Maharani Jindan Kaur BIOGRAPHY

 

Maharani Jindan Kaur BIOGRAPHY

Maharani Jindan Kaur: ‘One of the most remarkable characters of 19th century history’

Maharani Jindan Kaur, the last wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, waged an unending struggle against the British.

Maharani Jindan Kaur, the last wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, is in news for the auction of some of her jewellery at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art sale in London earlier this week.

“As the only surviving widow of Ranjit Singh, Jindan Kaur (1817-1863) led a spirited resistance to the encroachment of the British into the Punjab, but was eventually forced to surrender. More than 600 pieces of her jewellery from the legendary treasury of Lahore were confiscated, and she was imprisoned before escaping to Nepal in 1848,” notes Bonhams, in reference to the jewellery.

Who was this feisty queen who waged an unending struggle against the British? Read on.

Who was Rani Jindan?

She was the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh empire, whose boundaries stretched from Kabul to Kashmir and the borders of Delhi. She was also the mother of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the empire, who was raised by the British.

Born at Chachar in Gujranwala in 1817, Jind Kaur Aulakh was the youngest of three siblings. Her father Manna Singh Aulakh was the overseer of the royal kennels. It is said that impressed with Manna Singh’s description of his daughter’s beauty and intelligence, Maharaja Ranjit Singh married Jindan in 1835 when she was all of 18. She gave birth to Duleep Singh in 1838, a year before the death of the maharaja.

When did she become the regent?

Duleep Singh was five years old when he was placed on the throne in 1843 after the death of two heirs to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Since he was just a child, Maharani Jindan was made the regent. Not a rubber stamp, she took an active interest in running the kingdom, introducing changes in the revenue system.

 Some of Maharani Jind Kaur’s jewellery auctioned by Bonhams, which feteched £ 62,562. (Photo courtesy: bonhams.com/auctions)

Dr. Ganda Singh in his work on the private correspondence relating to the Anglo-Sikh War has quoted Lord Ellenbrough (Nov. 20 1843) as saying, “The mother of the boy Maharaja Duleep Singh seems to be a woman of determined course, and she is the only person apparently at Lahore, who has courage.”

When did the British imprison and exile her?

The British declared war on the Sikh empire in December 1845. After their victory in the first Anglo-Sikh war, they retained Duleep Singh as the ruler but imprisoned Jind Kaur.

Prof Indu Banga, a Chandigarh-based historian who specialises in the history of Punjab, says the British tried hard to vilify Jindan as she tried to rally forces against them, but “unlike many others, she did not give in.”

The British campaign against her was vicious, describing her as a prostitute, seductress and the ‘Messalina of the Punjab’, a reference to the promiscuous third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius.

Jindan believed that if united, Indian rulers could oust the British. She was in touch with Bhai Maharaj Singh, who tried to rebel against the British after the annexation of the Sikh empire. Banga says, “With many historians counting the Anglo-Sikh battles as the first war of independence, Jindan has now become a heroic figure.”

William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have also written about Jindan in the book, ‘Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond’, in 2016.

Describing her dramatic prison break on April 19, 1849, from Chunnar Fort in Uttar Pradesh, the book says: “Dressed in beggars’ rags, she fled under cover of darkness, taunting her British captors as she went.”

“Scattering money on the floor of her cell, Jindan scrawled a note for the guards to find: You put me in a cage and locked me up. For all your locks and your sentries, I got out by magic… I had told you plainly not to push me too hard – but don’t think I ran away. Understand well, that I escape by myself unaided… don’t imagine I got out like a thief.’’

Where did she go after escaping from Chunnar fort?

Maharani Jind Kaur arrived at Kathmandu on April 29, 1849, where she was given asylum by Jung Bahadur, the prime minister.  She was given a house on the banks of river Bhagmati. She stayed in Nepal till 1860, where she continued to reach out to rebels in Punjab and Jammu-Kashmir.

 Maharani Jindan Kaur with Maharaja Duleep Singh. (Photo courtesy: bonhams.com/auctions)

Her letters trying to contact rebels detained in Allahabad fort were intercepted by the British government. She established contact with Bhai Maharaj Singh in Jammu and Kashmir. She also sent emissaries to Maharaj Gulab Singh of Jammu. At one point, the British caught some funds she was sending to rebels. Things reached such a pass that the British asked the Nepal PM to rein her in. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram

Did she ever reunite with Duleep Singh?

Maharani Jindan met Duleep Singh at Calcutta in April 1861. The British, ever suspicious of the maharani’s machinations, ordered then that she leave for London in May.

It was due to her influence that Duleep Singh, who had converted to Christianity, returned to Sikhism.

The long exile took a heavy toll on Maharani Jindan’s health. She passed away in her sleep on August 1, 1863, two years after she walked into the Kensington Gardens in 1861.

Jindan was buried in west London as cremation was illegal in Britain during those days. In 1997, a marble headstone with her name was uncovered during restoration at the Dissenters’ Chapel in Kensal Green, and a memorial to the Maharani was installed at the site in 2009.

