Based on the book “The Ivory Throne” by Manu Pillai
I recently read the Ivory Throne and found it to be a fascinating read. It is not an easy read as the same names are used across generations of people so one has to pay close attention. But for the patient discerning reader “The Ivory Throne” is an excellent and detailed narrative about the History of Kerala, and gives an accurate and mesmerizing glimpse of life in Colonial India as it is connected to the life of two rival queens.
Today when people refer to the Travancore Royalty they think of the inhabitants of Kowdiar Palace and the descendants of Maharajah Sree Chithira Thirunal and his mother Sethu Parvathi Bayi. But forgotten is the Maharajah’s aunt Sethu Lakshmi Bayi who was the Regent Queen prior to him. It is odd that there is not one memorial to her in the Kingdom she once ruled.
The book chronicles the tale of two queens, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and Sethu Parvathi Bayi and their rivalry for power and all of the intrigue that surrounded the Travancore royalty in the days of colonial India. The queens were both granddaughters of the famous painter Raja Ravi Varma.
Back in August of 1900, to the sound of a 21 gun salute and in the presence of the royal family deity and his shrine Sree Padmanabhaswamy, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and Sethu Parvathi Bayi were adopted into the royal family by their great aunt based on the matrilineal form of inheritance that the Hindus in Kerala followed and later they would be called the Senior Maharani and Junior Maharani. The King was always the sister’s son and the lineage could only continue through the Rani or the female of the family. It was common in those days to adopt a girl princess from the Mavelikkara family of nobles whenever the royal family had only boys as children. Two princesses were adopted to ensure that at least one of them would have a son who could then go on to be King.
Unlike the rest of India where women occupied an inferior position, in Travancore and surrounding areas Hindu women were heads of families and could rule kingdoms. The Ranis of Travancore were also addressed as the rulers of Attingal. The Attingal Rani ancestors of the newly adopted princesses were powerful and had even led their armies into battle.
The two adopted princesses were cousins and born to Mahaprabha and Kochukunji who were siblings. Mahaprabha’s beauty was legendary and she appears in a painting by her grandfather Raja Ravi Varma, “There comes Papa”. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi like her mother Mahaprabha was reportedly the more beautiful princess and people often said so, sowing the seeds of jealousy for Sethu Parvathi Bayi who herself took after her mother Kochukunji.
In colonial India, the British gave the reigning Kings a good amount of freedom while always having a British Resident in each State to oversee matters of the State along with the reigning monarch. A British Resident would comment on how the Senior Maharani looked very aristocratic and regal while the Junior did not. A later Resident shortly after the Regency would remark how the Senior Maharani was a Real Little Grand Dame.
Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was married some months after turning 10, per custom to Rama Varma from one of the few noble families that she could choose from, although the marriage would be consummated years later at a palace chosen auspicious day. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi had been expected to marry the popular older brother Rajaraja Varma who was said to be exceptionally good looking and 10 years older than her but years later she would tell her granddaughter that at age 10 she was so intimidated by the handsome older man of 20 that she had signaled that she would prefer to marry the timid younger brother. The selected groom was interviewed by the Dewan and a medical checkup done by the British doctor and approvals sought from the Government of Madras before the wedding was finalized.
In due time, the Junior Maharani, Sethu Parvathi Bayi too was married and once the girls turned older the race to provide the first male heir began. This was important as now both queens would have equal opportunity and the first one to have a boy child would become the most powerful person in the kingdom. The senior Maharani had 2 miscarriages and had lost hope of ever becoming a mother. But the Junior Maharani would win this race and had a daughter, then a male son and later yet another son. And with providing the male heirs to the throne, it was clear that sooner or later the Junior Maharani would ascend to power. But later to her own surprise the Senior Maharani too had 2 daughters.
In August of 1924, when Maharaja Mulam Thirunal died, the next male heir was the Junior Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bayi’s son who was at the time only eleven years old. In the rest of India, normally the minor’s mother and a Council of Regency would be appointed for the Kingdom per British law. But here the former Maharajah had set out instructions pointing to the matrilineal form of succession and had indicated that the surviving senior female member of the family should become Regent. The British took care to follow local traditions as much as possible. And so in this case the senior Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi became Regent Queen. She was to be the last Queen of the Ivory Throne.
Upon Sethu Lakshmi Bayi becoming Regent and Queen, the Junior Maharani was furious and all through the Regency plotted and schemed to get the Regency abolished and tried hard to put an interim Council in place which she could control instead. She developed a close friendship and some say much more than friendship relationship with Sir C.P. Iyer. And together they would travel to Shimla and Delhi trying to win favor with the British Viceroy and abolish the Regency.
