Maharaja Bhupinder Singh: A Great Ruler of Patiala State

The erstwhile princely State of Patiala was the wealthiest of all the Native States in Eastern Punjab during the British Rule in India. It was even more populated than the neighbouring Bahawalpur State which was having nearly three times bigger area than the Patiala State. During the British period, the State was broadly divided into three major portions: the largest area was the vast plains that were situated south of the river Sutlej, the second portion was the Hilly Area stretched as far as Shimla and Kufri and the third was the secluded tracts of the Pargana of Narnaul, that was almost 180 miles away from the capital and adjoining the Shekhawati and Torawati districts of Jaipur and the States of Alwar and Loharu. It has an estimated area of 5492 square miles at the time of the accession of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, the seventh ruler of the Patiala State.

This work is primarily focused on the life and times of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh (1891-1938) of Patiala, who evidently had the 'larger-than-life' persona and reputation that no other Prince could match. The Maharaja had achieved certain rare feats. He was the founder member of the Governing Body of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the game that is revered as holy as a religion in India. He was such a charming, daunting, and influential personality, an 'archetype of the oriental potentate' that he got the distinction and repertoire of being acquainted with almost all the prominent personalities of his times in the world. He was imbued with the longing of 'uncontainable exuberances' that was the reason behind his colossal achievements in a short span of time. With the coming of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, the 128-year-old legacy of Patiala State entered in the twentieth century and this new phase of leadership put the Patiala State into limelight and helped in gaining more prominent position in Indian politics as well as in the entire world.