Sayajirao Gaekwad III The Maharaja of Baroda

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Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda state towered over all the other rulers of princely states in British India.

The book not only documents how a Maratha farmer's son became a maharaja by a twist of fate, but also reveals interesting details about how the 'favourite son' of the British Empire found himself on the brink of being deposed by the British. Extensively researched and engagingly written, the book unearths secret records from the India Office in London and discloses the role played by Sayajirao in India's fight for freedom.

Despite failing health and great personal tragedies, Sayajirao governed the state with remarkable zeal and had many firsts to his credit. As early as 1881, he opened several schools for girls and a training college for lady teachers. In 1893, he introduced free primary education for children and became the first Indian ruler to do so. He banned child marriage and untouchability and promoted inter-caste marriage and widow remarriage widely.

This is a biography of a great ruler whose legacy does not lie just in great edifices and institutions like the Laxmi Vilas Palace, Ajwa reservoir, Kala Bhavan, Central Library of Baroda, Baroda College (now MS University of Baroda), Baroda Museum and Bank of Baroda, but in the scale, nature and foresight of his endeavours.

I have been asked by quite a few people in Baroda why I chose to write about Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the erstwhile ruler of Baroda state. My answer is this-there comes a time in one's life when one has mellowed with age and the tendency to look back is far more attractive than looking forward. The truth is that there is really nothing to look forward to when one becomes decrepit at the age of seventy-three!

Baroda did a lot for us as a family and I look back upon those years as the best time of my life. The opportunity that presented itself to study in the most prestigious university of India at that point of time was a golden one. I was a student in the Faculty of Arts (Baroda College), and the experience was richly rewarding as it helped me to evolve as a human being with a broad outlook without losing sight of the fundamental values so essential in our life's journey. It is time now to pay back what was given to me unstintingly by the founder of the university, the faculty of the university and the people of Baroda.

This book is a tribute to the phenomenal human being and the righteous ruler—Maharaja Sayajirao III—who left his mark as a leader of the people. It is written with the intent to offer my gratitude in a small, humble way to the great king of Baroda. I hope that the royal family of the Gaekwads in Baroda will accept this tribute for its sincerity with which it has been written.

A historian tries his best to reconstruct the past and bring it to life, to weave a rich tapestry filled with facts, figures and places coloured with not only landscapes, but also events. It has not been an easy task, but nevertheless a fascinating one. I have tried my best to marshal all the facts impartially and bring to readers the events that took place more than a century ago. It is indeed the historian's chief concern to conjure up the atmosphere of the past, to see things in the light in which they were seen centuries ago when circumstances of time, place and people were different from what they are now.

It is a matter of delight for me to write this foreword for Uma Balasubramaniam's well-researched book depicting the many-splendoured personality of H.H. Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. While a good number of writings on the illustrious Maharaja do exist, a lot still remains to be written, particularly because a significant body of the archives of Baroda state has not yet been investigated by scholars and historians.

Balasubramaniam's book is distinguished from other writings on the subject by its emphasis on moving beyond the known facts relating to the life of Maharaja Sayajirao III. In fact, the book is not just a biographical sketch of his life and contributions; it also tells the story of the whole Gaekwad dynasty, beginning with Pilajirao Gaekwad.

Maharaja Sayajirao III, who ruled for more than six decades, ranks among the most visionary and progressive princely rulers of modern India. In the late nineteenth century, when the movement for social reforms was at an incipient stage in India and innovative approaches to governance were not heard of much, he promoted such policies and reforms that made Baroda state one of the most progressive and vibrant places at that time. He prohibited the evil practices of untouchability and child marriage in his state. He also supported several bright young people, including the great Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, to receive high-quality education abroad. The imprint of his reformist, progressive and innovative approach could be found in several spheres: higher education institutions, provision of free and compulsory education for all, encouragement of education of the backward classes, establishment of libraries across towns and villages in his state, judiciary and legislations of Baroda state, agricultural reforms, panchayat system, construction of water reservoirs and roads, development of railways and so on. Indeed, there are several lessons to be learnt for today's policymakers and administrators from the philosophy and welfare-oriented system of governance implemented successfully by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III.