Raja as a ruler's title On the eve of
independence in 1947, the
Indian Empire contained more than 600
princely states, each with its own native ruler, often styled
Raja or
Rana or
Thakur (if the ruler were
Hindu) or
Nawab (if he were
Muslim), with a host of less current titles as well. The
British directly ruled two-thirds of the
Indian subcontinent; 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 "ruler" or "king", 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 colonisation 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 to the British in Afghanistan,
World War I or
World War II. The Maharaja of Punjab in the 19th century was Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He earned this title by keeping the Britishers beyond the Sutlej and even crushed the Afghan Empire. Maharajas in the twentieth century were the Maharaja of
Cochin and
Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of
Kapurthala. Apart from princely states, rulers of some large and extended zamindaris were also awarded the title of Maharaja. The rulers of
Jeypore,
Darbhanga,
Vizianagaram,
Parlakhemundi Gidhaur were a few zamindars who were titled Maharaja for their cordiality and contribution to the British Raj. • 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),
Maharaj Rana (as in
Jhalawar),
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 the time change and migration. It has even been shortened to
Mahraj and
Maraj but the most common is
Maharajah and
Maharaj. • Despite its literal meaning, unlike many other titles meaning
Great King, neither Maharaja nor
Rajadhiraja ('
King of Kings'), nor its equivalent amongst Maharajas, 'Maharajadhiraja', ever reached the standing required for imperial rank, as each was soon the object of title inflation. Instead, the Indian title which is commonly rendered as Emperor is
Samrat or Samraj(a), a personal distinction achieved only by the
Mauryans and the
Vakataka ruler
Pravarasena I. Muslim equivalent of emperor would be
Padshah (of Persian origin), notably applied to the
Mughal dynasty, the paramount power until the British established their raj.
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 protocolary rank. The British would, as paramount power do the same. Many of these (see also above) elaborate explicitly on the title Maharaja, in the following descending order: •
Maharajadhiraja Bahadur (or
Maharajadhiraj Bahadur): a title of honour, one degree higher than Maharajadhiraja. •
Maharajadhiraja (or
Maharajadhiraj): 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 Persian, 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; as granted (directly) to the Rajas of Ajaygarh. •
Maharaja Bahadur: a title of honour, one degree higher than Maharaja. . The
Maratha ruler preferred the title of
Chhatrapati as against Maharaja and was the founder and sovereign of the
Maratha Empire in modern-day
India. Bada Mahārājādhirāja
Prithvi Narayan Shah Dev of
Gorkha Kingdom and
Kingdom of Nepal. Sawai Bahadur, Rao of Kutch, GCIE, KIH of
Jammu and
Kashmir.
Palden Thondup Namgyal of
Sikkim. 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
Maratha state •
Maharaj Babu: A
Rajput title similar to Maharaja. Used by the ruling Chiefs of Hazari Estate, Dohazari of South
Chittagong. • 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 Shinde (or later anglicised: Scindia) of
Gwalior,
Maharaja Holkar of Indore, three of the very highest ranking ruling
Maratha houses.
Chakravarti Chakravarti is a
Sanskrit term for "emperor". The meaning of chakravarti is "he, whose wheels (of
chariot) are moving" which symbolises that the leader who is a war hero, who commands over vast land and sea, the one who rules the people with dedication. In the Mahabharata, the
Chakravarti Bharat is known to have ruled the entire sub-continent of India brought golden age to his empire. He is called as chakravarti. The wife of a Chakravartin or a female Chakravartin is called a Chakaravartini.
Yuvaraja Yuvaraja means the
crown prince of the kingdom or empire. He is granted with certain powers and responsibilities so that he can be prepared to take over as the Maharaja. His wife is called Yuvarani.
Rajakumara Rajakumara is the son of a king who is not the heir apparent. He is conferred with certain duties or powers per the king's wishes. The daughter of a king who is not the heir apparent is called Rajakumari.
Maharani Maharani usually denotes the wife of a Maharaja (or
Maharana,
Maharao, Maharawal) or in rare cases, in some states where it was customary, a
woman ruling without a husband.''''''
Rajamata In cases where a child king is crowned, the mother of the king takes charge of the kingdom and acts as a regent. Until the young king is of the age, the
Rajmata (
Queen mother) administers the kingdom. Famous examples include Rajamata Shetu Lakshmi Bai of Travancore dynasty, Gowri Lakshmi Bai, Maharaji (later Rajamata) Rudrama Devi of Kakatiya dynasty. When the king is present, the Rajamata being the mother of the king, might be given ceremonial roles. A famous Rajamata who functioned with the king is Rajamata
Jijabai of the
Maratha Kingdom, accompanying the
Chhatrapati (king).
Noble 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 honour passed on to his son and heir. • In the major, Muslim realm of
Hyderabad and Berar, there was a system of ennobling titles for the Nizam's courtiers, 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
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 or Heir-Apparent; the female equivalent is
Maharaj Kumari (Maharajkumari): daughter of a Maharaja.
Kingdom of Nepal Mahārājādhirāja
Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev of
Kingdom of Nepal. Mahārāja
Jung Bahadur Rana of
Kingdom of Nepal. The
Kings of Nepal used the title of
Mahārājādhirāja, meaning "King of Great Kings", a honorific title, regarded as superior to
Mahārāja. The
Kings of Nepal used the title
Shree Panch (
Shree Shree Shree Shree Shree)
Mahārājādhirāja, while the
Rana Prime Ministers of Nepal used the title
Shree Teen (Shree Shree Shree) Mahārāja. == Southeast Asia ==