This biography written by Manu S Pillai, a young historian based in India has tried to capture a small part of the history of the princely state of Travancore in the southern tip of the Indian Subcontinent.
As you may know, the Indian subcontinent was a sum of several scattered kingdoms ranging from North to South, with rulers capturing and fading away over time, since the beginning of recorded history. Uncountable dynasties were formed during these times with each of them having enough history to be made into a novel or movie. We remember them and the retell their stories because someone had written about them and preserved them. From those thousands of stories, we would often remember some eccentric ruler or the major contribution they have given which may have transformed the country for the better or worse.
But we often forget or are ignorant to the stories of small kingdoms which have done things that have changed the society as a whole but are often overlooked as they are not attributed to the main historical figures. It is one such story of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the Regent Queen of Travancore of the period (1924-1931) that the author is bringing to the limelight in this book. For reasons oblivious, many other historians have overlooked this figure and rather have focussed on stories of her male counterparts and their contributions in history.
Was it because she was a woman or was it because she was a Regent? Unlike other regencies under the British rule at that time, the regencies of the Travancore kingdom enjoyed full power and confidence of the British as the state was in terms with the British for the most part of its existence and took the stand of keeping ‘your enemies closer‘ to stay in power. The first ruler who exercised considerable power over the Travancore and converted the state with a unified entity was Marthanda Varma who ruthlessly murdered multiple small kingdoms and even killing his own kins to realize his ambition to rule over all of Travancore. And he did succeed in that.
But he didn’t enjoy the confidence of the people at first because he was an outsider just like the British. But in a major political move, he performed the Thrippadidanam Ritual (Turning into a servant of the Gods) in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple (Richest Temple in the World). Thereby elevating his status from a mere outsider to a respected one among his people. Thus he paved way for his dynasty (Kupaka Dynasty) to flourish as the true rulers of the Travancore kingdom.
Although Marthanda Varma had defeated the Dutch in the Battle of Colachal (1741), with the British he took a different stand as he realized that it was not wise to go head to head with the British and made sure that his descendants also made sure to keep the Britishers close so that his lineage can rule freely without the direct rule from the Govt. of India (British). Yet, many revolts did take place down the line, with one of the major ones being the revolt by Veluthampi Dalawa (Prime Minister of the state) called Kundara Vilambaram. The British were fed up with the revolts and after a wild confrontation surrounded him. He then committed suicide to not die at the hand of the British. After this major episode, the British decided it was time to annex Travancore and sent down Col. Munro as a resident to fix the status of the kingdom. The then ruler of the state was a ruler by the name of Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, who realised that winning the confidence of the resident is essential to stop the direct rule of the British, just like her ancestor. She appointed Col. Munro as the person who should be taking care of her land and thereby Col. Munro was elevated to a status he really enjoyed. And this has helped Travancore stay afloat even the kingdom brushed against the British later on as Mr Munro came to defend the same. This single act of appointing him to power brought back political stability to the Kingdom.
The Britishers always had a resident with the subsequent rulers that came into power. They were constantly in touch with the Govt. of India and communicated each and every move of the rulers to the Viceroy and the Chief Secretaries. Thus they were able to exercise a silent power over the rulers of various kingdoms in India.
One another time that is to be noted was that Travancore followed the matrilineal system. In a matrilineal system, the power moves through the female lineage rather than the male lineage. Therefore, if the death of a ruler takes place, it is not his son who will have the power, but rather his sister’s sons. Another tradition that was followed was when there is no female heir to the kingdom, the Travancore family would then adopt a girl child from other royal kingdoms. And over the centuries, this was done from the Mavelikara Royal Family. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and her cousin sister Sethu Parvathy Bhayi were adopted from this family. And since Lakshmi Bhayi was elder, she was ascended to the throne after the death of Moolam Thirunal (the previous ruler). Coming of age, she encountered miscarriages due to which she was not able to produce the next heir of Travancore, instead, it was her cousin sister’s child, (Sethu Parvathy Bhayi’s child; His Highness Sree Chitra Thirunal) who was poised to become the next ruler of Travancore. Since he was just a child at the time when Moolam Thirunal died, and that he had to be 18 years of age to be in power, it was up to the eldest female in the family i.e Sethu Lakshmi Bayi to become a Regent Queen till the Maharaja came of age.
