Central to unity in Nepal was the figure of poet Bhanubhakta Acharya (18141868), who in the mid-1800s had written a version of the Hindu epic Ramayana in Nepali. Bhanubhakta had been known for writing in Nepali at a time when it was prestigious to write in Sanskrit, since his promotion as the "first" Nepali poet by his biographer Motiram Bhatta in the 1880s; these intellectuals 'rediscovered' him and recast him as a hero of the "Nepali jati'": a unifier along the lines of Prithvi Narayan Shah, but one who used the pen instead of the sword (Onta 1999).

Jati, which can be literally translated as "type" or "kind," was the word used at the time to describe the group of people who identified as Nepali, including high Hindu castes such as Bahuns and Chhetris, ethnic groups such as Magars, Gurungs, Tamangs, and low Hindu castes (Dalits), etc.; in the diaspora in India, all were members of the "Nepali jati," a concept of nation that existed across borders and without reliance on state structures (cf. Malkki 1995).

Thus, including Bhanubhakta in the pantheon of bir heroes made "service to the Nepali language" an act of devotion to one's nation on par with serving in battle. In doing so, it also established a view of poetry, verbal art, and such facility with language as masculine pursuits and talents.