If only the Tudor King Henry VIII of England was as lucky as Jung Bahadur Rana, he would have had male heirs aplenty and he would not have had to behead a few of his queens in the hope of his next one presenting him with an heir. All the Maharanis would live together at Hampton Court Palace in seeming harmony at least until the death of the Maharajah
. If England had the tradition of
Sati, who among Henry's wives would have had the macabre honour of being buried alive with him? Would her be Catherine of Aragon his first queen? Or Anne Boleyn? Or the fair Jane Seymour, his favorite queen who gave him his only male heir, had she not died in her postnatal illness?
Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana had many wives because he did not have the Catholic Church to worry about. He had at least a dozen sons and innumerable daughters from at least 13 recorded wives. He married some for love, others for political alliances with various noble houses, including a sister of Chautaria Fateh Jung Shah, one of the victims of the Kot Massacre. He is known to take away a married woman from her husband wielding his prime ministerial power as she had ignored his overtures in his less fortunate days; Jung was still smitten by her. He took another maiden as his wife in gratitude as she was his secret mistress and a spy at the royal household and had passed to him royal secrets including a not so royal plan to get rid of him. He even married an Indian princess from Coorg - a royal state in South India until the British takeover - in Varanasi on his return home from England. He also took as his lover and mistress a teenage Brahmin wife of the refuge Maratha warrior Nana Sahib, a matrimony still not consummated by her husband.
Women succumbed to a plethora of causes in the Nepal of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Tuberculosis, frequently referred to as consumption, was one of the likely killers. Then there were many infectious diseases without remedy. Postnatal care was just awful. Jung was a widower many times over. His first wife died heartbroken after the death of her first born son and his second wife died young too after giving him sons, namely Jagat Jung and Jeet Jung. His wife Maharani Bishnu Kumari, the mother of General Pudma Jung Bahadur, lost her life soon after giving birth. The princess from Coorg, Ganga Maharani was recorded to have been treated by a surgeon from the British Residency in 1854 A.D. for a life threatening abscess to which she apparently succumbed to as no mention from any source tells us what happened to her.
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Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana and Bada Maharani Hiranya Garva Kumari
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Jung married his principle wife Bada Maharani Hiranya Garva (Sanskrit: Golden Womb) Kumari a.k.a. Maiya Maharani in 1853 A.D. after returning from the epochal
Velayat Yatra, his visit to England at the invitation of Queen Victoria. She was a sister of Fateh Jung Shah who was the chief minister during the Kot Massacre and who lost his life from Jung Bahadur's men. She gave birth to four daughters who would later all be married to the royal princesses, Crown Prince Trailokya Bikram and his cousin Dhirendra Bikram. She was with Jung until the very end. It was she who brought up the infant son Pudma Jung when his mother died giving birth in 1857 A.D., the very same day Maharajah Jung Bahadur set out for the Lucknow campaign during the Indian Mutiny.
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Maharani Siddhi Gajendra Luxmi
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Siddhi Gajendra Luxmi came from a noble household that of a Basnyat. rriage forgetting Jung. Jung did not forget her. After the Kot Massacre Jung Bahadur Rana became the new power behind the ambitious Queen Rajya Luxmi Devi. As the prime minister to the Regent Queen, he became unassailable. He had his soldiers abduct the by now willing Siddhi Gajendra Luxmi from her husband and brought her to his household as his mistress. After Jung was bestowed the title of Maharajah of Kaski and Lamjung by King Surendra Bikram Shah in 1856 A.D., Siddhi was elevated to the rank of Maharani. Jung Bahadur would beget a son Ranabir Jung from her.
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Mina (Dakhchoke) Rani with her son Dambar Jung
and his child bride and her two daughters
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Jung was busy making further alliances with the old noble houses. In 1855 A.D. he took as his wife another lady, a daughter of Til Bikram Thapa, a cousin of his uncle Prime Minister Mathabar Singh Thapa known in court circles as Kaji Mama. Her name was Hem Kumari also known as Antaree Maharani. She had a son Nara Jung. His next wife was Misri Maharani, the sweet one. And still another was Mina Rani, a Magar girl, also known in history as the Dakhchoke Rani as she dwelled in that part of the Thapathali Durbar where the imported grapes were grown in the courtyard. She would later bear one son to Jung by the name of Dambar Jung.
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| Hem Kumari |
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| Misri Maharani |
After his return from England Jung Bahadur wanted to instill in his people the spirit of renaissance that had taken Europe from the dark Middle Ages to one of science and enlightenment. He was against the old superstitions. He was against slavery and the ghastly tradition of sati, the burning of widows in the funeral pyres of the dead husbands. But even a powerful dictator in his own lifetime could not prevail upon the rigid society of Chettry-Brahmin dominated Nepal to change its course. It would take another 50 years for Maharajah Chandra Shumsher to outlaw slavery and sati.
