Royalty of the Indian sub-continent


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Yes you're absolutely right! I didn't realise it was the same tiara that Queen Mary wore at the durbar. I've seen camilla wearing it quite often but I guess it just didn't strike me. Thank you!
I wonder why it wasn't given to diana to wear...any ideas about that? Its quite an exquisite piece, although from the size of it I'm guessing it would work as an excellent headache inducer.:)
It was a gift I think.......
 
:previous:
to add to the above...
...the Jaipur royals had decided to engage a public relations manager to oversee the family’s work, social activities and groom the 39-year-old Diya, who had triggered a storm a decade ago by marrying a commoner. Diya is the only child of Bhawani Singh, 79, and Padmani Devi, the former princess of Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh.

Diya heads the Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh School, an elite public institution at Jagatpura in Jaipur. She was instrumental in starting it as a pre-primary school from City Palace — the opulent home of the Jaipur royals — in 2001.The London-educated Diya — she has a diploma in arts — has several traits in common with Gayatri Devi. Like her grandmother, Diya has been a public figure seen at various social occasions and has taken on the onus of managing several family interests like the City Palace museum. She is also the chairperson of the tourism cell of the Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

Diya too had created a storm in 1997 when she defied tradition to marry Narendra Singh Rajawat, who came from a modest family in Sawai Madhopur and was a cashier at the City Palace.The marriage led to widespread protests by Rajputs who were aghast that a royal princess was marrying outside the community and had threatened to excommunicate the maharaja.

The couple now stay at City Palace and have three children — two sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Padmanabha, is next in line to the Jaipur “throne”.​
 
A descendant of the erstwhile Kullu royal family in Himachal Pradesh was killed in a road accident near Noida in Uttar Pradesh early Sunday, family sources said.
Abhishek was the eldest son of Karan Singh, a former state education minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party government (1998-2003) and scion of the erstwhile Kullu ruling family.
Karan Singh is also the younger brother of Maheshwar Singh, three-time BJP MP from the Mandi constituency in Himachal Pradesh.
 
Shahzada Col (R) Khushwaqtul Mulk, son of former mehtar (ruler) of Chitral Sir Shujaaul Mulk, passed away in the Military Hospital Rawalpindi on Friday morning after protracted illness. He was 96.
Born in the princely family of Chitral on June 13, 1913, Khushwaqtul Mulk received his early education at home. He was sent to Royal Indian Military College Dehradun in 1926. After graduating from the Indian Military Academy in 1932, he was commissioned in the 2nd Green Howards Battalion and then served in 4/19th Hyderabad Regiment.
During his military career he took a memorable private visit to Iraq via Afghanistan and Iran. From 1944 onwards he served in the South Waziristan Scouts and later became its commandant.Khushwaqtul Mulk would spend his summers in Chitral but considered Peshawar his second home for the rest of the year. Here he made many friends owing to his warm, gentle and friendly nature. He bought the famous Holmes Studio in Peshawar Saddar belonging to RB Holmes, the pre-partition photographer from Peshawar, and renamed it Chitral House.
The late colonel was a regular member of the Peshawar Club and also served as its secretary in 1950s. He remained a ‘whiper-in’ of the famed Peshawar Vale Hunt (horse and hound club) from 1935 to 1951. In 1957 he joined the American Consulate and served there until his retirement in late 1970s. He was also the pioneer of Brooke Hospital, which he ran single-handedly for over six years.
The deceased was one of the senior-most surviving retired military officers of the Pakistan Army. Settled at Shami Road in later part of his life and fond of animals, the gentle-hearted Khushwaqtul Mulk was a familiar sight for the residents who got used to see him dressed in shorts and taking regular walk with his dogs before sunset everyday.

Full article
 
Curators of the National Portrait Gallery's new exhibition The Indian Portrait 1560-1860 - which was opened March 11th - will reveal a six-foot, seventeenth-century life-size portrait of the Emperor Jahangir which they claim is the largest painting to come from the Mughal empire.
Jahangir holding a globe, dating from 1617, is opulently painted in gold and watercolour on cotton and includes relief jewellery. Apart from its appearance in an auction-house catalogue in 1995, the epic portrait now on view at the Gallery's exhibition has never previously been seen.

