Gyanendra of Nepal

Gyanendra Of Nepal

Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Nepali: ज्ञानेन्द्र वीर बिक्रम शाह देव; Jñānendra Vīra Bikrama Śāh) (born 7 July 1947) is the deposed King of Nepal.

During his life, he has held the title of the King twice: first between 1950 and 1951 as a child when his grandfather Tribhuvan was forced into exile in India with the rest of his family; and from 2001 to 2008, following the Nepalese royal massacre.

King Gyanendra's second reign was marked by constitutional turmoil. His predecessor King Birendra had established a constitutional monarchy in which he delegated policy to a representative government. The growing insurgency of the Nepalese Civil War during King Gyanendra's reign interfered with elections of representatives. After several delays in elections, King Gyanendra suspended the constitution and assumed direct authority in February 2005, assuring that it would be a temporary situation to suppress the Maoist insurgency. In the face of broad opposition, he restored the previous parliament in April 2006. His reign ended approximately two years later, when the Nepalese Constituent Assembly declared Nepal an interim republic pending promulgation of a constitution and stripped the King of all titles and duties.