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| Maharana Gambhirsinhji with his eldest son Yuvraj Chhatrasinhji, two younger sons and courtiers in 1875. |
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| Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji. |
A first-class
princely state, the largest in the Rewa Kantha Agency, Rajpipla was founded
around 1340 by Kumar Shri Samarsinhji Mokhdaji, younger son of Thakur Mokhdaji
Ranoji 1309/1347 of Ghogha (later Bhavnagar) by the daughter of Rao Chokrana, a
Parmar Rajput prince of Ujjain in Malwa. Chokrana died without a male heir,
having adopted Samarsinhji. Thereby Samarsinhji succeded to the gadi of his
maternal grandfather Chokrana Parmar at Junaraj (Old Rajpipla) Fort deep in the
forests of the Satpura hills, and assumed the name Arjunsinhji. As a result,
the rule of the principality of Rajpipla passed on to the Gohil Rajput clan,
but they began worshipping the Kul Devi (family deity) of the Parmar clan, Shri
Harsiddhi Mataji, the original temple being in Ujjain. It is said that Maharana
Verisalji I of Rajpipla built the present temple of Harsiddhi Mataji at Nandod
or new Rajpipla town, in the 18th century.
Rajpipla State
was situated largely between two important rivers of western India, the Narmada
and the Tapti, with the Satpura range in the south. Spanning an area of over
1500 square miles (about 4,000 square kilometres), of which 600 square miles
(1550 square kilometres) were forests, with the rest fertile agricultural
plains and river valleys, Rajpipla grew to be one of the most prosperous
princely states in Gujarat, second only to Baroda. It was also famous for its
agate mines. It is now part of the state of Gujarat. Its capital town of
Rajpipla (Nandod or New Rajpipla) is now headquarters of Narmada district.
The origin of
the Gohil Rajput dynasty of Rajpipla goes back to the sixth century A.D. when
Muhideosur Gohadit or Guhil, born in 542 A.D. after the sack of Vallabhi and
the only male survivor of the clan, went on to become chief of an area near
modern Idar in Gujarat in the year 556 A.D, and held sway till his death in 603
A.D. His descendant Kalbhoj or Bappa Rawal seized Chittor and became ruler of
Mewar in 734 A.D. A little more than two-and-a-half-centuries later in 973
A.D., Salivahan, the Gohil ruler of Mewar, and 11th in descent to Bappa Rawal,
moved away with part of the clan from Chittor to Juna Khergarh (present-day
Bhalotra near Jodhpur) on the River Luni in Marwar, leaving behind his son
Shaktikumar with the remaining members of his kin. There is still a village
there called 'Gohilon ki dhani' near Jodhpur. Thus for two-and-a-quarter
centuries, both Mewar and Marwar were ruled by the Gohil Rajput clan.
Later, after
Ala-ud-din Khilji ravaged Chittor in 1303, the Gohils of Mewar regrouped and
assumed the name Sisodia. The capital was shifted from Chittor to Udaipur in
1559.
Meanwhile, the
Gohils who had migrated under Salivahan continued to rule over Marwar. After
the formation of the Delhi Sultanate in the early part of the thirteenth
century, the Rathore clan, pushed out of Kannauj, migrated to Marwar. In turn
the Gohil clan was displaced from Marwar. They marched back to Saurashtra where
they became governors of the Chalukyas, and then carved out their own
principalities. The most famous of their chiefs during this period were
Sejakji, Ranoji and Mokhdaji, and the princely states that their descendants
carved out were Bhavnagar, Rajpipla, Palitana, Lathi and Vallabhipur or Vala.
The rulers of
Rajpipla had to face several invasions from the sultans of Ahmedabad, the
Mughal emperors and later the Gaekwars, even losing their principality for
brief periods, each time coming back to power by joining forces with the hill
tribes (mostly Bhils) and carrying out guerrilla attacks. In 1730, with the
weakening of the Mughal Empire, the 26th Gohil ruler of Rajpipla, Maharana
Verisalji I stopped paying tribute to the Mughals, and his son Maharana
Jeetsinhji wrested back Nandod taluka and shifted the capital to Nandod or new
Rajpipla town, in the plains on the banks of River Karjan, a tributary of the
Narmada.
