Tribhuvana Mahadevi was a queen who ruled one of the mightiest empires in ancient India - also called Kalinga. Today, this kingdom spreads across the eastern state of Orissa in India. Her reign featured in books written in 10th century AD in Persia. She was called a Rayini (a queen) whose rule eclipsed the reigns of her contemporary neighbours (kings in India). Her name is hardly found in any history textbooks today, but her fame had spread far and wide across Asia and Europe amongst her contemporaries.

She came to power as a regent (as the heir to the throne was an infant). Her reign of over 20 years was marked by peace (she successfully fended off invasions); prosperity (she built great trade relations with kingdoms as far as Persia in the west and Indonesia in the east); religious tolerance (she donated liberally to the construction of monasteries of temples of many religious sects), and set an example for the subsequent 5 queens who came to throne from the Bhaumakara dynasty.

Co-hosts: Rusheel (5th grader, Mumbai) and Adya (8th grader, Chennai)

References

1. Book: The women who ruled India by Archana Garodia Gupta

2. Book: Amar Chitra Katha series on Warrior Queens of medieval India

3. Read: Wikipedia page on Tribhuvana Mahadevi

4. Video: On Youtube - Tribhuvana Mahadevi

5. Video: On Youtube - visit the Diamond triangle in Orissa today to see the remnants of the Buddhist monasteries