T wo half-sisters were married to the Wali'Ahad a Persian formulation for 'heir to the throne', Crown Prince Trailokya Bikram Shah of Nepal. These marriages took place in short intervals, the elder sister Tara Rajya Luxmi Devi got married to Trailokya in 1857 A.D. when she was just seven years old and he just nine. A few years later her half-sister Lalit Rajya Luxmi Devi got married to the same prince in 1860 A.D. when she was but six years old. Both of them were daughters of Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana, prime minister and de facto ruler of Nepal. From left, Crown Princess Tara, Jung Bahadur, Hiranya Garva Kumari, Crown Princess Lalit Photo by Clarence Comyn Taylor, 1863 A.D. Jung Bahadur Rana, a talented army officer, was emerging in the ranks when he married his second wife Nanda Kumari Devi of a Tandon Khatry family from Gorakhpur. His first wedded wife Prasad Luxmi Basnet had passed away giving him his first born son Bhim Jung. After he got married a second time, his fo...