Maharajadhiraj
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...
Sir Kameshwar Singh Goutam Bahadur ,
K.C.I.E. (28 November 1907 – 1 October 1962) was the Maharaja of
Darbhanga. He held his title over his family estates in the
Mithila Mithila may refer to:
Places
* Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state
** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha
* Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepal
...
region from 1929 – 1952, when such titles were abolished following the
Independence of India. He had a sister Lakshmi Daiji.
Patronage of sports
He was patron of the
All India Football Federation which was founded at
Darbhanga in 1935.
He had started the
Darbhanga Cup tournament at Calcutta (
Kolkata
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, comme ...
) in which teams from Lohare, Peshawar, Madras (
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
), Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai (
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
), Afghanistan and England participated. He built 4 stadiums.
Biography
He was the son of
Maharaja Sir Rameshwar Singh Goutam, the King of Darbhanga Raj. He was born on 28 November 1907 at
Darbhanga in a
Maithil Brahmin
Maithil Brahmins are a Hindu Brahmin community from the Mithila region of the Indian subcontinent that comprises Tirhut, Darbhanga, Kosi, Purnia, Munger, Bhagalpur; Bokaro in Jharkhand and Santhal Pargana divisions of India and some adjoinin ...
family. He succeeded, to the throne of his estate of Darbhanga Raj, upon death of his father on 3 July 1929.
He was a member of the team that visited London for the
First round Table and the
Second Round Table Conference held in 1930–31.
He was a member of the
Council of State
A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
for years 1933–1946, member of the
Constituent Assembly of India
The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...
for years 1947–1952.
[Courage and benevolence: correspondence and speeches of India's prime-estate holder Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh (1907–1962) Kameshwar Singh (Maharaja of Darbhanga), Hetukar Jha, Mahārājādhirāja Kāmeśvara Siṃha Kalyāṇī Phāuṇḍeśana by Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation, 2007 – Darbhanga (India : Division)] He was elevated from
C.I.E.
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:
#Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, ...
and made a
on 1 January 1933.
After, the
1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
, he started construction of a fort called
Raj Quila, to commemorate the memory, when the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
announced to confer the title of "Native Prince" to Maharaja Kameshwar Singh. The contract was given to a Calcutta-based firm and work was on in full swing in 1939–40. Three sides of the fort were constructed with all the protective measures till work was stayed because of litigation and a stay order from the high court. With the abolition of native royalties by the Indian government post-Independence, work on the fort was eventually abandoned.
After independence of India, he was elected as Member of Parliament (
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
) 1952–1958 as a
Jharkhand Party
The Jharkhand Party (JP) (Hindi:झापा ) is an oldest Political Party in India formed in the year of 5 March 1949 by Jaipal Singh Munda.Which grew out of the demand for a separate Jharkhand state.
Jharkhand Party participated in Electio ...
candidate and got re-elected again in 1960 and was a member of
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
till his death in 1962.
He also was the President the Maithil Mahasabha from 1929–1962.
and also President of the Sri Bharat Dharma Mahamandal.
[
He was lifetime president of Bihar Landholders' Association and also served as the President of the All-India Landholders' Association and Bengal Landholders' Association. Further, he was elected as the president of the Bihar United Party of pre-independence era.][Who's who in Western India 1934– Page 43][The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who by Sir Stanley Reed – 1934] and guided its policy during the critical years of Agrarian disquiet in Bihar.
Philanthropist
He was the first person in India to get a bust of Mahatma Gandhi made, by celebrated artist Clare Sheridan
Clare Consuelo Sheridan (née Frewen; 9 September 1885 – 31 May 1970), was an English sculptor, journalist and writer known primarily for creating busts for famous sitters and writing diaries recounting her worldly travels. She was a cousin ...
, cousin of Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
. The bust was presented to the Viceroy of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
, Lord Linlithgow, to be displayed in Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhawan). This was acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi in a letter to Lord Linlithgow in 1940.[Courage and Benevolence: Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh; published by Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation]
He served a pro-vice-chancellor of Benaras Hindu University, to which his father Sir Rameshwar Singh was a major benefactor. He chaired the special meeting in 1939, when Madan Mohan Malviyaji voluntarily stepped down as Chancellor of BHU and Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...
was unanimously elected to the post.[
In 1930, Sir Kameshwar Singh, donated Rupees One Lakh and twenty-thousand to ]University of Patna
Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern e ...
for encouragement of vernacular language.
After, independence of India, in 1951, when the Mithila Snatkottar Shodh Sansthan (the Mithila Post-Graduate Research Institute), located at Kabraghat, was established on the initiative of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of India at that time, Maharaja Kameshwar Singh donated a building along with 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land and a garden of mango and litchi trees located beside the Bagmati river in Darbhanga to this institution.
He in a major act of philanthropy, gifted in a ceremony on 30 March 1960, his Anand Bagh Palace to start a Sanskrit University, now named after him as Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University
Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (KSDSU) is a state university located at Darbhanga, Bihar, India, dedicated to the teaching and promotion of Sanskrit.
History
KSDSU was established in 1961, with the scholar Umesh Mishra as its ...
Industrialist
Maharaja Kameshwar Singh inherited investments in businesses and industries begun by his father, who was also the co-founder of Bengal National Bank in 1908.
Kameshwar Singh, who inherited some of his father's legacy, further expanded his stake in varied industries. He controlled 14 businesses producing sugar, jute, cotton, coal, railway, iron and steel, aviation, print media, electricity and other products.
Some of the major companies controlled by him were : Darbhanga Aviations (an airlines company owned by him); The Indian Nation
''The Indian Nation'' was an independent nationalist daily newspaper published by Newspaper & Publications Pvt. Ltd. from Patna, capital of Bihar state, India. The newspaper started publication in 1931. The publication was briefly suspended in 1 ...
and ''Aryavatra'' – newspaper, Thacker Spink & Co; a publishing company; Ashok Paper Mills, Sakri Sugar Factory and Pandaul Sugar Factory, Rameshwar Jute Mills, Darbhanga Dairy Farms, Darbhanga Marketing Co, Darbhanga Lahoriasrai Electric Supply Corporation, Walford, an automobile showroom at Calcutta. Further, he held controlling or major stakes, among others, in British India Corporation, which owned several mills in Kanpur & other parts, Octavius Steel (a large conglomerate having varied interests in Steel, Jute and Tea); Villiers & Co (colliery), through his company, Darbhanga Investments.
Memorials
* Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Hospital, Darbhanga
* Maharaja Sir Kameshwar Singh Library, Darbhanga
* Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University
Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (KSDSU) is a state university located at Darbhanga, Bihar, India, dedicated to the teaching and promotion of Sanskrit.
History
KSDSU was established in 1961, with the scholar Umesh Mishra as its ...
, Darbhanga
* Maharaniadhirani Kam Sundari, widow and third wife of the Sir Kameshwar Singh, established the Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation by a deed of trust in 1989 in his memory for charitable purposes.
References
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Further reading
*A great estate and its landlords in colonial India: Darbhanga, 1860–1942 by Stephen Henningham; Oxford University Press, 1990
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Kameshwar
1907 births
1962 deaths
History of Bihar
Mithila
Maharajas of Darbhanga
Members of the Council of India
Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire
Indian knights
Members of the Constituent Assembly of India
Rajya Sabha members from Bihar
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian industrialists
Indian aviation businesspeople
Businesspeople in textiles
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Businesspeople in steel
Indian newspaper founders
Indian book publishers (people)
Indian businesspeople in coal
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