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{{Short description|Rajmata of Gwalior (1919–2001)}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
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| spouse      = [[Highness|HH]] [[Maharaja]] [[George Jivajirao Scindia|Jivajirao Scindia]]
| spouse      = [[Highness|HH]] [[Maharaja]] [[George Jivajirao Scindia|Jivajirao Scindia]]
| issue      =[[Usha Raje]] <br />[[Madhavrao Scindia]]<br />[[Vasundhara Raje]]<br />[[Yashodhara Raje]]
| issue      =[[Usha Raje]] <br />[[Madhavrao Scindia]]<br />[[Vasundhara Raje]]<br />[[Yashodhara Raje]]
| political party = [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
| royal house = [[Gwalior]], [[India]]
| royal house = [[Gwalior]], [[India]]
| father      = ''Thakur'' Mahendra Singh  
| father      = ''Thakur'' Mahendra Singh  
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| religion    = [[Hinduism]]
| religion    = [[Hinduism]]
}}
}}
'''Vijaya Raje Scindia''' (12 October 1919 – 25 January 2001), born '''Lekha Divyeshwari Devi''' and known popularly as the '''[[Rajmata]] of [[Gwalior State|Gwalior]]''', was a prominent [[India]]n political personality. In the days of the [[British Raj]], as consort of the last ruling [[Maharaja]] of [[Gwalior]], [[Jivajirao Scindia]], she ranked among the highest royal figures of the land. In later life, she became a politician of considerable influence and was elected repeatedly to both houses of the [[Parliament of India|Indian parliament]]. She was also an active member, for many decades, of the [[Jana Sangh]] and co-founder of [[Bharatiya Janata Party]].
'''Vijaya Raje Scindia''' (12 October 1919 – 25 January 2001), born '''Lekha Divyeshwari Devi''' and known popularly as the '''[[Rajmata]] of [[Gwalior State|Gwalior]]''', was a prominent [[India]]n political personality. In the days of the [[British Raj]], as consort of the last ruling [[Maharaja]] of [[Gwalior]], [[Jivajirao Scindia]], she ranked among the highest royal figures of the land. In later life, she became a politician of considerable influence and was elected repeatedly to both houses of the [[Parliament of India|Indian parliament]]. She was a member of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]].


==Early years==
==Early years==
Vijaya Raje Scindia was born in 1919 at [[Sagar District|Sagar]] in present-day [[Madhya Pradesh]], the eldest child of ''[[Thakur (title)|Thakur]]'' Mahendra Singh of Kotla State ([[Uttar Pradesh|U.P.]]), a government officer, by his second wife, Chuda Devashwari Devi.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} She was named Lekha Divyeshwari Devi at birth. Her father was a deputy collector in the provincial administration. Her mother was the daughter of former [[Commander-in-chief of the Nepalese Army]] ''Commanding-General Raja'' [[Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana]], the nephew of founder of [[Rana dynasty]] of Nepal, [[Jang Bahadur Kunwar Rana]]. She died at Vijaya Raje's birth. Her brother is Dhyanendra Singh, husband of [[Maya Singh]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Theory Of Relativity |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?206615 |publisher=Outlook India |date=30 November 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209042826/http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?206615 |archive-date=9 February 2011 }}</ref>
Vijaya Raje Scindia was born in 1919 at [[Sagar District|Sagar]] in present-day [[Madhya Pradesh]], the eldest child of ''[[Thakur (title)|Thakur]]'' Mahendra Singh of Kotla State ([[Uttar Pradesh|U.P.]]), a government officer, by his second wife, Chuda Devashwari Devi.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} She was named Lekha Divyeshwari Devi at birth. Her father was a deputy collector in the provincial administration. Her mother was the daughter of former [[Commander-in-chief of the Nepalese Army]] ''Commanding-General Raja'' [[Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana]], the nephew of founder of [[Rana dynasty]] of Nepal, [[Jang Bahadur Kunwar Rana]]. She died at Vijaya Raje's birth. Her brother is Dhyanendra Singh, husband of [[Maya Singh]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Theory Of Relativity |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?206615 |publisher=Outlook India |date=30 November 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209042826/http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?206615 |archive-date=9 February 2011 }}</ref>
Lekha's maternal grandfather, Khadga Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana, had been exiled to India and had taken up residence at [[Sagar District|Sagar]]. It was in Sagar that Lekha was born. Her mother's death meant that Lekha never lived with her father: she was raised in the household of her maternal grandparents. The young  Lekha was deeply influenced by her grandmother, Rani Dhan Kumari, an exceedingly pious lady of orthodox disposition. The impress of this early influence was to leave a lasting impact on Lekha's personality.
Her family was aristocratic and had royal lineage but they were  exiled. To this circumstance may be attributed the fact that Lekha received a relatively normal upbringing and a standard education, suitable to modernizing, upwardly mobile families rather than aristocratic ones. She was educated at home initially, later studying at both the Vasanta College, Benares, and the [[Isabella Thoburn College]], [[Lucknow]]. She stayed at a ladies hostel during this period and lived largely as other students did. During this period, the [[Indian independence movement]] was at it peak. Already drawn towards austerity by the influence of her grandmother, Lekha gave up the use of foreign goods and fabrics.


