authority over Palpa and adjacent Terai, he built the Amar Narayan temple at Tansen in the hills above Butwal in 1807. Legacy Bada Kaji Amar Singh is often hailed as Living Lion of Nepal due to his fighting prowess, greater leadership and patriotism. British Historian Hamilton drew comparisons of him with the ancient Carthaginian General Hannibal. A popular patriotic quote in the Nepalese history is attributed to him: The letter from the central government of Nepal held the praises of Kaji Amar Singh in the letters to other civil and military officers including provincial governors: The village of Amaragadhi in western Nepal is named for him. There is a Khukuri sword named after him called Amar Singh Thapa Khukuri. This Khukuri is modeled on the real Khukuri used by him. The real Khukuri used by Amar Singh is archived at National Museum of Nepal and is more curvy in nature than other traditional Khukuris. Descendants Amar Singh was married to Dharmabati. Nepali historian Surya Bikram Gyawali contends that he had 9 sons namely: Surbir, Randhoj, Ran Singh, Ranjor, Bhakta Bir, Ram Das, Narsingh, Arjun Singh and Bhupal. He further states that all the sons of Amar Singh contributed to the unification of Nepal. Amar Singh had ten sons from four wives as per the Thapa genealogy: Ranabir, Ranasur, Ranadhoj, Ranabhim, Ranajor, Bhaktabir, Ramdas, Narsingh, Arjun Singh, and Bhupal Singh. The Office of the Nepal Antiquary also mentions sons of Amar Singh as Ranajor, Bhaktavir, Ramdas, Ranasur, Ranabir, Arjun, Narsingh and Bhupal. The genealogical table produced by Nepali historian Kumar Pradhan shows the sons of Bada Amar Singh as - Ranadhoj, Bhaktabir, Narsingh, Ramdas and Ranajor, all of whom were Kaji at some point. His grandsons through daughter Ambika Devi and son-in-law Chandravir Kunwar were Birbhadra Kunwar, a military commander in Kumaunand Balabhadra Kunwar, a national hero of the Battle of Nalapani. Nepali movie director, Sunil Thapa, who is married to popular Nepali actress Jharana Thapa, is an eighth patrilineal descendant of Bada Kaji Amar Singh making their daughter Nepali actress Suhana Thapa a ninth descendant. Gallery Notes References Sources 1751 births 1816 deaths Bagale Thapa Gurkhas National heroes of Nepal Nepalese generals Nepalese military personnel People from Gorkha District People of the Anglo-Nepalese War People of the Nepalese unification Thapa Kaji Nepalese Hindus Khas people