Kalu Pande

Kaji Kalu Paandey
श्री काजी कालु पाण्डे
Kaji Kalu Pandey
Chief of Nepal Army
Preceded by	Biraj Thapa Magar, Maheshwar Panta
Succeeded by	Abhiman Singh Basnet
Personal details
Born	Banshidhar Pandey (वंशिधर पाण्डे) 1713 A.D. Gorkha District, Nepal
Died	1757 A.D. Kirtipur
Nationality	Nepali
Children	Bamsa Raj Pandey, Ranashur Pandey, Damodar Pandey
Father	Kaji Bhimraj Pandey
Religion	Hindu, Kshetri
Military service
Battles/wars	Battle of Kirtipur, Unification of Nepal

Kalu Pande(Nepali:कालु पाण्डे) was born in 1713 A.D in Gorkha. He was the commander of the gorkhali forces during the Unification Campaign of Nepal. He died in the first Battle of Kirtipur in 1757 A.D. His real name was Banshidhar Pande. He was a son of Kaji Bhimraj Pande who was minister during reign of King Prithivipati Shah of Gorkha. He was descendent of Minister of Gorkha and Dravya Shah's accomplice Ganesh Pandey. He had three sons: Dewan Kajisaheb Bamsa Raj Pandey, Sardar Ranasur Pandey and Mulkaji Sahib Damodar Pande (1st PM of Nepal).

Kalu Pande was made the Commander-in-Chief of the Gorkhali Army after Biraj Thapa Magar and his first major Battle was the Battle of Kirtipur. Despite his initial resentment that the valley kings were well prepared and the Gorkhalis were not, Pande gave an 'Yes' to the operation on being insisted from Prithvi Narayan. The Gorkhalis had set up a base on Naikap, a hill on the valley's western rim, from where they were to mount their assaults on Kirtipur. They were armed with swords, bows and arrows and muskets.

The Valley Kings brought a large number of Doyas from Indian Plains under Shaktiballabh sardar. During the first assault in 1757, the Gorkhali army killed 1200 enemies, mostly Doyas, but were badly beaten themselves. Both sides suffered heavy losses. As they advanced towards Kirtipur, the combined force of Valley Kings under Kaji Gangadhar Jha, Kaji Gangaram Thapa and Sardar Shaktiballabh brought Havoc to the outnumbered Gorkhalis. The two forces fought on the plain of Tyangla Phant in the northwest of Kirtipur. Surapratap Shah, the King's brother lost his right eye to an arrow while scaling the city wall. The Gorkhali commander Kaji Kalu Pande was surrounded and killed, and the Gorkhali king himself barely escaped with his life into the surrounding hills disguised as a saint.