Bhinda Swari Shah, Nepal’s first female ambassador, passed away at her residence on Thursday morning. She was 92.

She made history in 1988 when she became Nepal’s first female ambassador to India through the foreign service. The then King Birendra Shah appointed her as Nepal’s ambassador to India. After her tenure as envoy to India, she served briefly as the additional secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before retiring. Bhinda Swari is also the mother of banker Anil Keshary Shah.

Born in 1933 in Kurseong, India, Bhinda Swari was the daughter of Padma Sundar Malla, who was forced into exile due to the actions of the then Rana Prime Minister, Chandra Shumsher. Padma Sundar pursued his education in electrical engineering, earning his undergraduate degree in Japan and completing his postgraduate degree at the University of Mississippi in 1922. His achievements were met with humiliation, as the Rana government stripped him of his caste for furthering his education.

In an interview with Kantipur Daily, the Post’s sister publication, banker Anil Keshary Shah shared, “My grandfather was the first Nepali to pursue a postgraduate degree in the US. The Rana government stripped him of his caste, labelling him as overly educated.”

Unable to endure the mistreatment, Padma Sundar relocated to Kurseong, Darjeeling, where Bhinda Swari attended St. Helen’s School. In 1951, after completing her undergraduate degree, she participated in a competition to select the top 100 writers from around the world for a visit to the US. She was selected and received a congratulatory letter three months later.

In 1952, Bhinda Swari travelled to the US, where she explored various places. She graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts from Barnard College at Columbia University in 1956, becoming the first Nepali woman to earn a degree from an American college. Two years later, she earned a master’s degree in international affairs from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.

After returning to Nepal, Bhinda Swari worked as the chief librarian at the American Library in New Road. She entered the foreign service after passing the civil service exam and worked at the Nepali embassy in Washington, D.C., while Matrika Prasad Koirala was the ambassador to the US.

Following the independence of Bangladesh, King Birendra appointed her to Dhaka to establish diplomatic relations. Even during the military coup and the assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bhinda Swari remained in Bangladesh until the conclusion of her tenure in 1976.