Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was King of Nepal from 1955 to 1972.Mahendra was born 11 June 1920 to King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. He is Son of King Tribhuvan of Nepal and Queen Kanti of Nepal.Mahendra was crowned on 2 May 1956.He succeeded Tribhuvan as King of Nepal. On 15 December 1960 he suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament, dismissed the cabinet, imposed direct rule and imprisoned then prime minister Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala and his closest government colleagues.Mahendra instituted a Panchayat hierarchical system of village, district and national councils, a variant of guided democracy. He pursued a foreign policy of neutrality between China and India.
