The Maharaja of Alwar Among Prime Ministers: Douglas Chandor’s 1923 Imperial Conference Painting

A painting dated 1923 by portrait painter Douglas Chandor shows nine gentlemen standing in a conference room. One of the men in the painting is Maharaja Jai Singh Prabhakar (14 June 1882 to 19 May 1937) of the erstwhile princely state of Alwar. The painting, titled Prime Ministers of the Imperial Conference, is an oil on canvas work depicting the leaders present at the 1923 Imperial Conference. It took place at 10 Downing Street, London, in 1923, and was also put on display in 1924 at the British Empire Exhibition.The Maharaja, who became the seventh Maharaja of Alwar at the age of nine, was an accomplished orator and was chosen to represent India at the 1923 Imperial Conference.The painting shows each of the participants sitting or standing around

the table. It includes Stanley Bruce from Australia, Stanley Baldwin from the United Kingdom, and Mackenzie King from Canada, as well as William Massey from New Zealand, Maharaja Jai Singh Prabhakar of Alwar, India, Tej Bahadur Sapru from India, W. T. Cosgrave of Ireland, W. R. Warren of Newfoundland, and General Smuts of South Africa.Read: Prince of Wales Riots of 1921: Empire, Protest, and Unrest in BombayThe Maharaja, who is often called one of the most baffling figures in Indian history, was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer. He took great pride in his infantry regiments and even managed to send them to China during the Boxer trouble. The infantry participated in the relief of Peking, now Beijing, in 1900. “His infantry and cavalry moreover both served at the front during the European War; and in 1919 the Maharaja was awarded the G.C.I.E. in recognition of his war services. He was invested by Lord Curzon in 1903 with certain restrictions on his full powers,” stated the Malaya Tribune in its edition dated 21 May 1937.He was known for his good looks and charm, and would attract attention in every room he entered. But he was also known to be extremely superstitious and would always consult his astrologer before making any move.The Malaya Tribune also stated, “He was essentially a man of moods. On one and the same day, he might indulge in an orgy of religious mysticism and an orgy of self indulgence. He was known to take part in a religious procession in the streets of his capital, walking barefoot in the dust with ashes on his head. The same evening, his palace was the scene of a carouse.”