Artdaily.org
 
Thank you very much Kasumi. I just went through the link that you sent and now I really want to go and visit the exhibhition in person:flowers:.....I love Indian paintings from this period. Again thank you for the link.
 
Indian_royal,
You are most welcome. I'd like to visit this fantastic exhibition myself, and I'll do my best to fulfil it :flowers:.
I have a great respect for the Indian culture since my parents used to live and work in India for some time.
 
As Andhra Pradesh prepares to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the coronation of Sri Krishnadevaraya, his throne remains an unresolved riddle to historians even today.
The throne, resembling a highly embellished chair used for grooms and brides at marriages of celebrities these days, was made in pure silver full with engravings on it. Now, it is being used by archakas as the peetham to place “ammavarau”, the consort of the presiding deity, Lord Shiva.
Full article - The Hindu
 
Secrets from the Maharaja's kitchen
The Maharajas loved good food! Says food expert Jiggs Kalra, “All royal palaces of India had great kitchens. The Maharajahs loved good food and life. The Nawabs of Lucknow had the greatest kitchens of all times. There was the authentic Shahi Tukda, made with layers of malai, and filled with rabri. The dish from the Patiala royal family that went global was Shikampur pulao, where the breast of chicken was filled with dry fruits. Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala had a separate bakery and loved French cuisine, while Rampur was famous for Raan and Agra’s Akbar Shahi Parth ka Paratha was something royalty feasted on.”
Full article with some special recipes - The Times of India
 
HM Maharaja Arwin Singh of Mewar (Rajasthan) allowes the guests to stay at Shiv Niwas Palace in the city of Udaipur. - Mail Online
 
Grandchildren and stepson in row over Gayatri Devi's will

The grandchildren of one of the last queens of India have pledged to fight attempts by her stepson to dispute the terms of her will. - BBC
 
Two royal weddings in India this year

Last week the heir apparent of Jodhpur HRH Prince Shivraj Singh was engaged to Gayatri Kumari, princess of Askot (Uttarakhand). Their wedding is likely to be held on November 18 this year. - HindustanTimes
Prince Shivraj Singh, 34 had a life altering accident in 2005 when he fell off his horse during a polo match at the Rambagh Polo Ground.
The quiet engagement ceremony finally took place at the Umaid Bhawan Palace. Princess Gayatri Kumari of Askot is in her late twenties, and is studying computer graphics and animation.
Prince Shivraj Singh on the magazine cover

And early this year, Princess Padmaja Kumari of the royal family of Mewar (which manages HRH Hotels) got engaged to Kunwar Kush Singhji Parmar of Gujarat.
Padmaja Kumari, 29 studied in the US, worked with the Four Seasons Hotel New York and returned to Udaipur in 2006 to work with her father Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar on new initiatives for the HRH group of Hotels.
Parmar lives and works in the US, and after marriage Padmaja Kumari is expected to move there.
The photo of the Princess Padmaja Kumari with her future husband
 
Elizabeth Hurley helps Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Marwar-Jodphur

Liz Hurley has returned for India's head Injury foundation. She attended the Rajasthan Royal charity gala at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers in Mumbai this Friday held as a fundraiser for the foundation on June 18th 2010.
The gala was held by Maharaja Gajsingh II of Marwar-Jodphur and Maharani Hemlata Rajye. Their connection with the cause came about after their son had suffered a head injury at a polo match a few years ago. Now their son has recovered and is set to get married in November. (see post #73)
To help others who are going through what they have gone through and hopefully get through it like have, the royal couple hosted this event that Liz Hurley supported.
Hurley showed up to the event with her husband Arun who happens to be of Indian descent. - Full article + tiny pictures
 
Teenager girl becomes a head of Orissa royal family

For the first time in its 600- year history, a 14-year-old girl has become the head of the Dharakote royal family in Orissa.
Geetanjali Devi took over the reins of leadership following the death of her father and former MLA Kishor Chandra Singhdeo, who died of heart attack on May 28.
Geetanjali was coronated amid chanting of slokas in presence of thousands of people who turned out to watch the royal ceremony. She arrived for the occasion riding a silver chariot.
"I will work to fulfill the dreams of my father," she said.
Geetanjali, the only daughter of Kishor Chandra (1961-2010), is studying in Class IX at Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
According to state historians, the Dharakaote estate was carved out from the Surada or Khidisingi, when its ruler divided his kingdom among his four sons. Dharakote went to his third son Raja Handu Singh (1477-1540). - Press Trust of India
 
