(Redirected from Maharani)
Major-General H.H. Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh- al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh, Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI , GCIE , GBE
The word 'Mahārāja' (also spelled 'maharajah') is
Sanskrit for "great king" or "
high king" (a
karmadharaya from ''mahānt'' "great" and ''
rājan'' "king"). Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in India, the term 'maharaja' is common to many modern languages, such as
Bengali,
Hindi,
Gujrati, etc. Its use is primarily for
Hindu potentates (ruler or sovereign). The female equivalent title 'Maharani' (or 'Maharanee') denotes either the wife of a Mahārāja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The term
Maharaj denotes separate noble and religious offices, although the fact that in Hindi the suffix 'a' in Maharaja is silent makes the two titles near homophones.
Indian subcontinent
Maharaja as a ruler's title
On the eve of independence in 1947,
India (including present day
Pakistan) contained more than 600
princely states (see that article for context), each with its own ruler, often styled
Raja or
Thakur (if the ruler were
Hindu) or
Nawab (if he was
Muslim); there was a host of less current titles as well.
The
British directly ruled 2/3rd of India, the rest was under
indirect rule by the above mentioned princes under the considerable influence of British representatives, such as
Residents, at their courts.
The word Maharaja may be understood simply to mean "king" (as in
Jammu and Kashmir), in spite of its literal translation as "great king". This was because only a handful of the states were truly powerful and wealthy enough for their rulers to be considered 'great' monarchs; the remaining were minor
princely states, sometimes little more than towns or groups of villages. The word, however, can also mean emperor in contemporary Indian usage.
The title of Maharaja was not as common before the gradual British colonization of India, upon and after which many Rajas and otherwise styled Hindu rulers were elevated to Maharajas, regardless of the fact that scores of these new Maharajas ruled small states, sometimes for some reason unrelated to the eminence of the state, for example support in
World War I or
World War II. Two Rajas who became Maharajas in the twentieth century were the Maharaja of
Cochin and the legendary Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of
Kapurthala.
★ Variations of this title include the following, each combining ''Maha-'' "great" with an alternative form of
Raja 'king', so all meaning 'Great King': '
Maharana' (as in
Udaipur), '
Maharawal' (as in
Dungarpur/
Jaisalmer), '
Maharawat' (
Pratapgarh), '
Maharao' (as in
Kotah,
Bundi) and '
Maharaol' (as in Baria).
★ "Maharajah" has taken on new spellings due to time change and migration. It has even been shortened to "Mahraj" and "Maraj" but the most common is, if course, "Maharajah" and "Maharaj."
★ Despite its literal meaning, unlike many other titles meaning
Great King, neither Maharaja nor ''Rajadhiraja'' ('
King of Kings'), nor even its equivalent amongst Maharajas, 'Maharajadhiraja', ever reached the standing required for imperial rank, as each was soon the object of title inflation. In stead, the only Hindu title which is commonly rendered as
Emperor is
Samraat or Samraj(a), a personal distinction achieved by a few rulers (mainly conquerors) of ancient dynasties, such as the
Maurya and
Gupta, and the first hereditary imperial title over India would be the ''Muslim''
Padshah (originally Sultan of Delhi) of the
Mughal dynasty.
