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Auction: 18038 - Autographs, Historical Documents, Ephemera and Postal History
Lot: 3118

(x) Autographs
India
Rao of Kutch
1875 (April) secretarial letter on elaborately designed paper informing the Maharaja Pragmalji II (who died later in the year) of the proclamation of the deposition and exile of the Maharaja of Baroda State, Malhar Rao, and the reasons for the government taking this extraordinary action.

Also 1883 (28 December) letter on paper of The Governor of Bombay, apparently to the Rao of Cutch expressing disquiet after granting consent for the marriage to the daughter of the Chief of Sayla to learn that the prince also wanted a second marriage to the daughter of Rana Jalum Sing, discouraging the old ways of polygamy. An unusual and interesting pair of letters. Photo

Following the death of Sir Khanderao Gaekwad (1828–1870), the popular Maharaja of Baroda, in 1870, it was expected that his brother, Malharrao (1831–1882), would succeed him. However, Malharrao had already proven himself to be of the vilest character and had been imprisoned earlier for conspiring to assassinate Khanderao. As Khanderao's widow, Maharani Jamnabai (1853–1898) was already pregnant with a posthumous child, the succession was delayed until the gender of the child could be proven. The child proved to be a daughter, and so upon her birth on 5 July 1871, Malharrao ascended the throne.


Malharrao spent money liberally, nearly emptying the Baroda coffers (he commissioned a pair of solid gold cannon and a carpet of pearls, among other expenses) and soon reports reached the Resident of Malharrao's gross tyranny and cruelty. Malharrao further attempted to cover up his deeds by poisoning the Resident, Colonel R. Phayre C.B. with a compound of arsenic. By order of the Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury, Malharrao was deposed on 10 April 1875 and exiled to Madras, where he died in obscurity in 1882

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