The Gaekwars of
Baroda exacted tribute from Rajpipla in the later 18th and early 19th century.
The stranglehold of the Gaekwars was cast aside with the intervention of the
British, and accession of the 33rd Gohil ruler Maharana Verisalji II on the
gadi of Rajpipla. During the 1857 Mutiny, Rajpipla under Verisalji II rebelled,
and for many months relieved itself of the sway of the British. The agitated English,
having quelled the Mutiny and transferred power to the Crown, forced Verisalji
II to step aside and make way for his son Gambhirsinhji in 1860 AD.
During the reign
of Maharana Gambhirsinhji (1860/97), the road from Rajpipla to Ankleshwar was
built, and Rajpipla State had its own postal system. Maharana Chhatrasinhji,
the 35th Gohil ruler of Rajpipla, who came to the gadi in 1897 A.D., laid the
60-mile (90 kilometres) Ankleshwar-Rajpipla railway line and carried out
massive famine relief during the period 1899-1902. He was one of the pioneers
of motoring in India, owning cars like the Wolseley 6 hp 1903-04, Armstrong
Siddeley 15 hp 1906 and Clement Bayard 16 hp.
Maharaja
Vijaysinhji, who ascended the gadi in 1915 A.D., carried out massive reforms
and infrastructure works. He established a high school where only nominal fees
were charged, and introduced free primary education and scholarships. He built
a civil hospital, maternity hospital, five dispensaries and a veterinary
hospital in the State. A criminal-and-civil court was set up, pensions were
paid to public servants, and the salaries of the police and military were
increased. Maharaja Vijaysinhji ordered the laying of good motorable roads. He
added the Jhagadia-Netrang section to the Rajpipla Railways. He also set up a
19-mile (31 kilometres) steam railroad and tramway connecting the towns along
the river Narmada with villages in the interior, and a power house supplying
electricity and water to Rajpipla town. Even though taxes were reduced in terms
of percentage, the revenue of the State increased from Rupees 1,300,000 to
Rupees 2,700,000 per annum in the period 1915-1930, and peaked at Rupees
3,600,000 in 1948 when the State merged with the Indian Union. Maharaja
Vijaysinhji regularised the land revenue system, and carried out relief efforts
during droughts and floods. He improved the quality of cotton, grains and
fruits grown in his territory. His town planning as far back as 1927 was
far-sighted, and builders were given permission to construct, conditional to
leaving 3 to 4 feet (about 1 metre) space for future widening of roads. The
designs of new buildings were well integrated and in harmony with the
surroundings.
A keen horseman,
Maharaja Vijaysinhji maintained one of the finest stables of race horses in
India and England, marked by quality and not quantity. His thoroughbreds won
several prestigious races, including the first Indian Derby in 1919 (Tipster),
the Irish Derby in 1926 and Belgian Grand Prix in 1927 (Embargo), and the blue
riband of the turf, the Epsom Derby of England in 1934 (Windsor Lad). Maharaja
Vijaysinhji is still the only Indian owner to have bagged the English Derby,
considered the greatest horse race in the world, cheered on by an estimated
quarter to half a million people which included King George V and Queen Mary of
Britain and other members of the royal family. Maharaja Vijaysinhji thereby
completed a brilliant hat-trick of Derby wins: the first-ever Indian Derby, the
Irish Derby and the coveted Epsom Derby of England, making him arguably the
greatest-ever Indian racehorse owner.
Sports like
cricket, football and hockey were made compulsory for students by Maharaja
Vijaysinhji, who equipped Rajpipla with a polo ground and gymkhana club. A
unique feature of the Rajpipla royal family was its polo team comprising
Maharaja Vijaysinhji and his three sons Yuvraj Rajendra Singhji, Maharajkumar
Pramod Singhji and Maharajkumar Indrajeet Singhji. Having a passion for cars
like his father, Maharaja Vijaysinhji owned, among other top makes, twelve
Rolls-Royce cars, from the Silver Ghost 1913 to the Phantom III 1937.
