Vishwasa Devi (Maithili: विश्वास देवी, Romanised: ''Viśvasadevi'') 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 the Oiniwar Dynasty during the 15th-century. She ascended the throne of the Mithila Kingdom after the death of the '' King Padmasimha''. She ruled the kingdom for twelve years since 1431 CE to 1443 CE. She was the tenth ruler in the Oiniwar Dynasty of the Kingdom. Apart from being the ruler of the kingdom, she was also an eminent scholar of the

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...

Later life

Her names in different historical documents are written with slightly different spelling. They are ''Vishwasa Devi'', ''Viśvasadevi'', ''Visvasadevi'' and ''Viswavasa Devi''. She was married to the ''King Padmasimha'' of the Oiniwar Dynasty in Mithila. Padmasimha was the brother of the King Shivasimha in Mithila. After the marriage with King Padmasimha, she became the queen of the kingdom. The king Padmasimha later died in 1431 CE without having a child. Since the king was childless so after the death of the king, the queen Vishwasa Devi took control on the territory and ascended the throne of the kingdom in 1431 CE. She ruled the kingdom for 12 years till 1443 CE. She was the second queen in the Oiniwar Dynasty after the queen

Lakhimadevi Lakhimadevi (Maithili language, Maithili: लखीमादेवी) was the queen of the Videha, Mithila Kingdom in Oiniwar dynasty, Oiniwar Dynasty during the period of the Shiva Simha Singh, King Shivasimha in the kingdom. She was contemporar ...

, who ascended the throne of the kingdom and ruled the territory.

Rule and legacy

The queen Vishwasa Devi established a new village

Visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...

in the kingdom after her name. Then she transferred the capital of the Mithila Kingdom from

Padma The Padma () is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the eastern and main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River, near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is situated on the bank ...

to the newly established village Visual. During her regime, she patronised the scholars in the kingdom. Her royal court became the centre for the gathering of eminent scholars just like the court of the King Janaka in

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

. She organised a notable Yajna known as ''Chatuscharan Yajna'' at her royal court where large numbers of scholars gathered. In the Yajna, fourteen hundred Mimansa scholars alone were invited by the queen Vishwasa Devi. The queen Vishwasa Devi also patronised the Maithil scholar

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 ...

at her royal court. The Maithil scholar Vidyapati composed his literary work ''Saiva-Sarvasva-Sara'' on the behest of the queen Vishwasa Devi, which gives account of the histories of the kings of the Oiniwar Dynasty. The literary work Saiva-Sarvasva-Sara is attributed to the queen Vishwasa Devi and deals with the matters of worship of

Lord Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...

. Similarly Vidyapati also composed another literary work attributed to the queen Vishwasa Devi known as ''Gangāvākyāvalī'', which deals with the rituals and practices related to worship of the holy river

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

. Vishwasa Devi as a queen was a powerful leader of men. Similarly as a scholar she was a champion of defeating many great scholars of her age. She was also compared with the Upanashadic woman scholar Brahmvadini Gargi Vachaknavi for her scholarly wisdom.

References

{{India-royal-stub Indian royalty stubs Indian queens regnant 15th-century queens regnant Indian Hindu monarchs History of Mithila 15th-century Indian women