Shiva Simha Singh
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Shiva Simha Singh
| image =
| caption =
| reign = 1412–1416
| predecessor = Devasimha
| successor = Lakhima Devi
| birth_name = Sivasimha
| regnal name = Mithila Naresh Raja Sivasimha
| house = Oiniwar Dynasty
| father = Devasimha
| mother = Hasini Devi
| religion = Hinduism
| queen = Lakhima Devi
| spouse 2 = Lakhima Devi
| spouse 1 = Padmavati
| spouse 3 = Viśvasadevi
}}
Shiva Simha Singh, also known as Sivasimha, was a king of the Oiniwar dynasty in Mithila.{{Cite journal |last=Mishra |first=Vijayakanta |title=Chronology of the Oiniwara Dynasty of Mithila |date=1953 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44303873 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=16 |pages=200–210 |jstor=44303873 |issn=2249-1937}} He was also referred to as Rūpanārāyana. He declared himself independent and stopped paying taxes to Ibrahim Shah of Jaunpur Sultanate, who invaded Mithila but was defeated.{{cn|date=June 2025}}
Mithila, Bengal and Arakanese accounts say that King Sivasimha helped another Brahmin ruler and his friend, Raja Ganesha of Bengal, defeating the Jaunpur Sultanate in Bengal-Jaunpur conflict. Ganesha had previously freed Bengal from Muslim occupation.{{Cite journal |last=Hussain |first=Syed Ejaz |last2=Husain |first2=Syed Ejaz |date=2002 |title=The Rise of Raja Ganesh in Medieval Bengal and Eaton's Theory of the Crisis of Confidence: A Fresh Study |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158095 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=63 |pages=272–280 |issn=2249-1937}}
Early life
Sivasimha was born in a Mithila Brahmin family of King Devasimha and Hasini Devi.{{Cite web |title=History of Muslim Rule in Tirhut (1206–1765 A.D.) |url=http://indianculture.gov.in/ebooks/history-muslim-rule-tirhut-1206-1765-ad |website=Indian Culture |access-date=16 September 2023}}{{Cite book |last=Thakur (Ed.) |first=Gajendra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QoBV3Cj4AaIC |title=Videha 018 Ist Maithili Fortnightly ejournal मानुषीमिह संस्कृताम् ISSN 2229-547X |publisher=Gajendra Thakur |language=hi}} His grandfather was Bhavasimha, the king of the Oiniwar Dynasty before Devasimha.{{Cite journal |last=Majumdar |first=Bimanbehari |date=1962 |title=Political Thought of Chandesvara (a Fourteenth Century Philosopher—Diplomat) |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41853940 |journal=The Indian Journal of Political Science |volume=23 |issue=1/4 |pages=295–301 |issn=0019-5510}} Sivasimha was married to six wives, of whom Lakhimadevi was the most notable and scholarly wife. She ruled Mithila in his absence from Banauliraj for 12 years from 1416 to 1428. She sacrificed herself into fire in a Sati ritual after 12 years waiting for Sivasimha. Padmavati was the eldest wife of the Sivasimha, who also ruled Mithila for three years.{{cn|date=June 2025}}
Rule
Sivasimha ruled Mithila between 1412 and 1416. He took active part in the kingdom's administration since he was 15, when his father, King Devasimha, was alive.{{Cite book |last=Jha |first=Makhan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0i94Z5C8HMC |title=Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms: A Study in Civilizational Perspective |date=1997 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7533-034-4 |language=en}} He transferred his capital from Devakuli to Gajarathapur (also known as Shiv Singhpur) near Darbhanga .{{Cite book |last=Kapoor |first=Subodh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8897ridkczoC |title=Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography |date=2002 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-81-7755-299-7 |language=en}}
Legacy
The people of Mithila remember him for digging several large tanks in several villages of the kingdom. Among these tanks, the tanks in villages Rajokhari, and Barh are associated with various proverbs. He issued gold coins, two specimens of which were found at Pipra village of Champaran district in 1913. On those coins were the inscriptions "Shri" on the obverse and "Shiva" on the reverse, which indicates that the coins were minted during the reign of Sivasimha. He was called as Panchagaudeshwara by the poet Vidyapati.{{Cite book |last=Radhakrishna Choudhary |url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfMuslimRuleInTirhut |title=History Of Muslim Rule In Tirhut |date=1970 |pages=27}} He granted Bisfi village in the present Madhubani district to his friend Vidyapati for his poems Kirtilata and Kirtipataka.{{Cite book |last=Dalal |first=Roshen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |date=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |language=en}} He is also said to have erected a Masoleum known as Mamoon Bhanja at Jaruha, near Hajipur.
Wars
{{Main Article|Bengal-Jaunpur confrontation}}
In his copper plate grant to Vidyapati, he claimed to have won the kings of Gauda and Gajjanpur. He was also involved in the Bengal–Jaunpur confrontation.{{Cite book |last=Mishra |first=Vijayakanta |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108245 |title=Cultural Heirtage Of Mithila |date=1979}}
He led an expedition against Gauda to extend his rule over that land. Sivasimha thought of conquering this newly converted Muslim ruler. He defeated Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah, the Sultan of Bengal, and annexed major portions of the sultanate while making his region free.{{Cite book |last=Thakur Upendra. |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.505783 |title=History Of Mithila (1956) |date=1956 |publisher=Bhola Nath Mishra Acharya At Sudhakar Press.}}