The Grand Indian Maharani - Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda

The Grand Indian Maharani - 

Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda

The Grand Indian Maharani

This is a fairytale that can certainly only be re-lived by poring over the pages of a magazine or book because they don’t make them like her any more— Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda was one of the most opulent, charming, and bold Indian Maharanis to have ever lived in the history of Indian royalty. She was a true connoisseur of luxury and the finer things in life. She lived a colourful and carefree life and was part of the international jet-set who adored her for her exoticism and bold personality.    - Suneela

Early Life
Born into the Southern royal family of Pithapuram, daughter of Sri Raja Rao Venkata Kumara Mahipati Surya Rau Bahadur Garu and his wife Sri Rani Chinnamamba Devi of Mirzapuram --- a huge zamindar family in Andhra Pradesh, Maharani Sita Devi was married off into another zamindari family at an early age, as was custom to her generation, to M.R. Apparao Bahadur of Vayyur.

Stroke of Destiny
As with almost everything in life, destiny plays a huge role in who one meets and it was no different for Sita Devi who happened to have caught the fancy of Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad of Baroda one fateful day at the Madras Races, which was the beginning of a life of extravagance and incessant worldly pleasures, where the world was her oyster.

The Chase
The Maharaja was the eighth richest man in the world

and a father to eight children, yet this did not stop him from vigorously pursuing Sita Devi. She eventually fell for his charm and made sure she put his money to good use in the form of jaw dropping diamonds and expensive attire.The couple had to flout a number of anti-bigamy laws and religious practices in order to get married. The Maharaja’s legal team even counselled them that in order to be able to marry, Sita Devi must convert to Islam, so as to dissolve her marriage with her first husband and be able to marry Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad. This was of course just a formality in order to be legally married, however, it didn’t go down too well with the British Viceroy.

New York, London, Paris, and Monaco
The couple frequently travelled to attend events of the international crème de la crème at various fashion capitals of the world; however, they chose a mansion in Monte Carlo as their base because of the privacy it gave them.

Modern Maharani
At a time when most Indian women and Maharanis were photographed with their heads demurely covered and erred on the side of conservatism, the bold and stunning Maharani Sita Devi went against the norm and was often seen at the Waldorf Astoria of New York or The Dorchester of London, with her hair thrown back to show off the stunningly grand earrings and necklaces, and hands posed so as to show off her bracelets and rings to best effect. The Maharani also enjoyed the occasional cigarette, and believe it or not, even her cigarette holder was studded with rubies.

Jewels and Clothes
Sita Devi was part of the international jet-set and when she travelled, she did so in style – with no less than a thousand French chiffon sarees and trunk loads of precious jewellery. The Maharani possessed a spectacular collection of jewellery, famous among which were the Baroda pearls – an unparalleled seven-strand necklace of priceless Basra pearls which were made famous on her neck at multiple international events, and a three-strand diamond necklace with the Star of the South, a 128.80 carat Pink Brazilian diamond, and the English Dresden: a 78.53 carat diamond. Since the Maharani was truly an international doyenne, she frequented world renowned jewellers like Harry Winston, Cartier, and Van Cleef & Arpels. In fact, Van Cleef & Arpels endearingly referred to her as ‘Mrs. Brown’ because of her dusky complexion. The Maharani took her opulence and love for jewels so seriously that she also commissioned gold tongue cleaners from Van Cleef!

There is also an interesting story of the Maharani at a ball at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, and her reaction on seeing a pair of her former diamond and emerald anklets on the neck of the Duchess of Windor—Wallis Simspon. While everyone was oohh-ing and aah-ing at Wallis’s necklace, Sita Devi made sure it was known that that very piece looked great on her ankles in the past, to which the Duchess immediately returned the necklace to Harry Winston.

Unfortunate End

In spite of all the luxuries and money in the world, Sita Devi’s life ended rather traumatically. She divorced her husband in 1956, and although she continued to live lavishly, she was known to be lonely. The biggest blow of her life came on the night of her son, Princie’s 40th birthday, as he committed suicide in his apartment in Cannes. Her life in a gilded cage came crashing down, and soon after, Sita Devi also died at her apartment in Paris.

THE STORY OF KOHI-NOOR , HOW IT WAS BOUGHT OR CEASED

THE STORY OF KOHI-NOOR , 
HOW IT WAS BOUGHT OR CEASED

Lahore’s exiled prince

A young Maharajah Daleep Singh

The fascinating tale of Maharaja Daleep Singh who relinquished the Koh-i-Noor to become the most prominent fixture in Queen Victoria’s court. But his Indian past came back to haunt him, writes Ammar Ali Qureshi









Maharaja Ranjit Singh is arguably the most remarkable figure in Punjab’s history. His son and last ruler of the Sikh Empire, Daleep Singh, is perhaps the most tragic. Ranjit succeeded his father as head of a small confederacy at the age of ten and, owing to his military genius, became the ruler of Punjab when he was twenty-one. He turned the tide of history by taking the battle to the land of the invaders on the western front, and conquered them; His empire, which lasted for fifty years from 1799 to 1849, stretched from the southern districts of Punjab to Afghanistan in the west Kashmir (which also included Ladakh and Gilgit and Baltistan) in the north-east, and up to Sutlej (which flows through Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pardesh) in the east. Ranjit’s greatest achievement, however, was not military but political conquest, as he was able to unite Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs under one banner.

