Trailokya, Crown Prince of Nepal


General Crown Prince Trailokya Bir Bikram Shah Deva was, as the eldest son of King Surendra of Nepal, the heir apparent to the throne of Nepal. He died before his father, and his son Prithvi ascended the throne.

Life

Crown Prince Trailokya was the son of King Surendra and his second wife, Trailokya Rajya Lakshmi Devi. He was educated privately.
Crown Prince Trailokya first married three daughters of Jung Bahadur Rana: Tara Rajya Lakshmi Devi, then Lalit Rajeshwori Rajya Lakshmi Devi and Somgarva Divyeshwari Rajya Lakshmi Devi. Whilst his senior wives bore him two sons and two daughters, he had three sons by junior wives from noble clans as well as several others by concubines.
At that time, the King of Nepal had little power: the country was ruled by the Rana prime minister. The royal family was bereft of any real political leadership. The Sanad of 1856 had assigned all power to the Rana prime minister. Crown Prince Trailokya, upon reaching his maturity in 1875, decided to regain the royal prerogatives that his father had lost in 1856. With the help of his Sahebjyu brothers and Jagat Jang, a son of Jang Bahadur Rana, the Crown Prince set a plan by which the order of succession according to the 1856 Sanad would be put aside in the event of Jung Bahadur's death; in such a case, Prince Trailokya would force King Surendra to abdicate and appoint Jagat Jang as the Prime Minister. The plan was, however, unsuccessful. After Jung Bahadur died in Patherghatta, his youngest brother Dhir Shamsher spread the news that Jung Bahadur had not died, but was only critically ill. As Prince Trailokya and Jagat Jang rushed to Patharghat, Dhir Shamsher compelled King Surendra to appoint Ranodip Singh Kunwar as the next prime minister, as per the laws of succession.
Crown Prince Trailokya died in 1878, under suspicious circumstances, after which his son Prithivi acceded to the throne. Whilst King Prithivi was kept as a glorified prisoner and ceremonial monarch at Narayanhiti Royal Palace, his Sahebjyu brothers and closest confidants were exiled to several districts of Nepal including Palpa Gauda, Birgunj and India from Hanuman Dhoka Royal Palace to prevent any repeated attempts at regaining royal prerogatives.