Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal

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Not to be confused with Tripura Sundari.
For other uses, see Tripurasundari (disambiguation).
Queen Tripurasundari
Queen consort of Nepal
Queen regent of Nepal
Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal.jpg
Portrait of Queen Tripurasundari
Born1794
Died6 April 1832
Hanuman Dhoka Palace, Basantapur, Kathmandu
SpouseRana Bahadur Shah
Names
Lalit Tripura Sundari Devi
DynastyShah dynasty (by marriage), Thapa dynasty (by birth)
FatherNain Singh Thapa
MotherRana Kumari Pandey
ReligionHinduism

Queen Tripurasundari (Nepali: रानी ललित त्रिपुरासुन्दरी; 1794 – 6 April 1832), also known as Lalit Tripura Sundari Devi, was a wife of King Rana Bahadur Shah of Nepal. Widowed at a very young age and childless, she served as regent of the kingdom for a long period. She was also the first woman to publish literature in Nepal.

Statue of Queen Tripurasundari

Biography[]

Lalit Tripurasundari was born into an influential Nepali family that belonged to the same high caste and kin-group of the Nepali royal family and to the feudal military elite of the kingdom. It is generally believed that Tripurasundari was from a Thapa family,[1] and Baburam Acharya conjectured that Tripurasundari was possibly the daughter of Bhimsen Thapa's brother Nain Singh Thapa.[2][3] Her siblings included Mathabarsingh Thapa (sometime Prime Minister of Nepal) and Ganesh Kumari Devi, the mother of Jung Bahadur Rana who founded the Rana hegemony over Nepal which lasted over 100 years (1846-1950).

In 1805 or 1806, Tripurasundari married the king of Nepal, Rana Bahadur Shah.[4] She was the youngest wife of the king.[5] At the time, Bahadur Shah was serving as mukhtiyar (executive) for his son and successor, Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah.[6] One year later, Bahadur Shah was assassinated by his half-brother.[6] Tripurasundari and Bahadur Shah did not have children.[7]

After Rana Bahadur Shah was assassinated, Queen Rajeshwari, who acted as the regent for her stepson Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah, was forced to commit sati.[4] As such, Tripurasundari became the regent for their stepson.[5] Girvan Yuddha died in 1819, before he could take power, and his infant son Rajendra became the king.[8] Tripurasundari also served as regent during the minority of Rajendra.[5]

She was a staunch supporter of Bhimsen Thapa, who may have been her relative.[8] As the acting regent, she influenced Bhimsen's position as the Prime Minister of Nepal for over 31 years from 1806 to 1832.[8] During her regency for Girvan Yuddha, Tripurasundari issued a mandate that all members of the court must obey Bhimsen.[4]

She died of cholera on 6 April 1832, during a widespread cholera epidemic in Kathmandu.[9] She died the same year that Rajendra ascended to power,[10] and her death decreased Bhimsen's political control.[8]

Literary works[]

Tripurasundari was the first woman to publish literature in Nepal. She translated some parts of Shantiparva from the Sanskrit Mahabharata into Nepali and published it as Rajdharma, a treatise on the duties and responsibilities of a king,[11] in 1824. Rajdharma has been praised by historians as "a credit to Nepal's language and literature."

She had also written many other poems in Nepali. She also encouraged writers and poets in her court, and, with her encouragement, her stepson Girvan Yuddha Vikram and step grandson Rajendra Vikram each wrote three books.

Structures and monuments[]

The construction of Dharahara was commissioned by either Tripurasundari or Bhimsen Thapa on her behalf.[5] The tower collapsed in the 2015 Nepal earthquake, but the base remains.[12] She also commissioned the at Tripureshwor[13] and the bridge between Kathmandu and Lalitpur at Thapathali.

References[]

  1. ^ Karmacharya 2005, p. 86.
  2. ^ Acharya 2012, p. 3.
  3. ^ Acharya 2012, p. 62.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Ācārya, Bāburāma (2012). Janarala Bhīmasena Thāpā : yinako utthāna tathā patana 2069. Kr̥shṇa. Ācārya (Saṃskaraṇa 1 ed.). Kāṭhamāḍaum̐: Śrīkr̥shṇa Ācārya. ISBN 978-9937-2-4174-8. OCLC 837563659.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hutt, Michael (24 June 2019). "Revealing What Is Dear: The Post-Earthquake Iconization of the Dharahara, Kathmandu". The Journal of Asian Studies. 78 (3): 549–576. doi:10.1017/S0021911819000172. ISSN 0021-9118. S2CID 165687047.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Whelpton, John (1987). Nepali politics and the rise of Jang Bahadur Rana, 1830-1857 (PhD thesis). SOAS University of London. doi:10.25501/soas.00028837.
  7. ^ A., Raj, Prakash (1997). Queens of the Shah Dynasty in Nepal. Nabeen Publications. OCLC 607611005.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Whelpton, John (2005). A history of Nepal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-80026-9. OCLC 55502658.
  9. ^ Nepali, Chitranjan (1965). General Bhimsen Thapa ra Tatkalin Nepal. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar. pp. 38–39.
  10. ^ Rose, Leo E. (2021-01-08). Nepal: Strategy for Survival. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-33868-5.
  11. ^ Pokhrel, Shanta (1982). Nepalese Women. Ridhi Charan Pokhrel.
  12. ^ "Video: 19th century tower collapses from earthquake in Nepal - Telegraph". 2015-04-25. Archived from the original on 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  13. ^ Hamal, Nikki (2018-01-15). "KU rebuilding quake-damaged Tripureshwor Mahadev temple". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2021-07-20.

Bibliography[]

  • Yadav, Pitambar Lal (1996). Nepal ko rajnaitik itihas. Benaras: Modern Deepak Press. p. 142.
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