DnyanjyotiEducationNagpur at 04:56, 19 January 2026

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{{Short description|Maharani of Travancore from 1810 to 1813}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Ayilyom Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi
| title =
| image = Sree Padmanabhasevini Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi.jpg
| caption =
| succession = [[Maharaja of Travancore|Maharani of Travancore]]
| reign = 7 November 1810 – 29 July 1813<ref name="raghunandan">{{Cite book |last=Raghunandan |first=Lakshmi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6ryshLSwm0C&pg=PA460 |page=460|title=At the Turn of the Tide: The Life and Times of Maharani Setu Lakshmi Bayi, the Last Queen of Travancore |date=1995 |publisher=Maharani Setu Lakshmi Bayi Memorial Charitable Trust |language=en}}</ref>
| predecessor = [[Balarama Varma]]
| successor = [[Swathi Thirunal]]
| succession1 = [[Maharaja of Travancore|Maharani Regent of Travancore]]
| successor1 = [[Gowri Parvati Bayi]]
| reign1 = 1813–1815
| reign-type1 = Regency
| regent1 = [[Swathi Thirunal]]
| reg-type1 = Monarch
| coronation =
| full name = ''Her Highness Sree Padmanabhasevini Vanchidharma Vardhini Raja Rajeshwari Maharani Ayilyom Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi Maharani of Travancore''
| birth_date = 1791
| birth_place = Travancore
| death_date = 1815 (aged 24)
| death_place = Travancore
| burial_date =
| burial_place = 
| spouse = [[Raja Raja Varma Koil Thampuran]] of Changanassery
| spouse-type = Consort
| issue = Maharani [[Gowri Rukmini Bayi]], Maharajah [[Swathi Thirunal]], Maharajah [[Uthram Thirunal]]
| royal house = [[Travancore royal family|Venad Swaroopam]]
| dynasty = Kulasekhara
| father = Kilimanoor Koyi Thampuran
| mother = Bharani Thirunal Parvathy Bayi
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| signature =
}}'''Maharani Ayilyom Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi''' (1791–1815), also spelled '''Gauri Lakshmi Bayi''',<ref name="raghunandan"/> was the [[Maharani]] of the Indian state of [[Travancore]] from 1810 till 1813 and Regent from 1813 till her death in 1815 for her son [[Swathi Thirunal]] Rama Varma. She was the only Queen of Travancore to have reigned in her own right which she did for three years before becoming the regent for her son.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gauri Lakshmi Bai|first=Aswathi Thirunal|title=SREE PADMANABHA SWAMY KSHETRAM|year=1998|publisher=The State Institute of Languages|location=Thiruvananthapuram|isbn=978-81-7638-028-7|page=202}}</ref><ref name="raghunandan"/>

==Background==
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi was born in the year 1791 to Princess Bharani Thirunal Parvathy Bayi, Senior Rani of [[Attingal]] of the [[Travancore Royal Family]], adopted sister of Maharajah [[Balarama Varma]].{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} Bharani Thirunal was adopted into the [[Travancore]] family from [[Kolathunad]] in 1788. The Maharanis of Travancore were styled as the "Ranis of Attingal". Gowri Lakshmi Bayi was one of Travancore's most popular Queens and introduced several reforms in the state. She also had a sister [[Gowri Parvati Bayi|Uthrattathi Thirunal Gowri Parvati Bayi]].{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

==Accession to the throne and rule==
The unpopular Maharajah Bala Rama Varma, during whose reign Travancore faced a number of internal and external problems, revolts and unnecessary battles and conspiracies, including the most important revolt of [[Velu Thampi Dalawa]], died in 1809.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} At the death of the Maharajah, Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, the senior Rani of Attingal, was barely twenty years of age. There were no eligible male members in the family which meant she would have to take over Travancore and rule it as queen till such an heir would be born to her. However her accession was not easy because a member from the [[Mavelikara]] branch of the royal family, a distant cousin, Prince Kerala Varma, who was the pet of the previous ruler, staked a claim on the throne which was anything but substantiated.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} The Queen placed in the hands of the British Resident Col. [[John Munro, 9th of Teaninich|John Munro]], one of Travancore's most loved British Residents, a document asserting her claim and proving the claim of Kerala Varma untenable. This irked Kerala Varma who resorted to tact and tried to convince the Princess to give up her claim. However the Resident sided with Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and she was made the official Maharani of Travancore in 1811. Kerala Varma was permitted to reside at [[Thiruvananthapuram]], the capital. But when he tried to create further troubles, he was imprisoned and banished from Travancore.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

===Selection of the Dewan===
One of the earliest acts of Queen Gowri Lakshmi Bayi was to dismiss the existing [[Dewan]] or Prime Minister, Ummini Thampi. Ummini Thampi was accused of squandering money and acquiring all the property of the vanquished rebel freedom fighter [[Velu Thampi Dalawa]] and others.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} He was dismissed and when he tried to cause further trouble, he was imprisoned and punished after being found guilty of conspiracy against the queen. The queen was now asked to nominate some individual for the post of Dewan, to which she stated that she found no eligible individual and would like to appoint the Resident Colonel John Munro as her Dewan. Accordingly, Munro became Dewan of [[Travancore]] in 1811.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

