Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad

Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad (29 June 1908 – 19 July 1968) succeded to the throne in 1939 after the demise of his grandfather Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. He ruled for a period of ten years, from 1939 to 1949, until the assimilation of Baroda State into the Indian Union. After that, he held the role of titular Maharaja until 1951, when he was deposed by the Government of India and exiled to England.

The Good Grandson

Pratapsinhrao became the heir apparent after the demise of his father Yuvraj Fatehsinhrao who passed away at the young age of 25. After his accession, he followed the footsteps of his grandfather and picked up many initiatives of public welfare.

His greatest contribution to the people of Baroda was establishing the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. In doing so he fulfilled the long-standing dream of his grandfather of converting the Baroda College to a University. He even set up the “Sir Sayajirao Diamond Jubilee and Memorial Trust”. This trust exists to this day and looks after the needs of the University.

Then in a series of initiatives he established the Polo Club, the Gaekwad Baroda Golf Club and also patronized the building of a glider plane in Baroda. This particular glider plane is considered to be the first one to be built in India, for which Pratasinhrao gave a grant of 10 lakh Rupees.

One of his many initiatives also included establishing the Baroda Broadcasting Station. During the inauguration of this broadcasting station, the Maharaja did something that showed the spirit of a true Indian. The first thing to be broadcasted through the station was “Vande Mataram”, despite a ban on public singing of the National Song. At the time he was even quoted saying ” This is my radio station for my people of the state and therefore, it will start functioning with my country’s national song, Vande Mataram”

Despite the good work that he had done, he wasn’t always considered the Good Grandson but was also considered the Prodigal Grandson.

The Prodigal Grandson

Much controversy and speculation are surrounding this particular Gaekwad. He had done many things that were frowned upon by people.

Pratapsinhrao became the first of the Gaekwads to have broken the Monogamy Act passed by his grandfather Sayajirao III. In the early 1940’s he met and fell in love with Sita Devi who was already married and had a kid with her first husband. Despite opposition by the Britishers, they got married in and a few years later moved to settle in Monaco.

He spent money lavishly and along with his second wife Sita Devi went on many trips abroad. On one of his trips to America with Sita Devi, he is supposed to have spent 10 million. In 1945 he bought a thoroughbred racing horse called Sayajirao for a whopping US $ 11, 76,000 even went on to buy a whole stud farm for this horse. He was even accused of taking many of Baroda’s famous jewels out of the State’s Treasury. After independence, the Indian Union did an audit of Baroda’s treasury. The audit concluded that Pratapsinhrao had taken several interest-free loans from the Baroda State Treasury.  When demanded to be paid back, he agreed to pay back in yearly installments from his eight million dollar income.

Although Baroda was assimilated in the Indian Union, Pratapsinhrao is said to have not been in favor of it. It is said that he was so distraught after he signed the Instrument of Accession for Baroda that he wept in the arms of V. P. Menon.

Subsequently, due to possible fraud, the Indian government deposed him and exiled him to England. He was succeeded to the throne by his eldest son from his first wife, Fatehsinhrao II.

Family and successor

Including both the marriages, Pratapsinhrao was a father to nine children. Eight of these were from his marriage to Maharani Shantadevi and one was from his marriage to Sita Devi. Of the eight children, Maharani Shantadevi bore him, three were sons with five daughters. Sita Devi bore him one son. Following are the names of his children (age-wise):

Fatehsinhrao II, Mrunalini Raje, Pramila Raje, Sarala Raje, Vasundharadevi Raje, Ranjitsinhrao, Lalitadevi Raje, Sangramsinhrao and the final son with Sita Devi called Sayajirao II a.k.a. Princie.

In 1956, he divorced Sita Devi and moved to London where he spent the last years of his life and passed away on 19 July, 1968.

Titles

On his accession to the throne, he was conferred upon with the titles held by the Gaekwad Family for centuries. His full name with the titles would have been  Major-General His Highness Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Shrimant Maharaja Sir Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad, Sena Khas Khel Shamsher Bahadur, Maharaja of Baroda, GCIE.

This was the story of a king who definitely worked for his people but still had a debatable career !!!