Briddhi Lakshmi (Nepal Bhasa: ; ) was the queen consort of the Nepalese Kingdom of Bhaktapur (modern day Bhaktapur, Nepal) from 1722 as the first wife of Ranajit Malla and also a Newar language poet. For a brief period, she and her two-year-old son were the de jure monarch of an independent Thimi. She is today mostly remembered for the poems she composed.
She was born in a noble family in from the region around Bettiah, in modern-day India and had a brother named Murāri Rāya. In 1712, she was brought to Nepal and then married to the nine year old Ranajit Malla. Later during the reign of Ranajita Malla, she was popular among the people of the kingdom, however had no supporters among the nobility. Likewise, she also found herself replaced by Jaya Lakshmi, a who became a favourite concubine of Ranajit Malla. By the time she gave birth to a son in 1738, Jaya Lakshmi's eldest son had already reached maturity. This caused a crisis of succession in Bhaktapur which ended with Briddhi Lakshmi first taking refuge in the town of Thimi and then later in Kathmandu.
She was a prolific poet and songwriter in the Newar language; her poem, "" (ka kha yā mye), an abecedarian lyric, is considered one of the greatest works in the Newar language.
Early life In November 1711, an envoy led by Bhairava Malla and Vira Joshi was dispatched by Bhupatindra Malla to Bettiah in order to fetch Briddhi Lakshmi to Bhaktapur. The expenditure book of their journey is so far the only source about Briddhi Lakshmi's early life. The expenditure book does not mention her name and refers to her as "kanyā", a term used for an unmarried girl. However, the book does mention her brother's name, Murāri Rāya. Bridhhi Laksmhi, as per the book was not of royal descent.
By February 1712, the envoy had returned to Bhaktapur with Briddhi Lakshmi and her brother, Murāri Rāya, who had accompanied his sister but returned after they arrived safely in Bhaktapur. Briddhi Lakshmi was married to the crown prince Ranajit Malla eight months after her arrival, on the first day of kartika vadi 833 NS (October–November 1712).
Succession crisis
Sources Much of what is known about the crisis is known from the journal of , a Capuchin missionary from Macerata who was staying in Bhaktapur during the crisis of succession. There are also three copper plate inscriptions: two of them, at the temple of Brahmani in Bhaktapur attributed to Ranajita Malla, Briddhi Lakshmi and their child while the other two at the temple of Balkumari in Thimi and at Chitrapur Village, south of Thimi; dating from the same day from Briddhi Lakshmi. Additionally, there are six Newar Language poems written by Briddhi Lakshmi likely during her stay in Thimi or Kathmandu.
Background
Ranajit Malla who ascended the throne after his father's death in May 1722 had many concubines and one particular concubine, Jaya Lakshmi became the favourite of the king. From Jaya Lakshmi, Ranajit Malla had a son, named Ajitasimha Malla, whose birth date is not known yet, but he must have been the king's eldest male child as he is addressed as the crown prince in a document from 1728. Additionally, Jaya Lakshmi was addressed as the rājapatni ("royal consort") in an epigraphy from 1733. Throughout this time, Briddhi Lakshmi appears to have been childless.
However, on 20 July 1738, Briddhi Lakshmi gave birth to a son in Thimi. Briddhi Lakshmi, being the king's only legitimate wife was favoured by the public and naturally Ranajit Malla was pressured by the public to change the crown prince to Briddhi Lakshmi's son. There is a copper plate at the Brahmani temple of Bhaktapur dating to NS 859 kartika krishna 1 (November 1739 CE) that mentions a donation of six Dapha to the panchayat of the city from Ranajita Malla, Briddhi Lakshmi and the Sahebaju.
It seems Jaya Lakshmi wanted to maintain the status quo by retaining her son's position as the crown prince and pressured the king to not change his previous decision. However, there was significant public pressure that compelled the king to recognize the son of Briddhi Lakshmi as the heir.
However, Jaya Lakshmi having the support of the nobility as well as being a favourite of the monarch was able to excerise much power on the palace. In contrast, Bridhhi Lakshmi had no supporters among the nobility and courtiers of the palace, likely due to Jaya Lakshmi being from one of the noble families herself, except for a minister which Beligatti specified was from a "non-aristocratic family". In her poems, she describes being bullied and ridiculed in the palace by her rivals, for instance her poem "bhayirava taleju bihune varadāna" describe her situation as "I am being troubled like what a cow would feel united with a tiger". Beligatti also wrote in this journal that "the concubine had left no means untried to carry out her plan of destroying the little king"
Flight to Thimi
additionally wrote that Briddhi Lakshmi could not live in peace in the palace where her rival Jayalakshmi held all the power, and that she scented dangers ahead even for her child. Due to the public pressure regarding her safety, Ranajita Malla was compelled to appoint to a high-ranking office, which Beligatti calls Viceroy, a supporter of Briddhi Lakshmi who arranged the escape of the Queen and her infant son to Thimi in mid-April 1740.
