Prithivi Narayan Shah’s Marriage
As an efficient ruler, King Prithivi Narayan Shah planned his marriage such that it could aid in the unification campaign of Nepal. His marriage was also an interesting part of politics. PN Shah was the son-in-law of Makwanpur and Terai. He was married twice to Indra Kumari Devi and Narendra Rajya Laxmi Devi.
First Marriage with Indra Kumari Devi
The prince of Gorkha was intelligent and courageous from his childhood. Nara Bhupal Shah even developed his son’s friendship (mit) with the Prince of Bhaktapur so that the PN Shah could discover everything about the Malla kingdoms and get support from the King of Bhaktapur Ranjit Malla.
In this way, Nara Bhupal Shah, who had taught his son to use friendship as politics, had also taught him the marriage strategy.
Therefore, PN Shah, who learned that having only army forces wasn’t enough for the country’s unification, applied every sort of possible strategy. As such, his wedding was also one of his several plans.
At age 14, Shah first married Indra Kumari Devi, the princess of Makwanpur, in February 1738. But, their union was unsuccessful due to a conflict at their wedding ceremony.
Marriage with Narendra Rajya Laxmi
In 1740, PN Shah married Narendra Rajya Laxmi Devi, the daughter of Abhiman Singh, a Rajput chief of Gorakhpur (now part of India). Ultimately, he became the first son-in-law of the Madhesh area (Terai).
Narendra Rajya and Prithvi Narayan Shah were blessed with her first son Pratap Singh Shah on 16 April 1751, while he was planning to conquer Kirtipur. Their only daughter is Princess Vedum Shah. On 16 June 1751, the Shah couple’s second son, Fateh Bahadur Shah, was born.
After long battle campaigns, PN Shah celebrated the creation of the Kingdom of Nepal on 25 September 1768 and relocated to the city of Kathmandu from Gorkha.
At age 52, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal passed away on his birthday, in 1775, at Devighat, Nuwakot. On 11 January, while conducting the final rites of Prithvi Narayan Shah, his queen Narendra Rajya Lakshmi, with his other eight mistresses became sati.
Shortly before Queen Narendra committed sati, the eldest son Pratap Singh Shah (aged 24) was crowned as the second King of modern Nepal. Whereas, their youngest one, Bahadur Shah, became the regent of Nepal for a brief time after the demise of his mother.
