Takhtsinhji
Encyclopedia
Maharaja Raol Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji (6 January 1858 - 29 January 1896), was Maharaja
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

 of Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar
-Topography:Bhavnagar is a coastal city in the eastern coast of Saurashtra, also known as Kathiawar, located at . It has an average elevation of 24 metres . It occupies area of 53.30 km². General slope dips in the northeasterly direction at the apex of Gulf of Khambhat...

, a Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 chief of the Gohel
Gohil
Gohils are Suryavanshi Rajputs who have descended from the Guhilots of Mewar. As per the Sikarwar Khyat, Prince Shiladitya was born on Jesth Sudhi Chaturdashi of V.S 543 . He was the son of Emperor Aditya Sen and Queen Subhaga Devi. Though born at Chitor he was educated at Vallabhi...

 clan, and the ruler of a state in Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...

. He succeeded to the throne of Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar
-Topography:Bhavnagar is a coastal city in the eastern coast of Saurashtra, also known as Kathiawar, located at . It has an average elevation of 24 metres . It occupies area of 53.30 km². General slope dips in the northeasterly direction at the apex of Gulf of Khambhat...

 on the death of his father, Jaswantsinhji, in 1870.

He attended the Delhi Durbar in 1877 and was granted a personal gun salute of 15-guns. During his minority, which ended on 5 April 1878, he was educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot
Rajkumar College, Rajkot
The Rajkumar College in Rajkot is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 26 acre campus located in the heart of Rajkot city.-History:...

  and afterwards under an English officer, while the administration of the state was conducted jointly by Mr. E. H. Percival, a member of the Indian Civil Service, and Gaurishankar Udayshankar
Gaurishankar Udayshankar
Gaurishankar Udayshankar, Gaurishankar, or Gaga Oza was chief minister of Bhavnagar state in Kathiawar, India from 1850 to 1879...

, C.S.I., one of the foremost native statesmen of India, who had served the state in various capacities since 1822.

At the age of twenty Takhtsinhji found himself the ruler of a territory nearly 3000 square miles (7,770 km²) in extent. His first public act was to sanction a railway connecting his territory with one of the main trunk lines, which was the first enterprise of its kind on the part of a raja in western, if not in all, India. The commerce and trade, and the economic and even social development of the state, which came in the wake of this railway, confirmed Takhtsinhji in a policy of progressive administration, under which educational establishments, hospitals and dispensaries, trunk roads, bridges, handsome edifices and other public works grew apace.

Takhtsinhji was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind
Kaiser-i-Hind
The Kaisar-i-Hind was a medal awarded by the British monarch between 1900 and 1947, to civilians of any nationality who rendered distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj....

 gold medal in 1877, and knighted as a KCSI
KCSI
KCSI may refer to:* Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India* KCSI-TV, a local cable television station in Jamestown, North Dakota, United States* KCSI , a radio station licensed to Red Oak, Iowa, United States...

 in 1881. In 1886 he inaugurated a system of constitutional rule, by placing several departments in the hands of four members of a council of state under his own presidency. This innovation, which had the warm support of the governor of Bombay, Lord Reay
Lord Reay
Lord Reay, of Reay in the County of Caithness, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Lord Reay is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Mackay, whose lands in Strathnaver and northwest Sutherland were known as the Reay Country. The land was sold to the Earls of Sutherland in the 18th century...

, provoked a virulent attack upon the chief, who brought his defamers to trial in the High Court of Bombay. The punishment of the ringleaders broke up a system of blackmailing to which rajas used to be regularly exposed, and the public spirit of Takhtsinhji in freeing his brother chiefs from this evil was widely acknowledged throughout India, as well as by the British authorities. In 1886 he was promoted to GCSI; and five years later his hereditary title of Thakur
Thakur (Indian title)
Thakur is an Indian feudal title in several Indian languages, literally meaning "lord". A Thikana is the state or estate of a Thakur. A Thakurani is the wife of a Thakur...

was raised to that of Maharaja
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

. In 1893 he took the occasion of the opening of the Imperial Institute
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

 by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

 to visit England in order to pay personal homage to the sovereign of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, on which occasion the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 conferred on him the degree of LL.D.

As the first pupil of Rajkumar College
Rajkumar College
Rajkumar College may refer to :-Rajkumar College, RajkotRajkumar College, Raipur...

, Takhtsinhji became its greatest patron and benefactor following his accession to the throne of Bhavnagar. He was also a great benefactor to Gujarat College, Fergusson College
Fergusson College
Fergusson College is a degree college in western India, situated in the city of Pune. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society and at that time was the first privately governed college in India. It is named after Sir James Fergusson, the Governor of Bombay, who donated a then...

 and the Wadhwan Girassia School, as well as several girls' and women's schools. Undertaking an intensive development and modernisation of Bhavnagar during his reign, he reformed the revenue department, erected water-works and modern docks, extended medical relief and built a port, bridges, hospitals and schools. Celebrated as a "model ruler of a model state", during his own lifetime, the Maharaja died at the Moti Bagh Palace on 29 January 1896 at the age of 38. He was succeeded as Maharaja of Bhavnagar by his eldest son, Bhavsinhji II.

Titles

  • 1858-1870: Maharajkumar Shri Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib Gohil
    Gohil
    Gohils are Suryavanshi Rajputs who have descended from the Guhilots of Mewar. As per the Sikarwar Khyat, Prince Shiladitya was born on Jesth Sudhi Chaturdashi of V.S 543 . He was the son of Emperor Aditya Sen and Queen Subhaga Devi. Though born at Chitor he was educated at Vallabhi...

    , Yuvraj
    Yuvraj
    Yuvraj, Yuvaraja, or Yuvaraj is an Indian title for "Crown Prince", i.e., heir apparent to the throne of an Indian Princely State or former Hindu kingdom ruling the India before Indian independence...

     Sahib
    Sahib
    Sahib is an Urdu term which literally translates to "Owner" or "Proprietor". The primary Arabic meaning of Sahib is "associate, companion, comrade, friend" though it also includes "Sahib is an Urdu term which literally translates to "Owner" or "Proprietor". The primary Arabic meaning of Sahib...

     of Bhavnagar
    Bhavnagar
    -Topography:Bhavnagar is a coastal city in the eastern coast of Saurashtra, also known as Kathiawar, located at . It has an average elevation of 24 metres . It occupies area of 53.30 km². General slope dips in the northeasterly direction at the apex of Gulf of Khambhat...

  • 1870-1877: His Highness Maharaj Raol Shri Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar
  • 1877-1881: His Highness Maharaj Raol Shri Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar, KIH
  • 1881-1886: His Highness Maharaj Raol Shri Sir
    Sir
    Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...

     Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar, KCSI
    KCSI
    KCSI may refer to:* Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India* KCSI-TV, a local cable television station in Jamestown, North Dakota, United States* KCSI , a radio station licensed to Red Oak, Iowa, United States...

    , KIH
  • 1886-1891: His Highness Maharaj Raol Shri Sir Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaj Raol Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar, GCSI, KIH
  • 1891-1896: His Highness Maharaja
    Maharaja
    Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

     Raol Shri Sir Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji Sahib, Maharaja Thakore Sahib of Bhavnagar, GCSI, KIH


Honours

  • Prince of Wales gold medal-1875
  • Kaiser-i-Hind
    Kaiser-i-Hind
    The Kaisar-i-Hind was a medal awarded by the British monarch between 1900 and 1947, to civilians of any nationality who rendered distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj....

     gold medal-1877
  • Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI)-1886 (KCSI-1881)
  • Personal title of Maharaja
    Maharaja
    Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

    -1891
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