Ranjit Singh died in 1839 and in just ten years a combination of treacherous and intriguing courtiers, incompetent rulers, and an assertive and aggressive but leaderless army brought the empire of an exceptional man to a humiliating end. Within four years of Ranjit’s death, his three successors were murdered; Daleep Singh, born in Lahore in 1838 to Ranjit’s youngest wife Maharani Jind Kaur, became the boy-king at the age of five in 1843 with his ambitious mother as the regent.

Daleep Singh as country gentleman

Following Ranjit’s death and during the rule of his weak successors, the Punjab Khalsa army emerged as the kingmaker, the most powerful player in the state which dictated its demands through its delegates known as Panchayats or Committees of Five. Maharani Jind Kaur and her scheming courtiers were wary of the army’s power and devised a plan to tame it by provoking it to invade British territory across the Sutlej, in the hope that it would be cut down to size by the British or its energies would be exhausted in the campaigns of conquest.

Victoria and koh-i-Noor

It turned out to be a major miscalculation as the British coveted Punjab and considered Lahore Durbar an obstacle in their expansion plans. The invasion gave them the impetus to move eastward, defeating the Khalsa army, after fiercely fought battles, in the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846. The Maharani was removed from the guardianship of her son, imprisoned initially in Punjab and later banished to Benares in present-day Uttar Pradesh, from where she escaped to Nepal and lived there virtually as a prisoner till 1861. Daleep Singh was placed under the guardianship of the Council of Regency, controlled by a British Resident, till his eventual dethronement when Punjab was annexed in 1849.

The Anglo-Sikh wars of 1846 and 1849 were the fiercest and deadliest that the British encountered in India. So grave was the situation that the British Governor General, Sir Henry Hardinge, had to come to the aid of the British Commander in Chief, Sir Hugh Gough, and served under him. On the Punjab Khalsa army side, it was a lack of efficient leadership which resulted in defeat, although they were able to inflict colossal losses on the British. The rank and file of the Khalsa army put up the bravest and steadiest of fights against the British. However, their military generals were political figures, appointed by the ruling family, who lacked military expertise, indulged in double-dealing, and were traitors within the gates.

Maharani Bamba, Daleep Singh's wife
Maharani Bamba, Daleep Singh’s wife
In 1845, the Sikh Generals crossed the Sutlej but deliberately did not attack Ferozepur, the forward British base. The battles were fought at Mudki, Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sabraon – all of them fiercely contested by both sides. Each of these battles might have been a defeat for the British if the traitorous Punjabi military commanders had not left the field. The same story was repeated in 1849 in the battles of Ramnagar, Chilianwala and Gujrat – as the Sikh soldiers fought fearlessly but were let down by their commanders. “No troops could have fought better,” observed military historian G.B Malleson, “than the Sikhs fought, no army could have been worse led. Had a guiding mind directed the movements of the Sikh army, nothing could have saved the exhausted British.”

Maharani Bamba, Daleep Singh’s wife

The conditions of surrender in 1849 required Daleep to renounce his title to the sovereignty of Punjab, ordered confiscation of state property, and demanded the surrender of the spectacular and sparkling Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria.  Daleep, in return, was granted a pension, provided he remained “obedient to the British Government”.












All of the Kingdom’s property, including the Koh-i-noor and other jewels, now belonged to the British


Rajmohan Gandhi writes about the end of Lahore Durbar in his recently published history of Punjab: “On 29 March 1849, a ten-year-old Dalip Singh was told to sign a document. Writing his name in Roman letters, the boy-king renounced, on his behalf and on behalf of all heirs and successors, every ‘right, title or claim’ to Punjab. All of the Kingdom’s property, including the Koh-i-noor and other jewels, now belonged to the British. The Sikh kingdom gone, all of Punjab was annexed to British India. The proclamation of annexation read out that day was received by those present with silence”.

The real plan was to convert Daleep to Christianity

Daleep SIngh statue at Thetford, Suffolk

In 1950, Daleep was moved to Fatehgarh, a center of Christian missionaries located on the bank of the Ganges in present-day Uttar Pradesh, and placed under the guardianship of a Scottish army doctor, Dr. John Login. Previously tutored in Persian and Gurmukhi, Daleep was taught English in addition to Persian and made to read the Bible. Ostensibly, he had been removed from Punjab due to fear of further rebellion, but the real plan was to convert Daleep to Christianity and exile him to England. In 1953 Daleep converted to Christianity, which as the British Governor General wrote rendered Daleep politically irrelevant to the Sikhs, and sailed to England a year later, receiving a twenty-one gun salute at Malta and Gibraltar after a brief stopover in Egypt.

