Thapa Thar
थापा
Nepali Chhetri
At a glance
- Called a
- Thar
- Community
- Nepali Chhetri
- Found in
- Nepal, Gorkha, Karnali
About
Thapa is one of the large thar of the Khas Chhetri of Nepal. The name is tied to a warrior rank of the medieval Khasa kingdom in the Karnali region. The Bagale Thapa of Gorkha supplied Bhimsen Thapa and Mathabar Singh Thapa, who led the Nepali state in the early 19th century. This page is the Khas Chhetri Thapa; the Thapa of the Magar community are a different line with the same surname.
What “Thar” means for the Nepali Chhetri
Thar is the Nepali word for the clan or family name that Chhetri, Bahun and other Nepali families carry as a surname. Thapa is a thar that holds many separate sub-clans (Bagale, Godar, Lamichhane and others), and the sources give these different Vedic gotras, so the thar does not name one gotra.
Name and Origin
Scholars of the Khasa kingdom (Adhikary 1997) list thapa among the military ranks of the medieval Khasa state of the Karnali region, beside khadka, rana and budha, all of which became family names. 'Warrior' is the gloss usually given for it. The Bagale Thapa family history, the Bagale Thapa Vamsawali republished by Yogi Naraharinath, names a King Kalu Thapa Kshatri as the forefather of the Bagale branch; this is the family's own account, and the sources read give no independent confirmation of it.
Historical Journey
The Thapa Kaji, the Thapa families who held the court title kaji (administrator), were among the four noble families that ran Gorkhali and Nepali politics and the army before the Ranas, with the Shahs, Pandes and Basnyats. Bhimsen Thapa of the Bagale Thapa was the most powerful minister of the Nepali state from 1806 to 1837 and died in 1839 (Pradhan 2012, Thapa Politics in Nepal). His relative Amar Singh Thapa commanded the Nepali forces in the west during the Anglo-Nepal War of 1814 to 1816, and his nephew Mathabar Singh Thapa was prime minister in the 1840s and was killed in 1845. Thapa power at court ended with the killing of Mathabar Singh in 1845 and the Rana takeover of 1846. Thapa families are today spread across Nepal and carry many sub-clan names, so two Thapas are not necessarily kin.
How the Thar Is Kept
The sources read list the Thapa sub-clans by Vedic gotra: Bagale Thapa are given Aatreya (Hamal 1995), Godar Thapa Kashyap and Lamichhane Thapa Garga, among others, so a family should confirm its sub-clan and gotra from its own priest or records rather than from the surname. Because the thar is shared by sub-clans with different gotras, no single gotra is set on this page.
Presence Across Regions
Gorkha
Nepali Chhetri
The home of the Bagale Thapa family of the Gorkhali court, from which came Bhimsen Thapa and Mathabar Singh Thapa.
Karnali region, western Nepal
Nepali Chhetri
The area of the medieval Khasa kingdom, where the scholarly accounts place the military rank that became the name.
Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
Pahari Rajput
Thapa is also found in the western Himalaya, where the families are counted as Pahari Rajput (People of India: Uttar Pradesh, as cited in the Thapa Kaji article).
Magar homeland (Gulmi, Palpa, Rukum, Rolpa)
Nepali Magar
Thapa is also a clan of the Magar community, which has its own origin and its own page on this site.
Notable Personalities
Amar Singh Thapa
c. 1751 to 1816
Nepali commander in the west during the Anglo-Nepal War of 1814 to 1816; a Bagale Thapa documented in Pradhan (2012) and Regmi (1995).
Bhimsen Thapa
1775 to 1839
Leading minister of the Nepali state from 1806 to 1837 and the first to hold the post later called prime minister; subject of Pradhan, Thapa Politics in Nepal (2012).
Mathabar Singh Thapa
1798 to 1845
Nephew of Bhimsen Thapa and prime minister of Nepal in the 1840s; killed in 1845, and the maternal uncle of Jung Bahadur Rana.