Bhimsen Thapa

"Through the influence of your good fortune, and that of your ancestors, no one has yet been able to cope with the state of Nepal. The Chinese once made war upon us, but were reduced to seek peace. How then will the English be able to penetrate into the hills? Under your auspices, we shall by our own exertions be able to oppose to them a force of fifty-two lakhs of men, with which we will expel them. The small fort of Bhurtpoor was the work of man, yet the English being worsted before it, desisted from the attempt to conquer it; our hills and fastnesses are formed by the hand of God, and are impregnable. I therefore recommend the prosecution of hostilities. We can make peace afterwards on such terms as may suit our convenience."

"If Tibetans and Firangis [i.e. foreigners or, in the contemporary context, Englishmen] meet and trade with each other, our ryots and traders will lose their employment and result will not be good."

"...irrespective of castes, creeds or position in the society, all are same in the eyes of law."

"Thus, has perished, the great and able statesman who for more than thirty years had ruled this kingdom with more than regal sway, just two years after his sudden fall from power in 1837-prior to which event the uniform success of nearly all his measures had been no less remarkable than the energy and sagacity which so much promoted that success. He was indeed a man born to exercise dominion over his fellows alike by the means of his command and of persuasion. Nor am I aware of any native statesman of recent times, except Ranjit Singh, who is, all things considered, worthy to be compared with the late General Bhim Sen of Nepal."

"If I die the nation will not die, but if Bhimsen dies the nation will collapse."

"Nepal is Bhimsen and Bhimsen is Nepal."

"Bhimsen was the only man in Asia who braved to protest submission to colonists."

"His was a life of contrast and no Greek tragedy has ever presented a more dramatic catastrophe than his fearful end."

"He was the first Nepalese statesman who grasped the meaning of the system of protectorate which Lord Wellesley had carried out in India. He saw one native state after another came within the net of British Subsidiary Alliance and his policy was steadily directed to save Nepal from similar fate."

"....at thirty-seven he was tall, his figure spare, his countenance animated. His eyes revealed quick inteligence."

"He did not succeed in 1814-16 war with the British, but the Thapas love him nonetheless because he tried so hard to control those pesky imperialists, overseeing military battles and negotiating treaties himself while trying to beat down Hodgson."