Prince of Gujarat: The Extraordinary Story of Prince Gopaldas Desai (1887-1951)

Bestselling author Rajmohan Gandhi recreates in vivid and moving detail the life and times of a leader of supreme honesty and unalloyed patriotism who also battled against the hierarchies of Indian society. With the surge of interest in personalities from Gujarat not least because of the election of the controversial Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India there is no better time for a biography of a great son of Gujarat and one of Indias forgotten heroes. Born in 1887 into a clan of princely Patels Darbar (or Prince) Gopaldas was not only a beloved and just ruler of the people of his tiny state in Saurashtra he was an active and courageous participant in the struggle for Indias freedom and for social justice. Championing Dalit rights long before that became acceptable he declared when his wife Bhaktilaxmi was pregnant with their last child that if it was a girl he would marry her to a Dalit boy he stood out also for his concern for Gujarats Muslim minority and for his defence of womens rights. Egalitarian at a time when rulers measured status by the capacity to humiliate their subjects he was quick to give up his life of privilege when it became necessary. After he joined the freedom movement in 1920 his life as a prince rapidly became a distant memory with no fixed abode he and his family would shuttle between prisons ashrams and the homes of well-wishers. Remarkably although he grew close to Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel he spurned high office for himself choosing instead to raise and mentor others including four who became chief ministers as well as Tribhuvandas Patel who founded the famous milk cooperative that made Amul possible. In this biography bestselling author Rajmohan Gandhi uses letters rare documents personal accounts and historical narratives to recreate in vivid and moving detail the life and times of a leader of supreme honesty and unalloyed patriotism who a hundred years ago also battled as a prince against the hierarchies of Indian society.