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{{Short description|Maharaja of Darbhanga from 1860–1898}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name = Lakshmeshwar Singh
| title = Maharaja of Darbhanga
| image = Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh statue - Kolkata.JPG
| reign = 1860–1898
| coronation =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| predecessor = [[Raj Darbhanga#Rulers |Maharaja Maheshwar Singh]]
| successor = Maharaja [[Rameshwar Singh]]
| spouse =
| issue =
| royal house = [[Raj Darbhanga]]
| father = [[Raj Darbhanga#Rulers |Maheshwar Singh Bahadur]]
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Darbhanga]]
| death_date = 1898
| death_place =
| place of last rites =
|}}

[[Maharaja]] [[Sir]] '''Lakshmeshwar Singh, Maharaja of Darbhanga''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|GCIE}} (25 September 1858 – 16 November 1898) was the [[Maithil Brahmin|Maithali Brahmin]] [[Zamindar]] and principal landowner of [[Raj Darbhanga|Darbhanga]] in the [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] region, presently in the state of [[Bihar]], India. His philanthropic works, administrative abilities and management of his estate ([[Raj Darbhanga]]) were highly appreciated and led to development of his estate.

==Biography==
Lakshmeshwar Singh was the eldest son of Maharaja Maheshwar Singh of Darbhanga, who died when Lakshmeshwar was aged two. The [[British Raj]] placed the estate of Darbhanga under the control of the [[Court of Wards (India)|Court of Wards]] because the heirs to the estate were minors.{{cn|date=October 2023}} One of his tutors was a Scottish-Englishman, Chester Macnaghten until his majority, then became the founding principle of the [[Rajkumar College, Rajkot]].


For the next 19 years, until he attained majority, he was caught in political one-upmanship between his mother, who was supported by family priests, and the Tutors appointed by the British Government, who wanted him to be free from ''Zenana'' influence. He along with his younger brother Rameshwar Singh (who became Maharaja of Darbhanga after Lakshmeshwar Singh's death) received a western education from Government appointed tutors as well as a traditional Indian education from a [[Sanskrit]] [[Pandit]], one of his uncles, a [[Maulvi]] and a Bengali gentleman. During the period when Lakshmeshwar Singh was under the guardianship of the Court of Wards, he received a monthly allowance of [[Rupee|Rs.]] 5 a month even though the annual income of his estate was equivalent to a six-digit figure in pounds sterling. {{cn|date=October 2023}}

On attaining his majority, Lakshmeshwar Singh devoted himself entirely to public duties of his position. He was appointed and served as a Member of the Legislative Council of the Viceroy.{{cn|date=October 2023}} He was also one of nine members of the [[Royal Commission on Opium]] of 1895, formed by the British Government. [[Haridas Viharidas Desai]], the Diwan of [[Junagadh]], was the only other Indian member.<ref>Royal Opium Commission, First Report of the Royal Commission on Opium: with Minutes of Evidence and Appendices, Eyre & Spottiswolde for HM Stationery Office, 1895</ref>

In 1875, Tirhut Railway was one such privately-owned train service which was introduced by Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh of Darbhanga way back in 1874 to serve the drought-hit general public in North Bihar. It is also known as the first private train of the country. [[Railway Line]] opened in [[Darbhanga]] between [[Mokama]] and Darbhanga by Local King [[Lakshmeshwar Singh]] of [[Raj Darbhanga]] through [[Tirhut Railway]]. <ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.etvbharat.com/english/state/bihar/palace-on-wheel-darbhangas-glorious-railway-history-lies-in-ruins/na20191026121137569|title=Darbhanga's once glorious railway history, now lies in ruins
|date=26 October 2019|newspaper=[[ETV Baharat]]|access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref>
Lakshmeshwar Singh championed freedom of speech, personal and political rights. In 1898, he and W. C. Banerjee, were the only prominent Indians to publicly criticise and fight against the proposed widening of scope of section 124-A and 153-A of the Indian Penal Code that was meant to suppress freedom of press in reporting news that could be deemed seditious in nature or against Government policy and insertion of section 108 in Indian Penal Code that gave right to postal authorities to seize any material that was suspected of containing matter obnoxious to section 124-A and 153-A of [[Indian Penal Code]].<ref>All India Political Parties, (major groups, A-Z) at page 244. Author – O. P. Ralhan</ref>{{full|date=October 2023}}

Lakshmeshwar Singh died on 17 December 1898. He did not have any children and thus his younger brother, Rameshwar Singh, succeeded him as Maharaja.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

==Public charity==
[[File:Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh, 1888.jpg|thumb|Lithograph Print of Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh published in ''Graphic Magazine'', December 1888.]]
He built an Anglo-vernacular school at a cost of £1490, which he maintained, as well as nearly thirty vernacular schools of different grades; and subsidised a much larger number of educational institutions.<ref>Non—fictional Indian prose in English, 1960–1990 By Hetukar Jha, Sahitya Akademi</ref>

The Maharaja was also one of the founders of [[Indian National Congress]] as well as one of the main financial contributor thereto.<ref>A Centenary history of the Indian National Congress, 1885–1985, Volume 1 by B. N. Pande, Indian National Congress (I). All India Congress Committee</ref>

==Other information==
On the occasion of the [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Golden Jubilee of Great Queen Victoria]], Lakshmeshwar Singh was created a [[Order of the Indian Empire|Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire]], being promoted to Knight Grand Commander in 1887.<ref>A Golden Book of India – A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Nobles and Other Personages, Titled or Decorated, of the Indian Empire. Author – Sir Roper Lethbridge. First published 1893.</ref>

The British Governor{{who|date=December 2013}} commissioned [[Edward Onslow Ford]] to make a statue of Lakshmeshwar Singh. This is installed at [[Dalhousie Square]] in [[Kolkata]].<ref>''A Handbook for Travellers in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon'' at Page 121. Author – [[Laurence Frederic Rushbrook Williams]]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Maharaja Lakshmeshwar}}
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:1858 births]]
[[Category:1898 deaths]]
[[Category:Maharajas of Darbhanga]]
[[Category:Indian knights]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:People from British India]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian royalty]]
[[Category:19th-century philanthropists]]

Lakshmeshwar Singh - Revision history

FlorenciaMacDevi at 00:20, 9 February 2026