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
In February 1941,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=Stanley|author-link1=Stanley Reed (British politician)|title=The Indian And Pakistan Year Book And Who's Who 1950|date=1950|publisher=[[The Times Group|Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd.]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206/page/n718 684]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206|access-date=22 February 2018}}</ref> at the age of 22, Lekha was married to [[George Jivajirao Scindia|Jivajirao Scindia]], [[Maharaja]] of [[Gwalior]], one of the largest, richest and highest-ranking 21-gun-salute [[princely state]]s in India. As per tradition, a new name was chosen for Lekha based upon the matching of the couple's horoscopes, and she assumed the name 'Vijayaraje Scindia'.
In February 1941,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=Stanley|author-link1=Stanley Reed (British politician)|title=The Indian And Pakistan Year Book And Who's Who 1950|date=1950|publisher=[[The Times Group|Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd.]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206/page/n718 684]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206|access-date=22 February 2018}}</ref> at the age of 22, Lekha was married to [[George Jivajirao Scindia|Jivajirao Scindia]], [[Maharaja]] of [[Gwalior]], one of the largest, richest and highest-ranking [[princely state]]s in India.
 
===Children===
Vijaya Raje and Jivajirao had four daughters and a son:
#Padmavati Raje 'Akkasaheb' Deb Barman (1942–64), who wed [[Kirit Bikram Kishore Deb Barman]], the 185th ruling [[Tripura Kingdom|Maharaja of Tripura]].
#Usha Raje Rana (born 1943), who wed her distant cousin, [[Pashupati Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana]], a [[Nepal]]i politician belonging to the [[Rana dynasty]]. They are the parents of [[Devyani Rana]] and Urvashi Rana; see [[Nepalese royal massacre]].
#[[Madhavrao Scindia]] (1945–2001), Indian politician belonging to the [[Indian National Congress]] and former Union Minister of [[Railways]], [[Aviation]] and [[Human resources development]], and the titular [[Maharaja of Gwalior]]. He is the father of [[Jyotiraditya Scindia]].
#[[Vasundhara Raje]] (born 1953) [[BJP]] politician and a two-term [[Chief Minister of Rajasthan]]. She was formerly married to the titular Maharaja of [[Dholpur (princely state)|Dholpur]].
#[[Yashodhara Raje]] (born 1954) [[BJP]] politician. She was formerly married to Dr. Siddharth Bhansali, a [[United States of America|US]]-based [[cardiologist]].
 
===Family life===
Vijaya Raje's relationship with her husband and its confirmed, by every account, to the Indian ideal of perfect harmony; this is easy enough to believe, as Vijayaraje, the supreme traditionalist, would have deemed it her duty to defer to him, and to family elders, on all matters.
 
