Rani of Mandi 1924 by Lafayette

MANDI, RANI OF
Neg. No: 8269
Neg. Size: 12"x10"
Neg. Date: 24-6-1924

Sitter: Rani Shri Amrit Kaur Sahib, only daughter of Major-General H.H. Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh, Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE, GBE, by his fourth wife, Rani Kanari.

Rani Shri Amrit Kaur Sahib, only daughter of Major-General H.H. Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh, Bahadur, Maharaja of Kapurthala, GCSI, GCIE, GBE, by his fourth wife, Rani Kanari.

She was educated in England and married at Jagatjit Palace, Kapurthala, 5^th February 1923, as his first wife, Colonel H.H. Raja Sir Jogendra Sen Bahadur, Raja of Mandi, KCSI (b. 20^th August 1904), son of Mian Kishan Singh Sahib, of Mandi. She had issue one son and two daughters. The Rani, according to Elisa Vázquez de Gey, died in a concentration camp during the second world war, having been arrested by the Gestapo for an attempt to rescue "a significant number of French Jewish intellectuals."

Vázquez de Gey, Elisa, Die Frau des Maharadschas : Das abenteurliche Leben der Anita Delgado, Kabel, München, 2000 [translation of Anita Delgado : Maharani de Kapurthala, Editorial Planeta, Barcelona, 1998

[p 141] Von Madrid aus verfolgt Anita die Entwicklung der indischen Unabhängigkeitsbewegung mit Abneigung und Neugier. Als sie jedoch mit beinahe einjährigre Verspätung vom Tod der Tochter des Maharadschas von Kapurthala erfährt, die man in einem deutschem Konzentrationslager eingesperrt hatte, bekümmert sie das tief. Amrit Kaur war einst eine gute Freundin der Fürstin [Anita] und hatte ein sehr mitfühlendes Herz. 1940 verkaufte sie ihren ganzen Schmuck, um eine beträchtliche Zahl von jüdischen Intellektuellen aus Frankreich herauszuholen. Die Gestapo nahm sie fest und verschleppte sie in ein Lager, in dem sie nur zwei Jahre überlebte. Ungeachtet aller politischen und diplomatischen Bemühungen gelang es nicht, ihr Leben zu retten.

Date: 24 June 1924.

Occasion: Visit to England 1924; received by King George V and Queen Mary before the third court of the Season, 26 June 1924.

Location: The Lafayette studio, 160 New Bond Street, London.

Descr: TQL standing.

Costume: -

Jewellery: -

Furniture & Props: Painted backdrop.

Photographer: Lafayette Ltd., 160 New Bond Street, London.

Evidence of photographer at work: -

All images of sitter:

Copyright: V&A

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Provenance: Pinewood Studios; acquired 1989.

References:

Biog: Who's Who In India, Bombay, 1938; The Sketch, 21 March 1923, p 576b; The Gentlewoman, 9 July 1924

Occasion: The Times, 27 June 1924, p 19a.

Costume: -

Jewellery: -

Reproduced: The Sketch, 9 July 1924, p 69; The Gentlewoman, 9 July 1924, p 69.

[version: The Lady, 4 September 1924, p 224]

Additional Information: The Rani of Mandi was one of the centrepieces of the November 2002 exhibition at the British Council, New Delhi. Below is a photograph of Nirvana Devi of Bhilka standing in front of an enlargement of her mother, the Rani of Mandi.

Acknowledgements: -