Salute states in present India
The
gun salutes (crucial in protocolary respect) enjoyed by the
princely states that acceeded to the Dominion of India on 14th of August 1947, included more Maharajas than any other title, and in most of the classes, though predominantly in the higher ones:
Hereditary salutes of '21-guns':
★ H.H. the Maharaja (title of most major Hindu princes) of
Mysore
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Jammu and
Kashmir
★ H.H. the
Maharaja Gaekwar (in certain states it became customary to add a unique word to the princely title, not indicating a rank but rather the dynasty or its past) of
Baroda
★ H.H. the
Maharaja Scindia (similar) of
Gwalior
Hereditary salutes of '19-guns (21-guns local'): H.H. the
Maharaja Holkar (as above) of
Indore
Hereditary salutes of '19-guns:'
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Kolhapur
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Travancore
Hereditary salutes of '17-guns' (19-guns personal): only H.H. the Maharaja of
Kotah
Hereditary salutes of 17-guns (19-guns local):
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Bharatpur
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Bikaner
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Jaipur
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Jodhpur
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Patiala
Hereditary salutes of 17-guns:
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Cochin
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Karauli
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Rewa
Hereditary salutes of '15-guns' (17-guns personal): only H.H. the Maharaja Rana of
Dholpur
Hereditary salutes of 15-guns (17-guns local): only H.H. the Maharaja of
Alwar
Hereditary salutes of 15-guns:
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Datia
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Dewas Senior
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Dewas Junior
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Dhar
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Idar
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Jaisalmer
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Kishangarh
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Orchha
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Sikkim (in the Himalaya; remained independent at India's independence, later annexed unilaterally)
Hereditary salutes of '13-guns' (15-guns personal and local):
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Jind
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Kapurthala
Hereditary salutes of 13-guns (15-guns local):
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Benares
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Bhavnagar
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Nabha
★ H.H. the
Maharaja Jam Sahib of
Nawanagar
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Ratlam
Hereditary salutes of 13-guns:
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Cooch Behar
★ H.H. the
Maharaja Raj Sahib of
Dhrangadhra-Halvad
★ H.H. the Maharaj Rana of
Jhalawar
★ H.H. the
Maharaja Rana Sahib of
Porbandar
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Rajpipla
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Tripura
Hereditary salutes of 11-guns:
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Ajaigarh
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Bijawar
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Charkhari
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Chhatarpur
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Gondal
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Morvi
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Narsinghgarh
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Panna
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Sirmur
★ H.H. the Maharaja of
Tehri Garhwal
Hereditary salutes of 9-guns:
★ The Maharaja of
Bansda
★ The Maharaja of
Jawhar
★ The Maharaja of
Kalahandi
★ The Maharaja of
Lunawara
★ The Maharaja of
Mayurbhanj
★ The Maharaja of
Patna
★ The Maharaja of
Sonepur
Compound and dynastic ruler titles
★ 'Dharma-maharaja' was the devout title (compare
Rajadharma) of the rulers of the Ganga dynasty
In the Mughal empire it was quite common to award to various princes (hereditary or not) a series of lofty titles as a matter of protocollary rank.
Many of these (see also above) elaborate explicitly on the title Maharaja, in the following descending order:
★ 'Maharajadhiraja Bahadur' (or ''Maharajadhiraj Bahadur''): Great Prince over Princes, a title of honour, one degree higher than Maharajadhiraja.
★ 'Maharajadhiraja' (or ''Maharajadhiraj''): Great Prince over Princes, a title of honour, one degree higher than Sawai Maharaja Bahadur.
★ 'Sawai Maharaja Bahadur': a title of honour, one degree higher than Sawai Maharaja. (the term ''bahadur'', originally 'brave' in Mongolian, was often used for 'one degree' higher', and 'sawai' is 'one and a quarter higher', i.e. just a step above bahadur)
★ 'Sawai Maharaja': a title of honour one degree higher than Maharaja Bahadur.
★ 'Maharaja Bahadur': a title of honour, one degree higher than Maharaja.
Furthermore there were various compound titles simply including other princely styles, such as :
★ 'Maharaja
Chatrapati' in
Satara, the paramount state of the
Maratha confederacy
★ H.H. the 'Maharaj Rana' of
Jhalawar
★ 'Maharaja-i-Rajgan': great prince amongst princes
★ 'Maharaja
Sena Sahib Subah' of
Nagpur, another Mahratta state
★ For details concerning various titles containing
sahib, see there
Certain Hindu dynasties even came to use a unique style, including a term which as such is not of princely rank, e.g.
Maharaja Gaikwar of Baroda,
Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior,
Maharaja Holkar of Indore, three of the very highest ranking ruling houses
Nobiliary and Honorary use
Like Raja and various other titles, Maharaja was repeatedly awarded to notables without a princely state, such as
zamindars
★ One Raja of
Lambagraon, a
Jagir (in
Himachal Pradesh) who served in the colonial army was granted personally the non-hereditary title of Maharaja of Kangra-Lambagraon and a personal 11-guns salute, so neither honor passed on to his son and heir
★ In the major, Muslim realm of
Hyderabad & Berar, there was a system of ennobling titles for the Nizam's court retainers, conferring a specific rank without any (e)state of their own, not unlike peerage titles without an actual fief in the UK, the highest titles for Hindu nobles being 'Maharaja Bahadur' and ''Maharaja'', above ''Vant, Raja Rai-i-Rayan Bahadur, Raja Rai Bahadur, Raja Bahadur, Raja'' and (the lowest) ''
Rai;'' for their Muslim counterparts there were alternative titles, the highest being
Jah and
Umara; e.g. the
Diwan (Prime Minister) Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad, held such a Maharaja-title.
Derived style for princes of the blood
'Maharaj Kumar' (or
Maharajkumar) means son of a Maharaja; the female equivalent is ''Maharaj Kumari (Maharajkumari''): daughter of a Maharaja.
Malay world
Indonesia
As many Indonesian states started out when the archipelago was still predominantly Hindu (
Bali still is) or
Buddhist, some have been ruled by a Maharaja, such as
Srivijaya and
Kutai Karta Negara (until that kingdom converted to Islam in 1565, when the Muslim title of
Sultan was adopted). Traditional titles remain in use for the other members of this dynasty, such as
Pangeran Ratu for the heir.
Malaysia
In peninsular
Malaysia:
★ Maharaja was the title of the Monarch of the peninsular Malay state of
Johor(e) from 1873 to 1885. The Arabic, Muslim title
Sultan, often considered of higher rank, was re-adopted later and remains in current usage.
★ the title Bendahara Seri Maharaja was used by the ruler of
Pahang (1623 - 1853 in personal union with Johor, eventually becoming a fief of the
Bendahara family), till on 6 August 1882 Tuanku Ahmad al-Muadzam Shah ibni al-Marhum Tun Ali adopted the title sultan
In northern
Borneo, the title Maharajah of Sabah and Rajah of
Gaya and
Sandakan was used 29 December 1877 - 26 August 1881 by
Alfred Dent (compare
White Rajah)
Philippines
In the
Philippines, more specifically in Sulu, Maharaja (also spelled "Maharajah") was a title given to various subdivisional princes. Parts of the Philippines may have also been ruled by a Maharajah under the
Srivijaya and
Majapahit empires.
Compound titles
The word can also be part of titles used by
Malay nobility
★ 'Maharaja Lela' was the title of the ruler of the State of
Naning (founded 1641), until it was annexed by the UK to
Malacca in 1832
Most famous was
Bendahara Seri Maharaja
Tun Mutahir of Malacca (executed 1509) and Datuk
Maharaja Lela Pandak Endut of
Perak (executed 1876).
The
palace marshal of the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (federal elective Paramount ruler) of modern
Malaysia is called ''Datuk Maharaja Lela Penghulu Istana Negara''.
Philippines
Sulu
The name Maharajah Adinda was given to one of the lineages of the
Sulu Royal Family. And as a result, sultans under this lineage append "Maharajah Adinda" as a title to the beginning of their names.
Indonesia
Aceh
Maharaja was also part of the titles of the nobility in the Sumatran sultanate of
Aceh. In the past the title of Maharaja is given to leader of the unreigning noble family and the Prime Minister
Maharaja Mangkubumi. The last Prime Minister of Aceh who was installed to be the Maharaja Mangkubumi,
Habib Abdurrahman el Zahir, also acted as the foreign affairs minister of Aceh but was deposed and exiled to
Jeddah by the colonial
Dutch east Indies authorities in October 1878.
See also
★
Brahmanical See
★
Maharaj, as a lower title of non-ruling members of a princely dynasty
★
Maha Uparaja and variations, (Buddhist) Great Viceroy or - Deputy King
★
Kshatriya
★
Sultan
★
Raja
★
Muhajir
Sources and references
★
WorldStatesmen Here India (most in Princely States A-J & K-Z); see also Indonesia, Malaysia etc.
★
Royal Ark select first present country, then state/dynasty
★
Indian Princely States- specialized site
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