'Amar Singh Thapa' was the General of the
Nepalese forces of western front in the
Anglo-Nepalese War. He is regarded as one of the
National heroes of Nepal.
His major achievement was the unification of Nepal by annexation of several western principalities like
Jumla,
Doti,
Kumaon,
Garhwal,
Dehradun,
Srinagar and
Kangra, as well the annexation
Palpa to the Kingdom of Nepal.
Amar Singh Thapa served as the Nepalese care taker of the western principalities and protectorates west of the
Mahakali River. He carried out small wars, especially with King of
Punjab,
Ranjit Singh engaged in defending the western fronts of
Nahan,
Chamba,
Almora,
Kangra,
Saharanpur,
Dehradun against his
British counterpart General David Ochterrlony. He was not in favour of the
Sugauli Treaty but of a temporary armistice so that after some time it would have been possible to claim on the Nepalese possessions ceded to the British.
Amar Singh Thapa also Built a temple of the goddess
Ganga in the early 18th century. The town of
Gangotri in
Uttarakhand,
India is centred around this temple. To this day, it is one of the four sites in the
Char Dham pilgrimage circuit, the most important
Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the
Indian Himalayas.
Amar Singh Thapa voluntarily retired and died on his pilgrimage to
Gosaikunda.