A tiny picture of Queen Geetanjali Devi (see post # 76) during the crowning ceremony in Dharakote.
Picture credits - Press Trust of India
 
Late Queen of Jaipur without last shade

Her London friends didn’t forget to remember Gayatri Devi but her own family appears to have forgotten to build the traditional chhatri where she was cremated, almost a year after she passed away on July 29 last year.​
The Jaipur royal family is more preoccupied with feuding over her legacy, said to be worth around $470 million. - Telegraph India
 
105-carat Koh-i-noor diamond cannot be returned to India

David Cameron has rejected a plea to return the fabled Koh-i-noor diamond - now the most famous of the Crown Jewels - to India.
There has been a growing clamour on the sub-continent for the repatriation of the gem, and in an interview on India’s NDTV channel the Prime Minister was asked directly if he would give it back.
After an awkward hesitation, Mr Cameron said 'that is a question I have never been asked before' and then insisted it could not be returned.- Daily Mail
 
India to return half a billion worth of estates to Muslim royal

Mohammed Amir Mohammed Khan, the Raja of Mahmudabad, has been fighting to recover his family estates, which include a royal fort and a palace built for a former British colonial governor, for 37 years.

The estates were seized by the Indian government along with hundreds of other 'enemy properties’ belonging to Muslims who migrated to Pakistan following the 1965 war between the two countries.- Telegraph
 
Raja of Mahmudabad

India to return half a billion worth of estates to Muslim royal - Telegraph

Mohammed Amir Mohammed Khan, the Raja of Mahmudabad, has been fighting to recover his family estates, which include a royal fort and a palace built for a former British colonial governor, for 37 years.

The estates were seized by the Indian government along with hundreds of other 'enemy properties’ belonging to Muslims who migrated to Pakistan following the 1965 war between the two countries. They included the family home, the historic Qila Fort, near Lucknow, and the family’s vast property portfolio because his father, Amir Ahmed Khan, decided to become a Pakistani citizen in 1957.

But while he chose Pakistan, his wife, a Rani in her own right, and son, now the current Raja, chose to stay as Indian citizens. Since his father’s death in 1973, he has been fighting a series of legal battles with the government to challenge the status of his inherited estates as 'enemy property’ and recover them from tenants.

The Raja sacrificed his own career as an astrophysicist – he studied at Cambridge and was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in London – to take over his father’s responsibilities and was nominated by the late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as a Congress candidate in the state assembly.Since then, and despite having powerful friends in the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, the Raja has been forced to fight more than 10 court actions to establish his Indian citizenship and his claim as sole heir to his father’s title and estates.

His victory was sealed this weekend when the Indian parliament agreed a new 'Enemy Property Act’ which will restore all confiscated properties to Muslim owners who can prove their Indian citizenship.

The Khans are one of India’s oldest royal families, one of the most senior in the Shi’ite Muslim world, and can trace its roots back to the Prophet Mohammad.
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Death of the Maharaja of Dhrangadhra-Halvad

The last Knight of the Order of Indian Empire has died, aged 87

His Highness the Maharaja of Dhrangadhra-Halvad, who died on August 1 aged 87, was the last of the Indian princes who ruled their own states before India became independent in 1947.

On acceding to the gadi (throne) on his father's death in 1942, he launched an economy programme, ordered the State Council to meet once a week and enacted a series of modernising laws. These affirmed his subjects' fundamental rights, ending the segregation of the "untouchable" castes, and permitting women to hold property and to remarry. Compulsory free primary schooling was introduced as well as village and municipal self-government.

As Independence became inevitable, Dhrangadhra threw himself into the task of creating what he saw as the "free" India. Recognising that the amalgamation of his state with the larger Saurashtra was in the greater interest, he was among the first princes to sign Mountbatten's Instrument of Accession, thereby losing his ruling powers.

After being received in a private audience by King George VI and witnessing the final reading of the Indian Independence Bill in the Commons, he became deputy governor of Saurashtra, presiding over its first elections. He was briefly president of the state bank, and was a member of the body planning the constitution.

