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Maharaja Raol Sir Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji KIH (6 January 185829 January 1896), was
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
Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...
, a
Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...
chief of the Gohil clan, and ruler of Bhavnagar state in
Kathiawar Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...
. He succeeded to the throne of
Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...
upon the death of his father, Jaswantsinhji, in 1870.


Life

Takhtsinhji attended the Delhi Durbar in 1877. During his minority studies, which ended on 5 April 1878, he was educated at the
Rajkumar College, Rajkot The Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Rajkot, Gujarat is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 28.656-acre (1,15,965 m²) campus in Rajkot. The foundation stone of Rajkumar College was laid in 1868. The institution was designed by ...
being the first student. Afterward, he studied under an English officer, while the administration of the state was conducted jointly by Mr. E. H. Percival, a member of the
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...
, and Gaurishankar Udayshankar, C.S.I., one of the foremost native statesmen of India, who had served the state in various capacities since 1822. At the age of twenty, Takhtsinhji found himself the ruler of a territory nearly in size. His first public act was to sanction a railway connecting his territory with one of the main trunk lines, which was the first enterprise of its kind on the part of a raja in western (if not all) India. The amount of commerce, trade, economic and social development of the state that came in the wake of this railway confirmed Takhtsinhji as supporting a policy of progressive administration. Further educational establishments, hospitals, dispensaries, trunk roads, bridges, handsome edifices, and other public works projects followed. Takhtsinhji was awarded the Empress of India Gold Medal in 1877, and knighted as a KCSI in 1881. In 1886, he inaugurated a system of constitutional rule, by placing several departments in the hands of four members of a council of state under his own presidency. This innovation—which had the support of the governor of
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 ...
,
Lord Reay Lord Reay, of Reay in the County of Caithness, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Lord Reay (pronounced "ray") is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Mackay, whose lands in Strathnaver and northwest Sutherland were known as the Reay Country. ...
—provoked a virulent attack upon the chief, who brought his defamers to trial at the
High Court of Bombay The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (also known as Bombay), and is one of the oldest h ...
. The punishment of the ringleaders broke up a blackmailing system to which rajas were regularly exposed. The public spirit toward Takhtsinhji in freeing his brother chiefs from blackmail was widely acknowledged throughout India, as well as by the British authorities. In 1886, he was promoted to
GCSI The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India, GCSI) # K ...
, and five years later his hereditary title of '' Thakur'' was raised to that of ''
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 ...
''. In 1893 he took advantage of the opening of the
Imperial Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust was a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pr ...
to visit England in order to pay personal homage to
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
, then sovereign of the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. During that occasion, the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
awarded him the degree of LL.D. As the first pupil of
Rajkumar College, Rajkot The Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Rajkot, Gujarat is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 28.656-acre (1,15,965 m²) campus in Rajkot. The foundation stone of Rajkumar College was laid in 1868. The institution was designed by ...
, Takhtsinhji became its greatest patron and benefactor following his accession to the throne of Bhavnagar. He was also a great benefactor to
Gujarat College Gujarat Arts & Science College, popularly and previously known as Gujarat College, is one of the oldest educational institutions of India and the second arts and science college of Gujarat, near Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad. It was founded in 1845 a ...
,
Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by Vaman Shriram Apte, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnushashtri Chiplunkar, Mah ...
, and the Wadhwan Girassia School, as well as several girls' and women's schools. He founded Samaldas Arts College in 1885, which he named after the later Diwan of State, Samaldas Mehta. During his reign, he undertook intensive developments, reformed the revenue department, erected water works and modern docks, extended medical relief, built a port, bridges, hospitals, and schools and worked to and modernize Bhavnagar. He died at the Moti Bagh Palace on 29 January 1896 at the age of 38. He was succeeded as Maharaja of Bhavnagar by his eldest son,
Bhavsinhji II Maharaja Raol Sir Shri Colonel Bhavsinhji II Takhtsinhji, Order of the Star of India, KCSI (26 April 1875 – 16 July 1919) was a Maharaja from the Gohil dynasty, who ruled the Bhavnagar State in western India from 1896 until 1919.The Roya ...
.


Titles

Over his life, Takhtsinhji was known by the following titles: *1858–1870: ''
Maharajkumar Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...
'' ''
Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...
'' Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib Gohil,
Yuvraj Yuvraj or Yuvaraj or Yuvaraja may refer to: People * Yuvraj Singh (born 1981), Indian cricketer * Yuvraj Singh (cricketer, born 1998), Indian cricketer * Yuvraj Singh (politician) (2019–2022), Indian politician * Yuvaraj Adhikari (1920&ndash ...
Sahib Sahib or Saheb () is a term of address originating from Arabic (). As a loanword, ''Sahib'' has passed into several languages, including Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkmen, Tajik, Crimean Tatar, Urdu, Hi ...
of
Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...
*1870–1877: ''
His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly ...
''
Maharaj Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...
Raol
Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...
Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar *1877–1881: ''His Highness'' Maharaj Raol Shri Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar, KIH *1881–1886: ''His Highness'' Maharaj Raol Shri
Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...
Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar, KCSI, KIH *1886–1891: ''His Highness'' Maharaj Raol Shri Sir Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar,
GCSI The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India, GCSI) # K ...
, KIH


Honors

During his lifetime, Takhtsinhji received the following honors: *Prince of Wales gold medal: 1875 * Empress of India Gold Medal: 1877 *
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...
(GCSI): 1886 (KCSI: 1881) *Personal title of ''
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 ...
'': 1891


References

*{{EB1911 , wstitle=Takhtsingji , volume=26 , page=365 , first=Mancherjee Merwanjee , last=Bhownagree , authorlink=Mancherjee Bhownagree 1858 births 1896 deaths Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Maharajas of Bhavnagar People from British India Rajput monarchs Bhavnagar district Founders of Indian schools and colleges Indian knights 19th-century Indian philanthropists