Nripendra Narayan
Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur (1863–1911) was Maharaja of Koch Bihar, India.[1][2]
Early life
Nripendra Narayan was only ten months old when his father Maharaja Narendra Narayan of Cooch Behar died in 1863. He was crowned as the king in the same year. Since he was still an infant the administration was handed over to the Commissioner appointed by the British Governor General.[3]
He studied law at Presidency College, Calcutta and then at Benaras and Patna University. In 1878 he married Suniti Devi, a daughter of Maharshi Keshab Chandra Sen of Calcutta. Immediately after marriage he left for England for higher studies.[3]
He was the father of four sons and three daughters namely - Rajendra Narayan, Jitendra Narayan, Victor Nityendra Narayan, Hitendra Narayan and daughters Pratibha Devi, Sudhira Devi and Sukriti Devi. [4][5] Of his sons Rajendra Narayan and Jitendra Narayan later became the Maharajas of Cooch Behar. Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur and Maharajkumari Ila Devi of Tripura were daughters of his son Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur.
Work
He banned the practice of slave-keeping (Kritadas Pratha) by law in 1884. In the year 1888, for the betterment of higher studies in his own state, he established the Victoria College now known as A.B.N. Seal College. Further, in the name of his queen, Suniti Devi, he set up a girls school called Suniti College in 1881 which was later named Suniti Academy. In 1883 he constructed the Nripendra Narayan Hall in Jalpaiguri city and in 1887 granted land for the construction of the Lewis Jubilee Sanitarium in Darjeeling.[4]
Titles and styles
Titles
1887 - Grand Commander of Most Eminent Order on the occasion of his attending the jubilee celebration of Queen Victoria.
Full style
Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Maharaja Sir Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, GCIE, CB