India - Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal)
Group of official letters from maharajas to the chancellor of the Council of Princes, with related documents, 1920s-40s
Estimate: £800 - £1,200
Auction: 18 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
all typed and with maharaja's autograph signature, addressed to the presiding chancellor of the Chamber of Princes (by name or title), on the relevant maharaja's official stationery with embossed letterhead (either a single sheet or bifolium, 4to and foolscap), stitch- or punch holes in fore margins, adhesive residue on versos, various official annotations and ink-stamps. Comprising:
Tashi Namgyal (1893-1963), maharaja of Sikkim, 1929, to ‘Your Highness', supporting ‘Your Highness’ proposal to boycott and proscribe any newspaper, which publishes irresponsible or ungrateful material against any Indian Prince');
Gulab Singh, maharaja of Rewa, 1931, to the nawab of Bhopal, on financial matters ('the financial side of federation is equally, if not more, vital to the States than the constitutional, and that therefore a mandate on that subject is perhaps equally important', 2 pp., embossed gilt letterhead incorporating mother of pearl ground (with some loss);
Hari Singh (1895-1961), maharaja of Kashmir, 1933, to ‘Your Highness’, declining to give information on ‘political and administrative reforms introduced in my state’;
Umaid Singh (1903-1947), maharaja of Jodhpur, 1936 to the maharaja of Dholpur, approving an appointment to the standing committee of ministers;
Ganga Singh (1880-1943), maharaja of Bikaner, letters, 1941, to the maharaja of Nawanagar on ‘the report of the privy purse and civil list committee held in June last in Bombay’;
Govind Singh, maharaja of Datia, 1941, to 'Your Highness', on the rights of the princely states to try foreign nationals, 2 pp.;
Brijendra Singh (1918-1995), maharaja of Bharatpur, 1942, to the maharaja of Nawanagar, 2 pp., on Bharatpur exclaves in the United Provinces ('Goverdhan in particular is sacred to me and the members of my family as no temple is held in greater reverence by the rulers, the people of Bharatarpur and the whole Jat community than the temples of Shri Girraj Maharaj there');
Tej Singh (1911-2009), mahajara of Alwar, 1943 to ‘Your Highness’, on measures to relieve the Bengal famine, 2 pp.
Sadul Singh (1902-1950), maharaja of Bikaner, 1947, to ‘Your Highness’, requesting permission to resign from the princes' standing committee, 2 pp.
Together with another typed letter signed from Ganga Singh, to his nephew, on a bust of the late maharaja of Patiala, and a collection of printed memoranda, all foolscap, drop-head titles, comprising: 'Secret. "To Federate or not to Federate" - the Vital Question before the States and their Reply', c.1935 (10 pp., unbound); ‘Instances of violation of pledges and encroachments on the sovereign rights and prerogatives of the State’, letter from the Thakore of Gondal to Lt-Col. R. S. Pottinger, agent to governor of Kathiawar, 1918, 3 pp., with ‘Enclosure A’, iii pp., and 2 related later letters; 7 memoranda all apparently relating to the Princes' Conference, Delhi, 1919, i.e. 'Opinion of His Highness the Maharaja of Orchha’ [with several sub-headings, including ‘Opinion of His Highness the Nawab of Jaora’, etc. on various topics including ‘the demand of advanced India for self government’], Indore: C.I.A. Govt. Press, 1919 (13 pp., stapled, final leaf loose), ‘Views of His Highness the Pant Sachiv of Bhor', [1919] (1 p., on the ‘Reforms Report’, annotated ‘Read 27 3 19’), ‘Reply of His Highness the Raja of Ratlam’, [1919] (4 pp., annotated ‘read 27 3 19’), ‘Views of His Highness the Maharao Raja of Bundi on … Reforms Report’, [1919] (2 pp., ‘It is very gratifying to know that closer and closer association of the Princes with the Paramount Power is desired … ’), 'Note by His Highness the Maharaja of Dhar', 1919 (6 pp.), ‘Proceedings of the Second Day 21st January 1919’ (1 p.), ‘Memorandum showing existing restrictions on the powers of various Rulers whose eligibility for membership of the Council or Chamber may be in doubt’, Delhi: SGPI, 1919 (7 pp., oblong foolscap, compliments slip from the maharaja of Bikaner laid in)
(a folder)