Maharajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh Goutam Bahadur, K.C.I.E. (28 November 1907 – 1 October 1962) was the Maharaja of

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth largest city and municipal corporation in the state of Bihar in India, and is considered an important city in North Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. Darbhanga ...

. He held his title over his family estates in the

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepa ...

region from 1929 – 1952, when such titles were abolished following the

Independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He had a sister named Lakshmi Daiji.

Patronage of sports

He was patron of the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

which was founded at

in 1935. He had started the Darbhanga Cup tournament at Calcutta (

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

) in which teams from Lahore, Peshawar, Madras (

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

), Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai (

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

), Afghanistan and England participated. He built 4 stadiums.

Biography

He was the son of Maharaja Sir Rameshwar Singh Goutam, the King of Darbhanga Raj. He was born on 28 November 1907 at

in a Maithil Brahmin family. He succeeded, to the throne of his estate of Darbhanga Raj, upon death of his father on 3 July 1929. He was a member of the team that visited London for the First round Table and the Second Round Table Conference held in 1930–31. He was a member of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

for years 1933–1946, member of the

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

for years 1947–1952.Courage and benevolence: correspondence and speeches of India's prime-estate holder Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh (1907–1962) Kameshwar Singh (Maharaja of Darbhanga), Hetukar Jha, Mahārājādhirāja Kāmeśvara Siṃha Kalyāṇī Phāuṇḍeśana by Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation, 2007 – Darbhanga (India : Division) He was elevated from C.I.E. and made a Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire on 1 January 1933. After, the

1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

, he started construction of a fort called Raj Quila, to commemorate the memory, when the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

announced to confer the title of "Native Prince" to Maharaja Kameshwar Singh. The contract was given to a Calcutta-based firm and work was on in full swing in 1939–40. Three sides of the fort were constructed with all the protective measures till work was stayed because of litigation and a stay order from the high court. With the abolition of native royalties by the Indian government post-Independence, work on the fort was eventually abandoned. After independence of India, he was elected as Member of Parliament (

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

) 1952–1958 as a

Jharkhand Party The Jharkhand Party (JKP) is one of the oldest political parties in India. formed on 5 March 1949 by ''Marang Gomke'' Jaipal Singh Munda in Ranchi. The party grew out of the demand for a separate Jharkhand state. The Jharkhand Party participa ...

candidate and got re-elected again in 1960 and was a member of

till his death in 1962. He also was the President the Maithil Mahasabha from 1929–1962. and also President of the Sri Bharat Dharma Mahamandal. He was lifetime president of Bihar Landholders' Association and also served as the President of the All-India Landholders' Association and Bengal Landholders' Association. Further, he was elected as the president of the Bihar United Party of pre-independence era.Who's who in Western India 1934– Page 43The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who by Sir Stanley Reed – 1934 and guided its policy during the critical years of Agrarian disquiet in Bihar.

Philanthropist

He was the first person in India to get a bust of Mahatma Gandhi made, by celebrated artist Clare Sheridan, cousin of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. The bust was presented to the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

, Lord Linlithgow, to be displayed in Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhawan). This was acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi in a letter to Lord Linlithgow in 1940.Courage and Benevolence: Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh; published by Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation He served a pro-vice-chancellor of

Benaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

, to which his father Sir Rameshwar Singh was a major benefactor. He chaired the special meeting in 1939, when Madan Mohan Malviyaji voluntarily stepped down as Chancellor of BHU and Radhakrishnan was unanimously elected to the post. In 1930, Sir Kameshwar Singh, donated Rupees One

Lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

and twenty-thousand to University of Patna for encouragement of vernacular language. After, independence of India, in 1951, when the Mithila Snatkottar Shodh Sansthan (the Mithila Post-Graduate Research Institute), located at Kabraghat, was established on the initiative of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of India at that time, Maharaja Kameshwar Singh donated a building along with 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land and a garden of mango and litchi trees located beside the Bagmati river in Darbhanga to this institution. He in a major act of philanthropy, gifted in a ceremony on 30 March 1960, his Anand Bagh Palace to start a Sanskrit University, now named after him as Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University.

Industrialist

Maharaja Kameshwar Singh inherited investments in businesses and industries begun by his father, who was also the co-founder of Bengal National Bank in 1908. Kameshwar Singh, who inherited some of his father's legacy, further expanded his stake in varied industries. He controlled 14 businesses producing sugar, jute, cotton, coal, railway, iron and steel, aviation, print media, electricity and other products. Some of the major companies controlled by him were : Darbhanga Aviations (an airlines company owned by him); The Indian Nation and ''Aryavatra'' – newspaper, Thacker Spink & Co; a publishing company; Ashok Paper Mills, Sakri Sugar Factory and Pandaul Sugar Factory, Rameshwar Jute Mills, Darbhanga Dairy Farms, Darbhanga Marketing Co, Darbhanga Lahoriasrai Electric Supply Corporation, Walford, an automobile showroom at Calcutta. Further, he held controlling or major stakes, among others, in British India Corporation, which owned several mills in

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

& other parts, Octavius Steel (a large conglomerate having varied interests in Steel, Jute and Tea); Villiers & Co (colliery), through his company, Darbhanga Investments.

Memorials

* Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Hospital,

* Maharaja Sir Kameshwar Singh Library,

* Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University,

* Maharaniadhirani Kam Sundari, widow and third wife of the Sir Kameshwar Singh, established the Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation by a deed of trust in 1989 in his memory for charitable purposes.

References

<\ref

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Kameshwar 1907 births 1962 deaths History of Bihar Mithila Maharajas of Darbhanga Members of the Council of India Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian knights Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Rajya Sabha members from Bihar Founders of Indian schools and colleges Indian industrialists Indian aviation businesspeople Businesspeople in textiles Indian sugar industry businesspeople Businesspeople in steel Indian newspaper founders Indian book publishers (people) Indian businesspeople in coal Indian businesspeople in mining Indian royalty Businesspeople from Bihar 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Indian philanthropists Members of the Council of State (India)