#indian royals

[arjuna-vallabha]

Ganpat Rao, Gaekwar of Baroda (r.1847-1856)

[southasianacademiaesthetics]

When they say a girl is another girl's greatest enemy, they forget to mention the royal wives sitting in the common courtyard of the Zanana Khana on a summer afternoon, adorning each other's hair with small jasmine flowers their handmaidens collected from the royal gardens. They forget to tell you about the unnamed wives who cared not for earning favour from the king rather cared for the family they got in the form of his other wives.

I'd like to imagine these women sending each other a part of the presents sent to them by an envoy of a foreign land. I'd like to imagine them doing last minute checks for each other before one of them leaves to visit her parents for the first time as a bride. I'd like to imagine them sending each other quirky letters in a secret language only they understand. I like to imagine them as sisters, as best friends, as a family rather than rivals in marriage.

[al--sheikha]

Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, the 9th and last Maharaja of Patiala

[vintageindianclothing]

Most paintings of Indira Devi are of her as a young woman [X,X], today’s portrait by Xu  Beihong dates to 1940 and captures the Maharani at an older stage in life. The plain border sari is quite similar to representations by other Chinese painters.

[southasianacademiaesthetics]

Visiting your ancestral home as a kid and not being able to sleep at night. You think you hear anklet-bound feet running from one corner of the house to the other.

Clutching the sheets tight with eyes screwed shut, not knowing what you would see if you opened them. Fear soon lulls you to sleep and the sounds drown out of your slumbering mind.

Waking up in the morning, crying to your parents. They laugh and tell you it was crickets you were so afraid of. You are relieved and enjoy the rest of the day, only to feel the same fear clawing at your stomach.

You never know it could be your grandmother's grandmother running around...

[aristo-men]

Maharajkumar Ranajay Chand of Rajpipla

[newsyaari]

Richest Royal families of India Over the decades, Royal families in India have transformed their ancestral assets and wealth into blossoming businesses and therefore, continue to live a life of luxury. Source link

[vintageindianclothing]

Maharajkumari Hemant Kanwarji Sahiba of Dungarpur looking quite boss in a costume usually worn by princes. I think this is an achkan and paijama. 

Her sister (presumably) in a similar costume.