He arrived in London in the summer of 1854 and very soon was invited by Buckingham Palace. The first meeting between the fifteen-year old Indian prince and thirty five-year old Queen Victoria, who would continue to have profound influence on his subsequent life, went very well and Daleep became an instant favourite of the British monarch. She described him as ‘extremely handsome’ and possessing ‘a graceful and dignified manner’. She was so impressed that she commissioned her favourite artist to paint his portrait. Prince Albert, her husband, had a special coat of arms designed for him.

He partied with the crème de la crème of Victorian Britain and seduced a string of society beauties
Although Victoria never visited India, she was drawn to all things Indian and enjoyed the company of the English-speaking young Maharajah. She remained a friend and a supporter to his last day as their relationship weathered many storms in the next four decades. Daleep was regularly invited to all social events at Buckingham Palace and was addressed as “Your Serene Highness”. He partied with the crème de la crème of Victorian Britain and seduced a string of society beauties.

Her Majesty even tried her hand at match-making and suggested the exiled Raja of Coorg’s daughter, who was also her god-daughter, as a suitable match to Daleep, who politely declined saying that he wanted to wait till the age of twenty-one or twenty-two before he got married. Interestingly, Daleep, a few years later, introduced the exiled princess to an English widower, whom she married.

DULEEP SINGH MOTHER

Maharani Jind Kaur, Daleep Singh's mother
Maharani Jind Kaur, Daleep Singh’s mother
As an infant in Punjab, Daleep loved falconry and learned to hunt and shoot. In England, he took to the countryside and indulged in his passion of game-shooting. He travelled through Europe in 1857 and it was in Geneva when he first came to know about the Indian revolt and mutiny in Meerut. Daleep was unwilling to condemn it and when the British foreign secretary complained about his attitude to the queen, she answered that a young Indian prince, barred from his ancestral throne and forced to live in Britain, should not be expected to denounce Indians.

Back in 1849 Daleep had been coerced to hand over the Koh-i-Noor to the British Governor General in India. One day when he was having his usual conversations with Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace she showed him the famous diamond. Daleep took it towards the window and examined it intensely for more than half an hour without uttering a word. Her Majesty’s staff displayed anxiety as they thought he might throw it out of the window but Daleep came back to the queen and handed it back to her with the words: ‘It is to me, Madam, the greatest pleasure thus to have the opportunity, as a loyal subject, of myself tendering to my sovereign the Koh-i-Noor!”

Princess Bamba Sutherland in traditional
dress after her move to Lahore

Daleep enjoyed the life of an English country gentleman and acquired, through a British government loan, a sprawling 17,000 acre estate at Elveden, Suffolk, located in the north-east of London. He loved his Elveden estate and converted it into an Indian-style palace, the interiors done up in Mughal and Indian décor and equipped with expensive carpets, ceramics and glassware. Elveden had a huge aviary which housed his rare collection of birds and a number of cheetahs, leopards and monkeys were kept in a menagerie. Turning Elveden into one of the best sporting venues in the country, Daleep reveled in hosting parties for Victorian aristocracy where the Prince of Wales was a regular guest for shooting games.

In 1861, Daleep travelled to India and brought his mother to Britain. He was not permitted to visit Punjab and had an emotional reunion with his mother, meeting her after nearly 14 years, in Calcutta, which was then the capital of British India. Maharani Jind was perceived by the British as a bad influence and an intriguer by disposition. Back in London, she was not allowed to live with Daleep and was lodged up in Kensington in west London. Her residence was a source of wonder for her London neighbours who would often stop to have a look at the basement, where her Indian cooks would be busy preparing her food, and sniff the pungent smells of Indian curry!

Maharani Jind Kaur had wanted her ashes
 to be interred at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh memorial in Lahore

British suspicions about Maharani Jind were not unfounded; she informed Daleep about the supposed prophecy of the tenth Sikh guru regarding an exiled prince who would come back to rule Punjab. This prophecy would bother Daleep’s mind a lot in years to come. Maharani was in poor health, nearly blind, and suddenly died in 1863. Daleep again travelled to India to cremate her in Bombay as he was not allowed to visit Punjab, although his mother had wanted her ashes to be interred at Maharaja Ranjit Singh memorial in Lahore.

On his way back, he stopped at Cairo and married, in June 1864, a missionary school teacher, Bamba Muller, an illegitimate daughter of an Ethiopian Coptic slave and Ludwig Muller who was a German businessman. Bamba lived with him in Elveden and gave birth to seven children – two of whom died in infancy. His five children – two sons and three daughters-lived like royalty in the sprawling mansion. Both sons – Victor and Fredrick – went to Eton and Cambridge and gained commission in the British army. His three daughters – Bamba, Sophia and Catherine studied at Oxford.

