Kaji (Nepal) in the context of "Kingdom of Nepal"

The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (/ˈɡɜːrkə, ˈɡʊər-/), with the endonym Gorkhali (Nepali: गोर्खाली [ɡoɾkʰaːliː]), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India.

The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and (in India) Indian Gorkha, Nepali-speaking Indian people. They are recruited for the Nepali Army (96,000), the Indian Army (42,000), the British Army (4,010), the Gurkha Contingent in Singapore, the Gurkha Reserve Unit in Brunei, and for UN peacekeeping forces and in war zones around the world. Ordinary citizens of the two demographic groups become a Gurkha by applying for, and passing, the selection and training process.

Damodar Pande (Nepali: दामोदर पाँडे) (1752 – March 13, 1804) was the Mulkaji of Nepal (equivalent to Prime Minister of Nepal) from 1803 until March 1804 and the most influential Kaji from 1794 to his execution on March 13, 1804. He is also arguably referred to as the first Prime Minister of Nepal. 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. He was among the successful Gorkhali warriors sent towards the east by Prithivinarayan Shah.

After his execution, Ranajit Pande (who was his paternal cousin) was established as Mulkaji (Chief Kaji), along with Bhimsen Thapa as second Kaji, Sher Bahadur Shah as Mul Chautariya and Ranganath Paudel as Raj Guru (Royal Preceptor).

Bhimsen Thapa (Nepali: भीमसेन थापाlisten (August 1775 – 29 July 1839)) was a Nepalese statesman who served as the Mukhtiyar (equivalent to prime minister) and de facto ruler of Nepal from 1806 to 1837. He is widely known as the longest-serving prime minister of Nepal and was inducted into the "National heroes of Nepal" by King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah.

Born into an ordinary military family in the Gorkha Kingdom, Bhimsen first came close to the Crown Prince Rana Bahadur Shah at an early age in 1785. In 1798, he was recruited as a bodyguard for the King by his father. Thereafter, he rose to influence after helping the exiled ex-King Rana Bahadur Shah engineer his return to power in 1804. In gratitude, Rana Bahadur made Bhimsen a Kaji (equivalent to a minister) of the newly formed government. Rana Bahadur's assassination by his stepbrother Sher Bahadur Shah in 1806 led Bhimsen to initiate investigations into the context in which he ordered the death penalty for ninety-three people popularly known as the 1806 Bhandarkhal massacre, after which he claimed the title of Mukhtiyar (equivalent to prime minister) himself. The death of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah in 1816 at the immature age of 17, with his heir, King Rajendra Bikram Shah being only 3 years old, along with the support from Queen Tripurasundari (the junior queen of Rana Bahadur Shah) allowed him to remain in power even after Nepal's defeat in the Anglo-Nepalese War. After the death of Queen Tripurasundari in 1832, the intrigues of the newly adult King Rajendra, the conspiracies and infightings with the British envoy Brian Houghton Hodgson, Senior Queen Samrajya Laxmi Devi and the rival courtiers (especially the Kala Pandes, who held Bhimsen Thapa responsible for the death of Damodar Pande in 1804) finally led to his imprisonment on false charges of the murder of an infant prince and ultimately his death by suicide in 1839.

The Pande family or Pande dynasty (also spelled as Pandey or Panday) (Nepali: पाँडे वंश/पाँडे काजी खलक; pronounced [paɳɖe] or [pãɽẽ]) was a Chhetri political family with ancestral roots from Gorkha Kingdom that directly ruled Nepali administration affairs from the 16th century to 19th century as Mulkaji and Mukhtiyar (Prime Minister). This dynasty/family was one of the four noble families to be involved in active politics of Nepal together with the Shah dynasty, Basnyat family and Thapa dynasty before the rise of the Rana dynasty. The Pande dynasty is the oldest noble family to hold the title of Kaji. This family was decimated from political power in 1843 CE in the political massacre by Prime Minister Mathabar Singh Thapa as a revenge for his uncle Bhimsen's death in 1839.

The family is descended from nobleman Ganesh Pande of the Gorkha Kingdom. Kalu Pande and Tularam Pande were descendants of Ganesh Pande. Pande dynasty and Thapa dynasty were the two chief political families who alternatively contested for central power in the Nepalese court politics. The Pande family was divided into two sections, Kala Pandes and Gora Pandes, who were always aligned to opposite political factions. The Pande aristocratic family of Gora (White) Pande section was connected to Thapa dynasty through daughter of Chief Kazi Ranajit Pande, Rana Kumari who was married to Kaji General Nain Singh Thapa and to Rana dynasty through Nain Singh's son-in-law Bal Narsingh Kunwar. The Pande family of Kala (Black) Pande section was maritally linked to Basnyat Family through Chitravati Pande who married Kaji Kehar Singh Basnyat.