Thimi being the second largest city in the kingdom, along with some smaller settlements around it like Nakadesh formed the appanage to the heir. Not long after her flight to Thimi, the people of Thimi, Nagesh and Nala declared her infant son as their king.
Ranajit Malla in order to solve this predicament called a general council for the people on 26 April 1740, whereby he would grant permission for anyone in the kingdom to enter his palace and were given permission to freely express their opinions directly to their king. who was the witness of this event, wrote the following in his journal:
"Due to this new turn of events, the King thought to convene a General Council on the quid agendum and summoned it for the evening of April 26th which, being in my opinion bizarre, I do not think it right to omit. About two hours after sunset, the King, together with the 4 principal Brahmins, and the Viceroy descended to one of the 12 courtyards of the king's mansion. All of them sat around a loggia and had all the torches removed so it was dark all around. Now, there were two gates that led from the square to the place where the King was with the aforesaid people, and having removed the guards at said gates allowed free entry to anyone who wished to enter and state their opinion. There were a great many of such people. All of them had their faces covered to hide their identity and spoke in an affected tone not to be recognized. Some scolded the king, even called him bad names; others threatened him with dire consequences and still a few more tendered what one would like to call a simple advice.
This went on until one hour after midnight had passed and those assembled then dispersed. The king deferred his judgment for the next day. Such night councils are not held except in similar cases, when the people are not satisfied with the King; and the King is hardly safe in his life, because these people are not bloodthirsty, principally toward their Kings, but when they are reduced to extremities they depose the King, and either confine him to an apartment of the court, or exile him from the Kingdom. What decision the King took after such a council, I never knew.
Many members of both factions came to us and broke our ears with their stories. Some wanted the Prefect to speak to the King, but the Prefect always refused, saying that we had not come here to support any party or take part in politics, but only to teach religion".
Briddhi Lakshmi set up a copper plate inscription in the Balkumari temple of Thimi as well as another in the village of Chitrapura, both dated to NS 860 vaisakha vadi 1 Thursday (May 1740 CE), where she mentions her taking refuge in Thimi along with the Sahebju. Both the copper plates also grant a tax exemption to the panchayat of the respective towns for providing protection to the queen and her son.
This succession crisis spread to other kingdoms of Nepal as the king of Kathmandu Jaya Prakasa Malla seems to have supported the queen in her uprising which created a quagmire with Ranajita Malla and which eventually led to a minor war between them. Escape to Kathmandu
On 20 July 1740, Briddhi Lakshmi had escaped Thimi for Kathmandu, with writing, "the Queen of Bhaktapur who was in Thimi where the people had proclaimed her son king, on the pretext of bathing herself and her son in the river Bagmati to satisfy a vow she had made went there, but when she arrived at the river, instead of washing herself she ordered to those who were carrying her to speedily reach the borders of Kathmandu, and took refuge at the court where an apartment with guards was assigned to her by the king Jaya Prakasa. The action of the queen was much talked about in all the three kingdoms, even though she did that only in order to safeguard the life of the little king".
Her flight to Kathmandu seems to affected the people back in Bhaktapur, with Beligatti observing that the Saparu festival in Bhaktapur was called off early and was conducted "very melancholily due to the evasion of the Queen and little King".
Aftermath It appears after the council, Ranajit Malla himself went to Thimi to console his queen and resolve the conflict, however, it's unclear what happened afterwards or when she returned to Bhaktapur after her flight to Kathmandu as no clear sources have been found.
The next source that mentions her is dated almost a decade after the event in 1750 (NS 871), from two stone inscriptions, she set up in Banepa, relating to her having built a temple and a bridge in the city. However, her son is mentioned in an edict from February 1747 (NS 868 phalguna sukla 7) as sri sri saheba juju as being invited to the inauguration of a Buddhist monastery in Bhaktapur. Similarly, in an inscription from a communal shelter in Thimi dated to June 1751 (NS 872 jestha) identifies the kingdom as under the joint rule of Ranajita Malla and the Sahebaju.
From 1750 she appears frequently as a donor of ceremonial and religious items in temples of Bhaktapur and Banepa with her last source being a donation at a temple in Bhaktapur from March 1754.
Children Before the birth of a prince on 20 July 1738 in Thimi, there are no other mentions of any children from Briddhi Lakshmi. The copper plate inscription she set up at the temple of Bramhani in Bhaktapur in 1738, mentions his name as "Vira Narasimha Malla". Vira Narasimha Malla is also the name that appears in a stone inscription from 1752 (NS 873), where it states that he was co-ruling the kingdom with his father. However, one of Briddhi Lakshmi's poems from 1740 to 1742, mention her son's name as Dhana sāheba. while her Banepa inscription mention her son's name as Devendra Malla. Similarly, Devendra Malla's name also appears as a donor of a drum to Taleju, the tutelary goddess of the Mallas, in 1754. Early historians like Dilli Raman Regmi were unsure whether Devendra Malla and Vira Narasimha Malla referred to the same person or were the names of two brothers. However, modern historians like Dhaubhadel suppose that Vira Narasimha and Devendra refer to the same person.
Death