Princess Bamba's grave at the 'gora kabristan' in Lahore
Princess Bamba’s grave at the ‘gora kabristan’ in Lahore
Daleep Singh’s life can be divided into four distinct phases: boy-king, dethronement and banishment outside Punjab, exile to England and life as an English country gentleman, and a rebel who plotted but did not succeed in reclaiming his throne. The last phase of his life started around 1880 when he read for the first time about the circumstances leading to his dethronement and conditions attached with annexation. Swayed by feelings of resentment and revenge and spurred on by the prophecy of the tenth guru, Daleep entered into a long battle with the British government, arguing about the illegality of the annexation of Punjab and demanded that he be reinstated as the Maharaja.

Victoria offered him peerage in the House of Lords but he declined although he was facing financial problems and his health had begun to deteriorate. He read; he schemed; he failed. British spies kept a close eye on him and intercepted his mail to foil his plans. Having resigned the stipend given to him by the British government, Daleep, along with his family, boarded the ship, in 1886, and informed the government that he was going to India to reclaim his throne. He was detained at Aden in Yemen where he re-embraced the Sikh faith. Daleep sent his family back to England but himself went to Paris.

Elveden Hall, home of Raja Daleep Singh

He lived in Paris for six years, dreaming and planning to return to India
He lived in Paris for six years, dreaming and planning to return to India. Conspiring with Russian and Irish revolutionaries in Paris, he escaped to Russia but could not get an audience with the Czar although he wrote on his file that he could be used at some later stage. Fate had not yet finished her sport with Daleep. His Russian patron suddenly passed away and with him died any chances of winning over any Russian support for his plan to enter Punjab through the Khyber Pass.

His wife expired in England while he was in Russia but in Paris he had acquired an English mistress, Ada Wetherhill, whom he married on his return to Paris and had two daughters with – Alexandra and Ada Irene Helene. By then his health had started deteriorating as his financial position became weaker by the day. His son tried to bring about reconciliation between him and Queen Victoria, who met him in France, in 1891, and pardoned him as he wept through the meeting.

Duleep Singh's grave at Elveden
Duleep Singh’s grave at Elveden
Daleep was born in a royal palace in Lahore and brought up by a legion of servants and courtiers. He inherited the most powerful and rich of the Indian states, which was many times larger than Britain. But in October 1893, Daleep passed away in a small hotel room in Paris, alone and penniless. His dead body was taken back to Elveden where he was buried, next to his first wife and youngest son, in the church’s graveyard.

His daughter settled in Lahore and married the Principal of the King Edward Medical College
Princess Bamba Sofia, his eldest daughter, went to India in 1924 and took her grandmother’s ashes from Bombay to Lahore to be interred there as per her wish. Bamba settled in Lahore, married the Principal of King Edward Medical College, Mr Sutherland, and died in Lahore in 1957 – ten years after partition. Daleep’s one son and three daughters married but surprisingly none of them had any children – bringing Ranjit’s lineage to an end after two generations although his name continues to inspire many.

The author’s ancestors served as chief Qazis of Punjab during the reigns of Ranjit Singh and his successors till the fall of the Lahore Durbar in 1849. He tweets @AmmarAliQureshi and can be contacted at ammar_ali@yahoo.com

Maharani Gayatri Devi most beautiful Indian Woman

Maharani Gayatri Devi

 The most beautiful Indian Woman of all Time 

by VOGUE

Gayatri Devi (23 May 1919 – 29 July 2009), often styled as Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur, was born as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar. She was the third Maharani of Jaipur from 1939 to 1970 through her marriage to HH Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II.

Following India’s independence and the subsequent abolition of the princely states, she became an extremely successful politician. Gayatri Devi was also celebrated for her classical beauty and became something of a fashion icon in her adulthood. She has been counted in ‘The Ten Most Beautiful Women of the World’ along with actress Leela Naidu by the Vogue Magazine.

Maharani Gayatri Devi Of Jaipur Before her wedding with Maharaja Of Jaipurs Son

Gayatri Devi, who was once listed among the ‘World’s Ten Most Beautiful Women’ along with actress Leela Naidu by the Vogue, was placed sixth after Princess Grace of Monaco, Queen Rania of Jordan, Kate Middleton, Princess Diana of Wales and Princess Charlotte of Monaco. and ahead of Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Princess Margaret and Princess Masako of Japan.

She died on 29 July 2009 in Jaipur, at the age of 90. She was suffering from paralytic ileus and lung infection.

Early life

Ethnically Bengali her father, Prince Jitendra Narayan of Cooch Behar, West Bengal, was the younger brother of the Yuvraja (Crown Prince). Her mother was Princess Indira Raje of Baroda, the only daughter of Maratha King, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, an extremely beautiful princess and a legendary socialite. Early in her life, her uncle’s death led to her father ascending the throne (gaddi). Gayatri Devi studied at Glendower Preparatory School in London, Patha Bhavana of Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, and later in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she travelled with her mother and siblings, then studied secretarial skills in London School of Secretaries; Brilliantmont and Monkey Club London.

She first met Jai (H.H. Saramad-i-Raja-i-Hindustan Raj Rajendra Sri Maharajadhiraja Sir Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur), when she was 12 and he had come to Calcutta to play polo and stayed with their family. She married Sawai Man Singh II Bahadur on 9 May 1940.

