Damodar Pandey

Mulkaji Saheb Damodar Pandey
श्री मूलकाजी साहेब दामोदर पाण्डे
portrait of Damodar Pande
Mukhtiyar of Nepal
Mulkaji
In office 1799 A.D. – 1804 A.D.
Monarch	Rana Bahadur Shah
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Bhimsen Thapa
Commander-in-Chief
Preceded by	Kirtiman Singh Basnyat
Succeeded by	Bhimsen Thapa, Amar Singh Thapa
Personal details
Born	1752 A.D.
Died	1804 A.D.
Nationality	Nepali
Children	Rana Jang Pandey
Father	Kalu Pande
Religion	Hindu, Kshetri

Damodar Pande (Nepali: दामोदर पाँडे वा दामोदर पाण्डे) (1752 – March 13, 1804) was the Mukhtiyar from 1799 to 1804. He was the youngest son of famous Kaji of Prithivi Narayan Shah Kalu Pande. He was born in 1752 in Gorkha. Damodar Pande was one of the commanders during the Sino-Nepalese War and in Nepal-Tibet War. And he was among successful Gorkhali warriors sent towards the east by Prithivinarayan Shah.

Rana Bahadur Shah, the King of Nepal from 1777 to 1799, was shocked and saddened by the death of his mistress in 1799. Owing to his irrational behavior, he was forced to resign by the citizens. He left the throne to his one and half year old son Girvan Yuddha Shah and fled to Banaras along with his followers like Bhimsen Thapa, Dalbhanjan Pande and his wife, the queen Rajrajeshwori.

Damodar Pande took over the administration and became the Mukhtiyar of Nepal. He always tried to protect king Girvan Yuddha Shah and keep Rana Bahadur off of Nepal. However, in 1804, March 4, the former king came back and took over the post of Mukhtiyar. Damodar Pande was then beheaded and killed in Thankot.

After Rajrajeshowri took over the regency, she was pressured by Knox to pay the annual pension of 82,000 rupees to the ex-King as per the obligations of the treaty, which paid off the vast debt that Rana Bahadur Shah had accumulated in Varanasi due to his spendthrift habits. The Nepalese court also felt it prudent to keep Rana Bahadur in isolation in Nepal itself, rather than in the British controlled India, and that paying off Rana Bahadur's debts could facilitate his return at an opportune moment. Rajrajeshowri's presence in Kathmandu also stirred unrest among the courtiers that aligned themselves around her and Subarnaprabha. Sensing an imminent hostility, Knox aligned himself with Subarnaprabha and attempted to interfere with the internal politics of Nepal. Getting a wind of this matter, Rajrajeshowri dissolved the government and elected new ministers, with Damodar Pande as the mul kaji, while the Resident Knox, finding himself persona non grata and the objectives of his mission frustrated, voluntarily left Kathmandu to reside in Makwanpur citing a cholera epidemic. Subarnaprabha and the members of her faction were arrested.