H. H. the Raja Saheb of Dewas Junior with his Durbar, circa 1890

A fine late 19th century photograph titled H H the Rajah Saheb Narayan Rao Puar of Dewas & Durbar or court. The group portrait measures 10.5 x 8 inches and it is mounted on an old album card leaf. The card is brittle and has missing areas the and photograph would benefit from being backed by fresh card. There are several small pin sized holed through the photograph and card but only three occur in a figure and those are on the fringe of the group. This is the ruler of the Junior branch of Dewas, a small state in the Indore area of Central India, who was born in 1860 and succeeded to the gadi in 1864. He was entitled to a 15 gun salute, Like other states of Maratha origin he wears the very distinctive butterfly turban. The Raja wears two large medals which were given by the British, the oval medal marking the royal visit of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales [later Edward VII] in 1875 and the circular medal of the Empress of India given on the occasion of the Imperial Assemblage of 1877 in Delhi when the Viceroy Lord Lytton announced the Queen’s assumption of that title. jun21/2