Maharaja Nripendra Narayan (4 October 1862 – 18 September 1911) was the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great Monarch, king" or "high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Em ...

of the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

of Cooch Bihar,

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, from 1863 to 1911.

Early life

Nripendra Narayan was only ten months old when his father,

Narendra Narayan Narendra Narayan (1841–1863) was the Maharaja of princely state of Koch Bihar, India, from 1847 to 1863. In the year 1845, he was adopted by his uncle, the Maharaja of Koch Bihar, Shivenra Narayan, when his own son died at an early age. Lat ...

, died in 1863. He was crowned maharaja in the same year. Since he was still an infant, the administration was handed over to the commissioner appointed by the British Governor General.Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: Volume 100 His elder brother became the Raja of Chitaranjan and Rupnarayanpur, the land of their ancestors.Indian Royalty He studied at Wards Institute at

Benaras Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tra ...

, thereafter, at Bankipur College,

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

and lastly law at Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1878 he married

Suniti Devi Sunity Devi CIE (30 September 1864 – 10 November 1932) was the Maharani of the princely state of Cooch Behar, British India. Early life She was a daughter of the renowned Brahmo Samaj reformist, Keshub Chandra Sen of Calcutta. She was m ...

, a daughter of Keshab Chandra Sen of Calcutta. Immediately after marriage, he left for England for higher studies.

Family

He was the father of four sons and three daughters: sons Rajendra Narayan,

Jitendra Narayan Maharaja Shri Sir Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur (20 December 1886 – 20 December 1922) was the Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, India, from September 1913 until his death in December 1922. Early life Jitendra Narayan was the second son of Nripendr ...

, Victor Nityendra Narayan, and Hitendra Narayan, and daughters Pratibha Devi, Sudhira Devi, and Sukriti Devi. Of his sons, Rajendra and Jitendra later became Maharajas of Cooch Behar.

Gayatri Devi Gayatri Devi (born as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar; 23 May 1919 − 29 July 2009) was the third Maharani consort of Jaipur from 1940 to 1949 through her marriage to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. Following her husband's signature for t ...

and Ila Devi were daughters of his son Jitendra. His eldest daughter, Sukriti (Princess Garlie), was married to Josnya Nath Ghosal the nephew of the Nobel laureate poet

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

. Jitendra Narayan was married to Princess Indira Devi of Baroda. His second daughter Prativa Sundari Devi married English actor, film director and author

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist. He was sometimes credited as Luther Mile ...

in 1912. His third daughter Sudhira Sundari Devi married in 1914 Alan Mander, brother of Miles.

Death

Nripendra died at the English coastal resort of

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish situated in the county of East Sussex in South East England. An ancient town and part of the local government district of Rother, Bexhill is home to a number of a ...

in September 1911. His funeral took place in Bexhill on 21 September 1911. The Maharajah had come to Bexhill to convalesce after leaving Moor Hall,

Ninfield Ninfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is quite linear and centred 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Bexhill-on-Sea where two roads cross: the A269 from Bexhill to Battle and the ...

. One of his daughters had recently drowned. A memorial drinking fountain dedicated to Nripendra was opened by his second son, Maharaja Kumar Jitendra on 18 September 1913 (jitendra has just succeeded to the throne of Cooch Behar after the death of his older brother Rajendra). The fountain originally stood to the side of the Coastguards Cottages on the present site of the De La Warr Pavilion. When the cottages were demolished in 1934 to make way for the Pavilion, the fountain was re-erected in Egerton Park. It stood near to the park entrance next to the Bexhill Museum until 1963, when it was removed for restoration. It was stored in Bexhill Cemetery for a while but then subsequently disappeared. Its current whereabouts is unknown. Bexhill-on-Sea's historical society has produced a booklet "Bexhill's maharajah" summarising Nripendra's connections with Bexhill.

Work

He banned the practice of slave-keeping (''Kritadas Pratha'') in his State by introducing a law in 1884. In the year 1888, for the betterment of higher studies in his own state, he established the Victoria College now known as A.B.N. Seal College. Further, in the name of his queen,

, he set up a girls school called ''Suniti College'' in 1881 which was later named '' Suniti Academy''. In 1883 he constructed the Nripendra Narayan Hall in

Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loc ...

city and in 1887 granted land for the construction of the Lowis Jubilee Sanitarium in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Ne ...

.Royal History
Shri. Hemanta Kumar Rai Barma, CHAPTER 6, "Kochbiharer Itihas", 2nd edition (1988), National Informatics Centre, Cooch Behar District, http://coochbehar.nic.in He also established the India Club at Calcutta in 1882. He also established the Anandamayi Dharmasala for distribution of free foods for poor at Cooch Behar in 1889. He founded in Cooch Behar, the botanical garden –

Narendra Narayan Park The Narendra Narayan Park is a botanical garden located in Cooch Behar town of West Bengal. It was established in 1894. It is named after erstwhile ruler of princely state of Cooch Behar, Shri Narendra Narayan. It was founded by Maharaja Nripendra ...

in 1892. He was also the first president of

Calcutta Club Calcutta Club ( bn, কলকাতা ক্লাব) is an elite social club located on Lower Circular Road in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. It was established in 1907 and the first president of the club was the Maharajah of Cooch Behar ...

founded in 1907. Maharaja was a great enthusiast of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and promoted Cooch Behar team and would invite top quality players from all over the world. He had a cricket ground at his palace in Cooch Behar and also promoted one ground at Alipore in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

. His team and team of Maharaja of Natore were rivals in cricket in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. He was also an enthusiast of football in Bengal as one of the supporters of

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

Honours

Empress of India Medal The Empress of India Medal, also referred to as KIH Medal, was a commemorative medal awarded to mark the occasion of the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India in 1877. It was the first wearable medal issued to mark a commemorative ...

Gold-1877 with a Sword. * Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE)-1887 * Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal-1887Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
/ref> *

Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal The Diamond Jubilee Medal was instituted in 1897 by Royal Warrant as a British decoration. The medal was awarded to members of the Royal Family and the court, guests and dignitaries present at the celebrations of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee ...

Clasp-1897 *

Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it wa ...

Gold Medal-1903

Memorials

The Nripendra Narayan Memorial High School is named after him, which was founded by his son, Maharaja Jitendra Narayan, in his memory in 1916.

Notes

References

* The Maharajah of Cooch Behar; ''Thirty-Seven Years of Big Game Shooting in Cooch Behar, the Duars, and Assam.'' Bombay, The Times Press, 1908. {{DEFAULTSORT:Narayan, Nripendra 1862 births 1911 deaths Bengali Hindus 20th-century Bengalis 19th-century Bengalis Companions of the Order of the Bath Founders of Indian schools and colleges Hindu monarchs Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Maharajas of Koch Bihar Indian knights Indian philanthropists People from Bexhill-on-Sea Indian educators 20th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian educators Educationists from India Bengali educators Indian educational theorists 19th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian educational theorists Indian social workers Indian reformers Indian social reformers Educators from West Bengal Social workers from West Bengal People from Cooch Behar