Gyanendra of Nepal

Gyanendra Shah (born 7 July 1947) is the final monarch of Nepal, ruled from 2001 until 2008, when the monarchy was overthrown. He briefly held the throne as a child between 1950 and 1951, when his grandfather Tribhuvan and his family fled to India for political reasons. His second reign, which began following the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre, was characterised by constitutional upheaval.

His brother, King Birendra, established a constitutional monarchy and delegated policy to a representative government. During Gyanendra's reign, the growing insurgency of the Nepalese Civil War disrupted representative elections. Following several election delays, Gyanendra suspended the constitution and assumed direct authority in February 2005, claiming that it was a temporary measure to suppress the Maoist insurgency after civil governments failed to do so. In April 2006, despite widespread opposition, he restored Nepal's previous parliament. He was deposed two years later by the first session of the Constituent Assembly, which declared the country the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and ended the 240-year-old Shah dynasty.