member of the British Indian Army could receive and initially it had three divisions. This was changed in 1911 when Indian servicemen became eligible for the Victoria Cross. A civilian division of the IOM also existed between 1902 and 1939, however, it was only conferred very rarely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of British India</span> Award

The Order of British India was an order of merit established in 1837 by the East India Company for "long, faithful and honourable service". The company's powers were removed after the Indian Mutiny, and the Order was incorporated into the British Honours System in 1859. The order became obsolete in 1947, after the partition of British India into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

Chandrika Prasad Srivastava KCMG, ComIH, IAS (Retd.) was an Indian civil servant, international administrator, and diplomat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana</span>

Field Marshal Sir Kaiser Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GBE was a field marshal in the Royal Nepalese Army. He was the third son of Maharaja Sir Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO the fifth Prime Minister of Nepal of the Rana dynasty and Bada Maharani Chandra Loka Bhaktha Rajya Lakshmi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baber Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana</span>

Sir Baber Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, GCVO, GBE, KCSI, KCIE was a member of the Rana dynasty who served as the Minister of Defence of Nepal in 1951. A prominent member of the Rana oligarchy, he fought valiantly in the First World War. He was the second son of Maharaja Sir Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana and Bada Maharani Chandra Loka Bhakta Lakshmi Devi. He was the younger brother of Maharaja Sir Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana and older brother of Field Marshal Sir Kaiser Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana</span> Sri 3 Maharaja of Nepal

Field-Marshal Maharaja Sri Teen Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana was the Prime Minister of Nepal from the Rana dynasty. He served in this capacity from 27 June 1901 to his death in 1929, after he successfully deposed his liberal and reformist brother Dev Shamsher. Although generally perceived as despotic and conservative, he is credited with several reforms including the abolition of slavery and the Nepal-Britain Treaty of 1923, which recognized Nepal as an independent nation and an ally of Britain.

Commander in Chief Kiran Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (1916–1983) was a Nepalese army officer. He served as the Royal Nepalese Army's Commander-in-Chief from 1951–1956 and as the Nepalese ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1973–1977. Over the course of thirty years, he served as Aide-de-camp General to King Tribhuvan, King Mahendra and King Birendra.

The 1909 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 28 June, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII.

The New Year Honours 1909 were appointments by King Edward VII to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were announced on 5 January 1909.

The 1931 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 30 December 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khan Bahadur</span> Award

Khan Bahadur – a compound of khan ('leader') and bahadur ('brave') – was a formal title of respect and honor, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim and other non-Hindu natives of British India. It was one degree higher than the title of Khan Sahib.

The 1935 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on the 28 of December, 1934.

The 1936 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1935.

The New Year Honours 1903, announced at the time as the Durbar Honours, were appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India. The list was announced on the day of the 1903 Delhi Durbar held to celebrate the succession of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as Emperor and Empress of India. The membership of the two Indian Orders were expanded to allow for all the new appointments.

The 1911 Delhi Durbar was held in December 1911 following the coronation in London in June of that year of King George V and Queen Mary. The King and Queen travelled to Delhi for the Durbar. For the occasion, the statutory limits of the membership of the Order of the Star of India and the Order of the Indian Empire were increased and many appointments were made to these and other orders. These honours were published in a supplement to the London Gazette dated 8 December 1911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhir Shumsher Rana</span>

Dhir Shumsher Kunwar after 1848 known as Dhir Shumsher Kunwar Ranaji or Dhir Shumsher Jang Kunwar Ranaji or shortly Dhir Shumsher Rana posthumously known as Dhir Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana was a Nepalese politician, army general and minister of state. He served as the Commander-In-Chief of the Nepalese Army from 1879 to 1884 A.D. He was born in Kunwar family as the youngest son of Kaji Bal Narsingh Kunwar and Ganesh Kumari Thapa, daughter of Kaji Nain Singh Thapa of Thapa dynasty. Dhir Shumsher was the youngest brother of Jang Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji, who rose to premiership of Nepal after the murders of influential persons - Mathabarsingh Thapa and Gagan Singh Bhandari and the incidence of Kot Massacre. Dhir was personally involved in the massacre protecting his nearly slaughtered brother Krishna Bahadur Kunwar Rana. Dhir became military Colonel after the incident. He was in the entourage of Jung Bahadur's visit of Europe in the early 1850s.

References

  1. "The Khukri Chronicles". Outlook India.