Maharajah Sir Vikram Dev III KCIE or Vikram Dev was the king of Jeypore,

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writ ...

from 1889 – 1920. He is well known for his administration, altruism, education reforms, tribal welfare and various construction works that developed the kingdom of Jeypore.

Early life

Vikram Dev III was born to Maharajah Ramachandra Dev III and Maharani Lakshmi Devi Rajeshwari on 6th December 1874. He was the only son and therefore the heir apparent to the throne. His sister Rajkumari Subardna Devi was married to Raja Goura Chandra Gajapati of

Paralakhemundi Paralakhemundi shortly known as Parala is district Headquarter of Gajapati district and one of the oldest Municipality established in 1885, in the Indian state of Odisha. Majority of the people in the town speak Odia. The city and the Distri ...

. After the death of his father in 1889, the estate went under the management of the

Court of Wards The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wardship and liv ...

who also took keen interest in the education of the young crown prince. A British gentleman, J.S. Marsh was appointed as the tutor of Vikram Dev who tutored him in the subjects of English, Humanities and Law. Before his coronation, the prince travelled with Marsh to

Madras 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 ...

where he had the opportunity to formally meet and converse with puissant personalities like

Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the h ...

– the then

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 ...

and Lord Wenlock – the

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized be ...

. He was married to Princess Sita Devi, daughter of Raja Dharamjeet Singh Deo of

Udaipur State Kingdom of Mewar, sometimes known as Udaipur State, was ruled by the Sisodia dynasty. It was an independent kingdom in Rajputana region of India. It was established around the 7th century as minor rulers of the Nagada-Ahar region of Udaipur an ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

Reign

Vikram Dev ascended the throne on 27th November 1895 after the expiration of his minority. Essentially, he became the first king of the dynasty to build a good rapport with 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 himsel ...

unlike his ancestors who kept a rancorous approach due to the contentious history between the British and Jeypore. The young king aspired to develop his kingdom and improve the livelihood of his people which seemed possible only with the support of the British who governed India with the help of numerous

princely states A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

and Estates. He led the construction of a new palace called ‘Moti Mahal’ and new robust bridges upon the regional rivers Kolab and Indravati. This also proved to be an economic merit for the local population as it provided them employment. Apparently, the liberal king donated considerable amounts for the construction of

Victoria Memorial The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building on the Maidan in Central Kolkata, built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, Empress of India from 1876 to 1901. The largest monument to a monarch anywhere ...

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and to Victoria Caste and Ghosh hospital. He also donated to the

Indian famine of 1899–1900 The Indian famine of 1899–1900 began with the failure of the summer monsoons in 1899 over Western and Central India and, during the next year, affected an area of and a population of 59.5 million. The famine was acute in the Central Provinc ...

Relief Fund and to the Transval War Fund. His education proved vital in improving the status of his kingdom and he was formally awarded the title of "

Maharajah 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, an ...

" by the British, although it was used "informally" by his ancestors. He also received the distinction of a Knight Commander (KCIE) under the

Order of the Indian Empire 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 (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

along with the style of ‘

Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjecti ...

’ conferred upon him and his descendants. In 1901, he was invited to Madras by

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...

, the then Viceroy of India and Sir

Arthur Havelock Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, (7 May 1844 – 25 June 1908) was a career British colonial governor, serving as Governor of Sierra Leone from 1880, of KwaZulu-Natal Province, Natal, of Madras, of Ceylon from 1890 to 1895, and of Tasmania from ...

, Governor of Madras.

Expansion of territories

When Vikram Dev took up the mantle the territories of Jeypore Samasthanam measured at 12,000 square miles. However, the king further expanded the dominion of his kingdom by purchasing the zamindaris of

Pachipenta Pachipenta is a village in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Pachipenta mandal. History Pachipenta gained sudden significance in the later medieval history of Kalinga under its rulers - the Jeypore ...

and

Madugula Madugula is a village in Anakapalli district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It was also known as Vaddadi or Vaddadimadugula and was founded by the rulers of the Matsya dynasty. Later, it merged into the kingdom of Nandapur - Jeypore and ...

in the year 1910 and henceforth the limits of the kingdom was extended down to the Ghat near Itikavalsa. However, half of the Madugula zamindari was retained by the Estate Queen and was relinquished by her in 1928 after a court order ruled in the favour of Maharajah Ram Chandra Dev IV. Due to these administrative measures, the territories of Jeypore were expanded to 15,000 square miles.

Contribution in the First World War

Sir Vikram Dev provided essential financial aid to the British in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He donated an amount of one

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

Indian rupees The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use wher ...

to the

Fund and a thousand rupees every month till the end of the war. His only son Prince Ramchandra Dev IV was awarded the rank of a Lieutenant. He also contributed 25,000 for a fighter plane to be named after Jeypore. Apparently, keeping these aids in regard the British government named a street in London as ‘Jeypore Road’.

Death and legacy

Vikram Dev III died in 1920 at the age of 46 and was succeeded by his only son Maharajah Ram Chandra Dev IV. In 1926, the then governor of Madras, Viscount George Goschen along with the Lady Viscount inaugurated the statue of Maharajah Vikram Dev III in the premises of Surya Mahal palace.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vikram Dev III Indian maharajas Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire 1874 births 1920 deaths