The situation was in every sense reversed where her children were concerned. The demise of Jivajirao in 1961 left Vijayaraje the only parent for her growing children. True to her character, Vijayaraje proved an exacting and somewhat martinet parent; she expected her children to meet her own idealised standards of lifestyle and behaviour. This did not make for particular warmth, and in later life, Vijayaraje's relationship with her adult children wavered between the formally cordial and the antagonistic. In her autobiography, she regretfully recounts how little sympathy she was able to extend to her two younger daughters in their troubled marriages, and wonders whether her husband may not have handled those situations better.
 
Her relationship with her only son was especially troubled; personal problems were exacerbated by political differences, and she sometimes felt moved to attack his character in public. Indeed, when her will was read shortly after her death, it was found that she had forbidden her son from participating in her funerary obsequies. This is the ultimate castigation an orthodox [[Hindu]] can mete out to a son. Her children have occasionally attributed these family differences to the baneful influence of Vijayaraje's [[Sambhaji Angre|advisers]], but most observers disagree with this assessment.


==Politics==
==Politics==
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Vijayaraje came to the forefront of the BJP leadership in 1980 when she was made one of its vice-presidents. She played a key role in popularizing the party's [[Ram Janmabhoomi]] movement and was considered a hardliner. Following the [[demolition of the Babri Masjid]] in December 1992, she had declared that "she could now die without any regret, for she had seen her dream come true."<ref>{{cite web |title=December 6, 1992, a memoir |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/dec/05ram3.htm |website=Rediff.com |access-date=2 November 2018 |date=5 December 1997}}</ref> She remained a BJP vice-president until 1998 when she stepped down on health grounds and quit electoral politics. She died in January 2001.
Vijayaraje came to the forefront of the BJP leadership in 1980 when she was made one of its vice-presidents. She played a key role in popularizing the party's [[Ram Janmabhoomi]] movement and was considered a hardliner. Following the [[demolition of the Babri Masjid]] in December 1992, she had declared that "she could now die without any regret, for she had seen her dream come true."<ref>{{cite web |title=December 6, 1992, a memoir |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/dec/05ram3.htm |website=Rediff.com |access-date=2 November 2018 |date=5 December 1997}}</ref> She remained a BJP vice-president until 1998 when she stepped down on health grounds and quit electoral politics. She died in January 2001.
==In media==
In the late 1980s, Vijaya Raje penned an autobiography with major assistance from the noted author [[Manohar Malgonkar]]. The book entitled ''The last Maharani of Gwalior,'' proved a best-seller. It provides many valuable details of her life and career, but ends with the [[1984 Indian general election|general elections of 1984]]. A biography of Vijaya Raje Scindia in the [[Hindi]] language has been written by the writer [[Mridula Sinha]], titled ''Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi'' (there was such a Queen too). A [[Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi|film of the same name]], starring [[Hema Malini]] and based on this latter book, was released in 2017.
Apart from biographies, much has been written in the press and by other writers with the Rajmata as the subject. For instance, [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] devotes a chapter of his collection of travel memoirs, ''[[The Age of Kali]],'' to the Rajmata.


==Ancestry==
==Ancestry==
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|1 = 1. '''Vijaya Raje Scindia'''
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|24 = 24. ''Kaji'' [[Bal Narsingh Kunwar]]
|25 = 25. [[Thapa dynasty|Ganesh Kumari Thapa]]
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==References==
==References==
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<references />


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[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:People from Bhind district]]
[[Category:People from Bhind district]]
[[Category:State funerals in India]]
[[Category:Indian people of Nepalese descent]]
[[Category:Indian people of Nepalese descent]]
[[Category:Women members of the Lok Sabha]]
[[Category:Women members of the Lok Sabha]]
[[Category:Women members of the Rajya Sabha]]
[[Category:Women members of the Rajya Sabha]]

Latest revision as of 14:08, 30 May 2022


Vijaya Raje Scindia
Vijaya Raje Scindia 2001 cover of India crop.png
Scindia on 2001 cover by India Post
Rajmata of Gwalior
Tenure1970–1998
Born(1919-10-12)12 October 1919
Sagar, Central Provinces and Berar, British Raj
Died25 January 2001(2001-01-25) (aged 81)
New Delhi, India
SpouseHH Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia
IssueUsha Raje
Madhavrao Scindia
Vasundhara Raje
Yashodhara Raje
Names
Lekha Divyeshwari Devi
HouseGwalior, India
FatherThakur Mahendra Singh
MotherChuda Devashwari Devi
ReligionHinduism

