Jagaddipendra Narayan
Last ruling Maharaja of Cooch Behar from 1922–1949
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Through World War II, Government of India and Assam
Life
Early life
He was born at Cooch Behar Palace as the eldest son of Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, by his wife, Maharani Indira Devi Sahiba. He was informally known as 'Bhaiya' and was the brother of Gayatri Devi.
He was educated at St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne, Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, and also at the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun. He became the Maharaja of Cooch Behar at the age of seven on the death of his father on 20 December 1922 and ascended the gadi, on 24 December 1922. He reigned under the Regency of his mother until he came of age.
Comes of age
He came of age and was invested with full ruling powers on 6 April 1936.
As maharaja he was a member of the Standing Committee of the Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal).
World War II
He served with the British Indian Army in World War II in North Africa, Assam, Burma, and South East Asia. He was present at the time of the Japanese surrender at Singapore in 1945. He was Chief Commandant Cooch Behar Military forces from 1943 to 1949, and Colonel-in-Chief 1st Cooch Behar Infantry and Rajendra Hazari Guards, Jaipur State Forces.
Post war
He signed the instrument of accession to the Dominion of India in August 1947 and ceded full ruling powers to the Government of India on 12 September 1949, overseeing the merger of his state with West Bengal on 1 January 1950.
While participating in a polo game at Jaipur in 1966 the horse he was riding on fell and rolled on him. His helmet came off, leading to brain damage and weeks in intensive care. He never fully recovered and was forced to spend the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair and needing constant medical attention. Narayan died of a heart attack in Calcutta at the age of 54 on 11 April 1970. Pg 149
As Narayan had no children he adopted his nephew Virajendra Narayan, the son of Indrajit Narayan and Kamala Devi as his heir.
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Personal life
In 1949 he privately married American actress Nancy Valentine at Cooch Behar. A daughter was born but did not survive and the couple separated in 1952.
While attending the opening night of a club in Mayfair he met Valerie Mewes who was a protégé of Stephen Ward and was immediately attracted to her. The next day Nayagan dined with her and Ward at the Les Ambassadeurs Club, a private club and casino in London. He afterwards purchased all the flowers in the shop at the Dorchester Hotel and sent them to Mewes. Within a month she had moved into an apartment in Upper Berkeley Street, paid for by the Maharaja. At his request she dyed her natural blond hair to black. On the evening of 16 July 1953 Narayan and Mewes were travelling in his Bentley from the Newmarket races back to London when it collided with a truck near Baldock in Hertfordshire. She received concussion and leg injuries while Narayan broke his collarbone and five ribs. Both were treated in Lister Hospital in Hitchin. At some point Narayan proposed marriage to her, knowing his formidable mother would be strongly opposed, as would the rest of his family and he ran the risk of losing his title and privy purse. Ward advised Mewes against accepting, as he felt that she would not like the restrictions imposed by palace life in India and that Narayan would end up blaming her if he lost the privy purse. Mewes turned down the proposal but the couple retained their close informal relationship.
In London on 16 September 1956 Narayan privately married model Georgina May Eganwho was 15 years his junior. Narayan kept the marriage secret from his mother as he was afraid of her reaction and it wasn’t until news of the marriage appeared on 6 August 1959 when the Daily Express published details of it while his mother was in Mumbai. She immediately fell ill. As soon as she well enough she asked that he annul the marriage. When Narayan refused and moved his new wife into the palace at Cooch Behan, his mother moved out, permanently.
After the marriage was made public Narayan's wife was recognised as Maharani together with the style of Her Highness in January 1960.
Cricket
He was a keen cricketer and captained the Bengal Cricket XI.
Honours
(ribbon bar, as it would look today, incomplete)
- King George V Silver Jubilee Medal – 1935
- King George VI Coronation Medal – 1937
- 1939–1945 Star – 1945
- Burma Star – 1945
- Africa Star – 1945
- Pacific Star – 1945
- War Medal 1939–1945 – 1945
- India Service Medal – 1945
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) – 1947
- Indian Independence Medal – 1947
- Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal – 1953