around patron/client relationships. Downfall: 1832–1838 Death of Queen Tripurasundari and Family Intrigues The power balance began to change after King Rajendra came of age and his grandmother, Tripurasundari, died on 26 March 1832 due to cholera. Bhimsen lost his main support and the court became a stage for a power struggle, which even though started off as an attempt to assert the King's authority from the Mukhtiyar, spread to various aristocratic clans and their attempt to secure total authority. King Rajendra was frivolous and mostly indulged in pleasure, so, he still feared the Mukhtiyar and the Thapa faction as "...a race of men who for the last fifty-five years have dragged the country and its princes at the wheels of military car." It was no secret that Bhimsen was able to maintain his supremacy due to the large standing army under his and his family's command; and in the subsequent years, different factions would attempt to increase their influence based on the strength of the number of battalions under their grip. After Tripurasundari's death, the royal seal by which government orders were approved naturally went into the hands of the senior queen Samrajya Laxmi, who knew all too well of its powers and wanted to emulate the queens of the past by establishing her own regency. In 1833, Bhimsen established a new battalion "Singha Nath" under the command of his nephew Mathabar Singh. Sensing Samrajya Laxmi's ambition, Ranbir Singh started to stroke her dislike of Bhimsen in the hopes of becoming the Mukhtiyar himself. Mathabar Singh, who had enjoyed an ardent support from the military, strongly supported Bhimsen to check Ranbir Singh's aspirations. A quarrel occurred between Mathabar Singh and Ranbir Singh regarding the latter's shift of loyalty towards the Senior Queen Samrajya Lakshmi, resulting in Mathabar Singh resigning from the command of Sri Nath Regiment Historian Hunter remarked that Mathabar Singh resigned from two battalions after getting moderations from Ranbir Singh on 1834, to which all the soldiers of both battalions except 200 troops, "laid down their arms" in protest and declined to serve under any other officers; the frightened King harmonized the situation by appointing Mathabar Singh as General Commander of the Eastern districts with 3000 troops under his command in November 1834. Getting a whiff of Ranbir Singh's ambitions, Bhimsen strongly reprimanded Ranbir Singh which caused him to resign from his position and live in retirement in