Vijaya Raje Scindia (12 October 1919 – 25 January 2001), born Lekha Divyeshwari Devi and known popularly as the Rajmata of Gwalior, was a prominent Indian political personality. In the days of the British Raj, as consort of the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jivajirao Scindia, she ranked among the highest royal figures of the land. In later life, she became a politician of considerable influence and was elected repeatedly to both houses of the Indian parliament. She was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Early years[edit]

Vijaya Raje Scindia was born in 1919 at Sagar in present-day Madhya Pradesh, the eldest child of Thakur Mahendra Singh of Kotla State (U.P.), a government officer, by his second wife, Chuda Devashwari Devi.[citation needed] She was named Lekha Divyeshwari Devi at birth. Her father was a deputy collector in the provincial administration. Her mother was the daughter of former Commander-in-chief of the Nepalese Army Commanding-General Raja Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, the nephew of founder of Rana dynasty of Nepal, Jang Bahadur Kunwar Rana. She died at Vijaya Raje's birth. Her brother is Dhyanendra Singh, husband of Maya Singh.[1]

Personal life[edit]

In February 1941,[2] at the age of 22, Lekha was married to Jivajirao Scindia, Maharaja of Gwalior, one of the largest, richest and highest-ranking princely states in India.

Politics[edit]

Vijaya Raje Scindia on a 2001 stamp of India

Vijayaraje was initiated into electoral politics in 1957 when she contested and won the Guna Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh on a Congress ticket. Five years later, she won on a Congress ticket from Gwalior. Later, she quit the Congress and won the Guna seat in 1967 on Swatantra Party's ticket. She soon joined Bharatiya Jan Sangh and resigned from Lok Sabha to take part in state politics. She won the Karera assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh as the Jan Sangh candidate in 1967 and plunged headlong into state politics. Jan Sangh defied the Indira-wave in the 1971 Lok Sabha polls to win 3 seats in Gwalior region – Vijaya Raje Scindia from Bhind, Vajpayee from Gwalior and Madhavrao Scindia from Guna, though he later left the party. Vijayaraje Scindia did not contest Lok Sabha elections in 1977 and 1984 and lost to Indira Gandhi in Rae Bareli in 1980. In 1989, she won from Guna as member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and retained the seat in 1991, 1996 and 1998. She did not contest the elections in 1999 due to old age. She was jailed by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, ultimately sharing a cell with fellow Rajmata and MP, Gayatri Devi, in Tihar Jail. In the 1970s, Vijayraje and her son Madhavrao were involved in a public dispute over property. Animosities heightened due to their differing political ideologies.

Vijayaraje came to the forefront of the BJP leadership in 1980 when she was made one of its vice-presidents. She played a key role in popularizing the party's Ram Janmabhoomi movement and was considered a hardliner. Following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, she had declared that "she could now die without any regret, for she had seen her dream come true."[3] She remained a BJP vice-president until 1998 when she stepped down on health grounds and quit electoral politics. She died in January 2001.

Ancestry[edit]

Ancestors of Vijaya Raje Scindia
4. Thakur Theobaran Singh
2. Thakur Mahendra Singh of Sagar
1. Vijaya Raje Scindia
12. General H.E. Dhir Shamsher Rana
6. General Raja Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana
13. Nanda Kumari Thapa
3. Chuda Divyeshwari Devi
7. Rani Dhan Kumari Rajya Lakshmi Devi

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "The Theory Of Relativity". Outlook India. 30 November 1998. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011.
  2. ↑ Reed, Stanley (1950). The Indian And Pakistan Year Book And Who's Who 1950. Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. p. 684. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "December 6, 1992, a memoir". Rediff.com. 5 December 1997. Retrieved 2 November 2018.

Further reading[edit]

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