Udai Pratap Nath Shahdeo (23 March 1866 - 21 September 1950), was the

Nagvanshi Nagavanshi (IAST: Nāgavaṃśī) refers to several Indian Kshatriya dynasties or ruling groups claiming descent from the mythical Nāgas. Along with Suryavanshi, Agnivanshi and Chandravanshi, the Nagavanshi clans form a part of the Kshatriya cl ...

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 Chotanagpur Zamindari estate. He donated large tracts of land to build infrastructure of

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population 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 ...

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, the longest-reigning Princely State ruler and third longest verifiable reign of any monarch in history.

Early life

Deo was born on 23 March 1866 in

Bharno Bharno (also spelled as Bherno) is a village in the Bharno CD block in the Gumla subdivision of the Gumla district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Bharno is located at Area overview The m ...

. The king Jagannath Shah Deo died in 1869. As mentioned in Mangobinda Banargee's book "Historical Outline of Pre-British Chotanagpur", he was the 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 claimed 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, was a small princely state in India during the British Raj, in the region that is now the Jharkhand state. Its capital was at Saraikela. The state had an area of 1163 km2 whic ...

, 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 nine 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, 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 McCluskieganj is a small hilly town in Jharkhand State, India, about northwest of the capital, Ranchi. The town used to have a significant Anglo-Indian community. It is now a tourist place for its British era old mansions, hills and streams. H ...

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 r ...

. 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 Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London.

Death

He died in 1950. He was succeeded by his great-grandson,

Lal Chintamani Sharan Nath Shahdeo Sri Lal Chintamani Sharan Nath Shahdeo (14 December 1931 – 10 July 2014), was the last ruling Nagvanshi Maharaja of Chotanagpur Zamindari estate and a politician. Early life Lal Chintamani Sharan Nath Shahdeo was born in the royal family of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah Deo, Udai Pratap Nath Indian royalty People from Ranchi district Nagpuria people