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The King of Nepal was Nepal's head of state and monarch from 1768 to 2008. He served as the head of the Nepalese monarchy — Shah Dynasty. The King was addressed as His Royal Majesty.
The Kingdom of Nepal was founded on 25 September 1768 by a Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha king who succeeded in unifying the kingdoms of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur into a single state under his Shah dynasty. The Kingdom suffered a major defeat in the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–16) against the British East India Company. The Treaty of Sugauli was signed in 1816, ceding large parts of the Nepali territories of Terai and Sikkim, (nearly one third of the country), to the British, in exchange for Nepalese autonomy. From 1846 until 1951, the country was de facto ruled by the hereditary Prime Ministers from the Rana dynasty, reducing the role of the Shah monarch to that of a figurehead. The Kingdom of Nepal was an absolute monarchy for most of its history. In November 1990, after the Jana Andolan movement, the new Constitution was adopted and the country became a constitutional monarchy. On 13 February 1996, the Nepalese Civil War was launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), with the aim of overthrowing the kingdom and establishing a 'People's Republic'. On 1 June 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra went on a shooting spree and murdered his father, King Birendra, his mother Queen Aishwarya, and several other members of the royal family. Afterwards, he shot himself. Immediately after the massacre, Dipendra was proclaimed king while in a coma, but he died on 4 June 2001, after a three-day reign. His uncle, Prince Gyanendra, was appointed regent for the three days, then ascended the throne himself after Dipendra died. On 1 February 2005, as the security situation deteriorated in the civil war, King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency, suspended the Constitution and assumed direct control over the country. On 24 April 2006, after the Loktantra Andolan movement, the king agreed to give up absolute power and to reinstate the dissolved House of Representatives. On 21 November 2006, the Civil War ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord. On 15 January 2007, the King was suspended from exercising his duties by the newly formed interim legislature. Finally, on 28 May 2008, the kingdom was officially abolished by the Constituent Assembly and Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal was declared. The subnational monarchies in Mustang, Bajhang, Salyan, and Jajarkot were also abolished in October 2008.
LIST OF KINGS OF NEPAL (by reign time):
1. Prithvi Narayan Shah 25 September 1768 - 11 January 1775
2. Pratap Singh Shah 11 January 1775 - 17 November 1777
3. Rana Bahadur Shah 17 November 1777 - 8 March 1799
4. Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah 8 March 1799 - 20 November 1816
5. Rajendra Bikram Shah 20 November 1816 - 12 May 1847
6. Surendra Bikram Shah 12 May 1847 - 17 May 1881
7. Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah 17 May 1881 - 11 December 1911
8. Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah 11 December 1911 - 7 November 1950 and 7 January 1951 - 13 March 1955
9. Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah 7 November 1950 - 7 January 1951 and 4 June 2001 - 28 May 2008
10. Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah 14 March 1955 - 31 January 1972
11. Birendra Bir Bikram Shah 31 January 1972 - 1 June 2001
12. Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah 1 June 2001 - 4 June 2001