The year was 1877 A.D. and Maharajah Jung Bahadur was in the twilight of his illustrious career. One last time he wanted to go shooting, to indulge in his favorite pastime. He took his court to the Terai. He took along with him five wives, three senior maharanis for company and two junior wives for the needs of the night. Little did people know that he would not return to Kathmandu. He had a vision of a white tiger, was it real or imaginary? His eye-sight failed him. Was it dengue fever? Just like Alexander the Great a mysterious ailment had struck Jung and the end came quickly. He breathed his last on the banks of Bagmati in Pattharghatta at the stroke of midnight on 25th February 1877 A.D. The five maharanis present prepared for
sati but the senior maharani forbade the two junior wives from committing sati because they had young children to look after. In fact Ramri Maharani was pregnant at the time and her son was given the rank of Major General by the succeeding prime minister Maharajah Ranauddip Singh while in the womb. Bir Jung was the last son of Jung Bahadur. Writes his son and biographer General Pudma Jung, "the three maharanis who had determined to immolate themselves as
suttee were repeatedly entreated to desist, but they would not go back from their decision." Bada Maharani Hiranya Garva Kumari, Antaree Maharani and Misri Maharani were the three brave wives. History will remember them as the
sati wives of Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal.
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| The three wives of Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana committing Sati, an illustration from a French newspaper of the time |
This is fascinating story. I don't think as Nepalese, with deep interest in the history. I have come across anything like this. Vivid description of the tales and anecdotes is enthralling to read. You have the deepest knowledge about the important chapter in Nepalese history. From your writing and reading a few Blogs post, I came to a conclusion that, Rana period was the golden age of diplomacy for Nepal. Nepalese ruler were respected and bestowed with every honor that we rarely see in today's world. I think current political leaders could learn hell of a lot from Rana Rule.
ReplyDeleteRanas were serving the British. Ranas period was the most repressive regimes in Nepal history. Had they continued little bit more they would have displaced the puppet Shah Dynasty.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this interesting blog. It's of special interest to me because of my family background and as a researcher.
ReplyDeleteMaharaja Jung Bahadur's son, General Padma Jung Bahadur's 2 daughters were married into the the Tripura Royal family. They were based in Allahabad. One of them bore (Maharani Arundhati Mahadevi), H. H Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya his heir, Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur (Born 19th August, 1908- Died May 1947). He was my late grandfather. It would be interesting to do research on the descendants of Jung Bahadur's large family in India. Thank you and look forward to reading your blogs again!
Thank you for reaching out and contacting me with your comment. I would be happy to receive any material you may have of your grandfather. We can share stories and pictures via email. My email ID is ranasubodh55@yahoo.com.sg
DeleteWhat a fascinating article and so well researched (with pictures to boot)! Please don’t stop sharing your knowledge, you have a lot more readers than you might think.
ReplyDeleteOne day, such a collection of posts would make a fantastic and unique book. There are very few historians in Nepal with your level of access to resources, command of English, and ability to weave such beautiful stories that are just the right size for today’s readers.
This post reminded me of one of the stories my grandfather used to tell us when we were kids in Kathmandu in the 60s, which seems to align (at least not contradict) your post. Namely, that Jang Bahadur had a special dislike for the Basnyats due to the mistreatment/humiliation of Jang from Prasad Singh Basnyat when Jang tried to marry the latter’s daughter.
In our own family (and take these family myths with a grain of salt), the genesis of the “Rana” name came partly because, as you mention in your article, the old noble houses saw Chettri Kunwars as beneath them (while the Thakuri Maharajdhirajs saw the khas as severely beneath them) leading Jang to ultimately re-brand himself. This by the way is a little different from what the Chandra faction in Kathmandu like to claim about the title “Rana,” but I digress.
In any case, we were told as kids that Jang ultimately killed not only Prasad Singh but also his own son born from the Basnyat wife (Jit Jung Rana), all the while taking good care of the the son born from his Thapa wife (Jagat Jung Rana).
Not only that, but Jang’s orchestration of the so-called “Basnyat Conspiracy,” where he specifically targeted the Basnyat family even after the Kot Massacre (largely because the Basnyats were conspiring against him) have lived on in our family stories.
I’m sure you have numerous posts already in the works, but if family myths are true, the idea that Jang went after Prasad Singh and his own son from a Basnyat, simply as revenge for humiliation, would be a fascinating story and showcase the obsessively vengeful (and this successful) character of a man that changed Nepali history like no other.
Dear Mr. Binayak Basnyat, thank you for your appreciation and comments. Here are some points of clarification.
Delete1. Maharani Siddhi Gajendra Luxmi was the own blood sister of Prasad Luxmi, Jung's first wife. Prasad gave birth to Jung's eldest son Bhim Jung. After Prasad Luxmi's death J.B. tried to marry her sister Siddhi but the father would not allow it. After J.B. came to power he brought her willingly by paying compensation to Siddhi's husband as was the practice. Her son is Ranabir Jung who was kept in the Roll of Succession.
2. Both Jagat Jung and Jeet Jung are children from J.B.'s second married wife Nanda Kumari, a Tandon Khatry girl.
3. To get rid of a recalcitrant J.B. Queen Rajya Luxmi had conspired with the Basnyats and others but it was not successful due to leaks. This episode is known as the Bhandakhal Parba. After this the queen was stripped of her regency and exiled to Benaras.
His achievement as the regain of the gold trade in Tibet was so much appreciable
ReplyDeleteDo you happened to have some information and photographs of Ranabir Jung Rana? About his spouses, kids or anything?
ReplyDelete