Gautam Banerjee

When Job Charnock established Calcutta, now called Kolkata, as the British trading post in 1686 he was cursed by everyone, from his soldiers to his subordinates for choosing this shithole, humid, mosquito-infested thickly forested swampland as a base.
But Charnok's interest was the strategy. The Nawab of Bengal would never be able to successfully launch a land attack through the swamp. And, a waterborne attack with the British ships on guard was impossible. While the British sweated in their woollen frock coat and Charnok smoked a hookah under the shade of Banyan tree in Kurta pyjama as an old painting depicts, little did anyone realise that in 200 years this shithole would be the second greatest city of the British Empire after London.

British India Capital
As the capital of British India till 1911AD, the city provided a strange attraction for the Nepalese, both aristocrats and commoners, the chief reason being its closeness to Nepal. While the capital moved to Delhi after 1911, Calcutta continued to retain its clout.
It was a must-visit place for every Rana Prime Minister. Jung Bahadur Rana used the city as a transit stop to board the ship while going to and returning from Europe. For others, the excuse was medical treatment. Bishnu Sumshere used it as a pretext to board the steamer from Calcutta to London for his great escape and Ran Jung Rana decided to convert to Christianity and settle down here bidding farewell to Nepal forever.
In the late 19th century India the general impression of an average Indian about Nepal was that it was an immensely wealthy nation, though secluded. The Ranas fuelled this impression to the hilt. The jewelled headdress of the prime minister, their lifestyle and lavish shopping did raise a lot of eyebrows and awe among the commoner. Shopping for Jewels and ornaments, bars and nightclubs plus the horse racing gambling was a fatal attraction to the Ranas visiting Calcutta.
In 1893 AD, Bir Sumshere visited Calcutta to meet Lord Lansdowne. His purchase of two diamonds, one 96 carat square and the other 84-carat oval-shaped was the talk of the town. These diamonds were later gifted to his children. Daughter Kirti Dibyeswori married to King Prithvi was given 96 carats and her son Gehendra received 84 carats. He also donated a diamond third eye to the Kali in Kalighat temple which is still displayed on special occasions.
Prime Minister Bhim Sumshere likewise donated a golden tongue to the Kali at Kalighat in 1931.
Years later Bir Shumshere's son Tej Sumshere aka Sano Hajur would spend about Rs. 3 million on his Calcutta trip when he had gone for the medical treatment of his wife, Dibya Rajya Lakshmi. They were accompanied by a retinue of 200 staffs and besides shopping and sightseeing trip, he would hire a whole movie hall for three hours to watch movies with his staffs.
Others like Bal Krishna Sama who went to Calcutta to appear for his matriculation exam travelled low key with three servants and staying in a rented room in North Calcutta which was a cheap area by comparison. He spent his time studying for his examination and avoided the high life partly due to financial constraints.
Calcutta was also for the talented ones. Singers like Ustad Badri and Melwa Devi cut their first discs from here. Melwa later settled down in Calcutta and ran a music school. Nara SJBR honed his soccer skills on the football grounds of Calcutta while Dharma Bhakta learned weightlifting skills.

Deposed Rana Bastion
After 1934, Calcutta became the assembling point for the deposed high ranking Ranas. The city became a refuge for the exiled and disgruntled Ranas. Mahavir Sumshere and Suvarna Sumshere invested in business here. The real estate in a prime location, cinema halls, and other investments increased their wealth. In the meanwhile, the Rana regime felt secured in Kathmandu as they were confident that the friendly British Government would never allow any anti-Nepal movement from the soil of British India.
The year 1947 arrived and with the independence of India, the whole scenario took a 360-degree turn. Calcutta was once again in news but for a different reason. It became the focal point of the anti-Rana movement, financed by the deposed Ranas itching for revenge.
Mahavir Sumshere had started an airline by the name of Himalayan Aviation with a logo of crossed khukuri retaining the flavour of his homeland. It was this DC 3 aircraft that was used to ferry arms to the Congress fighters and drop anti- Rana leaflets in Kathmandu on Laxmi Puja day. The Rana regime ended in 1950 but Calcutta would still be in limelight.

Bharat Shumshere
Another colourful Rana took over the scene. Bharat Sumshere Rana aka Panati Hajur, the great-grandson of Chandra, would re-knot the Rana-Calcutta link.
Educated in Bombay, Bharat Sumshere was offered a ministerial post by his grand-uncle Mohun Sumshere. After the Rana regime collapsed he was imprisoned by the interim government for pro-Rana subversive activities. His followers broke the jail walls and freed him.
He was a gifted orator and the 1958 election saw his party Gorkha Dal winning the largest number of seats after the Nepali Congress and Bharat Sumshere was elected as the leader of the opposition at the age of 31. In 1960, when the elected government was overthrown by King Mahendra, Bharat Sumshere was jailed along with other leaders. After six months in prison, he negotiated his freedom by signing a bond that he would not take part in any anti-Panchayat activities and he was set free.
Bharat Sumshere then landed up in Calcutta on the ground of medical treatment. From Calcutta, he issued a stern anti-Panchayat statement. He then unified his party with the Nepali Congress. The then Panchayat government reciprocated by issuing an arrest warrant if he ever touched the soil of Nepal. His planning of the Okhaldhunga attack was a failure but he continued on the anti-Panchayat rhetoric and activities alive in Calcutta.
Bharat Sumshere was probably the only Rana who captured the heart of the Bengali masses particularly because of his profession as a producer of Bengali movies. He produced several super-hit Bengali movies and became a popular figure among film buffs.
He also produced Seemabaddha, an International award-winning movie directed by Satyajit Ray, thus securing the Bengali intellectual support in a single stroke. He later dabbled in story and screenplay writing plus direction in which he again tasted success.

Colourful
His ban on the Nepal visit continued and he stepped on the Nepali soil after the successful people's movement in 1990 that overthrew the Panchayat system. In his early sixties, he refused the post of speaker of the Upper House offered to him by Girija Prasad Koirala. He handed the post to Beni Bahadur Karki instead. He went back to Calcutta, a city that had given him both fame and wealth. And, while he dropped in at Kathmandu from time to time, he chose to avoid active politics.
Bharat Sumshere passed away in Calcutta at the age of 90 in 2018 and with his demise ended the mystic link of the city with the Ranas. He was the last of that colourful breed who had witnessed the height of Rana rule during their lifetime and saw so much in a short life span. The Rana-Calcutta link has now become history and only memory of that link lingers now.

(Banerjee is a travel trade entrepreneur and has a keen interest in Nepali history)