Recalling a visionary ruler

June 5, 2025 marks the 100th death anniversary of a visionary Indian ruler who was referred to as the "leader amongst princes" by Maharaja Kishen Singh of Bharatpur and "Indian Carnegie" by the Times of India in 1926.

- ARUNANSH B. GOSWAMI

The author is referring to none other than Maharaja Madho Rao Scindia of Gwalior, lovingly known as Madho Maharaja, who passed away on June 5, 1925 in Paris.

About him, the founder of Benaras Hindu University, Madan Mohan Malviya (Bharat Ratna) wrote, "Since His Highness came to the Gaddi, the progress achieved by his administration has been very great. He has shown a truly fatherly solicitude in the welfare of the people entrusted to his loving care and, as we all know, has never spared himself in promoting that welfare. The success achieved by His Highness as the ruler of a great state has rightly won for him the respect and admiration of all who have followed the progress of the state under His Highness."

During the 1922 non-cooperation movement, Scindia sent to Mahatma Gandhi an oral message through his Home Minister, Sadashivarao Pawar of Dewas Jr., conveying his affectionate regards plus a box containing a large amount of money as his donation to the struggle against the British. Gwalior, as we know, is his creation and his alone.

The Maharani Laxmi Bai Government College of Excellence (MLBGCE) Gwalior, Jai Arogya Hospital, Hotel de Gwalior (which now serves as the NCC Officers' Training Academy), the Scindia School, Delhi Transport Corporation and the town of Shivpuri are all enduring memorials of Maharaja Madho Rao Scindia.

He was the founder of the Gwalior Light Railway, the Gwalior Engineering Works, Gwalior Potteries, Central Polytechnic Institute at Lashkar, textile institutes at Narwar, Mandsaur and Chanderi, a technical institution at Ujjain, and the excellent roads that connected the distant parts of Scindia State that was almost equal in size to Belgium and Netherlands combined.