Udai Pratap Nath Shahdeo (23 March 1866 - 21 September 1950), was the
Nagvanshi 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 Chotanagpur Zamindari estate. He donated large tracts of land to build infrastructure of
Ranchi
Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...
city. He built the Ratu Palace in Ranchi in 1901.
He was conferred the
Kaiser-i-Hind Medal
The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...
for public services. He reigned for 81 years, and 74 days, the longest-reigning Indian monarch and
third longest verifiable reign of any monarch in history.
Early life
Deo was born on 23 March 1866 in
Bharno. The king
Jagannath Shah Deo died in 1969. As mentioned in Mangobinda Banargee's book "Historical outline of Pre British Chotanagpur", he was nephew of Maharaja Jagannath Shah Deo. As Maharaja Jagannath Shah Deo had no sons, Udai Pratap Shah Deo succeeded to the throne after several court cases as other relatives of Maharaja were also claiming to be entitled to become king. Then the queen of king Jagannath Shah Deo, Luchun Kunwar shifted from Bharno to Ratu in 1879 and a palace was built in 1975.
Personal life
Deo married Rajkumari Mohan Kumari, daughter of Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh Deo, Raja of
Saraikela State
Saraikela State also spelt Seraikela, Saraikella or Seraikella ( Odia: ଷଢେ଼ଇକଳା), was an Odia princely state in India during the era of the British Raj, in the region that is now the Jharkhand state. Its capital was at Saraikela. ...
, in 1881. Rajkumari Mohan Kumari died in 1905. His second marriage was to Saudamani Devi, daughter of Raja Ram Kanhai Singh of Barabhum Estate. He had eight sons and two daughters.
Reign
King Udai Pratap Nath Shah Deo donated large tracts of the land in Ranchi to develop its infrastructure. He donated land for building
Ranchi University
Ranchi University is a public state university in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. It was established in 1960 by an Act of the Bihar legislature. Ranchi University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate, M.Phil. and doctorate programs.
History
...
,
G.E.L church,
Gossner College
The Gossner College is one of oldest institutions formed by the Gossner Evangelical and Lutheran Church. It is a minority college affiliated to Ranchi University.
History
Governed by Gossner Evangelical and Lutheran Church of Chotanagpur an ...
, Ranchi Club, Pepe compound and other institutions. He donated 320 acres of land to G.E.L. Church and 17 acres of land for the construction of Ranchi Club.
Ten thousand acres of land of
McCluskieganj was built on his land.
He built Ratu Palace in
Ratu
''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to re ...
. The construction of Palace started in 1899 and completed in 1901. The Palace has 103 rooms and spread over 22 acres. It was constructed by British company of Kolkata and designed after
Buckingham palace of
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...
, London.
Death
He died in 1950. He was succeeded by his great-grandson,
Lal Chintamani Sharan Nath Shahdeo.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah Deo, Udai Pratap Nath
Indian royalty
People from Ranchi district
Nagpuria people