Know Your City: Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad, the unsung visionary of Baroda state | Ahmedabad News

Pratapsinhrao’s birth and death anniversaries, however, pass unnoticed in Vadodara, which has places named after him, such as the Pratapnagar railway station and Pratapgunj, where the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda—founded by the king himself—is located.

During his reign as the king of the Baroda state, Pratapsinhrao took forward the legacy of Maharaja Sayajirao III. (Archive photo: Jeetendrasinh Gaekwad)

Officials of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, who ceremoniously mark the birth and death anniversaries of Maharaja Sayajirao III Gaekwad, say they “were unaware” that July 19 marks the death anniversary of Maharaja Pratapsinhrao, who gifted Vadodara city and several other parts of Gujarat its celebrated institutions, trade set-ups and even medical colleges.

Born on June 29, 1908, to Maharaja Sayajirao III Gaekwad’s heir apparent and only son, Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad, and his wife Padmavati Bai Saheba, Pratapsinhrao was declared the heir apparent to his grandfather at the age of 27. But his grooming to be a “wise and efficient statesman” had begun when he was only 75 days old, days after the death of his 26-year-old father Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad in September 1908.

Pratapsinhrao was the youngest of three siblings, the older ones being Princesses Indumatiraje and Laxmidevi.

Training from the age of 5

Jeetendrasinh Gaekwad says, “After the death of Fateshsinghrao, his only son from his first wife, Chimnabai I, Maharaja Sayajirao III summoned my great-grandfather—his eldest brother and senapati, Anandrao Gaekwad—and handed over the 75-day-old child, Yuvrajkumar Pratapsinhrao, to be raised safely as there were vested interests who wanted him (Pratapsinhrao) out of the way…”

“So, under the guidance of Anandrao Gaekwad, Pratapsinhrao’s training started very early at the age of five years. He was taught horse riding at the age of seven and soon mastered shooting and fencing, and was also extraordinary at polo, golf, cricket, and wrestling. He was also one of the best equestrians of his time. He excelled in every skill and one of the most well-trained kings of the princely states of India… To guard him, my great grandfather (Anandrao) also set up the Pratap Guards’ Regiment, which had 850 commandos,” Jeetendrasinh adds.

At the age of 10, in 1918, Pratapsinhrao was inducted into the Scouts movement. Maharaja Sayajirao III had invited Col Robert Baden-Powell from South Africa to start the prestigious movement in Baroda.

“At that time, he was inducted as a cub in the scouts movement, which had the cry ‘rally around the flag, boys’. In the end, when he passed on the rule to his son, Pratapsinhrao was the director-general of the international scouts movement with a strength of 50,000 in Baroda state alone. It had about 20,000 girl scouts,” Jeetendrasinh says.

During his reign as the king of the Baroda state, Pratapsinhrao took forward the legacy of Maharaja Sayajirao III. Jeetendrasinh says, “He was a king with a heart of gold, who founded MSU to fulfil the desire of Maharaja Sayajirao III and also set up the Sir Sayajirao Diamond Jubilee and Memorial Trust, which exists even today to meet education needs of students.”

Pratapsinhrao ensured that industries were set up in the state with the strict condition that 50 per cent of the employees would be from the Baroda state, according to Jeetendrasinh. “He stressed education and had a reciprocal arrangement in those days with the Oxford and Cambridge universities. Under this arrangement, students of MSU would get direct citizenship of the Commonwealth and passports as well as direct admission into Oxford and Cambridge,” he says.

Scholarships for women and minimum wages

Pratapsinhrao instituted higher education scholarships for women and enacted laws guaranteeing employment to matriculates with a minimum wage of Rs 7. Pratapsinhrao also founded the Baroda Medical College, reportedly after being piqued when the Grant Medical College in Bombay province refused direct admission to two meritorious students of Baroda who had the state’s recommendation letters.

Jeetendrasinh says, “It was in 1943, when Maharaja Pratapsinhrao was at the secretariat at Kothi Kacheri for the customary 4-pm tea ceremony when he received a cable from his diwan that two meritorious students from the Baroda state had been refused direct admission by then Bombay’s Grant Medical College irrespective of a letter of recommendation of the Baroda state. When the high tea ended at 5 pm, it had been decided to set up Baroda Medical College—part of the modern- day Sir Sayajirao General Hospital. The medical college was started in 1946.”

In 12 years of his rule, Pratapsinhrao set up the Diamond Jubilee Club, established eight aerodromes in the Baroda state as well as the Baroda royal aeroplane factory. (Express photo)

Mussolini and Baroda state

Jeetendrasinh adds, “Maharaja Pratapsinhrao was also particular that modern medical technology should be available to the people. So he had ordered modern medical equipment from Europe during the Second World War, but Mussolini sank the Baroda state’s Royal Gaekwad Oceanic liner in the Suez Canal. Pratapsinhrao reordered the equipment and paid the money to bring the equipment to the Baroda state.”