===Government reforms===
* The Dewan Col. Munro informed the Maharani of the widespread corruption in her Government owing to the practice of giving all power, administrative and judicial, to a single officer right from village level to district level.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} To end this the Proverticars (village officers), Kariakkars ([[Taluka]] officers) and the district officials were all deprived of their judicial powers and instead a Court of Appeal and five District Courts at [[Padmanabhapuram]], [[Mavelikara]], [[Thiruvananthapuram]], Vaikam and Alwaye were established and modern judicial system was introduced in [[Travancore]]. The Courts had each two judges and a [[Brahmin]] Sastri. For the trial of Government servants another court known as the ''Huzhur'' court was also established.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}
* The Police was reorganised in Travancore during the reign of Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi at the suggestion of Col. John Munro [[Dewan]].{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}
* Deprived of magisterial and judicial power, the district and village officials now could concentrate their attention on the collection of revenue alone, curtailing their power greatly and making them subject to judicial trial in case of misconduct. The revenue department was cleaned of corruption and revenue collection became smoother and organised.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

===Social reforms===
* Taxes on festivals, taxes on inheritance of property were abolished.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}
* Travancore contained a large number of ''[[Devaswom boards in Kerala|Devaswoms]]'' or Temple Corporations that held vast areas of land and controlled most of the important and wealthy temples in the country. These corporations had fallen prey to corruption and mismanagement and they next engaged the [[Dewan|Dewan']]s attention. More than three hundred of the biggest temples of Travancore were appropriated by the Government under a Devaswom Board and cleared of corruption and mismanagement.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}
* By a Royal Proclamation in 1812 5 December, Her Highness Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi abolished the purchase and sale of all slaves and granted them independence excepting those attached to the soil for agricultural purposes.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}
* Castes like the [[Ezhava]]s, Kaniyans etc. were given independence from their Lords. A restriction put on the Shudras and others regarding the wearing of gold and silver ornaments was removed.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}
* A vaccination department was started in [[Travancore]] in 1813 under her rule. Finding orthodox reservations amongst her subjects with regard to vaccination, the Queen first vaccinated herself and other members of the Royal family to reassure her people.
*Secretariat system was introduced under the guidelines of Col. Munro.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

===Change in Dewanship===
In 1814, Colonel John Munro resigned his Dewanship as it was not a permanent arrangement for the Resident to take that post. In his stead the Judge of the Appeal Court, Devan Padmanabhan was appointed as Dewan. However he soon after died from [[smallpox]]. In his place, one of Col. Munro's assistants, Bappu Rao, was appointed as Dewan of Travancore in that same year.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

==Family==

The Maharani was married to a [[Koyi Thampuran|Koil Thampuran]], Prince [[Raja Raja Varma Koil Thampuran|Rajaraja Varma]] Avargal of the [[Changanassery]] Royal Family. From this marriage Gowri Lakshmi Bayi had issue, two sons and a daughter. Her daughter was Maharani Gowri Rukmini Bayi born in 1809.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} Her eldest son was born on 16 April 1813, King [[Swathi Thirunal]] who was a musician and artist and ruled independently from 1829 to 1846. He married a lady who belonged to the Thiruvattar [[Ammaveedu]] family. The Maharani next had a son in 1814, Maharajah [[Uthram Thirunal]] who ruled from 1846 to 1860.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

==Illness and death==
The Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi started losing her health after giving birth to her youngest son and died in 1815. She was succeeded by her oldest son, King [[Swathi Thirunal]] with her sister [[Gowri Parvati Bayi]] as the Regent Maharani.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

==Succession==
Her only daughter, who was now the only female in the matriarchal Travancore Royal Family, Gowri Rukmini Bayi married Rama Varma Koil Thampuran of [[Thiruvalla]] Royal Family in 1819 and had seven children, five sons and two daughters.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} One of these daughters died soon while the other married and had two sons, including [[Moolam Thirunal|Moolam Thirunal Sri Rama Varma]]. She too died in 1857 after the birth of [[Moolam Thirunal]] and so in 1858 two princesses were adopted from the [[Mavelikara]] Royal family into Travancore.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

==Full Title==
Her Highness Sri Padmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Vardhini Raja Rajeshwari Maharani Ayilyam Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, Attingal Mootha Thampuran, Maharani of Travancore.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

==See also==
* [[Travancore]]
* [[Maharani]]
* [[Swathi Thirunal]]
* [[Moolam Thirunal]]
* [[Nair]]
* [[Thampi|Ammaveedu]]

==References==
{{commons category|Gowri Lakshmi Bayi}}
<references />

==Sources==
* {{Cite book|author=Aiya, V. Nagam |year=1906|title=The Travancore State Manual |location=Trivandrum, Travancore |publisher=Travancore Government Press |oclc=6164443}} (3 volumes)
* {{Cite book|author=Menon, P. Shungoonny |year=1878 |title=A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times |location=Madras, India |publisher=Higginbotham}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Travancore royal family|Kulasekhara Dynasty]]||1791||1815}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Balarama Varma]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Kingdom of Travancore|Maharani of Travancore]]|years=1810–1813}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Swathi Thirunal]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Travancore}}
{{Kingdom of Travancore}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayi, Gowri Lakshmi}}
[[Category:Deaths in childbirth]]
[[Category:Travancore royal family]]
[[Category:Indian female royalty]]

[[Category:1791 births]]
[[Category:1814 deaths]]
[[Category:Hindu monarchs]]
[[Category:19th-century women monarchs]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian royalty]]

[[Category:19th-century Indian monarchs]]

[[Category:Rani of the Kingdom of Travancore]]

[[Category:19th-century women regents]]
[[Category:19th-century regents]]

Gowri Lakshmi Bayi - Revision history

DnyanjyotiEducationNagpur at 04:56, 19 January 2026