Sayajirao Gaekwad III
(Sri Aurobindo in third person:) “It was James Cotton, brother of Sir Henry (who was a friend of Dr. K.D. Ghose) who introduced Sri Aurobindo to the Gaekwar. Cotton became secretary of the South Kensington Liberal Club where two of the brothers were living; Benoybhusan was doing some clerical work for the Club for 5 shillings a week and Cotton took him as his assistant; he took a strong interest in all the three brothers and when Sri Aurobindo failed in the riding test, he tried to get another chance for him (much against the will of Sri Aurobindo who was greatly relieved and overjoyed by his release from the I.C.S) and, when that did not succeed, introduced him to the Gaekwar so that he might get an appointment in Baroda. Cotton afterwards came on a visit to Baroda and saw Sri Aurobindo in the College.”[1]
(Peter Heehs:) “During his reign Sayajirao Gaekwar was regarded as the most sympathetic of Indian princes to the national movement. Some even thought him a friend of revolutionaries or a revolutionary himself. There were a number of reasons for this reputation, which remains undimmed to this day. The Gaekwar was less obsequious to the British than most if not all other Indian rulers. The viceroy, Lord Curzon, considered him the “sole important prince” who was “not loyal to the British Government”. Curzon's successor Lord Minto wrote that the Gaekwar was “anything but free from suspicion” of involvement in seditious activities.”[2]
(Peter Heehs:) “Nivedita gave three speeches in Baroda but the main reason for her coming seems to have been to meet the Gaekwar and to win him over to the cause. … The Gaekwar expressed interest but refused to commit himself. We learn from Nivedita's diary that on 23 October she received a letter from the Gaekwar the upset her greatly. She saw him again the next day but this meeting also proved fruitless. She and the maharaja agreed that further communications on the subject of revolution could pass through Aurobindo; but the maharaja never spoke to him about it. ...
This may be taken as the last word on the Gaekwar's connection with the revolutionaries. As the years went by and he grew weary of harassment, he became more and more moderate in speech and action. But he never stopped thinking that the status of native rulers should be enhancd. In August 1904, when Curzon proposed that princes should contribute money and troops to protect British territories, the Gaekwar had Aurobindo, now his Huzur Kamdar or Crown Secretary, draw up a memorandum which said:
- “The creation of the new obligation proposed would seem to demand the concession of a corresponding privilege, a recognised voice in the councils of the Empire. This privilege is the natural corollary of any general military federation, and would alone justify the creation of new burdens.”
This proposal was ignored by Curzon, but it foreshadowed the creation of the Chamber of Princes seventeen years later.”[3]
(Dinendra Kumar Roy:) “The Maharaja too was well acquainted with Aurobindo and respected his dignity. He knew that in his very large office there were many pot-bellied officers earning two to three thousand rupees a month, but there was only one Aurobindo. There were very few princes in India capable of appreciating the good qualities of a man like him. Aurobindo’s opinion of the Maharaja was very high. He told me that the Maharaja was worthy of governing a far greater empire and that it was hard to find in India a politician like him. I thought that the Maharaja would have refused Aurobindo nothing but Aurobindo never asked him for anything!”[4]
- ↑ Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest, p.34
- ↑ The Bomb in Bengal: The Rise of Revolutionary Terrorism in India 1900-1910, p.37, “A Year in Gujarat”
- ↑ Ibid., p.40
- ↑ Dinendra Kumar Roy, With Sri Aurobindo in Baroda, p.18
External links