Introduction
At the very moment Napoleon Bonaparte was trying to bring Continental bureaucracy to Britain, Queen Lakshmi brought British commonsense to Travancore (now the State of Kerala). She and her sister Parvati weeded out corruption, promoted education and healthcare, and gave stability to a realm troubled by invasion and bad government.
IN 1809 the Kingdom of Travancore was embroiled in a unsuccessful rebellion against Colonel Colin Macaulay, the East India Company’s Resident there.* A year later the Raja, Balarama Varma,* died, leaving his troubled kingdom to his nineteen-year-old niece Lakshmi.* Her sex told against her at first, and a distant cousin and court favourite almost supplanted her; but Colonel John Munro, the new Resident, ensured that Rani Lakshmi ascended the throne on November 7th, 1810.
Already signs of change were evident. Lakshmi welcomed Munro to the palace, which (as Europeans were low caste) no predecessor would have done, and defied expectations of women by giving a gracious public speech at her durbar. She then dismissed her Dewan (Prime Minister), on the grounds of corruption, appointed Munro in his place, and embarked on a sweeping reform of the Kingdom. Taxes were cut or abolished, and long-standing debts forgiven. The justice system was overhauled, the national debt cleared, and trading in slaves abolished;* and in 1813, the Rani became the first patient in a kingdom-wide vaccination programme.*
Colonel Colin Macaulay (1760-1836), a Scottish soldier who served the East India Company in India, fighting in the Battle of Seringapatam and spending two years as one of Tipu’s prisoners. He returned to England in 1811 and joined his close friend Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, in campaigning for the abolition of the slave trade.
Avittom Thirunal Balarama Varma (?1782-1810) succeeded Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma in 1798.
Maharani Ayilyom Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi (1791–1815), who ruled from 1810 to her death. Her prince consort was Raja Raja Varma Koil Thampuran, one year her senior, who advised her ably throughout her reign.
By Royal Proclamation on December 5th, 1812. As in Britain, trading in slaves was abolished before slavery itself: that was ended in Travancore by Rani Lakshmi’s son Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma (r. 1846-1860), through his Royal Proclamations of 1853 and 1855.
General John Munro (1775-1858), 9th of Teaninich, went out to serve in the Madras Army in 1791, and was appointed British Resident in Travancore and Cochin in 1810, assuming the role of Dewan (Prime Minister) from 1811 to 1814, and then playing an advisory role until he retired to his family home, Teaninich Castle in Ross and Cromarty, northern Scotland, in 1819.
Vaccination was a British invention. See Jesty and Jenner’s Jab.
Précis
In 1810 the throne of Travancore passed to Lakshmi, who inherited a kingdom in turmoil over the role of the East India Company. The new Queen, who was just nineteen, asked the Company’s resident, Colonel Munro, to help her steady the kingdom, and their policies included lowering taxes, halting the slave trade and improving healthcare. (55 / 60 words)
In 1810 the throne of Travancore passed to Lakshmi, who inherited a kingdom in turmoil over the role of the East India Company. The new Queen, who was just nineteen, asked the Company’s resident, Colonel Munro, to help her steady the kingdom, and their policies included lowering taxes, halting the slave trade and improving healthcare.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, if, must, otherwise, since, until, whereas, whether.
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