This beautiful princess rebelled against her family to marry the love of her life. Know her inspiring story here.
Barriers in love stories are thought to be common in middle-class, upper-middle-class families. But could ever imagine that a princess would have to fight with her everything to get married to the love of her life?
Maharani Indira Devi of Cooch Behar, West Bengal is one such example. Princess Indira Devi was born in the Gaekwad dynasty of Baroda. She grew up in a liberal and progressive set-up. She was also one of the few women of the time to have a school and college education.
When she reached the marryable age of 18, her parents decided to arrange her marriage. They set up her wedding with Maharaja of Gwalior, Madho Rao Scindia. Madho Rao was already married at that time which meant that Indira Devi would be his second wife and would be the junior queen.
While this was upsetting enough for Indira Devi, it was also made clear to her that she would have to follow a purdah system and a date was fixed for conjugal visits. This was greatly upsetting for Indira Devi but as she had no motive to deny the wedding, Indira Devi decided to honour her parents' decision.
This marriage was also a milestone for both the Maratha kingdoms. Hence, Indira Devi and Madho Rao Scindia's engagement was announced. The story took a U-turn when in 1911, Indira Devi met the prince of Cooch Behar, Jitendra Narayan at the Delhi Durbar. Jitendra Narayan was the second son of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan.
For both Indira and Jitendra, the meeting at Delhi Durbar inflicted a spark of love. Princess Indira knew immediately that she could only marry Prince Jitendra. But Indira Devi was already engaged and in those times, engagement was equivalent to marriage. Hence, it would be next to impossible for her to pursue her parents to break off the engagement.
Somehow, Indira Devi gathered the courage and wrote a letter to Madho Rao Scindia to break the engagement. When this news reached her parents, they were enraged and forbade her from meeting Prince Jitendra.
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But, love knows no boundaries and the couple kept meeting privately. Finally, Indira Devi's parents agreed to announce their engagement in early 1913. But Indira Devi's father was apprehensive and he hastily called off the wedding and wanted to move to London with her. But Indira Devi was not ready to back down.
When a reporter asked her about the marriage, she said, "I have been engaged to Prince Jitendra for a long time and have always wanted to marry him...but at the last minute, my parents refused to sanction my marriage." This statement created pressure on Indira Devi's parents and they ultimately agreed to the marriage. On August 25, 1913, Indira Devi and Jitendra Narayan finally tied the knot.
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