Davidwnl at 16:12, 8 May 2026

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{{Short description|Queen of Mithila in Oiniwar Dynasty}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Lakhimadevi
| title = Maharani of Mithila
| reign = 1416 CE - 1428 CE
| predecessor = [[Shiva Simha Singh|Shivasimha]]
| successor = [[Padmasimha]] (Brother of [[Shiva Simha Singh|Shivasimha]])
| birth_date = Lakhima
| birth_place = Mithila
| death_place = [[Banauli Vidyapati Dih]], [[Raj Banauli]]
| spouse = [[Shiva Simha Singh|Shivasimha]]
| spouse-type = Husband
| full name = Lakshmi Devi
| regnal name = Maharani Lakhimadevi
| house = Tirhut Sarkar
| house-type = Kingdom
| occupation = *Chief Queen - Maharani
*Later ruler of Tirhut Sarkar
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| royal house = Mithila Kingdom
| dynasty = [[Oiniwar Dynasty]]
}}
'''Lakhimadevi''' ([[Maithili language|Maithili]]: लखीमादेवी) was the queen of the [[Videha|Mithila Kingdom]] in [[Oiniwar dynasty|Oiniwar Dynasty]] during the period of the [[Shiva Simha Singh|King Shivasimha]] in the kingdom. She was contemporary of the prominent [[Maithili language|Maithili]] poet [[Vidyapati]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kāṇe |first=Pāṇḍuraṅga Vāmana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7bWAAAAMAAJ |title=History of Dharmaśāstra: (ancient and Mediæval Religious and Civil Law in India) |date=1975 |publisher=Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |pages=811 |language=en}}</ref> She was the wife of the King Shivasimha in Mithila.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benīpurī |first=Rāmavr̥ksha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2uQrAAAAMAAJ |title=Benīpurī granthāvalī |date=1998 |publisher=Rādhākr̥shṇa Prakāśana |isbn=978-81-7119-424-7 |language=hi}}</ref> After the missing and death of the King Shivasimha, the queen took control of the Mithila Kingdom. The Mithila Kingdom was also known as Tirhut Kingdom those days.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Origins of Caste Identity among the Maithil Brahmins of North Bihar |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/110341/pandey_1.pdf?sequence=1 |journal=University of Michigan Library}}</ref> She was the eighth ruler in the Oiniwar Dynasty of the kingdom.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sircar |first=D. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1JYwP5tVQUC&q=Bhairavasimha |title=Studies in Indian Coins |date=2005 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher |isbn=978-81-208-2973-2 |pages=269 |language=en}}</ref>

The history of the queen Lakhimadevi is elaborated in the text ''[[Purushapariksha]]'' composed by the [[Maithils|Maithil]] scholar [[Vidyapati]]. She is much praised by the Maithil scholar Vidyapati in his compositions. He has written about the queen Lakhimadevi as a praise in his text quoted<ref>{{Cite book |last=Choudhary |first=Radhakrishna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C0f898HDLAYC&q=%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%96%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE+%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%80 |title=A Survey of Maithili Literature |date=1976 |publisher=Ram Vilas Sahu |isbn=978-93-80538-36-5 |pages=45 |language=en}}</ref>
{{Quotes|text="My poetry flows at the contemplation of the feet of Lakhima Devi"|author=Maithili Poet Vidyapati}}She is also known as ''Lakshmi Devi''. The poet Vidyapati in his poems had emotionally described the queen as the form of [[Lakshmi|Goddess Lakshmi]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=प्राचीन हिंदी काव्य |url=https://ddceutkal.ac.in/Syllabus/MA_HINDI/Paper-05.pdf |website=DDCE, Utkal University}}</ref> In some historical texts, her name is also mentioned as ''Lakhima Thakurani'' or ''Rani Lakhima Thakurain''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Choudhary |first=Rabindra Nath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmYeAAAAMAAJ |title=Political History of Khandavala Dynasity [sic] in Mithila, 1556-1793 |date=1987 |publisher=Capital Publishing House |language=en}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Lakhimadevi was born in a [[Maithil Brahmin]] family in the [[Mithila (region)|Mithila region]] of the [[Indian subcontinent]].

