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Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala Before independence, the country was ruled by kings and maharajas. They lived in complete splendor. During that time, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of the then Patiala princely state was the most opulent of all Indian royal families.
He was known for his lavish and unique lifestyle. Bhupinder Singh was a Jat Sikh of the Phulkian dynasty who became king in 1891 at the age of nine. These princely states were called Rajwadas. These kings administered their kingdoms themselves. These kings had immense wealth, but the Maharaja of Patiala was unmatched.
Patiala was a prosperous princely state.
Baba Ala Singh established the Patiala state in 1763 after rejecting Mughal rule. Gradually, the Patiala state became stronger with the support of the British government and especially with the support of the British during the 1857 revolution. At that time, there was a lot of farming on the fertile land of Punjab. Due to the taxes received from this, Patiala soon started being counted among the richest princely states of the country.
Amidst British conflicts with Afghanistan, China and the Middle East, the princely state of Patiala once again emerged loyal to British rule. This increased its status in the country as well as abroad. Now let's talk about Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, after the death of his father Maharaja Rajinder Singh, he got the reins of the Patiala princely state at the age of just 9 years. However, he formally took over the reins of the state at the age of 18. He ruled for the next 38 years.
The Maharaja had 350 concubines
Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre write in their book Freedom at Midnight, “Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was a foodie. He used to eat 20 pounds of food a day. He used to eat two chickens for breakfast.” Apart from this, he was also famous for having reportedly 350 wives and being the father of 88 children. Out of his ten marriages, Rajmata Vimala Kaur was his favorite wife. Both of them traveled around the world and made public appearances together.
There was a team of surgeons,
His harem housed 350 women. He hired jewelers, hairstylists and perfumers to show his daughters that he cared about them personally. He also employed a team of French and British plastic surgeons to alter his daughters' appearance to his liking. About Bhupinder Singh, James Sherwood (Henry Poole & Co.) wrote, “In Patiala, it was said that the Maharaja kept his favourites from his harem around his swimming pool so that he could caress them while he swam and drank whisky.”
Cricket Team Captain
Bhupinder Singh was well known as a cricketer and a patron of the sport. He was the captain of the Indian cricket team that toured England in 1911. He played 27 first-class cricket matches between 1915 and 1937. He played as a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club in the 1926–27 season. He was selected to captain India on the first Test tour of England in 1932, but could not go due to ill health two weeks before departure. Bhupinder Singh was a co-founder of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He donated the Ranji Trophy in honour of Kumar Shri Ranjit Singhji, the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar. Bhupinder Singh's cricket and polo teams, the Patiala XI and the Patiala Tigers, were among the best in India.