my maternal great grandfather major general jhulendra bikram rana |
My today's post will be about dress and jewelry of the Rana dynasty of
Nepal. They ruled the Kingdom of Nepal since 1846 till 1951 and during the time
the king was just a formal figure and the real power belonged to the Ranas.
They were made the Prime Minister and other government positions became hereditary.
The Rana clan was enormous, the first Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur had 6 brothers, 14 sons and 30 nephews.There was no male Rana who would limit himself with just one wife, all of them had several wives (Jung Bahadur for example had 40).
The Rana clan was enormous, the first Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur had 6 brothers, 14 sons and 30 nephews.There was no male Rana who would limit himself with just one wife, all of them had several wives (Jung Bahadur for example had 40).
During my last visit
to historian Pursottam Shumsher JBR , he explained about two valuable
diamonds which were present in Nepal .One was of 94 carats, which was later sold by Lila Shumsher JBR . And the 2nd was a yellow coloured diamond, given by Bir Shumsher JBR to his daughter, who was the mother of King Tribhuvan . The white diamond was later sold by Lila Shumsher in Bombay on 2008 BS for 24 lakh Indian Rupees . No one knows where they are now .
All those numerous wives, daughters and sisters were dressed and adorned according to status. Women's dress was
influenced by European fashion at the Rana court. There are many photos of the
late 19th century where Rana women wear Victorian silk dresses covered with
pearls, sequins and intricate embroidery Sari also was worn but in a
distinctive Nepalese style different from that of Indian fashion: the sari was
pleated in the back and the border was pinned like a stole.
Jewelry was an
essential way to show wealth and success. Each Rana wife and daughter had unique individual tiaras and necklaces designed for them.
Tiaras were laden with diamonds and necklaces had nine strands of pearls and
gems. Star and moon pins were popular motifs with the Ranas because these were
emblems of their royal ancestry.