Pratapsinhrao also stressed afforestation and planted 10 crore fruit-bearing trees across the Baroda state, which at that time extended from modern-day Bet Dwarka to Navsari.

Jeetendrasinh says, “He brought in a law that planting trees is mandatory and directly linked it to the population census. In that too, he had a strict law that no fruit trader was allowed to sell mango, guava, chikoo, jackfruit and jamun as they were native trees planted by the kingdom and were so meant to be free for all people. The fruit vendors could sell all other fruits except these…”

In 12 years of his rule, Pratapsinhrao set up the Diamond Jubilee Club, established eight aerodromes in the Baroda state as well as the Baroda royal aeroplane factory.

According to Jeetendrasinh, Pratapsinhrao also set up 32 gymkhanas in Mehsana, Navsari, and Amreli, among other places, for intellectual people to gather and ideate. Eight polo grounds and the Port Trust of Baroda, which managed 16 ports from Bilimora to Okha, were also established during his rule.

“Since he believed in vocational training and gainful employment, he introduced skill training institutions that resulted in the Sankheda wooden factory, mango pulp factory in the state, among other enterprises…” Jeetendrasinh says.

Anguished by Baroda’s accession

It was on May 1, 1949, that Maharaja Pratapsinhrao signed the accession treaty to merge the Baroda state with the Union of India in the presence of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Jeetendrasinh says, “The merger was signed in Bombay and before he travelled to sign the treaty, Maharaja Pratapsinhrao addressed his people on April 26, 1949, in a garden where the present-day Padmavati shopping complex stands. When he signed the treaty, he famously remarked that merging his state of Baroda to a democratic country of India would not mean as much democracy to the people as the state of Baroda had guaranteed and provided… He had been anguished by the merger and told his people that he was “doing grave injustice’. So once the treaty was signed, he broke and threw away his golden Cartier pen.”

Controversial second marriage

Although Pratapsinhrao’s achievements during his 12 years of reign are noteworthy, his life is mostly remembered for his controversial second marriage, to the glamorous Sita Devi, who was already married and had a child when he was “besotted” by her.

After she secured a divorce from her husband, Pratapsinhrao married Sita Devi in 1943 and declared her as the Maharani of Baroda, upstaging his first wife, Shantadevi. Shantadevi, whom he had married in 1929, was the daughter of Sardar Mansinhrao Subbarao Ghorpade of Hasur in the Kolhapur state. They had three sons and five daughters before his marriage to Sita Devi.

Pratapsinhrao’s marriage to Sita Devi was seen as “scandalous” as it defied the anti-bigamy laws that his grandfather Sayajirao III had imposed. Moreover, even as Pratapsinhrao declared Sita Devi the Maharani, she was considered “ill-suited” for the role. Although his marriage to Sita Devi—who was ostentatiously addressed as the Wallis Simpson of the East—remained at the centre of controversies throughout his remaining life.

Wallis Simpson, an American socialite, was the wife of former British king Edward VIII.

On April 12, 1951, following an “inquiry” into the alleged interest-free loans taken by Maharaja Pratapsinhrao from the Baroda state treasury, he handed over the kingship to his heir apparent, Fatehsinhrao. (Archive photo: Jeetendrasinh Gaekwad )

Jeetendrasinh says, “Sita Devi was flamboyant and faced a lot of jealousy. When they were married, Pratapsinhrao was already the sixth richest man in the world. He thought he had to have a representation for the ladyship at the international level. Sita Devi had the qualities that matched the other leading ladies of that time and he was attracted towards her just as she was attracted to his magnetic and radiant personality… Sita Devi was a terrific hostess for the international circuit that Pratapsinhrao was part of and together they had the power in the international circuit. People alleged that Sita Devi took away riches from the state but in fact, those were from the personal wealth of the king and not from the state of Baroda… It goes without saying that whoever the king likes, keeps his treasures…”

Pratapsinhrao and Sita Devi had a son, Sayajirao alias Princie, who died unmarried in 1985.

On April 12, 1951, following an “inquiry” into the alleged interest-free loans taken by Maharaja Pratapsinhrao from the Baroda state treasury, he handed over the kingship to his heir apparent, Fatehsinhrao—his oldest son from Shantadevi—and shifted to England with Sita Devi, where they lived until their divorce in 1956. Sita Devi reportedly moved to Monaco later, while Pratpsinhrao passed away on July 19, 1968, in England.

Jeetendrasinh says, “All his life, he fought off people who wished him bad… He even escaped three attempts on his life before he was crowned the king. After his death, his mortal remains were brought to Baroda for the ceremonious funeral… It took 14 hours to reach from Ahmedabad to Vadodara as people thronged and crowded the streets to pay their respects on the way.

“So his funeral was held on July 22, 1968, with six lakh people attending the event, although the population of Baroda was only two lakhs at that time. Before being consigned to flames, Maharaja Pratapsinhrao’s body was displayed at Kirti Stambh, where 108 cannons were blown up for two and a half hours. The state of Baroda had voluntarily mourned for seven days.”