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Gaekwad
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The Gaekwad or Gaikwad (once rendered as Guicowar, also given (incorrectly) as Gaekwar) (; ) was a Maratha dynasty that ruled the princely state of Baroda in western India from the mid-eighteenth century until 1947. The ruling prince was known as the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda, or more commonly as the Gaekwad.
The family name is a combination of the words gai (cow) and kavad (door). The traditional story relates that during the reign of Moguls.
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Encyclopedia
The Gaekwad or Gaikwad (once rendered as Guicowar, also given (incorrectly) as Gaekwar) (; ) was a Maratha dynasty that ruled the princely state of Baroda in western India from the mid-eighteenth century until 1947. The ruling prince was known as the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda, or more commonly as the Gaekwad.
The family name is a combination of the words gai (cow) and kavad (door). The traditional story relates that during the reign of Moguls. A Gaekwad ancestor, while in his fort, witnessed a Muslim butcher driving a cattle herd for the purpose of slaughter. Being a devout Hindu, he opened a small side door (kavad) to the stronghold for the cattle. Thereby, allowing the cows to escape their impending doom. Future generations took a great deal of pride in their roots that strongly displayed their predecessor’s religious fervor.
Early history
The Gaikwad's rule of Baroda began when the Maratha general Pilaji Rao Gaikwad conquered the city from the Mughal Empire in 1721. The Gaikwad's were granted the city as a fief by the Peshwa, the de facto leader of the Maratha empire. After the Maratha confederacy was defeated by the Afghans at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, the Gaikwad's, along with several powerful Maratha clans, established themselves as virtually independent rulers of the further regions of the empire, while recognizing the nominal authority of the Peshwas and suzerainty of the Bhonsle Maharaja of Satara.
British suzerainty
The Gaekwads, together with the other Maratha chieftains, fought the British in the First Anglo-Maratha War. In 1802, the British intervened to defend a Gaekwad Maharaja who had recently inherited the throne against rival claimants, and the Gaekwads concluded a treaty with the British that recognized their independence from the Maratha empire and guaranteed the Maharajas of Baroda local autonomy in return for recognizing British suzerainty.
Due to its fertile black soil, lush forest and vast treasury (the rewards of numerous military campaigns) Baroda was the wealthiest of the Maratha states. Cotton was a mainstay of Baroda’s economy, which helped fill its coffers with copious amounts of currency. Because of their British allies, the Gaekwars were able to retain power of` this state. In return the British received a share in the state revenue and required representation, a British resident, be at the Maharajah’s court.
Maharaja Sayyaji Rao III, who took the throne in 1875, did much to modernize Baroda, establishing compulsory primary education, a library system and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He also encouraged the setting up of textile factories, which helped create Baroda's textile industry. He is well known for offering a scholarship to study at Columbia University to one of the most prominent Indian Bharat Ratna Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
Upon India attaining its independence in 1947, the last ruling Maharaja of Baroda acceded to India. Baroda was eventually merged with Bombay State, which was later divided, based on linguistic principle, into the states of Gujarat and Maharastra in 1960.
Gaekwad, or Gayakwad, also survives as a fairly common Maratha surname, found mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Baroda Treasury
Indian tradition had several of the rulers of the dynasty on a frenzy of jewelry purchases. Khande Rao purchased the large Brazilian diamond named the Star of the South. The prince was so enthused, that he staged a massive celebration to welcome his new acquisition that included a parade of his elephants weighed in their finest gilded arrays. Khande Rao was fascinated by Islam; so much so, he had four large carpets made of precious and semi-precious gems to serve as a canopy for the prophet’s tomb in Medina. They were referred to as pearl carpets, but they included diamonds, rubies, emeralds and turquoise that were sewn onto silk. Four gold posts were to be manufactured to serve as support for the canopy. But the posts were unfinished when the maharajah died. His successors didn’t share his enthusiasm for the project and the carpets remained in the treasury. They possessed the legendary Akbar Shah - a 70 carat diamond, rumored to be one of the eyes from the Moguls’ solid-gold Peacock Throne.
One of those successors, Maharaja Sayyaji Rao III, took his guest, the Reverend Weeden, on a tour of the stately treasury underneath the Nazar Bagh Palace in 1909. The reverend was impressed by the sheer size and vast amounts of all the silver, gold and jewels. He reported seeing bejeweled vessels and ornamentation crammed into every nook of the guarded vault.
Gaekwad Maharajas of Baroda
- Pilaji Rao Gaekwad (1721-1732)
- Damaji Rao Gaekwad (1732-1768)
- Govind Rao Gaekwad (1768-1771)
- Sayaji Rao Gaekwad I (1771-1789)
- Manaji Rao Gaekwad (1789-1793)
- Govind Rao Gaekwad (restored) (1793-1800)
- Anand Rao Gaekwad (1800-1818)
- Sayaji Rao II Gaekwad (1818-1847)
- Ganpat Rao Gaekwad (1847-1856)
- Khande Rao Gaekwad (1856-1870)
- Malhar Rao Gaekwad (1870-1875)
- Maharaja Sayyaji Rao III (1875-1939)
- Pratap Singh Gaekwar (1939-1951)
- Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad (1951 - 1988)
- Rajitsinh Pratapsinh Gaekwad (1988 - )
Reference
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