Her Highness Maharani Sucharu Devi (or Suchara Devi) (9 October 1874 – 14 December 1959) was the Maharani of Mayurbhanj State, India.

Early life

She was born in a

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus () are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valley ...

family. She was daughter of the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...

reformer Maharshi

Keshub Chandra Sen Keshub Chandra Sen (; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was an Indian philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought. Born a Hindu i ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. She married the

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

of Mayurbhanj State, Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo (1871–1912) in 1904, as his second wife, after the death of his first wife. From her marriage with the Maharaja, she had one son and two daughters. Their only son, Kumar Dhrubendra Bhanj Deo (1908–1945), was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot, who died in action during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She spent a major portion of her life in Mayurbhanj Palace, the royal residence of rulers of Mayurbhanj State. Her husband built a mountain retreat in

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

, where she spent her summer time and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

visited there as guest few times. The house is popular as Mayurbhanj palace which is a part of the

North Eastern Hill University North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) is a Central University established on 19 July 1973 by an Act of the Indian Parliament. The university is in the suburb of Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya, India. The university has two campuses ...

(NEHU) campus now. She and her sister, the Maharani of

Koch Bihar Cooch Behar, also known as Koch Bihar, was a princely state in India during the British Raj. The state was placed under the Bengal States Agency, part of the Eastern States Agency of the Bengal Presidency. It was located south of the ...

Suniti Devi Her Highness Maharani Suniti Devi Narayan (née Sen), (30 September 1864 – 10 November 1932), was an educator, social worker, author, and the queen of the princely state of Cooch Behar, British India. Early life Suniti Devi was a daughter ...

, were noted for their elegant style of dressing.

Work

She and her sister Suniti Devi founded the Maharani Girls' High School at

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

in 1908. Maharani Sucharu Devi was elected president of the Bengal Women's Education League in 1931. After the sudden death of his sister, Suniti Devi, in 1932, she was elected president of

All Bengal Women's Union The All Bengal Women's Union was started in the 1932, when a group of women in West Bengal formed a cadre of like-minded women to help their helpless, exploited and victimized fellow women. The genesis of the group lay in the fact that trafficki ...

. In

she was known as a women's rights activist like her contemporaries Charulata Mukherjee, Saroj Nalini Dutt, T. R. Nelly, and her elder sister

the Maharani of Cooch Behar. She died in 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Sucharu Indian female royalty 1874 births 1961 deaths Bengali Hindus Bengali activists 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis Queen mothers History of Odisha People from Kolkata Indian women's rights activists Indian activists Indian women activists Indian feminists Brahmos Founders of Indian schools and colleges Indian women philanthropists Indian philanthropists 20th-century Indian women educational theorists 19th-century Indian educational theorists 19th-century Indian women educational theorists 20th-century Indian educational theorists Educators from West Bengal Burials at Brahmo Cemetery, Nabodebalaya 19th-century Indian royalty 20th-century Indian royalty Indian social workers Social workers from West Bengal Women educators from West Bengal 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian women educators Indian educators Indian reformers Indian social reformers