Malhar Rao Gaikwar

Malhar Rao Gaekwad was the eleventh Maharaja of Baroda State reigning from 1870 to 1875.

Early life and family Malhar Rao Gaekwad was born in 1831 to Sayajirao Gaekwad II. He was married twice: first to Mhalsa Bai and then to Lakshmi Bai. From these marriages, he had two sons, Vyankatrao and Jayasinhrao.

Reign Malhar Rao regularly spent money on prostitutes, nearly emptying the Baroda coffers (he commissioned a pair of solid gold cannons and a carpet of pearls, among other expenses) and reports soon reached the Resident of Malhar Rao's gross tyranny and cruelty. Malharrao further attempted to cover up his deeds by poisoning the British Resident at Baroda, Robert Phayre, brother of Lieutenant General Arthur Purves Phayre with a compound of arsenic allegedly, as the case was only proven by the British and Supreme government of India. By order of the Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury, Malharrao was deposed on 10 April 1875 and exiled to Madras, where he died in obscurity in 1882.