Maharani Gayatri Devi Essay Example
Maharani Gayatri Devi Essay Example

Maharani Gayatri Devi Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (764 words)
  • Published: July 20, 2018
  • Type: Essay
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During her childhood, Gayatri Devi was the daughter of Prince Jitendra Narayan of Cooch Behar, West Bengal, who was the younger brother of the Yuvraja (Crown Prince).

Princess Indira Raje of Baroda, the mother of Gayatri Devi, was the only daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. She was known for her exceptional beauty and was a renowned socialite. Gayatri Devi's father became king after her uncle's death. Gayatri Devi received her education at Patha Bhavana of Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan and later in Lausanne, Switzerland. During her time in London, she attended the London School of Secretaries; Brilliantmont and Monkey Club London to develop secretarial skills. Gayatri Devi first met Jai (Maharaja Man Singh of Jaipur) at the age of 12 when he visited Calcutta to play polo and stayed with her family.

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She wed H. H. Saramad-i-Raja-i-Hindustan Raj Rajendra Sri Maharajadhiraja Sir Sawai Man Singh II Bahadur on May 9, 1940. Following her marriage, she became known as Maharani Gayatri Devi. Gayatri Devi had a strong passion for horseback riding and was an avid equestrienne. She had a son named Prince Jagat Singh of Jaipur, who later became the late Raja of Isarda. He was born on October 15, 1949, and was granted his father's elder brother's fief as a subsidiary title. Jagat Singh was therefore the half-brother of Bhawani Singh of Jaipur.

Gayatri Devi, who was once listed among Vogue magazine's Ten Most Beautiful Women, established schools for girls' education in Jaipur, including the renowned Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School in 1943. Additionally, she played a key role in reviving and promoting the endangered art form of blue pottery.

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Political career

Following the Partition and Independence Day of India in 1947, Gayatri Devi successfully ran for Parliament in 1962. She achieved a remarkable victory in the Lok Sabha, receiving 192,909 votes out of 246,516 cast, which has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest landslide victory. She continued to hold this position in 1967 and 1971, representing the Swatantra Party led by C. Rajagopalachari, the second Governor-General of Independent India, while standing against the Congress Party.

When the privy purses were abolished in 1971, all royal privileges and titles were terminated. As a result, Gayatri Devi was accused of violating tax laws and spent 5 months in Tihar Jail. Following this, she retired from politics and co-authored her autobiography, A Princess Remembers, with Santha Rama Rau in 1976. Additionally, her life was depicted in the film Memoirs of a Hindu Princess, directed by Francois Levie. Despite rumors suggesting her potential return to politics in 1999, when the Cooch Behar Trinamool Congress nominated her as their candidate for the Lok Sabha elections, she did not respond to the offer. Gayatri Devi's 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 became the ruler of Cooch Behar in November 1913, just a few months after marrying Princess Indira raje Gaekwad of Baroda. Maharani Sunity Devi was the daughter of the well-known Brahmo social reformer Keshab Chandra Sen.

Family

She had

one son, Prince Jagat Singh, who was later the Raja of Isarda (15 October 1949 - 5 February 1997). Jagat Singh received his paternal uncle's (father's elder brother) fief of Isarda as a subsidiary title. Jagat Singh was married on May 10, 1978, and divorced in 1987 from a woman named M.

R. Priyanandana Rangsita (born in 1952) is the daughter of HSH Prince Piyarangsit Rangsita and HRH Princess Vibhavadhi Rangsita (nee Rajani) of Thailand. This marriage was particularly daring for the Jaipur royalty, as they had traditionally only married into other Indian reigning and formerly royal families. The couple had two grandchildren: Princess Lalitya Kumari (born

Prince Devraj Singh, who is now the Raja of Isarda, was born in 1979. His sibling, Prince Rangsita, was born in 1981. Both grandchildren adopted the royal surname "Rangsita" from their mother, which traces back to HM King Rama V of Thailand. Currently, they are the only surviving descendants of their paternal grandmother and therefore have claimed to be her heirs. Maharaj Jagat Singh, who was half-brother to Bhawani Singh of Jaipur, the eldest son of the late Maharaja and his first wife, a Jodhpur princess. The late Maharaj's first wife passed away on 29 July 2009 in Jaipur at the age of 90.

She had both paralytic ileus and a lung infection.

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