Maharani Gayatri Devi (as she was styled after marriage) was a particularly avid equestrienne. Maharani Gayatri was an excellent rider and an able Polo player. She was a good shot and enjoyed many days out on ‘Shikars’. Her Highness was fond of cars and is credited with importing the first W126, a 500 SEL to India which was later shipped to Malaysia. Gayatri Devi had one child, Prince Jagat Singh of Jaipur, late Raja of Isarda, born on 15 October 1949, who was granted his uncles’s (father’s elder brother) fief as a subsidiary title. Jagat Singh was thus half-brother to Bhawani Singh of Jaipur.

Gayatri Devi was once included in Vogue magazine’s Ten Most Beautiful Women list.

Gayatri Devi started schools for girls’ education in Jaipur, most prominent of which is the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School established in 1943. She also revived and promoted the dying art of blue pottery.she was also known as kutti(little) devi.

Political career

After Partition and Independence Day in India in 1947, Gayatri Devi ran for Parliament in 1962 and won the constituency in the Lok Sabha in the world’s largest landslide, winning 192,909 votes out of 246,516 cast, confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records. She continued to hold this seat on 1967 and 1971, Swatantra Party of C. Rajagopalachari, the second Governor-General of Independent India, running against the Congress Party.

When the privy purses were abolished in 1971, terminating all royal privileges and titles, Gayatri Devi was accused of violating tax laws, and served 5 months in Tihar Jail. She retired from politics and published her autobiography, A Princess Remembers, written with Santha Rama Rau, in 1976. She was also the focus of the film Memoirs of a Hindu Princess, directed by Francois Levie.

There were rumors that she might re-enter politics as late as 1999, when the Cooch Behar Trinamool Congress nominated her as their candidate for the Lok Sabha elections, but she did not respond to the offer.

Her father Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur was the second son of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and Maharani Sunity Devi of Cooch Behar. After the death of his elder brother Maharaja Raj Rajendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, a bachelor, he ascended the throne of Cooch Behar in November 1913, few month’s after his marriage with Princess Indira raje Gaekwad of Baroda. Maharani Sunity Devi was the daughter of illustrious Brahmo social reformer Keshab Chandra Sen.

Family

She had one son, Prince Jagat Singh, late Raja of Isarda(15 October 1949 – 5 February 1997), who was granted his paternal uncle’s (father’s elder brother) fief of Isarda as a subsidiary title. Jagat Singh was married 10 May 1978 to Mom Rajawongse Priyanandana Rangsit (b. 1952) who is the daughter of His Serene Highness Prince Piyarangsit Rangsit and Her Royal Highness Princess Vibhavadi Rangsit (née Rajani) of Thailand. The marriage produced two grandchildren:

Rajkumari Lalitya Kumari (b. 1979)
Maharaj Devraj Singh, now Raja of Isarda (b. 1981)
Today, they are her only surviving descendants, and as such, have claimed to be heirs of their paternal grandmother. Maharaj Jagat Singh was thus half-brother to Bhawani Singh of Jaipur, the eldest son of the late Maharaja by his first wife, a Jodhpur princess.

Family relationships

Jaipur

The Maharani had three stepsons through her husband’s first and second marriages, of whom the eldest is the present Maharaja of Jaipur, who has an only daughter (whose son Kumar Padmanabh Singh has been adopted the next heir, somewhat contrary to the tradition and customs of Jaipur, where a sonless Maharaja almost always adopted a son from the next line patrilineally junior to him, or next in succession). His younger half-brothers were given family fiefs, and have one son each. One of the stepsons, Prithviraj Singh (b. 1935), married the Maharani’s niece (see below) in 1961 (later divorced) and had a son Vijit Singh (married in 1991 to a princess of Lunawada) with her.

Cooch Behar and Tripura

Maharani Gayatri Devi was related to several other erstwhile royal families in India. She was herself not from Rajput royalty, but from a dynasty native to Koch Bihar in Bengal, and maternally of Maratha stock.

A younger sister of the Maharani, and two nieces married into the main line of princely houses.

Kota a princely state in Rajasthan (princely family genealogy) married to Uttara, a princess of Cooch Behar, as his second wife in 1963). The Maharani of Kota (b. 1942), a niece of the late Maharani Gayatri Devi, has one son (married, with one son), and one daughter (Bhawani Kumari) married 1991 to the son and heir of the Maharaja of Burdwan, a notable zemindar, with issue two daughters. They are great-nephew and great-niece of the late Maharani.
Dewas Jr. (princely family genealogy), whose ruler married Menaka Devi (b. 1920), youngest sister of the Maharani, and had issue 2 daughters. The elder daughter (b. 1950) married the late Raja of Payagpur (d. 2005), and had issue, one son the present Raja, who married in 2006. The Raja of Payagpur is thus a great-nephew, and the Rajmata a niece of the late Maharani.
Her eldest sister Ila Devi (1914–1945) married into the Tripura royal family; her widower later married his cousin, a daughter and sister of Maharajas of Tripura. Their father is Bharat Dev Varma (a distant kinsman of a noted composer Rahul Dev Burman) and their mother a Tollywood starlet Moonmoon Sen, herself the daughter of a famous actress Suchitra Sen; his daughters are the Bollywood starlets – Riya Sen (b. 1981) and Raima Sen (b. 1979) – who are her great-nieces. Their paternal aunt, the late Devyani Devi (1938–2009, a few months before her aunt), a niece of Gayatri Devi, was the former wife of Prithviraj Singh (b. 1935), one of Gayatri Devi’s stepsons. (That marriage produced one son).

