Jagaddipendra Narayan
Encyclopedia
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...
of Cooch-Behar, in India. He served in British forces during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and ceded full ruling powers to the Government of India in 1949.
Jagaddipendra Narayan was born at Cooch Behar Palace
Cooch Behar Palace
Cooch Behar Palace, also called the Victor Jubilee Palace, is a landmark in Cooch Behar city, West Bengal. It was designed on the model of Buckingham Palace in London in 1887, during the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan....
, elder son of Sri Sri Maharaja Sir Jitendra Narayan
Jitendra Narayan
Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur was Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, in India from September 1913 until his death in December 1922...
Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, by his wife, Maharani Indira Devi Sahiba
Indira of Baroda
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...
. He was educated in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations to gain admission to leading public schools, and to provide an...
Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
, Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, and also at the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
. He became Maharaja of Cooch Behar at the age of seven on the death of his father on the 20th December 1922 and ascended the gadi, on the 24th December 1922. He reigned under the Regency of his mother until he came of age and was invested with full ruling powers on the 6th April 1936. He was a proficient cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er and captained the Bengal Cricket XI
Bengal cricket team
Bengal cricket team is considered Eastern India's strongest cricket team, it is the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy and were runners-up twice consecutively in the 2005-06 and the 2006-07 season. Their ranks are occasionally bolstered by the return of Sourav Ganguly to the domestic competition...
.
He served with the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in World War II in North Africa, Assam, Burma, and South East Asia. He was present at the Japanese surrender at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 1945. He was Chief Commandant Cooch-Behar Military forces from 1943 to 1949, and Colonel-in-Chief 1st Cooch-Behar Infantry and Rajendra Hazari Guards, Jaipur State Forces. He was a Member of the Standing Committee of the Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal).
He signed the instrument of accession to the Dominion of India
Dominion of India
The 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...
in August 1947 and ceded full ruling powers to the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
on the 12th September 1949, overseeing the merger of his state with West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
on the, 1 January 1950. He died without issue at Calcutta and was succeeded by his nephew and adopted son.
His first marriage took place privately at Cooch-Behar, 1949 to Nancy Valentine of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
a former screen actress. A daughter did not survive and the couple separated in 1952. His second marriage took place privately in London in 1956 to Georgina May Egan, who had been educated at Cambridge University. The marriage was made public in 1960, and his wife was recognised as Maharani together with the style of Highness in January 1960. Maharani Gina Narayan settled in Spain after 1980.
Titles
- 1915-1922: Maharajkumar SriSriSri , also transliterated as Shri or Shree or shre is a word of Sanskrit origin, used in the Indian subcontinent as polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." in written and spoken language, or as a title of veneration for deities .-Etymology:Sri has the root meaning of radiance, or...
Jagatdipendra Narayan - 1922-1939: His Highness Sri Sri MaharajaMaharajaMahārāja 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...
Jagatdipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, MaharajaMaharajaMahārāja 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...
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... - 1939-1942: 2nd Lieutenant His Highness Sri Sri MaharajaMaharajaMahārāja 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...
Jagatdipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar - 1942-1944: LieutenantLieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
His Highness Sri Sri MaharajaMaharajaMahārāja 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...
Jagatdipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar - 1944-1945: Captain His Highness Sri Sri MaharajaMaharajaMahārāja 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...
Jagatdipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar - 1945-1946: MajorMajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
His Highness Sri Sri MaharajaMaharajaMahārāja 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...
Jagatdipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar - 1946-1947: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Sri Sri MaharajaMaharajaMahārāja 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...
Jagatdipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar - 1947-1970: ColonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
His Highness Sri Sri Maharaja SirSirSir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Jagatdipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja] of Cooch Behar, KCIEOrder of the Indian EmpireThe Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
Honours
- King George V Silver Jubilee MedalKing George V Silver Jubilee MedalThe King George V Silver Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the coronation of King George V.-Issue:...
-1935 - King George VI Coronation MedalKing George VI Coronation MedalThe King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal made to celebrate the coronation of King George VI.-Issue:For Coronation and Jubilee medals, the practice up until 1977 was that United Kingdom authorities decided on a total number to be produced, then allocated a proportion to each of...
-1937 - 1939-1945 Star-1945
- Burma StarBurma StarThe Burma Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II.The medal was awarded for service in the Burma Campaign between 11 December 1941 and 2 September 1945...
-1945 - Africa StarAfrica StarThe Africa Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in the Second World War.The Star was awarded for a minimum of one day service in an operational area of North Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943...
-1945 - Pacific StarPacific StarThe Pacific Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II. It was also awarded to certain foreign servicemen, such as Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz of the United States.-Entitlement:...
-1945 - War Medal 1939-1945-1945
- India Service Medal-1945
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE)-1947
- Indian Independence Medal-1947
- Queen Elizabeth II Coronation MedalQueen Elizabeth II Coronation MedalThe Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal made to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.-Issue:For Coronation and Jubilee medals, the practice up until 1977 was that United Kingdom authorities decided on a total number to be produced, then allocated a proportion to...
-1953