Highlights
- A Maharaja who relinquished his throne and crown for the love of his Australian wife.
- Molly Fink met a near-death experience in India where someone attempted to poison her.
- Martanda Bhairava lived in Australia from 1916 to 1919
Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman was crowned at the age of eleven.
Being a minor, the regency was headed by a Diwan.
“Pudukkottai is an erstwhile princely state located in Tamil Nadu, sandwiched between the districts of Madurai and Tanjore, currently in the district of Tiruchirappalli”, Amita Roy, a Research Fellow at the Indian Council of Historical Research told SBS Hindi.
Since Martanda Todaiman was a minor the British government in India appointed a senior courtier to look after the administration and the young king was tutored privately by a well-known British tutor who was a Cambridge alumnus.
“The Raja was westernised in his outlook and beliefs and he preferred someone western or very liberal who could match his beliefs and views (as a partner)”, Ms Roy says.
Martanda assumed the reins of the kingdom in November 1894 when he became an adult.
Martanda attended the Coronation Darbar in 1903 as well as the coronation of King George V in the Westminister Abbey in 1911.
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Raja Martanda Tondaiman was invited as a Vice-Regal guest to Australia in 1915 where he met Esther Mary Fink or Molly Fink who was a fashion icon and a socialite of Sydney and Melbourne.
They met at a party at the Hotel Majestic Mansions Hotel in Melbourne.
For the young king, it was love at first sight.
At the time, he was engaged to an American lady about whom much is not known. He broke off that engagement and secretly got married to Molly Fink.
Getting married secretly while being hosted in Australia caused an uproar, not just in India but also in Australia.
The British Administration in India who got wind of the scandal disapproved of this marriage and never recognized Molly Fink as a Maharanee.
The king was compelled to leave Australia in October 1915 and return to India.
“He stayed in Pudukkottai for five months where his family and the locals accepted Molly Fink. She underwent all Hindu rituals and customs, yet she was poisoned and had a near-death experience,” Ms Roy reveals.
“It is believed that she was poisoned by someone in the zenana of the Pudukkottai family or from the Darbar (court)."
This experience shocked the Maharaja and he left Pudukkottai and came to live in Australia from 1916 to 1919.
They later moved to London and eventually to Cannes.
“Their marriage was a very happy marriage compared to other contemporary Maharajas,” Ms Roy says.
Molly Fink gave birth to their only child Sydney Martanda Todaiman in July 1916.
Raja Martanda gave up his claim to the throne in 1921 and continued to live with Molly and Sydney in France.
Martanda died in 1928 at the age of 52 and was cremated at Golder's Green crematorium in London.
The British government in India refused Molly's request to repatriate his ashes by air to Pudukkottai.
After the death of the Raja, Molly's finances dwindled and she started drinking heavily.
She died in 1967 at the age of seventy-three.
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Source: Public Domain
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