The main plot in the novel is the unstable relationship between Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and Sethu Parvathi Bayi after the former becomes the regent. Since the elder female always gets more power and respect in her kingdom, Parvathy Bhayi increasingly grew restless to overthrow her and tried various methods such as influencing the higher British officials to even black magic to instate her child as the Maharaja as early as possible. The author has managed to capture the little details of all the happenings and the rivalry between the two Queens of that time unadulterated through the letters sent by the British Resident to the Govt of India (British) and other sources. Even though the younger sister always had something against and the elder sister, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi didn’t bat an eye to the sly plannings of the younger Maharani.
Coming to power she was initially dismissed as a complacent book worm and a simple woman who could not handle the everyday difficulties of the administration by the Dewan (Prime Minister) and the British Resident. But they were in for a surprise as the till then silent, book worm girl had transformed or shown the true colours of a Queen with strong resolve and who is not opinionated nor influenced even from her husband nor the majority powers (Nairs and Brahmins). When she would decide upon something she would go all the way to implement even if the resistance is strong from all sides. Raised in a highly orthodox environment, and she would go against the orthodox convention to do what is right when she came to power.
The problem with most historical eulogies is that most of them are written by the court poets or people who are appointed to write highly about the ruler. As is the case with the story of the Travancore Dynasty, most of the literature written are by people who are associated with the dynasty or those who worship them. These stories seem flawless and sometimes too good to be true. That is when such a bold move was taken by Mr Manu S Pillai who managed to gather sources especially from the letters of the resident, which were unadulterated as they were a foreign entity in the Palace who reported the happenings of that time just as it was. The author was able to bring down the stories of these Godly figures to the just stories of regular people, their desires and quest for the Ivory Throne. In fact, some of the most respected characters of the Travancore Dynasty are unforgivingly exposed in the book.
The current Royal family is residing in the Kowdiar palace in Trivandrum (New Name for Travancore) and the by the end of the book we realise that the Junior Maharani had won the quest for power and her heirs are ones who still claim the ‘Royalness’. Still to this day and age, many people consider them to be holy and have even given considerable access and control over the Padmanabhaswamy temple. It is said that the Royal family had access to the vaults which contained the treasure of the temple.
This was reported by the Ameques Quiri who was appointed by the Supreme Court to audit the riches of the temple so that there may be the accountability of this national treasure. At first, he was impressed by the devotion of the Royal Family towards the temple but later down his audit he reported that they had open access to the treasure and close to 266 kg gold has been missing since the early 1990s. But the royal family have rejected this claim.
While the Junior Maharani’s lineage still enjoys all the prestige of the royalty back in the capital. The Senior Maharani and her family moved to Bangalore after India won its Independence. Many of her granddaughters don’t even speak Malayalam (Language of Kerala) and have paid little heed to their ancestry back at home. The daughters of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, esp. Lalithamba and Indira had raised their children at the English schools in Bangalore along with European classmates and with people who are foreign to their culture. They grew apart form their lineage and have flourished in different parts of the world, each one excelling in their craft. The Senior Maharani had to slowly shed her queenly privileges in this foreign and land once, she was able to enjoy the freedom she craved so much from her childhood. Yet, towards the end of her life, she had given away most of her land in Bangalore for city development and spilt her houses between her daughters and grandkids.
Some of the important changes that Sethu Lakshmi Bayi had brought to the Travancore Kingdom are as follows:
- Access to the main roads for the Harijans
- Women representation in the administration
- Opened up the study of law and other courses to women
- Commissioning of the Powerhouse of Travancore
- The Trivandrum Railway Station
- The Nair Regulation Act
And laid the cornerstone to many other initiatives which we completed by the next ruler, Sree Chitra Thirunal. All these led to a progressive change in Kerala’s culture and thereby effects of it snowballed into other nearby kingdoms as well. She was able to do those things which her ancestors were reluctant to do, fearing the uprising it may cause.
Reading this book will give you a crash course into the history of this part of India right from the reign of Marthanda Varma (18th Century). The brief intros and descriptions of various rulers that came after, their confusing names and personalities, you then fast forward to the main plot. You will get to experience the emotions and the thought process of the protagonist and what she had to go through and even feel sorry for the tragic climax of her life. As a resident of (Trivandrum/Thiruvananthapuram), I felt a bit of regret not reading this book earlier and to feel proud of the story of the very own land that I walk upon. We often go around reading the stories of the valiant rulers of another land, that we forget about our very own. Overall this book had been really an eye-opener for me, to know the history of Travancore and was able to appreciate the story of one of the finest rulers of Travancore, who played an important role in transforming, the Evergreen City of India to what it is today.
My Part Said. 