BIRENDRA BIR BIKRAM SHAH DEV

born Dec. 28, 1945, Kathmandu, Nepal king of Nepal since 1972, 10th in the line of monarchs in the Shah Dev family. Son of the crown prince (later, from 1955, king) Mahendra, Birendra was educated at St. Joseph's College (Darjeeling, India), Eton College (England), Tokyo University (1967), and Harvard University (196768) and traveled extensively all around the world before acceding to the throne on his father's death on Jan. 31, 1972. (He was crowned on Feb. 24, 1975.) Birendra continued the autocratic tradition of his father, who had dissolved the elected parliament in 1960 and banned political parties in the constitution of 1962; indeed, for a time, Birendra was one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchs. Internationally he managed to maintain Nepal's independence despite encroaching influences by India, China, and the Soviet Union. During his reign Nepal was opened up to extensive tourism. Beginning early in 1990, a popular prodemocracy movement led to demonstrations that erupted into bloody riots between the soldiers and police and the demonstrators. Submitting to the pressures, Birendra on April 8 at last lifted the ban on political activity, and on November 9 he put his seal on a new constitution that preserved his status as chief of state but confirmed multiparty democracy, a separation of powers, and the protection of human rights.