Gopaldas Ambaidas Desai (1887–1951) also called Darbar Gopaldas Desai was a prince who ascended the throne of the State of Dhasa currently known as Gopalgram in Saurashtra and a noted Gandhian political and social activist. He is remembered as the first prince in India who gave up his principality to become a freedom fighter against the British Raj.

Early life

Gopaldas was born at Vaso in the present day Kheda district of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. He was an ''inamdar'' or feudatory to the Baroda State, the ruler of the Dhasa State and a '' jagirdar'' of the Rai and Sankhli villages. He was a Vaishnavite and a Patidar by caste and a Desai and Amin by title. He became the ruler of Dhasa succeeding his maternal grandfather Ambaidas who adopted him as heir to the throne. Gopaldas had been a supporter of

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

and the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and often gave them financial support. He was a progressive ruler and provided free education to his subjects. Impressed by the ideas of Madam Montessori, he started first Montessori school in Vaso in 1915 with the help of his mentor, Motibhai Amin. It was the first Montessori School in Gujarat, and perhaps in entire India.

Indian Independence movement

By 1921, Gopaldas had become active in the

. That year he became the president of the Kheda District Congress Committee. The following year, his state was confiscated and was deposed as ruler by the British after he disobeyed the British Resident General's warnings against his involvement in the national movement and extending financial support to Gandhi. Gopaldas and his wife Bhakti Lakshmi, better known as Bhaktiba became active freedom fighters from 1922. After his removal, the British proposed Gopaldas' eldest son Suryakant as the new ruler. He however rejected the offer arguing that he held the same political views as his father. The British later approached Gopaldas' other three sons as they approached the age of majority. They all rejected the offer, following the footsteps of their father. Following the confiscation of his estates, Gopaldas relocated to Borsad from where he participated in both the Borsad and Bardoli Satyagrahas. During the 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement, the entire Desai family was imprisoned including Gopaldas, his wife Bhaktiba, the two elder sons Mahendra and Suryakant, and their wives and even their newborn son, a mere six-month-old, Barindra. Thus, Barindra must have been the youngest freedom fighter. Bhaktiba was obliged to take the infant to Sabarmati jail in 1930 because he was too young to be left with anyone. The Desais were also active participants in the Quit India Movement. Bhaktiba became a renowned social worker and Gandhian political activist in her own right while Yog Sunder went on to become a renowned dancer and choreographer and the founder of the Indian Revival Group.

Social activism

Gopaldas and Bhaktiba worked for the Gandhian causes of eradication of untouchability and for women's education. They were the pioneers in advancing female literacy in Gujarat and Saurashtra, especially the residential schools for girls. They founded Vitthal Kanya Vidyalaya in Nadiad in 1935 and later Vallabh Kanya Vidyalaya at Rajkot in 1946, both of them residential schools for girls. Soon after independence, it was Darbar Gopaldas who was given the honour in 1947 to lay the foundation stone of Kirti Mandir, the memorial for Mahatma Gandhi in his birthplace

Porbandar Porbandar is a city and the headquarters of Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It was the former capital of the Porbandar State, Porbandar princely state. Porbandar and Chhaya, ...

. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of India as a member from Baroda. Gopaldas was reinstated as a ruler of his principality after India's independence. He is remembered as the first prince among about 550 princely states to voluntarily and unconditionally merge his principality with the Indian Union. Rajmohan Gandhi has authored, ''The Prince of Gujarat'' (2014), a biography of Desai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Darbar Gopaldas 1887 births 1951 deaths People from Kheda district Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat Indian independence activists from Gujarat Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Prisoners and detainees of British India Gandhians Indian royalty Founders of Indian schools and colleges Gujarati people Maharajas of Gujarat