Shiva Simha Singh

Shiva Simha Singh was the King of Oiniwar dynasty in Mithila. He is also known as Sivasimha. He was also referred to as Rūpanārāyana because of his appearance and height. He was the King of Mithila. He declared himself independent. Due to his decision, the Jaunpur Sultanate of the Sharqi empire, Ibrahim Shah Sharqi attacked Mithila, but was brutally defeated by the Brahmin king Sivasimha.

Mithila, Bengal and Arakanese accounts say that Maithil Brahmin ruler Sivasimha helped another Brahmin ruler, and his friend Raja Ganesha of Bengal, in defeating the Jaunpur Sultanate in Bengal-Jaunpur conflict. Ganesha had previously freed Bengal from Muslim occupation.

Sivasimha was born into a Mithila Brahmin family. His father was King Devasimha of Mithila. His mother was Hasini Devi. He was the grandson of Bhavasimha who was the king in the Oiniwar Dynasty before Devasimha. King Sivasimha was married to six wives. Queen Lakhima Devi was the most famous and scholarly wife of King Sivasimha. 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 the 12 years waiting for King Sivasimha. Padmavati was the eldest wife of King Sivasimha. She also ruled Mithila for 3 years.

Sivasimha ruled Mithila. He took an active part in the kingdom's administration from the age of 15, when his father, King Devasimha, was still alive. He transferred his capital from Devakuli to Gajarathapur (also known as Shiv Singhpur) near Darbhanga .

The People of Mithila still take his name with a sense of pride for his accomplishments, signifying a desire for greatness and maintaining the independent identity of Mithila and Hinduism even in the toughest times.

The people of Mithila remember him for digging several large tanks in several villages of the kingdom. Among these tanks, the tanks in villages of 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 Panchagaudeshwara by the poet Vidyapati. He granted Bisfi village in the present Madhubani district to his friend Vidyapati for his poems Kirtilata and Kirtipataka. He is also said to have erected a Masoleum known as Mamoon Bhanja at Jaruha, near Hajipur.

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.

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.