That same year, Brian Hodgson, who had spent many years in Nepal serving as the Assistant Resident, and who had a good knowledge about Nepal's biodiversity, culture, and politics, became the new British Resident. Although the British Residents were officially instructed to keep out of the internal politics of Nepal, the Resident was courted by both the King as well as the "Mukhtiyar". Hodgson was waiting for an opportunity to exploit the rift between the "Mukhtiyar" and the royal family and begin a more aggressive campaign to increase British influence and trading opportunities. Hodgson also believed the large standing army to be a security threat and that the border tensions could be pacified if the King was directly in control, rather than a "Mukhtiyar" who needed to keep on the right side of the army. By 1834, Hodgson had come to a conclusion that he would not be able to have his way so long as Bhimsen was in control of the Nepalese administration; thus he strongly sympathized with the Pande faction, and he wished to install Fateh Jung Shah, who was more favorably disposed to him, as the "Mukhtiyar". Hodgson reported to the Government of India on the dominance of Bhimsen over the position of the King as: