Fatehsinghrao II. Gaekwad

Fatehsinghrao II. Gaekwad (called Jackie Baroda ; born April 2, 1930 in Baroda ; † September 1, 1988 in Mumbai ) was the Maharaja and the last Gaekwad ruler of the princely state of Baroda and an Indian politician .

biography

Maharaja and political career

He was the last descendant of a princely family that went back to his great, great, great grandfather, who was born into a poor family and assumed the prince when he was thirteen. After training by English tutors , he became the owner of a fortune of around 15 million pounds sterling in 1951 after the deposition of his father Gaekwar and Maharaja of the princely state of Baroda .

In 1957 he was also politically active and elected a member of the lower house ( Lok Sabha ), to which he belonged after being re-elected from 1962 to 1967. From 1967 to 1971 he was Minister of Health, Fisheries and Prisons in the Gujarat State Government .

After Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished all titles and privileges of Indian princes and princes in 1971, he protested against it, but nevertheless accepted this regulation and then carried the self-chosen name Jackie Baroda. His palace has been converted into a museum and art center.

Other activities

After a two-month safari in the Belgian Congo at the beginning of the 1950s, he became an animal rights activist who, on the one hand, set up a zoo on the grounds of his palace and, on the other hand, took on functions at the World Wildlife Fund .

He was also a well-known cricketer of his time as a batsman, who also played for the Ranji Trophy, one of the most important national cricket competitions. In 1959, at the age of 29, he was tour manager of the Indian cricket team on a tour of England. Between 1978 and 1979 as well as 1982 and 1983 he was once again team manager for tours through Pakistan . After all, he was the host of cricket matches on the BBC .

Web links

• Cricket tragics-Eleven politicians who would have preferred to have been watching cricket instead
• rulers.org