The Indian Biographical Dictionary (1915)/Balrampur, Maharaja of; Hon’ble Maharaja Sir Bhagwat Prasad Singh
Balrampur, Maharaja of; Hon’ble Maharaja Sir Bhagwat Prasad Singh, K.C.I.E.; born, 1879; adopted by late Maharani Indra Kunwar, senior widow of late Maharaja Digbijai Singh Bahadur, K.C.S.I., of Balarampur, 1883; educated privately under English and Indian tutors; married, 1833, but having had no male issues, married again in 1909; second wife died, 1911; assumed active management of the State, July 1900; received personal distinction of Maharaja, 1900; K.C.I.E., 1906; title of Maharaja made hereditary, 1909. His family claims descent from the celebrated Pandava hero, Arjuna. of Mahabharata fame. Bariar Sah was the founder of the family. Raja Digbijai Singh, predecessor of the present Maharaja, was a staunch friend of the British Government. He rendered signal service during the Mutiny of 1857. His death was caused by a fall from an elephant while engaged in a tiger shooting expedition, and the present Maharaja was taken in adoption by his widow. He gave three lakhs of rupees for the enlargement and reconstitution of the Lucknow Canning College; three lakhs towards the Lucknow Medical College; one lakh towards the All India Victoria Memorial Fund; one lakh for charity to the poor at the time of his installation; Rs. 20,000 to the Allahabad Exhibition Fund; etc. Organised relief measures during the famine of 1907-08 and fed 20,000 persons, undertook seventy unaided works and maintained two poor houses at a cost of over five lakhs; President of the British Indian .Association of Oudh, Member, Legislative Council U.P.; Honorary Fellow, Allahabad University; Honorary Magistrate; Chairman, Balrampur Municipality; premier nobleman and leader of the 'Barons of Oudh'. His estates comprise more than a thousand villages these being situated in the districts of Gonda, Bahraich and Lucknow. In all they cover an area of 1,300 square miles. The Maharaja maintains more than a hundred elephants. Publications: An account of Balrampur and Khedda, in Urdu, 1904-5; Recreations: Cricket, tennis, billiards, chess, motoring and tiger shooting. Address: The Palace, Balrampur, (Gonda); also Khurshed Baugh, Lucknow; and Ivy Park, Naini Tal.