Baroda and descendants houses

The most significant royal connections are through Baroda. Her maternal grandparents were the remarkable Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III (1863–1939) and his second wife Maharani Chimnabai II of Baroda. Thus, the next Maharaja Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda was her first cousin, and his heirs Fatehsinghrao, Gaekwad of Baroda (1930–1988) and the current Gaekward Ranjitsinh, Gaekwad of Baroda (b. 1938) were her first cousins once removed. (A Baroda princess, Priyadarshini, niece of these men, is currently married to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Maharaja of Gwalior, a great-grandson of the man rejected by Gayatri Devi’s mother. Her brother, born 1970, is the eventual heir if the present Yuvaraj fails to produce a son).

Other relatives, also descended from her maternal grandfather Sayajirao, included the rulers of Kota, Sawantwadi, Akkalkot, Jath, Dewas Jr., Jasdan, and Sandur. Of these, the most significant connections are:

Sawantwadi, a 9-gun-salute princely state in Bombay, now part of Maharashtra (princely family genealogy) linked by three marriages to Baroda princesses: firstly, Tarabai, the daughter of the Maharaja prior to her maternal grandmother married the ruler in 1899. Secondly, Laxmibai (1907–1961) a cousin of Gayatri Devi also married another Maharaja in 1922, with issue one daughter. The present Maharaja is the son of the third marriage, of the late Maharaja to the second daughter (b. circa 1935) of Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda.
Jasdan, a tiny princely state in Saurashtra (princely family genealogy); the present ruler, 11th Chief of Jasdan, and his father the 10th Chief (d. 1989) married two Baroda princesses. The 11th Chief married his cousin, a daughter of the present head of the Baroda house). His sister (b. 1955) is named for the late Maharani.

Other connections

More tenuous connections exist to Dhar and Kolhapur:

Tehri-Garhwal, an 11-gun-salute princely state in Uttarakhand (princely family genealogy), where a cadet married a Baroda princess, and has issue.
Dhar, a 15-gun salute Maratha princely state in Madhya Pradesh (princely family genealogy): the late Maharaja (1920–1989) was married to in 1951 and divorced (date unknown) from a living Baroda princess, without issue.
Kolhapur, one of the two Maratha princely states descended from Shivaji (princely family genealogy): a previous Maharaja (d. 1940) married as his first wife a cousin of the late Maharani in April 1918, but apparently had no issue with her. (He had a daughter by his second wife). His wife Indumati Devi (1904–1954) apparently had no issue.
Maharani Gayatri Devi was also indirectly related to the former royal families of Lunawada (a daughter of the house married her great-nephew Vijit Singh) and Baria.

Family relationships by marriage

The late Maharani had an indirect relationship with the Maharajas of Pithapuram in Andhra Pradesh. The daughter of a previous Maharaja, the glamorous divorcee Sita Devi (1917–1989), was the controversial second wife of her first cousin Pratap Singh Gaekwad) from 1943 to 1956. Another daughter Kamala Devi (1920-1980s) married Gayatri Devi’s maternal uncle Indrajitendra, the second son of Maharaja Jitendra of Cooch Behar and Indira Devi, and had issue one son and one daughter. (The daughter Uttara Devi is now Maharani of Kota).

Through her marriage to Man Singh II, she was related to Maharaja Hanuwant Singh of Jodhpur (1923–1952). His aunt Marudhar Kanwar and cousin Krishna Kumari (daughters of previous Maharajas) were married to Sawai Man Singh II as his first and second wives. The Maharaja’s elder son Gaj Singh (b. 1948) is the present Maharaja of Jodhpur, and as such, a first cousin once removed of Maharaj Bhawani Singh of Jaipur; his only son Shivraj Singh is the heir apparent.

Other relatives by marriage include the Maharaja of Dewas, and the Maharaja of Tripura (whose kinsman married her eldest sister Ila Devi)

Death

The Maharani developed gastric problems in London and was admitted to a hospital there. She was being treated for gastric disorder at the King Edward’s Hospital in London and had expressed her desire to return to Jaipur. Gayatri Devi was flown in an air ambulance to Jaipur. She was admitted at Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital (SDMH) on 17 July 2009. She died on 29 July 2009, reportedly due to lung failure.

Her death came a day after the passing away of actress Leela Naidu, both of whom were named by Vogue as amongst the 10 most beautiful women in the world. Maharani Gayatri Devi died on 29 July 2009 at the age of 90.

