RANARCHY

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).

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.

SRI PECH /CROWN

 Rana men preferred to wear a formal military garb with medals and braids. A unique headgear,Sripech (Crown),  was a distinctive feature of their official outfit. The Sripech had three leaf-shaped ornaments mounted with diamonds and emeralds and a plume made of feathers taken, oddly enough, from the bird of paradise found only in New Zealand.

www.bardanshumsherthapa.com