Eliana Moshacca Mihadela

Eliana Moshacca Mihadela (also Elyene Moshacca Mihadela; 30 June 1004-21 September 1065), was Queen of Maharapura as the second wife of King Brahna VI and de facto ruler of Maharapura from 1030 until 1048. She hated her stepson Suriya II and wanted her son Kratmaung to inherit the throne, and was at odds with her daughter-in-law, Fabianna of Hsindra. Her granddaughter Kalanthe is the mother of the future king Kratmaung II, so Eliana is the ancestor of Maharapurese sovereigns since Kratmaung II.

Early years
Born in Jamahapati Palace on 30 June 1004, Eliana Moshacca Mihadela was the daughter of Alan Mihadela, Duke of Kausaung and Madharia Moshacca of Palarra. She was named after her mother. Eliana was the great granddaughter of King Joao I of Hsindra. Her mother, Madharia Moshacca, was the daughter of Princess Liuatrice of Hsindra, Duchess of Palarra, daughter of Joao I. One of her cousins, Suwei Mihadela, was Duchess of Kuwenphrak, whose daughter was Mayadevi of Kuwenphrak, Balish empress in the future.

Her father died when she was very young. Her brother, Kanaunt Lebinande Mihadela, who was only 3 years old, became new Duke of Kausaung and his mother, Madharia Moshacca, was the regent. When she was 8, there was a riot in Neilcuanorai, the capital of Kausaung, due to the high-pressure policy of Madharia Moshacca, who only ran away with her son Kanaunt and left her daughter in Neilcuanorai in riot. Fortunately, with the protection of soldiers, Eliana was safely sent to the court of her uncle Belfante V, Duke of Palarra. Belfante V was very dissatisfied with his sister's leaving his niece. After the riots subsided, he refused to let Eliana return to Kausaung. Since then, Eliana had been educated in Palarra, so she was closer to her uncle's family, but alienated from her mother and brother.

Queen of Maharapura
Although Eliana was not close to Kausaung, she still had the inheritance right of Kausaung, which made her a popular marriage object. Even his uncle Belfante V wanted Eliana to marry his son Mehtamen IV, future Duke of Palarra, but the marriage failed because he failed to successfully bribe the Pharaja, whose permission was needed in consanguineous marriage.

In 1022, Queen Jahanne of Shadra-Ingen, first wife of King Brahna VI of Maharapura, died, and Eliana became the widowed king's ideal remarriage object. Although Eliana thought Brahna VI was too old for her, had already married once and had a son, her uncle persuaded her that there was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a queen, so she finally agreed this marriage.

On 28 February 1023, Eliana, 18, and Brahna VI, 44, married at Malla Shin Temple. It was said that Brahna VI fell in love with Eliana at first sight. In the first marriage, Brahna VI was not faithful. He had at least 9 mistresses, which led to the depression and death of Jahanne to a certain extent. However, after marrying Eliana, he never had a new lover. At that time, there were accusations that Eliana used witchcraft to charm the king, but it soon ended. Unlike the former queen, Eliana exerted a great influence on her husband. She persuaded her husband to make personnel changes in the court. Many court positions were occupied by her Palarra cronies. Her close friend Madharia d'Iapomil became the chief lady-in-waiting of the court. Some nobles who were dissatisfied with this said, "Is this the court of Maharapura or Palarra?"

On 11 January 1024, Eliana was crowned in Malla Shin Temple. On 13 May, her only son Kratmaung was born. In the following years, she gave birth to three daughters: Elyene Renee, Elyene Madhri and Elyene Elanche. Because Eliana's arrogance, she asked her daughters that they must marry the king or emperor, so her three daughters had never married for their entire life.

The relationship between Queen Eliana and her stepson Suriya II can be said acrimonious. Suriya II, the only child of Brahna VI and Jahanne, was the crown prince. Eliana did not like him at all. After she gave birth to Prince Kratmaung, she hated Suriya even more and regarded him as a bête noire, who wanted his son to replace Suriya as heir to the throne. In 1026, Suriya II married Princess Fabianna of Hsindra. She obstructed it and tried to destroy the marriage, but was finally stopped by Suriya's close officials, so that the marriage could proceed smoothly. After Fabianna came to Maharapura, Eliana transferred part of her hatred for her stepson to her, often aiming at Fabianna and flaunting her power as a queen. Suriya II didn't dare to disobey his stepmother too much, because it would annoy the king, but Fabianna was not willing to be bullied by Eliana. When Fabianna entered the court, Eliana ordered to dismiss the attendants she brought from Hsindra and assign her new attendants. Soon after, Fabianna called her Hsindran attendants back and connived at their provocation to the Queen's attendants.

When Brahna VI fell ill in 1030, Eliana became the regent of the kingdom. Although she was nominally regent with crown prince Suriya, she united nobles and officials to exclude the crown prince, so Maharapura was actually ruled by her. Eliana was not very interested in domestic affairs. She basically let her trusted nobles deal with domestic political affairs, while she focused on diplomatic issues. Eliana's foreign policy was very tough. Although it further worsened the relationship with Hsindra, it was successful on the whole. In 1035, she deterred the Balish Empire, forced it to interrupt its military conquest of the northern upper Pindhiya region and put the region under the control of Maharapura, which was a great success, meaning that Maharapura could obstruct the connection between Baland and the northern regions.

Queen dowager
In 1048, her rule ended with the death of her husband. Suriya II, whom she hated, inherited the throne, and Fabianna replaced her as Queen. The powerful former queen refused to attend the coronation of her stepson and stepdaughter-in-law. Whenever someone called her "Queen Dowager", she would be furious. She asked the attendants around her to still call her "Her Majesty the Queen", and she was unwilling to give up her power. However, she was reluctant to find that the people in the court no longer listened to her. The new queen Fabianna was the hostess of the court, and her attendant Madharia de Peerkinsa also replaced Madharia d'Iapomil as the chief lady-in-waiting.

Her ambition to make her son ascend the throne was not weakened by the loss of power. On the contrary, she wanted her son to ascend the throne more because of the gap with the previous life as queen regent. Queen Fabianna began her revenge. Under her instructions, Eliana was excluded from the court and became a marginal figure. Many of her Palarra attendants were also dispersed. She herself was banished from the court in April 1053 because she was hostile to the king and his wife and might murder the king. Eliana lived in Sharaburi Manor, one of her many territories in Maharapura, after leaving Ratha. Eliana often entertained the nobles here and spread rumors that the king was impotent and could not have children. She hoped that the nobles could support her son Kratmaung and made him king, but it had never succeeded. Her relationship with her daughter-in-law, Jaliye Mehtamena of Tharratima, was also tense. She disliked that Jaliye Mehtamena was only the daughter of a count and was not worthy of her son who was a prince. Jaliye Mehtamena thought Eliana was an unpalatable mother-in-law and often turned a blind eye to her.

In 1061, Suriya II took the initiative to visit her and was willing to ease the relationship with her. He proposed to let his son Crown Prince Kratmaung marry Princess Kalanthe, Eliana's granddaughter. Eliana gladly accepted it and returned to the court to help the newly widowed king deal with court affairs. In the last few years of her life, Eliana rarely lived in harmony with her stepson, whom she always hated, and even gave help and advice.

On 21 September 1065, Eliana died at Ratha Royal Palace at the age of 61. Her funeral was held in January of the following year and was buried at the Effe Dolla Manor, which was also Eliana's property. Her granddaughter, Princess Kalanthe, married the crown prince and gave birth to a son, future king Kratmaung II. Through this relationship, Eliana was the ancestor of all the later Maharapurese kings.