Tuesday, November 2, 2010

“DARBHANGA RAJ” - Rare Pics

Maharaja Rameshwar Singh with Kameshwar Singh and Visheshwar Singh 


Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh


Maharaja Rameshwar Singh with Kameshwar Singh and Visheshwar Singh


Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh 


Maharaniadhirani Kam Sundari, widow of the late Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh (the last Maharaja of Darbhanga Raj)

History of a Royal Kingdom – “DARBHANGA RAJ”

The broad political impulse after independence was for the ruling Congress Party to eliminate, preferably without compensation, Zamindars – rural intermediaries, who under colonial rule had gained rights over vast tracts of land in many parts of the country, and put into effect a ‘socialist’ Industrial Policy that gave the State a major role in controlling both private (both, through the planning process and a mandate to take over concerns in the public interest) and public industry. Such moves were challenged using the property clause of the Constitution in the courts in a series of cases. For instance, prominent among such cases were - the decision of the Bihar High Court to strike down as unconstitutional the Bihar Management of Estates and Tenures Act, 1949, which was held to violate Articles 19(1)(f) and 314. This judicial threat motivated the First Amendment to the Indian Constitution, which came into being with Parliament passing the First Amendment Act (1951). By this amendment, Articles 31 A, 31 B and the Ninth Schedule were added to the Constitution. Article 31 A permitted the legislation of laws to acquire estates – a term used cover the properties of Zamindars and other categories of revenue farmers, the taking over of property by the State for a limited period either in the ‘public interest’ or to ‘secure the proper management of the property’, amalgamate properties, and extinguish or modify the rights of managers, managing agents, directors, stockholders etc. and those who have licenses or agreements to search or own minerals and oil.