The senior Maharani as Regent Queen turned out to be a calm, pragmatic and level headed ruler and much to everyone’s surprise selected an Anglo-Indian Mr. Watts, the brother of her long standing tutor and friend Ms. Watts to be the Dewan of the Travancore Kingdom. The Nairs which were the most powerful community at the time were angry at her for not selecting one of their people. The queen wanted someone free from any communal bias as rival groups of Tamil Brahmins, Nairs and Syrian Christians all wanted one of their members to be Dewan. The queen took the uproar that ensued in her appointing an Anglo-Indian Christian as Dewan very calmly and stated that “The only point therefore to be considered is that the holder of the post must be fit for it.” Mr. Watts was an able administrator and it was he who set up and improved much of the administrative machinery for the State.
An earlier British Resident around 1813, Colonel Munro had been given much authority by the Queen then and he in turn had started the modernization of the state introducing a selective process for appointments to administrative offices, expanding education to many and revamping the judicial system. So by the time Sethu Lakshmi Bayi came to power in 1924, in Colonial India it was common for the British Resident, the Dewan and the ruler to work together to manage the kingdom.
During her reign Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, an avid reader with an intelligent mind set the foundation for many future successes in the state. She was a conservative ruler ever conscious of the fact that she ruled as an interim ruler and as such did not want to make any decisions that would rock the boat too much or put the state in a financial predicament. She came to be immensely respected by her subjects and won the admiration of the British so much so that they bestowed on her the ultimate honor of the “Order of the Crown of India”, given only in case of outstanding achievements by the King of England.
During her time, revenues and trade increased substantially. She made it possible for all government vacancies to be filled on merit irrespective of community and religion while in the past only upper caste Hindus could obtain the jobs. She built roads and infrastructure and introduced Electricity to the State. The Resident noted that among all the Indian states, Travancore spent the most of education. She also appointed women graduates to senior positions and made it possible for women also to have access to education and jobs.
She made the risky decision to lend her support and finances to building the Cochin Harbor while Cochin was a part of another state and in a way laid the foundation for the modern city of Cochin and its huge success as the business center of Kerala. Cochin and Travancore had been rival neighboring states and this joint venture together was unprecedented. Cochin Harbor would go on to become a major port in all of India. She passed into law the Village Panchayat Act in the hope of giving villagers more of a democratic say in how their daily lives could be governed. Social reforms like the Nair Regulation which allowed ancestral property to be partitioned among family members were passed. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi from all reports handled all of the politics and vying groups diplomatically and administered the Kingdom very well as Regent Queen.
The Junior Maharani in the meantime worked on keeping the young prince totally under her control. The Government of India (the British authorities) insisted that the future King must go through administrative training away from Kerala and it was so decided that the future King would go to Bangalore and be trained. I think you have to give credit to the British; they introduced into India all the administrative and governance measures India needed to ensure the stability of government in India, the Jewel in their crown.
The Junior Maharani insisted that she must accompany her son at all times but her tantrums were ignored as the British really wanted the King to become independent and gain the ability to stand on his own and develop his own mind. Some also say that the Junior Maharani was fearful that someone would try to assassinate the future King and she did not trust the Senior Maharani’s husband. Some of this estrangement and mistrust between the cousins seem to have been planted by their respective mothers much earlier. It is said that the boy did come out of his shell during training but once the Junior Maharani had him back in Kerala it was all undone.
Although it had been previously decided that the Regency would end when the King turned 19.5 years, the Junior Maharani and Sir C.P used all of their influences and in the end got the Viceroy to agree to ending it earlier. And the regency thus came to an end and the reign of Sree Chithira Thirunal started in 1931.
In her retirement, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi had to run through frustrating hoops to get her settlements. It was decided eventually by the new King that she would get Rs.75000 a year as pension after 7 years of ruling Travancore. The amount was a pittance considering that the new Legal Advisor to the state which would be Sir C.P of course would get Rs.72000 a year, even more than the Dewan. This post was newly created just for Sir. C.P and he would also be given an entire palace to live and not a bungalow.
The reign of the new King would basically be the reign of the Junior Maharani and Sir C.P. Two Dewans, one after the other resigned, as they could not handle Sir C.P’s constant interference and enormous hold over the King. In the end Sir C.P himself was appointed as Dewan and thus started a new era in Travancore. The King seemed to be one in name alone; it was Sir C.P and the Junior Maharani who held all power. Those who managed to get in their good books were appointed to jobs and positions. The Junior Maharani lacked empathy for the people unlike the Senior Maharani who was reportedly sensitive to the needs of the people.
