Indian nationalism is often narrated as a struggle between empire and resistance. But scattered across the subcontinent were princely states that quietly experimented with modernity—sometimes more boldly than British India itself. Among these, Baroda, Mysore, Travancore, and Kolhapur stand out.
They were not alike.
They did not fund the same people.
They did not imagine India’s future in the same way.
Together, they form a comparative laboratory of Indian modernity.
Baroda: The Republic of Talent (Sayajirao Gaekwad III)
If Baroda were an idea, it would be this: talent over tradition.
Under Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III (r. 1875–1939), Baroda became the most intellectually radical of princely states.
What made Baroda unique
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Compulsory primary education (first in India)
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State-funded overseas scholarships
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Explicit anti-caste commitments
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Protection of radicals and dissidents
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Merit-based appointments
Who Baroda backed
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Swami Vivekananda — financial and diplomatic support
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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar — funded education abroad + state employment
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Sri Aurobindo — Vice Principal, Baroda College
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Rabindranath Tagore — early patronage
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Romesh Chunder Dutt — Diwan
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Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Inayat Khan — court musicians
Ambedkar’s gratitude is telling:
“I owe my education and whatever intellectual equipment I possess to the generosity of the Maharaja of Baroda.”
Baroda did not merely reform society; it invested in people who would later challenge the nation itself.
Mysore: The Technocratic State (Wodeyars + Diwans)
If Baroda was intellectual, Mysore was institutional.
Under rulers like Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and visionary Diwans such as Sir M. Visvesvaraya, Mysore became India’s most efficiently governed princely state.
Mysore’s strengths
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Infrastructure-first modernization
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Scientific temper and engineering
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Industrial and educational institutions
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Early representative bodies
Landmark achievements
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Krishnarajasagar Dam
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Mysore University (1916) — first in India founded by a princely state
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State-led industrialization
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Planning decades before Nehru
Visvesvaraya famously declared:
“Industrialize or perish.”
What Mysore did not do
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Did not strongly challenge caste hierarchies
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Did not patronize ideological radicals
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Preferred order, expertise, and gradual reform
Mysore built the hardware of modern India; Baroda built its software.
Travancore: Social Reform from Above (Kerala Model Before Kerala)
Travancore’s modernity was moral and social, rooted in religious reform and public welfare.
Rulers like Ayilyam Thirunal and Sree Chithira Thirunal pursued state-sponsored social transformation, often influenced by reform movements.
Defining reforms
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Temple Entry Proclamation (1936) — revolutionary for caste equality
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Massive investment in education and health
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Early welfare orientation
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Support for vernacular education
The Temple Entry Proclamation declared:
“No Hindu shall be denied access to temples on grounds of caste.”
Limitations
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Less emphasis on radical intellectual patronage
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Reform remained paternalistic
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Fewer global or nationalist figures directly employed
Travancore reformed society; Baroda empowered its critics.
Kolhapur: The Anti-Caste State (Shahu Maharaj)
If one state comes closest to Baroda in social courage, it is Kolhapur under Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (r. 1894–1922).
Shahu Maharaj was openly influenced by Jyotiba Phule and shared Baroda’s anti-Brahminical ethos.
Radical policies
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Reservations for non-Brahmins (decades before independence)
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State support to Satyashodhak movement
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Patronage of B. R. Ambedkar in his early years
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Attacks on ritual hierarchy
Shahu Maharaj famously said:
“Religion is for man, not man for religion.”
Where Kolhapur differed from Baroda
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Smaller state, fewer institutions
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Less global cultural reach
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More explicitly political, less cosmopolitan
Kolhapur fought caste directly; Baroda undermined it structurally.
A Comparative Snapshot
| State | Core Strength | Style of Modernity | Signature Legacy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baroda | Intellectual patronage | Radical, meritocratic | Vivekananda, Ambedkar, Aurobindo |
| Mysore | Administration & planning | Technocratic | Infrastructure, industry |
| Travancore | Social reform | Welfare-oriented | Temple Entry, education |
| Kolhapur | Anti-caste politics | Confrontational | Reservations, Phule-Ambedkar tradition |
Why Baroda Still Stands Apart
All four states were progressive.
Only one bet repeatedly on people who would unsettle the nation.
Baroda funded:
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A monk who globalized Vedanta
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A Dalit who rewrote Indian law
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A revolutionary who reimagined spirituality
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Artists who carried Indian culture abroad
It did so without demanding loyalty, orthodoxy, or silence.
That is why Baroda’s influence is disproportionately large.
Conclusion: India’s Lost Futures
Independent India inherited institutions from Mysore, welfare instincts from Travancore, anti-caste politics from Kolhapur, and constitutional morality from Baroda’s protégés.
But it did not fully inherit Baroda’s courage to fund dissent.
Perhaps that is the real tragedy.
Empires fall. Ideas endure.
Baroda understood that earlier than most.
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