Rajya Lakshmi Devi ( Nepali राज्यलक्ष्मी देवी) (ca. 1814 – before 1900) was a queen consort of

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 ...

as the junior wife of King Rajendra of Nepal. In 1843, Queen Rajya Lakshmi was made the queen regent and co-regent of her husband. Queen Rajya Lakshmi wanted to have her son, Prince Ranendra, to be crowned the next king instead of her stepson Surendra Bikram Shah. She was somewhat responsible for the

Kot massacre The Kot massacre () took place on 14 September 1846 when then Kaji Jang Bahadur Kunwar and his brothers killed about 30-40 civil officials, military officers and palace guards of the Nepalese palace court including the Prime Minister of Nepal ...

in 1846, which initiated the 104-year rule of the Rana dynasty in Nepal.

Early life and background

Rajya Lakshmi Devi was born around 1814. She was from Gorakpur,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Queen of Nepal

She was married to King Rajendra on February 5, 1824. They had two sons, Ranendra and Birendra. Queen Rajya Lakshmi was described as ambitious for power. Her husband was usually described as an incapable ruler, and his senior wife, Queen Samrajya, was the de facto regent from 1839 to 1841. After her death in 1841, Queen Rajya Lakshmi was the de facto regent, and in 1843, she was officially made the Queen regent. Rajya Lakshmi wanted her own son, Prince Ranendra, to become the next king.

Jung Bahadur Kunwar Jung Bahadur Rana, , was born Bir Narsingh Kunwar (1817-1877). His mother, Ganesh Kumari, was the daughter of Kaji (Nepal), Kaji Nain Singh Thapa, the brother of Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa from the prominent Thapa dynasty. During his lifetime, Jung B ...

might have promised to help her, but in doing this, he had his own motives.

Kot massacre

Gagan Singh Bhandari {{no footnotes, date=January 2020 General Gagan Singh Bhandari (Nepali: गगनसिंह भंडारी) (1796–1846) was a Nepalese General. He was born in a Chettri family of Gorkha Kingdom. He was the commander-in-chief of the most p ...

, a favorite of Queen Rajya Lakshmi and whom the queen had hoped to use to elevate her son as the king, was found dead. The queen gave orders for the entire administrative establishment of the country to be brought immediately at the courtyard of the palace armoury. Then the queen ordered the man she suspected to be the murderer of Gagan Singh to be executed. After a chaotic situation broke out, Jung Bahadur used the situation for his own advantage and eliminated many nobles.

Aftermath of the Kot massacre

Following the Kot massacre, Jung Bahadur Kunwar declared himself the prime minister. Queen Rajya Lakshmi- who had always trusted Jung- was begun to be shown disrespect and even the king was insulted. Enraged and insecure, the queen plotted to have Jung killed, but the plot was soon revealed. Jung Bahadur thought that the queen might be a threat to him. He accused the queen of actually plotting to kill the then Crown Prince

Surendra Surendra is an Indian masculine given name. Notable people with this name include: * Surendra (actor), Indian singer and actor * Surendra Bhave * Surendra Chaturvedi * Surendra Dubey * Surendra Gambhir * Surendra Hiranandani * Surendra Jain * ...

and his younger brother, Prince Upendra so that her own son, Prince Ranendra, could become the next king. Jung had royal pandits read out the accusation. Ultimately, the queen and her two sons were exiled to India. King Rajendra accompanied them, and later tried to overthrow Jung Bahadur, but the king was defeated, kept under house arrest, and Prince Surendra was made the new king in 1847. The former king Rajendra continued to live in house arrest until his death in 1881.

Exile and death

Rajya Lakshmi continued to live in

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

. Jung Bahadur Rana visited

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 1850, and on his way back he visited Varanasi, where Rajya Lakshmi, along with her two sons, met him with submission.Himalaya
/ref> Rajya Lakshmi must have died sometime before 1900.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajya Lakshmi Devi Queens consort of Nepal 1810s births Year of death missing 19th-century Nepalese nobility Nepalese Hindus 19th-century women regents 19th-century regents