The practice of polygamy was prevalent among the Indian aristocracy. Maharajas often had more than one wife, a norm perhaps born out of political necessity and the desire for male heirs.
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh (1891–1938) of the erstwhile princely state of Patiala had 10 wives and 350 concubines. The Maharaja, who gave the world the famous Patiala peg, is said to have fathered 88 children, 52 of whom survived. His favourite queen was Maharani Sri Bakhtawar Kaur Sahiba.
Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II (1833–1880), of the princely state of Jaipur is said to have married 10 times. As Laura Weinstein notes in Exposing the Zenana: Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II’s Photographs of Women in Purdah, in 1853, the Maharaja initially intended to marry the daughter of the Maharaja of Rewa, despite custom dictating that he wed the daughter of the Maharaja of Jodhpur first. However, under British pressure, he altered his plans and married Rathorji Chand Kanwarji, the eldest daughter of Maharaja Takht Singh of Jodhpur. He later took several more wives, including two other daughters of Maharaja Takht Singh and Janak Kanwar, daughter of Maharaja Vishvanath Singh of Rewa, as his fifth queen.
Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala (1872–1949) had six wives, including a Spanish flamenco dancer named Anita Delgado, who adopted the Sikh faith and was renamed Maharani Prem Kaur.
Read: The Legacy Of The Patiala Peg And How A Maharaja Used It To Beat The British At Cricket
It is said that Bappa Rawal, the 8th-century king of Marwar, married 140 women. Raja Udai Singh of Marwar (1538–1595) had 27 wives and reportedly fathered at least 52 children.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), the founder and first ruler of the Sikh Empire, had 20 wives. “He had 20 marriages — 10 of these were by traditional ceremony and included five Sikh, three Hindu, and two Muslim ladies. A further 10 marriages took place by the chaddar ceremony, which included seven Sikh and three Hindu ladies (Maharani Jinda being one of them). In addition to this, his harem contained 23 other ladies, taking the total to 43 in all,” reports The Telegraph India in an article published in 2010.
After his death, four of his Hindu wives performed sati, the ancient practice where a widow immolates herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.
Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of Maratha empire had eight wives.
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