Lakhimadevi ( Maithili: लखीमादेवी) was the queen of the

Mithila Kingdom Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy ...

in Oiniwar Dynasty during the period of the King Shivasimha in the kingdom. She was contemporary of the prominent Maithili poet

Vidyapati Vidyapati ( – 1448), also known by the sobriquet ''Maithil Kavi Kokil'' (the poet cuckoo of Maithili), was a Maithili and Sanskrit polymath-poet-saint, playwright, composer, biographer, philosopher, law-theorist, writer, courtier and ...

. She was the wife of the King Shivasimha in Mithila. After the missing and death of the King Shivasimha, the queen took control of the Mithila Kingdom. The Mithila Kingdom was also known as Tirhut Kingdom those days. She was the eighth ruler in the Oiniwar Dynasty of the kingdom. The history of the queen Lakhimadevi is elaborated in the text ''Purushapariksha'' composed by the

Maithil Maithils (Devanagari: मैथिल), also known as Maithili people, are an Indo-Aryan cultural and ethno-linguistic group from the Indian subcontinent, who speak the Maithili language as their native language. They inhabit the Mithila regio ...

scholar

. She is much praised by the Maithil scholar Vidyapati in his compositions. He has written about the queen Lakhimadevi as a praise in his text quoted She is also known as ''Lakshmi Devi''. The poet Vidyapati in his poems had emotionally described the queen as the form of

Goddess Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

. In some historical texts, her name is also mentioned as ''Lakhima Thakurani'' or ''Rani Lakhima Thakurain''.

Early life

Lakhimadevi was born in a

Maithil Brahmin Maithil Brahmins are the Indo-Aryan Hindu Brahmin community originating from the Mithila region and original inhabitants of Southern Nepal and bordering regions of India that comprises Madhesh Province & some areas of Koshi Province in Nepal ...

family in the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothil ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Later life

Lakhimadevi was married to the King Shivasimha of the Oiniwar Dynasty in Mithila. After the marriage, she became the chief queen of the Mithila Kingdom. According to historians, she was a scholarly woman and well versed about the knowledge of administrative matters of a kingdom. She was also a poetess. She is considered as one of prominent ''Vibhutis'' in the

. Due to her poetic talent, she is also identified as ''Mahakavi'' in the region. It is said that when the Mughal emperor arrested the King Sivasimha of Mithila, then the King said to his Rajpandita Vidyapati to flew his wife Lakhimadevi into the neighbouring kingdom

Raj Banauli Raj Banauli ( Maithili: राज बनौली) or ''Banauli Raj'' was a small kingdom in the Mithila region of the Indian Subcontinent during the 14th - 15th century CE. It was ruled by ''Dronwara Dynasty'' . ''Puraditya'' of Dronwara Dynasty ...

of his friend ''Dronwara Puraditya''. Then the poet Vidyapati along with Maharani Lakhimadevi came to the kingdom of Raj Banauli and took asylum at the court of the King Dronwara Puraditya.

Rule

In the asylum at the court of Raj Banauli, Maharani Lakhimadevi took control on the throne of King Shivasimha by the help of the ''Rajpandita'' Vidyapati. According to historians, ''Maharani Lakhimadevi'' ruled the Mithila Kingdom in the absence of King Shivasimha from the court of

Banauli Vidyapati Dih Banauli Vidyapati Dih () is a historical place related to the great Maithili poet Vidyapati. It is located at Banauli Donauli, Banauli village of Mahottari District, Mahottari district in Madhesh Province, Madhesh Pradesh of Mithila (region), M ...

for 12 years. The time period of the regime of Maharani Lakhimadevi was from 1416 CE to 1428 CE. The Rajpandita Vidyapati became her political advisor and helped her in the matters of administration of the ''Tirhut Sarkar''. The Maithil historian ''Makhan Jha'' in his book ''Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms'', described the queen Lakhimadevi of progressive nature. Maharani Lakhimadevi criticized the ''Bikaua'' system marriage of women prevalent in the Maithil society those days. In the Bikaua system, a large number of women of lower grade section were married to a single man of higher grade section in the same caste. The women married to the Bikaua man had to live with their own parents. The word Bikaua was used for the man whom several women were married. This system of marriage was practiced in order to raise own social status of the lower grade family. But this system had a serious problem that after the death of the Bikaua man, a large number of women were becoming widows. Therefore, Maharani Lakhimadevi criticized the Bikaua system and tried to eradicate it from the society.

Legacy

Maharani Lakhimadevi is one the important figures in the legendary as well as historical stories of the mediaeval

. She is also an important character in the literature of the

Maithili language Maithili ( , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of India and Nepal. It is native to the Mithila region, which encompasses parts of the eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as Nepal's Koshi Province, Koshi and Madhesh P ...

. There are several historical places named after her name in the

of the Indian subcontinent. In the Himalayan nation

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, there is a historical pond called as ''Lakshmi Sagar'' near the Vidyapati Dih in the Banauli Danauli village of the

Mahottari district Mahottari District (, ), a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Jaleshwar as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 553,481 in 2001 ...

in the Mithila region. The historical pond was named after the name of the ''Maharani Lakhimadevi'' of the Mithila Kingdom.

References

{{Authority control Indian queens regnant 15th-century queens regnant Indian Hindu monarchs History of Mithila 15th-century Indian women

Early life

Later life

Rule

Legacy

See also

References