Gowri Lakshmi Bayi: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}

| reign              = 7 November 1810 – 1815

| full name          = ''Her. Highness. Sree Padmanabhasevini Vanchidharma Vardhini Raja Rajeshwari Maharani Ayilyom Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi Maharani of Travancore''

}}'''Maharani Ayilyom Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi''' (1791–1815) 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 two years before becoming a regent.<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>

Gouri 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]]. 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]].

==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. 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 regent 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. The Princess 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 Regent 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.

===Selection of the Dewan===

One of the earliest acts of Regent 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. He was dismissed and when he tried to cause further trouble, he was imprisoned and punished after being found guilty of conspiracy against the Regent Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi. The Maharani 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.

===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. 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]], [[Trivandrum]], 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.

* The Police was reorganised in Travancore during the reign of Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi at the suggestion of Col. John Munro [[Dewan]].

===Social reforms===

* Travancore contained a large number of ''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.

===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.

==Family==

The Maharani was married to a Koil Thampuran, Prince 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. Her eldest son was born on 16 April 1813, the famous 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.