Indira, Maharanee of Cooch Behar (1892-1968), Socialite

Sitter in 6 portraits
Indira was the daughter of the Gaekwar and Maharani of Baroda. With the support of her mother, she opposed the Purdah system. She married Maharaj Kumar Jitendra Narayan of Cooch Behar in London in 1913. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s she was one of the leading social figures in Anglo-British Society. Feted for her striking good looks, the Maharani popularised the wearing of saris as a mode of dress in London. One of her three children became the Maharani of Jaipur and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for having achieved the largest-ever personal majority in the 1962 Indian General Election, winning 157,692 of the 192,909 votes cast.