The Last King Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nepal

The kingdom of Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty for more than two centuries after its formation in 1768 through the unification of three smaller kingdoms, Kathmandu, Patan and Bakthapur by Prithvi Narayan Shah. The rival Rana dynasty assumed the hereditary post of Prime Minister in the mid 19th century and the monarch was reduced to a figurehead. With support from newly independent India, the Nepali Congress Party came to power in 1951, ending the tenure of the Rana dynasty at the helm of affairs. The Shah dynasty retained the role of monarch, though power resided mainly with the democratically elected Prime Minister and his party.

Nepal's experiments with democracy continued, with King Mahendra terminating the democratic rule in 1959 only to have his successor King Birendra give in to public protests and institute a multiparty parliament in 1991. Nepal's uneasy relationship with the monarchy finally came to a head when King Gyanendra, the brother of Birendra, ascended the throne after the royal massacre of 2001. Unable to deal with the decade long Nepali Civil War and the Maoists who had gained a foothold in the country, Gyanendra dismissed the Nepali government and attempted to take on full authority as the sole power centre in the country. The move backfired, and Gyanendra was forced to reinstate the democracy the following year. Finally, a parliament resolution abolished the monarchy and King Gyanendra abdicated in 2008. Nepal became a federal republic on May 6th, 2008.

Answer: Army coup

The League of Nations granted a mandate to Britain in 1920, allowing it control of modern day Iraq, then known as Mesopotamia. However, a revolt by the Iraqis against this mandate resulted in the Hashemite dynasty ascending the throne in 1920 to rule over a semi-independent Iraq with alliance to Britain.

The country attained complete independence in 1932 when the Kingdom of Iraq was formally established. Three Hashemite kings, Faisal I, Ghazi and Faisal II ruled over the country successively before the monarchy was overthrown by a coup orchestrated by an Iraqi Army general named Abd al-Karim Qasim in 1958. Qasim abolished the monarchy and declared himself the Prime Minister of Iraq, a post he held till he was overthrown and executed by the Ba'ath Party in 1963.

Answer: Brazil

Largely covering the same area as the present day country of Brazil, the Brazilian Empire was established in 1822 by Dom Pedro I of the House of Braganza. From its original role as a colony of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese Empire in 1808 when the Prince of Portugal, Dom Joao VI, fled from his country to Brazil during Napoleon I's invasion.

When Joao VI returned to Portugal, he put his eldest son Pedro in charge of Brazil. In 1822, Pedro went to war against his father and declared Brazil as an independent monarchy, proclaiming himself as the emperor.

In 1826, Pedro I assumed the throne of Portugal, too, though he abdicated it in favour of his eldest daughter. When his daughter was overthrown by his younger brother, he left for Portugal to reclaim the throne leaving his young son Pedro II as his successor in Brazil. Pedro II's reign was marked by peace and economic stability; however, having no sons of his own, Pedro was uninterested in protecting the monarchy.

He was overthrown by a military coup d'état in 1889 leading to the formation of the Republic of Brazil.

Answer: Hawaii

The islands are believed to have had their first contact with Europeans in 1778 when British explorer James Cook set foot there. At the time, different islands were ruled by different chiefs and there were frequent power struggles between them. Shortly thereafter, in 1795, King Kamehameha the Great gained control over all the islands and established his dynastic rule over them.

The Kamehameha dynasty lasted until 1872 when the ruling monarch, Kamehameha V, died without leaving any heir or naming his successor.

The two subsequent monarchs, Lunalilo and Kalakaua were unrelated to each other or the Kamehameha elected by the people of Hawaii. Kalakaua was forced to sign the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which severely curtailed the powers of the monarch and reduced its role to that of a titular figurehead.

After his death in 1891, his sister, Lili'uokalani, ascended the throne. Lili'uokalani's attempts at drafting a new constitution led to her being overthrown merely two years later.

The islands were ruled by a Provincial Government for a year before the establishment of the Republic of Hawaii. Eventually they were annexed by the United States of America and finally granted statehood in 1959.

Answer: Ethiopia (Abyssinia)

While traditional accounts attribute the origins of the Ethiopian Empire to the Biblical times of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, historical accounts count the beginning of the Zagwe dynasty in 1137 as the start of the Ethiopian Empire. The Zagwe dynasty was established by Mara Takla Haymanot who went on to marry a female descendent of the Aksumite dynasty thus staking his claim on the empire.

The Zagwe dynasty was later overthrown by the Solomonid dynasty in the late 13th century. The Ethiopian Empire managed to retain its independence over several centuries even after most of the African continent was colonized by European powers.

The monarchy finally ended in 1974 when Haile Selassie I was overthrown in a military coup.

Answer: Russia

Peter I was the first internationally recognized emperor of Russia. The House of Romanov continued to rule over Russia for the next two centuries until Nicholas II was forced to abdicate following the Russian Revolution. The royal family was kept imprisoned for more than a year after his abdication until they were finally killed by the Bolsheviks in July 1918.

The Russian Empire was followed by the Russian Republic which was in existence for a short period of time before the Soviet Union was formed.

Answer: Greece

Greece was successively part of the ancient Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires over the years. After gaining independence from the Ottomans, Greece established itself as a kingdom with support from Britain, France and Russia. The Prince of Bavaria, Otto of Wittelsbach, was selected to be the first monarch of the country.

Despite Otto establishing an Assembly and Senate to oversee majority of the administration of the country, the Greeks were dissatisfied with his excessive interference. This led to his being ousted, and a Danish prince, who later became King George I, was invited to become the constitutional king.

His dynasty ruled over Greece until it was deposed in 1924 only to regain power through a coup in 1935. There were six monarchs from this dynasty with the last being Constantine II who was the king from 1964 until the monarchy was abolished in 1973.

Answer: Moldavia

The principality of Moldavia was established in the 14th century by the first prince, Dragos and existed until 1859. The last prince, Alexander John Cuza, was forced to abdicate in 1859 following a coup d'état amidst growing discontent with the financial problems facing the principality. Moldavia was then united with Wallachia, giving rise to the kingdom of Romania.

Answer: Qing

Puyi was declared emperor when he was barely two years old by the dying Empress Dowager Cixi. Since the new emperor was an infant, his mother, Empress Dowager Longyu, was given the authority to take decisions on his behalf. In 1912, she signed the abdication papers on behalf of Puyi which led to the end of the centuries old Chinese Empire that was replaced by the Republic of China.

Answer: Mongol

The Mongol Empire was formed in the early 13th century when Genghis Khan united various Mongolian tribes to form a unified kingdom. At its peak, the empire covered large swatches of Siberia and South Asia and extended from the Sea of Japan to Eastern Europe.

It is included the entire Indian subcontinent and the Middle Eastern region. Surprisingly, for such a large empire, the Mongol Empire was comparatively short lived ending less than 200 years later when Toghan Temur Khan, the successor of Kublai Khan was overthrown by the Ming dynasty of China in 1368 leading to the dissolution of the Mongol Empire.