INDRA DEVI ,MAHARANI OF COOCH BEHAR REFUSED TO MARRY GWALIOR MAHARAJA MADAV RAO SCINDIA

INDRA DEVI ,MAHARANI OF COOCH BEHAR 

REFUSED TO MARRY GWALIOR MAHARAJA

MADAV RAO SCINDIA

Indira Devi, born as Indira Raje (19 February 1892 – 6 September 1968), was the consort of Jitendra Narayan, Maharaja of Cooch Behar, and a princess of Baroda State in her own right. She also served as regent of Cooch Behar during the minority of her son.

In Baroda[edit]

Jagaddipendra Narayan of Cooch Behar

Indira was born the only daughter of Sayajirao Gaekwad III' of and his second wife Maharani Chimnabai (1872–1958). She grew up with her several brothers at the opulent Lakshmi Vilas Palace in Baroda, and was betrothed at a young age to Madho Rao Scindia, the then Maharaja of Gwalior.

 During the period of engagement, Indira attended the Delhi durbar of 1911, where she met the Jitendra, younger brother of the then Maharaja of Cooch Behar. Within days, they were in love and had decided to marry.








"What does the princess mean....?"[edit]

Indira knew that her parents would be aghast; many issues were involved: the diplomatic repercussions of breaking a standing engagement with the Scindia ruler of Gwalior, one of the premier 21-gun-salute princes of India; the scandal and universal opprobium that would certainly ensue; also the fact that Jitendra was the younger son (and thus unlikely ever to become king) of a family that ruled a remote and insignificant state in the eastern hills.

Indira circumvented her parents by taking the initiative in breaking her engagement herself, a daring act for an 18-year-old Indian maiden of that era. She wrote to her fiancé saying that she did not wish to marry him. In Baroda, Indira's father received a single-sentence telegram from the Maharaja of Gwalior: "What does the princess mean by her letter?" This was the first inkling her stunned parents had of Indira's intentions. The Maharaja behaved in exemplary fashion, writing an understanding letter to Indira's father which he signed off as "your son"; however, the disgrace was great and was felt keenly by Indira's parents.

Wedding[edit]

The breaking of the engagement was accomplished, but this defiance of her parents did not serve to reconcile them to her marrying Jitendra. Indira's parents apparently regarded Jitendra as a playboy from a feckless family; they even ventured to summon him and give him a personal warning to stay away. Nothing worked; Indira and Jitendra were equally adamant. Eventually, perhaps also in recognition of the fact that respectable alliances for Indira were now unlikely, her parents made a half-way compromise. They allowed Indira to leave their roof, proceed to London and wed Jitendra.

Indira and Jitendra were wed at a hotel in London with no member of Indira's family present. They were wed by the rites of the Brahmo Samaj, the sect to which Jitendra's mother, Suniti Devi, daughter of Keshub Chunder Sen, adhered.

In Cooch Behar[edit]

It happened that at the time of the wedding, Jitendra's elder brother, Rajendra Narayan, the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, was grievously ill. Within days of the wedding, he died of ailments arising from alcohol abuse, and Jitendra became maharaja of Cooch Behar. 

The couple lived a relatively happy life and rapidly became the parents of five children. However, alcoholism was endemic in Jitendra's family, and he died at a young age, within a decade of the wedding.

Indira was now not only a young widow and the mother of five, but also regent of Cooch Behar during the minority of her elder son. She faced her situation not merely with courage but indeed with verve. Her administrative skills were deemed by observers very mediocre, but Indira quickly gained a reputation for her highly-active social life, and spent prolonged periods of time in Europe and away from Cooch Behar.






Children[edit]

Indira was the mother of three daughters and two sons.

Her elder son, Jagaddipendra Narayan, succeeded his father as Maharaja of Cooch Behar, and was the last ruling prince of his dynasty; Cooch Behar was merged with the Dominion of India (later the Union of India) during his reign. He had no legitimate children, and was succeeded by his nephew Virajendra.

The second son, Indrajitendra, married a daughter of the Maharaja of Pithapuram estate in present-day Andhra Pradesh. They were the parents of Virajendra and also of Uttara Devi, Maharani of Kotah in Rajasthan.

Indira's eldest daughter, Ila, married the Maharaja of Tripura. 
Her son took for wife the actress Moon Moon Sen;
 they are the parents of Bollywood starlets Raima and Riya.

Indira's second daughter, Gayatri, became the third wife of the Maharaja of Jaipur, and was a noted celebrity in her own right.

Indira's youngest daughter Menaka married the Maharaja of Dewas Jr in central India.

Later life[edit]

Indira's elder son assumed full powers as ruler of Cooch Behar in 1936. Indira thereafter spent a major portion of her time in Europe. Indira Devi faced many tragedies in her lifetime. 

Indira Devi lost two of her children:
 Princess Ila Devi who died at a very young age and Prince Indrajit Narayan Bhup, who died in an accidental fire leaving behind his wife Princess Kamala of Pithapuram.

 Maharani Indira Devi spent the last years of her life in Mumbai and died there in September 1968