While Maharajah Sree Chithira Thirunal himself was popular and almost revered by people, Sir C.P. Iyer due to his dictatorial tendencies was much hated across the state. He shut down any newspapers critical to the government and was brutal in repressing any protestors. The Junior Maharani spent lavishly with no limits and undertook foreign tours and enjoyed absolute authority. She and Sir C.P lobbied for her to get the same “Order of the crown of India” given to the Senior Maharani and when the British refused, rather laughably they had a university make her an honor. The Junior Maharani also had a statue of hers made and placed in a prominent position.
After her Regency the Senior Maharani was subjected to endless insults in even petty matters. One fine day, a letter arrived insisted that a certain ancestral necklace be returned. It had been a gift to Sethu Lakshmi Bayi from the former Maharajah Mulam Thirunal. And to add to insult, they then asked her to provide compensation also for a missing Ruby from the necklace. She was asked to present herself at Kowdiar palace and pay homage to the new King at periodic intervals. It appeared that the Junior Maharani was determined to get even and used every opportunity to belittle her cousin.
Some years later, the Senior Maharani left Kerala and moved to Bangalore and settled there to be closer to her daughters and ultimately became totally free of all the royal trappings. Since she left Kerala, the Maharajah and his family laid claim to all her estates. Eventually her Sripadam estate was taken away from her, and one by one many others. Finally the only property that she had left “Satelmond Palace” from where she had ruled and raised her children was signed away to be the seat of the Sree Chithira hospital and institute. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi by then it seemed was happy to give it all up and was glad that her palace would be used for the good of the public.
A combination of factors including a repressive regime, lack of opportunities, the expanse of education and people becoming increasingly aware of the inequalities among classes of people gave birth to communism in the state and forever changed the political landscape in Kerala. An incident in 1946 led to the death of hundreds of Communist Party workers under Sir C.P’s instructions. Initially the King and Sir C.P chose to stay out of the Indian Union in 1947 not wanting to lose their power and this led to an uproar across the state.
Ultimately the states of Travancore, Cochin and the Malabar area were all merged into Kerala which became a part of the new India and the Maharajah and Junior Maharani lost active power. Many years later, Sethu Parvathi Bayi and the Maharajah visited Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and her family in Bangalore after years of no communication. At that last meeting between the rival queens, the Senior Maharani is seen radiant and smiling while the Junior Maharani looks glum and almost despondent. Perhaps it was seeing that her cousin was actually happy in her new life in Bangalore that caused the Junior Maharani to be not pleased.
Sethu Lakshmi Bayi died and was cremated in Bangalore like a totally ordinary person in 1985. Sethu Parvathi Bayi died in 1983. The descendants of Sethu Parvathi Bayi to date live in Kowdiar Palace and uphold ancient traditions and proclaim their undying devotion to the deity Padmanabhaswamy, perhaps their last link to importance and relevance in a new world. The descendants of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi are all over the world and live a modern independent life and choose not to live in the glory of the past.
Rukmini, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi’s favorite grand-daughter and a striking beauty in her youth is even today an acclaimed painter and earlier lived a glamorous high society life with her exhibition in London being inaugurated by Lord Mountbatten. Through some personal tragic events, she later became a recluse and is not seen much now although as of last year she was persuaded to attend an exhibition of her paintings.
The Book describes how one visitor heard the Senior Maharani say during her final years “Once I had a kingdom. But that is gone. Then I thought Satelmond was mine, but that is gone too. Then I thought this house was mine, but now I can only say this room is mine.” This was after the Urban Land reform act which had led to the property in Bangalore being divided as it was too large to be in one person’s name and the queen had it all given away to her many grandchildren and children.
In the end, one realizes that all the power cravings and scheming among the rival queens and their assorted connections were such a waste. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi fulfilled her responsibility well during her time as Queen Regent and she too deserves respect and perhaps at least a memorial in the state she once ruled.
As for the legally contested treasures of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, said to be the richest temple in the world, I think its treasures should be moved to a state of the art museum and the money from tickets sold to tourists used to benefit the state of Kerala. Kowdiar palace does not want to give up their hold on the temple as the last symbol of their power but it is only fair that the enormous wealth given by the people be used for the good of the people and not one family.
Manu Pillai did an excellent job of paying homage to this forgotten queen of Travancore through his comprehensive research and expansive narrative in the book “The Ivory Throne” . Do read it yourself if you are interested in a historical narrative about Colonial India and its connections to the final rulers of the House of Travancore.