India Covid crisis: Maharaja of Kutch dies at 85, title may cease to exist

Gujarat - The Maharaja did not name an heir apparent, which could mean that the ceremonial title would end.

The Maharaja of Kutch, Maharrao Pragmalji III, was laid to rest on Friday. The titular head of the Jadeja dynasty passed away due to Covid at age 85.

According to The Indian Express, the Maharaja and his wife, Maharani Priti Devi, had no children. The Maharaja did not name an heir apparent either, leading to the possibility that the ceremonial title of the rulers of Kutch (which ceded to the Indian union in 1948) may cease to exist after a thousand year-dynasty.

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The couple was hospitalised with Covid three weeks ago.

“Maharani is out of hospital but still recovering,” said Pratapsinh Jadeja, the late Maharaja’s nephew.

“The Maharrao had willed that the title should cease to exist with him,” claims Krutarthsinh Jadeja, the Thakoresaheb of Devpur, a principality of the erstwhile Kutch state. He is a distant relative of the late Maharrao Pragmalji III.

“It does not matter now as we are also commoners. Our grandfather, Maharrao Madansinhji, was the last ruler of Kutch,” said Pratapsinh, who confirmed that there would be a successor to the throne, as it cannot be left vacant.

Born Prithvirajji on May 3, 1936, the late Maharaja was the oldest of five children. He is survived by a brother, sister and his wife the Maharani, who was an erstwhile Princess of Tripura when they married in 1957.

• India