Indira of Baroda
Encyclopedia
Indira Raje of Baroda later the Maharani of Cooch Behar, and later Her Highness the Maharani Sahiba after her son's succession, was the consort of Maharaja
Jitendra of Cooch Behar
and a princess of Baroda in her own right. She also served as regent of Cooch Behar
during the minority of her son.
of Baroda and his second wife Maharani Chimnabai (1872–1958)
. She grew up with her several brothers at the opulent Laxmi 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 dashing Jitendra, younger brother of the then Maharaja of Cooch Behar
. Within days, they were in love and had decided to marry.
of India; the scandal and universal opprobium that would certainly ensue; also the fact the 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 fiance 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 of Gwalior 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.
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, a daughter of Keshub Chunder Sen, adhered.
, 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 middling indeed, 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
. There have also been suggestions of her having been free with her favours, and an amour with the Prince George, Duke of Kent
has also been speculated upon.
Jitendra Narayan's mother Maharani Sunity Devi (1864–1933) was the rajmata of Cooch Behar. She was the wife of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and the daughter of Keshab Chunder Sen, an illustrious Brahmo leader and social reformer of Bengal. She was a highly educated and an erudite women of her time. She established schools, institutions and did a lot of pioneering work for women of her princely state and all around Bengal. She wrote her autobiography in English, which was published in London in 1920. This was the first autobiography written in English by any Indian woman.
Prince Jitendra's elder brother Raj Rajendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur ascended the 'gaddi' (throne) of the Cooch Behar state after his father Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur's death in 1911. Raj Rajendra Narayan attended Mayo College
, Ajmer; Eton
and Oxford
and was very westernised. He was in London
for many years and puportedly had an affair with an American actress Edna May
. But the Cooch Behar royal authority did not grant him permission to marry her lest he would be dethroned. He developed massive alcohol consumption and fell seriously ill. He died few months after his younger brother Prince Jitendra Narayan's marriage with Princess Indira Devi Gaekwad of Baroda in 1913. He was only 32.
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...
Jitendra of Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
and a princess of Baroda in her own right. She also served as regent of Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
during the minority of her son.
The Baroda Years
Indira was born the only daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad IIIMaharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III
165454565Sayajirao Gaekwad III was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is notably remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule....
of Baroda and his second wife Maharani Chimnabai (1872–1958)
Maharani Chimnabai (1872–1958)
Maharani Chimnabai also known as Chimnabai II, was the second wife of Sayajirao Gaekwad and Maharani of Baroda....
. She grew up with her several brothers at the opulent Laxmi Vilas Palace in Baroda, and was betrothed at a young age to Madho Rao Scindia
Madho Rao Scindia
Madho Rao Scindia , was the 5th Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior. He acceded to the throne in 1886 and ruled to his death in 1925. He was noted by the British Government as a progressive ruler of a princely state. He was twice married, but had only issue by his second marriage in 1913, one son and one...
, the then Maharaja of Gwalior. During the period of engagement, Indira attended the Delhi durbar of 1911, where she met the dashing Jitendra, younger brother of the then Maharaja of Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
. Within days, they were in love and had decided to marry.
"What does the princess mean....?"
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 princesSalute state
A Salute state was a princely state in India during the time of British rule which had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown ; i.e., the protocollary privilege for its ruler to be greeted - originally by Royal Navy ships, later also on land - with a number of gun shots, as recognition of...
of India; the scandal and universal opprobium that would certainly ensue; also the fact the 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 fiance 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 of Gwalior 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
The breaking of the engagement was accomplished, but this defiance of her parents did not serve to reconcile them to her marrying Jitendra. Indira 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
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of the Brahmo religion which is mainly practiced today as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1859. It was one of the most influential religious movements responsible for the making of...
, the sect to which Jitendra's mother, a daughter of Keshub Chunder Sen, adhered.
Cooch Behar
It happened that at the time of the wedding, Jitendra's elder brother, the maharaja of Cooch BeharCooch Behar
Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
, 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
Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
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 middling indeed, 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
Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
. There have also been suggestions of her having been free with her favours, and an amour with the Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of George V and Mary of Teck, and younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI...
has also been speculated upon.
Jitendra Narayan's mother Maharani Sunity Devi (1864–1933) was the rajmata of Cooch Behar. She was the wife of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and the daughter of Keshab Chunder Sen, an illustrious Brahmo leader and social reformer of Bengal. She was a highly educated and an erudite women of her time. She established schools, institutions and did a lot of pioneering work for women of her princely state and all around Bengal. She wrote her autobiography in English, which was published in London in 1920. This was the first autobiography written in English by any Indian woman.
Children
Indira was the mother of three daughters and two sons.- Her elder son, Jagaddipendra NarayanJagaddipendra NarayanJagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur was Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, in India. He served in British forces during World War II and ceded full ruling powers to the Government of India in 1949....
, succeeded his father as Maharaja of Cooch BeharCooch BeharCooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
, and was the last ruling prince of his dynasty; Cooch BeharCooch BeharCooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...
was merged with the dominion of IndiaDominion of IndiaThe Dominion of India, also known as the Union of India or the Indian Union , was a predecessor to modern-day India and an independent state that existed between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950...
(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 PithapuramPithapuramFor famous Playback singer see Pithapuram Nageswara RaoPithapuram is a town and a municipality in East Godavari district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh....
estate in present-day Andhra PradeshAndhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. They were the parents of Virajendra and also of Uttara Devi, Maharani of KotahKota, RajasthanKota , formerly known as Kotah, is a city in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located south of state capital, Jaipur. Situated on the banks of Chambal River, the city is the trade centre for an area in which millet, wheat, rice, pulses, coriander and oilseeds are grown; industries...
in RajasthanRajasthanRājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
. - Indira's eldest daughter, Ila, married a member of the royal family of TripuraTripuraTripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
. Her son took for wife the actress Moon Moon Sen; they are the parents of bollywood starlets RaimaRaima Sen-Early life:She is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen and the granddaughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Her sister, Riya Sen, is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch...
and RiyaRiya SenRiya Sen is an Indian film actress and model. Riya, who hails from a family of actors including her grandmother Suchitra Sen, mother Moon Moon Sen and sister Raima Sen, began her acting career in 1991 as a child artiste in the film Vishkanya. Her first commercial success in her film career was...
. - Indira's second daughter, GayatriGayatri DeviGayatri Devi , often styled as Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur, was born as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar...
, became the third wife of the Maharaja of JaipurJaipurJaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, and was a noted celebrity in her own right. - Indira's youngest daughter Menaka married the Maharaja of DewasDewasDewas is an ancient town situated on the Malwa plateau in the West-central part of Indian state called Madhya Pradesh, about 160 km south west from state capital, Bhopal. It is the administrative center of the Dewas District, and was formerly the seat of two princely states during the British...
Jr in central India.
Prince Jitendra's elder brother Raj Rajendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur ascended the 'gaddi' (throne) of the Cooch Behar state after his father Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur's death in 1911. Raj Rajendra Narayan attended Mayo College
Mayo College
Mayo College is a public school founded by the 6th Earl of Mayo, who was Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872.The school is located in Ajmer, in the state of Rajasthan, India....
, Ajmer; Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and was very westernised. He was in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for many years and puportedly had an affair with an American actress Edna May
Edna May
Edna May Pettie , known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian Musical Comedies.- Life and career :...
. But the Cooch Behar royal authority did not grant him permission to marry her lest he would be dethroned. He developed massive alcohol consumption and fell seriously ill. He died few months after his younger brother Prince Jitendra Narayan's marriage with Princess Indira Devi Gaekwad of Baroda in 1913. He was only 32.