The Gaekwar's Lapse

Until last month, Baroda was a model among Indian states. The old Maharaja, the late great Sayaji Rao, Gaekwar of Baroda, put through more social legislation than any other native prince could boast. He made his grandson and heir, 35-year-old Maharaja Pratap Singh Gaekwar, study statecraft from childhood, taught him to admire progress and respect the law.

Soon after he ascended the throne in 1939 the young Maharaja approved a bill outlawing polygamy. With his Maharani, Shantadevi, and their eight children, he lived quietly in Baroda. Then the Gaekwar met a lissome young beauty named Sitadevi at a race track in Madras. Between them stood 1) Baroda's hard-won reputation; 2) the fact that Sitadevi, a Hindu, was already married, could not be divorced under Hindu law.

Sitadevi embraced Mohammedanism, got a divorce. She and her suitor sped to Bombay at New Year's, married quietly after Sitadevi had resumed her Hindu faith. In Baroda, the Gaekwar's subjects talked of asking him to abdicate.

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