The Maharaja of Dhrangadhra was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1948, and was the last surviving KCIE. He was president of Rajkumar College in Rajkot; and a life member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association; of the World Wildlife Fund; the International Phonetic Association; and the Heraldry Society. He was also a member of the Cricket Club of India, the Fencing Association of Great Britain and the Bombay Masonic Lodge.

He married, in 1943, Brijraj Kumari Sahiba (daughter of the Maharaja of Jodphur), who survives him with their three sons. The eldest, 66-year-old Sodhsalji, prefers to be recognised as the head of Jhala clan, but is still popularly known as the Maharaja.

The Telegraph obituary
Wiki article
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Lavish mahogany dressing table commissioned by His Exhalted Highness Mir Osman Ali Khan (1886-1967), the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad was auctioned in Austen, Texas - PR-USA.net
 
Punjab’s former chief minister and scion of Patiala’s royal family, Capt. Amarinder Singh and his wife Preneet Kaur, who is currently minister of state for external affairs will host TRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Patiala’s Moti Bagh Palace when they arrive in India for the inauguration of the Commonwealth Games early in October.
The Asian Age
MSN News
 
Patiala

:previous:
Further to Kasumi's report, the Prince of Wales and Duches of Cornwall have enjoyed the hospitality of the Maharaja and Maharani of Patiala at the Moti Bagh Palace in Chandigarh.

From the Telegraph.co.uk

The Prince visited an organic farm near Chandigarh before the Royal couple travelled to Patiala, where they stayed with the Maharaja and Maharani of Patiala in the Moti Bagh Palace after joining them for a gala dinner. The Duchess wore an ice blue Bruce Oldfield silk dress with a lace overdress, set off by a diamond and aquamarine necklace.

The Maharaja, Captain Amarinder Singh, disclosed that when the Royal couple last stayed with him, on a private visit in 2006, the palace was hit by a storm that blew away the marquee where the dinner was being held.
He said: "We reorganised quickly and had a sort of picnic inside. The Prince really enjoyed himself. I know he and the Duchess like to go to bed early but that night they stayed up with us until 11.30."
 
Prince of Wales meets Maharaja of Jodhpur

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were hosted at the Bal Samand Lake Palace by
Maharajah Gaj Singh, erstwhile king of the state of Jodhpur. Prince Charles and Camilla spent the evening interacting with entrepreneurs from the British Council's Young Creative Entrepreneurs (YCE) Awards programme, which aims to develop a professional network of creative entrepreneurs in India, the UK and internationally.
This was followed by a display of Gaj Singh's Marwari horses cantering to the beats of the dhol. - The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...harajah/articleshow/6735352.cms#ixzz12GQTeahU
 
[SIZE=-1]The Royal family of Koch dynasty celebrates the historical Durga Puja at Raja Howli of Koch King Prem Narayan Deb popularly known as ‘Thota Raja’ with a nearly 400-year-old tradition with a five-day programm. - The Assam Tribune
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Cinderella' hunt for an Indian princess

An Australian television technician has begun a Cinderella-style hunt for his Indian "princess" ancestor in Delhi, attempting to trace her and her descendants using only a pair of silk slippers handed down through generations.
According to family records, his great-great-great-uncle, Major General Samuel Need, married a "native woman'" they believe to have been a princess :flowers:.
Maj Gen Need was a British cavalry officer who fought in the Siege of Kachoorie, the Allighur assault and the capture of Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/CINDERELLA+HUNT+PRINCESS/3672458/story.html#ixzz12V0hlqmO - Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/CINDERELLA+HUNT+PRINCESS/3672458/story.html#ixzz12V07hqOG

 
Preparations for Jamboo Savari denoting the grand finale of the 10-day-long Dasara festivities is in full swing in Mysore.

The Jamboo Savari, featuring the procession of the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari in a golden howdah (carriage) positioned atop caparisoned elephants, will start at 2.10 pm from the precincts of the Amba Vilas palace on Sunday.

The scion of the Mysore royal family and former member of the parliament, Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, will be the special invitee. - DNAIndia
 
Somdev Devvarman, who became the first Indian to win gold in the men's singles tennis at the Common Wealth Games would be given a public reception by the Tripura government and the state tennis association.
Twenty-five-year-old Devvarman belongs to the Tripura's erstwhile royal family. - Hindustan Times
 
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