The king of Kutch, Maharao Pragmulji III, passed away due to Covid-19 related complications on May 28, aged 85. India’s largest district, Kutch has seen a surge in Covid cases over the past couple of months, sparing neither subject nor sovereign. The last of a long line of kings, Pragmulji was a part of Kutch’s rich history and legacy – which now recedes into history.
While the country struggled through the lockdown last year, Kutch was one of the first districts to open up, having been listed as a “green zone.” Made resilient through everyday hardships, the Kutchi people had managed to avoid the worst of the first wave. As this year’s second wave blazes through India’s last villages in Kutch, it is this resilience that is being tested.
Draped in Kutch’s state emblem, the last king was sent off with state honours and cremated as per Covid guidelines. Kutch remained a princely state until 1948 when it acceded to India. It was incorporated first into Bombay in 1956 and then Gujarat in 1960. Having been a strategic vantage point, Kutch was at the cusp of transcontinental movements towards west Asia and Africa. The Maharao and Maharani had no children. The king left his estate to various trusts.
Even today, some of India’s largest ports are in Kutch, and serve as essential conduits for receiving crucial emergency medical aid coming from various parts of the world. Pragmulji saw Kutch through the devastating earthquake of 2001 as well as its rise, like a phoenix, to one of India’s most industrialised and profitable districts.
One of his notable contributions was the restoration of Prag Mahal and Aaina Mahal in Bhuj at his own expense post the earthquake of 2001. Kutch has been home to several cultures with people from various trades, communities and religions. It is this deep sense of syncretism and cosmopolitanism that Pragmulji was known to be committed to preserving, just as his forefathers had done.