== Later life ==
Lakhimadevi was married to the King Shivasimha of the Oiniwar Dynasty in Mithila. After the marriage, she became the chief queen of the Mithila Kingdom. According to historians, she was a scholarly woman and well versed about the knowledge of administrative matters of a kingdom. She was also a [[Poet|poetess]]. She is considered as one of prominent ''Vibhutis'' in the [[Mithila (region)|Mithila region]]. Due to her poetic talent, she is also identified as ''Mahakavi'' in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=मिथिला की उपेक्षा निंदनीय - |url=https://www.jagran.com/bihar/darbhanga-8483874.html |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Jagran |language=hi}}</ref>

It is said that when the Mughal emperor arrested the King Sivasimha of Mithila, then the King said to his Rajpandita Vidyapati to flew his wife Lakhimadevi into the neighbouring kingdom [[Raj Banauli]] of his friend ''Dronwara Puraditya''. Then the poet Vidyapati along with Maharani Lakhimadevi flew away from the capital [[Gajarathapur]] and came to the kingdom of Raj Banauli and took asylum at the court of the King Dronwara Puraditya.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Thakur Upendra. |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.505783 |title=History Of Mithila (1956) |date=1956 |publisher=Bhola Nath Mishra Acharya At Sudhakar Press.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Govind Ram |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Vidy%C4%81pati_k%C4%AB_k%C4%81vya_pratibh%C4%81.html?id=gLVHAAAAMAAJ#%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0 |title=Vidyāpati kī kāvya-pratibhā |date=1965 |publisher=Navayuga-Prakāśana |language=hi}}</ref>

== Rule ==
In the asylum at the court of Raj Banauli, Maharani Lakhimadevi took control on the throne of King Shivasimha by the help of the ''Rajpandita'' Vidyapati. According to historians, ''Maharani Lakhimadevi'' ruled the Mithila Kingdom in the absence of King Shivasimha from the court of [[Raj Banauli]] at [[Banauli Vidyapati Dih]] for 12 years. The time period of the regime of Maharani Lakhimadevi was from 1416 CE to 1428 CE. The Rajpandita Vidyapati became her political advisor and helped her in the matters of administration of the ''Tirhut Sarkar''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pāṇḍeya |first=Śambhūnātha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bQsPAAAAMAAJ |title=Apabhraṃśa aura Avahaṭṭa: eka antaryātrā : uttama Apabhraṃśa kāvya-sāṅgraha, Hindī vyākhyā, vhākaraṇa, ṭippaniyām̐, tathā vyutpattigatakośa sahita |date=1979 |publisher=Caukhambhā Oriyanṭāliyā |language=hi}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

The Maithil historian ''Makhan Jha'' in his book ''Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms'', described the queen Lakhimadevi of progressive nature. Maharani Lakhimadevi criticized the ''Bikaua'' system marriage of women prevalent in the Maithil society those days.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Jha |first=Makhan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0i94Z5C8HMC&q=Lakhima |title=Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms: A Study in Civilizational Perspective |date=1997 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7533-034-4 |pages=157 |language=en}}</ref> In the Bikaua system, a large number of women of lower grade section were married to a single man of higher grade section in the same caste. The women married to the Bikaua man had to live with their own parents. The word Bikaua was used for the man whom several women were married. This system of marriage was practiced in order to raise own social status of the lower grade family. But this system had a serious problem that after the death of the Bikaua man, a large number of women were becoming widows. Therefore, Maharani Lakhimadevi criticized the Bikaua system and tried to eradicate it from the society.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jha |first=Jata Shankar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5pAAAAAMAAJ |title=Aspects of the History of Modern Bihar |date=1988 |publisher=Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thakur |first=Upendra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVHRAAAAMAAJ |title=History of Mithila: (circa 3000 B.C.-1556 A.D.) |date=1956 |publisher=Mithila Institute |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Choudhary |first=Radhakrishna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bwBAAAAMAAJ |title=Mithilā in the Age of Vidyāpati |date=1976 |publisher=Chaukhambha Orientalia |language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Maharani Lakhimadevi is one the important figures in the legendary as well as historical stories of the mediaeval [[Videha|Mithila Kingdom]]. She is also an important character in the literature of the [[Maithili language]].

There are several historical places named after her name in the [[Mithila (region)|Mithila region]] of the Indian subcontinent. In the Himalayan nation [[Nepal]], there is a historical pond called as ''Lakshmi Sagar'' near the [[Banauli Vidyapati Dih|Vidyapati Dih]] in the [[Banauli Donauli|Banauli Danauli]] village of the [[Mahottari District|Mahottari district]] in the Mithila region. The historical pond was named after the name of the ''Maharani Lakhimadevi'' of the Mithila Kingdom.

== See also ==

* [[Vishwasa Devi]]

== References ==
<references />

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Indian queens regnant]]
[[Category:15th-century queens regnant]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu monarchs]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Mithila]]
[[Category:15th-century Indian women]]

Lakhimadevi - Revision history

Davidwnl at 16:12, 8 May 2026