Mithila Society and Maithili Language
The Kings of Raj Darbhanga were Maithil Brahmin by caste. Mithila was a centre of knowledge from time immemorial, and the kings promoted knowledge, arts, and crafts in every possible manner. This has had a profound effect on society of Mithila. Even today, a person's social standing is considered more by his knowledge than by any wealth he has acquired.
The Maharajas of Darbhanga and Darbhanga Raj were looked upon as the embodiment of Mithila and the Maithili language by people in the region. The Maharaja was the hereditary head of Maithil Mahasabha, a writers' organisation. Maharaja and Raj Darbhanga played a prominent role in the revival of the Maithili language and its literature.
Maharaja Kameshwar Singh was a nationalist, and espoused the cause of the Hindi language along with Maithili. This caused anguish to the leaders of the Maithili movement. Maharaja Kameshwar Singh called for the people to start using Devanagari script rather than tirhuta script for writing in Maithili. Today, people write Maithili using the Devanagari script and efforts are being made to revive the Tirhuti script. In 1931, the then Maharaja of Darbhanga, Kameshwar Singh Bahadur, made an endowment of Rs. One lakh to Patna University to create a Maithili development fund. This had the desired result of a spurt in literary activities and publications, and ultimately the language came to be recognized in the field of higher education in 1937.
The views of Maharaja Kameshwar Singh did not gain popularity with the people except for the call to use the Devanagri script. He effectively became the leader of a small elite group having a pan-nationalistic agenda rather than a popular king of the masses. He lost in the general election in Bihar in 1952 despite being one of the biggest philanthropists and progressive-minded kings in pre-independence India.
A former Secretary of Maithil Mahasabha said Darbhanga Kameshwar Singh "was a great nationalist, one of the founders of Indian National Congress. Now he worked for national integration. So he removed the claim of Maithili itself and fought for Hindi. We have a script of our own, but when he established a printing press here, he established a Hindi printing press. A great contribution to national integration but a loss for Mithila."
Maharaja Kameshwar Singh published Mithila Mihir, a Maithili periodical, starting in 1908. Mithila Mihir was published by Newspaper and Publications Pvt. Ltd, by one of the companies owned by Raj Darbhanga. Publication of Mithila Mihir was continued until the 1980s and intermittently thereafter. Maharaja Kameshwar Singh made a provision in his will for its continued publication.
Read more about this topic: Raj Darbhanga
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