Biography
He was a hedonistic spend thrift who had a tendency to squander his state's money. He had inherited an estate that was conservatively valued in excess of $300 million (in 1939 dollars), which included an assortment of jewelry estimated value of $15 million. He went on a 1948 six-week tour of the United States, where he and his second wife were welcomed into the salons of high society. They spent a reported $10 million during their visit to America. The Indian Union did an audit of Baroda's treasury after the widely read news reports. The audit concluded that the Maharaja had taken several inappropriate interest free loans from Baroda's treasury. He agreed to pay the money back in yearly installments from his eight million dollar income.
When India gained its independence from Britain, it also sought to absorb the princely states. This was a thorny issue, as technically the Princes were independent rulers and their states were private domains. The British withdrawal from India left a vacuum, with the British releasing the princes from their subsidiary alliances. However, most were militarily weak, and pressure from the new Indian Union resulted in the maharajas and other princes acceding their dominions to the one of the new countries of India and Pakistan. Pratap Singh was so distraught after he signed the Instrument of Accession for Baroda that he wept in the arms of V. P. Menon.
Read more about this topic: Pratap Singh Gaekwad
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