The First War of Independence which is held In 1857 is one
of those wars which can never be forgotten.
We always feel proud on our freedom fighters like Tantya Tope,Peshwa
Nana Sahib, Mangal Pandey,Bahadur Shah Zafar II,Maulvi Liyakat Ali not only men
but also womens like Begum Hazrat Mahal and Rani Laxmi Bai fought for their rights
and freedom of nation. On other hand when we talk about the rulers of Princely
States which are not with rebels in 1857 revolt the very first name comes in
peoples mind is Maharaja Jayaji Rao Scinida of Gwalior. As people say that
Maharaja of Gwalior helped Britishers and fought against Rani Laxmi Bai. Some
people also says that when Rani asked Jayajirao
to help her he gived Rani a weak horse . A most silly thing people say that Maharaja
Jayaji Rao betrayed Rani Laxmi Bai for a Diamond Ring. Seriously ?? just for a Diamond Ring ?
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| H.H. Maharaja Sir Jayaji Rao Scindia Bahadur |
At the age of just 25 years, at the time of Maharaja Jankoji
Rao Scindia death in 1843 his widow Tarabai was only 13 year old. After seeing
Maharaja dead, one of his Maratha Sardar took a quick decision. He reached the
ground where the children of Maratha chieftains were playing marbles. Sardar saw
that the target of a 8 years old boy was excellent. He immediately took that child
on a horse with him and reached the palace. He was the son of the Maratha
chieftain Hanumanth Rao Maharaja Janakoji Rao adopted him to save the princely
state and after the death of Maharaja he was declared as a new Maharaja of
Gwalior Jayajirao Scindia. Here I want
to mention a very important point that in 1843 Two Battles were fought between Marathas
and Britishers which is named as Gwalior Campaign. Marathas fought British in Maharajpore
and Punniar (known as Maharajpura and Panihar nowdays) for regain independence
in these regions but got defeted by british. In result of this battle a british
governer was appointed at Gwalior fort.
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| Gwalior Star Medal Awarded to British Soliders who fought in Gwalior Campaign |
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| Gwalior Star Medal Awarded to British Soliders who fought in Gwalior Campaign |
Well British government did not recognized Jayajirao as new Maharaja
and appointed one of their loyal Dinkar Rao Rajwade as administrator then freedom
struggle of 1857 started Scindia supporters still believe that Jayajirao had
not been proclaimed Maharaja till that time and had no executive powers.
Therefore, whatever decisions were made at that time were taken by Dinkar Rao
Rajwade appointed by the British.
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| Sir Raja Dinkar Rao Rajwade |
Not only this, because of the integrity of
Dinkar Rao, Jayajirao had to make a treaty with the British in the name of his recognition
of the Maharaja, in which the Scindia army was conditioned to support the
British in the event of war. When Rani Laxmi Bai's army came to Gwalior,
Scindia's personal army sympathized with her and a large part of it went with
the freedom fighters. Therefore, Gwalior was captured by Rani Laxmi bai. Not
only this, the treasurer of Scindias Amarchand Banthiya also provided the needed
funds from the royal treasury to these fighters.Dinkarrao Rajwade then declared
Jayajirao as Commandor of British Army on the basis of treaty.
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| Shaheed Amarchand Banthiya |
Even after this, the British did not declare Jayajirao as
Maharaj for a long time and the administration continued to run the Rajwade as
it was. Eventually the East India Company, after recovering Rs 15 lakh, handed
over the rights of the Maharaja to them in 1885,along with 21 cannon salutes
and the title of George. It is a different matter that Maharaja Jayaji Rao died
in 1886, a year after that!
Here I want to mention that according to Wikipedia Jayajirao Scindia
has declared as Maharaja in 1843.
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| HH The Maharaja Sir Jayaji Rao Scindia of Gwalior, General Sir Henry Daly (Founder of The Daly College, Indore), with British officers and Maratha nobility in Indore, Holkar State, Cental India. 1879 |
A king without authority can be considered as Constrained or
as a traitor. It is on you.
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| Her Highness Maharani Vijyaraje Scindia with her husband H.H. Maharaja Sir George Jiwaji Rao Scindia |
And Before you reach on any conclusion I would like to tell you that
this discussion is not over yet. Rajmata Vijyaraje Scindia the wife of H.H. Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia of Gwalior has also written about this in her autobiography.
We will Discuss on it next time
Please feel free to use comment box if you have any querries.
Kshitij Agrawal
Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.
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