The Washington herald., 1910-09-28
THE GAEKWAR AND
HIS TREASURES

say Of that interesting Oriental poten-
tate. whose wife and grown daughter
accompanied him, as he would not talk. I"
Why the Gaekwar. of all his titles,
should have chosen the name Gaekwar
meaning cowherd is unexplained. Maybe
he desired to impress the world that there
was no ''uppishness" in him. but the APP
pellation does not seem 10 indicate an
abundance OF intelligence among his sub
jeets. For the monarch had the pick of
names. seeing that he staggers under the
following: Farzand-I-Kas-I Daulet. l.
Inglishia, Maharajah, sayajajo, Caekwar
Rao, Sena Kha. Kel shamsher, Bahadur
He is knight commander OF the order Of
the Star OF India.
The present maharani is his second
wife. She is princess Of the house OF
Dewas, and she owns the euphonious
name OF Chimnabaj. They were married
In 1855 Queen Victoria invested her with
the order OF the Crown of India.
The Baroda treasure is kept at Najar
Bagh palace. The regalia alone is es-
timated al 2,OOo,e00 sterling, There Is
the famous collar Of 800 diamonds. in five
rows with top and bottom row Of en-
eralds. Some OF the stones are as lerge
as walnuts. AS a pendant there is the
famous Star OF Deccan," with an aigrette
TO match in the royal turban. But the
one priceless piece in that collection Is
a carpet only 10 by s, but woven from
pure white and coiored pearls OF all sizes
with center and corner circles OF dia-
monds. The gems in it alone are said to
be worth far more than million ster-
ling. not to mention the magnificent
work OF art
The story goes that one Of the bad
Gaekwars though a Hindoo. had fallen
In love with a most bewltching widow
at Baroda. a Mohammedan. and that he
was smitten 10 such a degree that he had
this carpet made by his most renowned
artisans as q token 70 be sent 10 Mecca by
the widow to propitiate Mohammed and
the high priests OF Moslem. for her low
Ing an 'inhdel" But the little love
feast was nipped I'm the bud. The Hindoo
priests al the court, the highest caste.
got on 10" the planned sacrilege OF one
OF the rulers OF a Hindoo nation him
self Hindoo and pretty soon there was
another Gaekwar.
The entrance 10 the palace containing the
treasures IS guarded by live though muz-
zied lions. But il is guarded also BY four
cannon. two OF solid gold and two OF
solid silver, caissons. ammunition boxes,
and cannon balls also being OF silver.
This "Cowherd" annually has the trife
Of fl.20o.000 20 spend. and the readers
Will not be surprised 10 learn that his
predecessor. MaIhar Rao, the BAD Man, 0"
10 escape an especially severe attack Of
eTnui, arranged a feast 10 celebrate the
wedding Of the favored pigeon Of his
prime minister. which cost 100000 ru-
PEGS.
II you should ask an Englishman ac-
Quainted with matters colonial about the
Gaekwar Of Baroda he will tell you that
his nibs is thirteen salute" man. The
British colonial Office has a list Of some
200 official titles of Indian princes. the
rank OF the most important among whom
Is established according 10 the number
Of shots fred in their honor on festive
occasions by British troops. Four OF
these princes rank highest in official etl-
quette at the Court OF St James-namely.
the Nizam Of Hyderabad. the Rajahs Of
Udaipur and OF Kapurthala. and the
Goekwar OF Baroda They are saluted
with twenty shots each.
The history Of the Gaekwars has been
pretty much the same as that OF all ter
ritorial houses ins India Tse relgning
house dates its Importance from the Ma
haratta eonfederacy. the terror OF India
In tie eighteenth century. At the close
OF that century the dynasty fell prev
10 one Of those bitter and unappeasabIe
family feuds which are the ruin OF In
dian families. high or low.
Family feuds during the last quarter
Of the past century ragged hercer than
ever. Malhar Rao, the late Gaekwar. long
was kept imprisoned by his brother.
khande Rao. the then ruler. on a charge
Of attempted frauicide But in the end
luck changed for him. and one day after
a court revolution. he was taken out Of
prison and placed upon the throne. But
his oppression OF the people was greater
than ever.
England was compelled TO interfere
by appointing a commission of army Of
hcers, but even then. after one or two
feints at reforming the government, Nal
har RaO returned 10 his Ubiquitous course
Finally. retribution overlook him. In 1874
the British resident at Baroda. Col
Phayre, was poisoned with pomelo Juice
into which ground diamonds had been
mixed. Malhar Rao, who had spent
years in prison for attempting the same
trick upon his predecessor and brother
khande Rao, was suspected He was
tried by a mixed court Of eminent Brit
ish officers and natives Of rank. unan-
imous verdict, however, was not obtain
ed, but Lord Northbrook. the then vice
roy, found it necessary 10 depose the
Gaekwar.
There was no direct issue Of Malhar
Rao. and his widow. making use Of her
prerogative, adopted the present ruler,
then a lad of eleven. and about fifteen
years ago he was installed as Gaekwar
The man lives in European style. He
has but one wife and one daughter. the
Princess Indira Rajahi. Mother and
daughter affect the more comfortable
dress of the Hindoo, silken folds out
lining their graceful forms. without the
stays and laces used by their Western
sisters.
Baroda is in the presidency of Bonn
bay which exercises political superin-
over the GaekWar II lies In the
fertile plains of Kathiawar, embracing
about 4,4O square miles. 1t has a popu-
lation OF about 100000 of whom 90 per
cent are Hindoos, ? per cent Jairns, and
per cent Mohammedsns. There may be
about 200 Christians in the whole land.