Gyanendra of Nepal

Shree Panch Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (born 7 July 1947) is the former King of Nepal and the last monarch of Kingdom of Nepal. He ascended the throne on 4 June 2001 following the royal massacre and reigned until 28 May 2008, when the monarchy was abolished and the democratic republic was proclaimed. He had previously reigned from 7 November 1950 to 7 January 1951, when the Rana regime declared him king at the age of three after his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, and the royal family fled to India. His brief reign ended with Tribhuvan's restoration to the throne.

During the reign of his elder brother, King Birendra, King Gyanendra served as chairman of his father, King Mahendra' s Trust for Nature Conservation.

King Gyanendra's second reign, which began as a result of the Nepalese royal massacre, was characterised by constitutional upheaval. The growing insurgency of the Nepalese Civil War disrupted representative elections. Following several election delays, King Gyanendra suspended the constitution and assumed direct rule in February 2005, claiming that it was a temporary measure to suppress the Maoist insurgency after civilian governments failed to do so. In April 2006, facing widespread opposition, he restored Nepal's previous parliament. Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord between the government and the Maoists, he was deposed two years later by the first session of the Constituent Assembly, which declared a republic and ended the 240-year rule of the Shah dynasty.