The word Mahārāja (also spelled maharajah) is Sanskrit for "great king" or "high king". Many languages of India have borrowed the word 'maharaja', there languages include Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi and Gujrati. Its use is mainly for Hindu rulers. A female ruler is known as Maharani (or Maharanee) or great queen. She can be the wife of a Maharaja or a ruler herself.
In 1971, the government of Indira Gandhi abolished the titles and money for all Indian rulers. However some people still claim such titles.
Indian subcontinent.
Before independence in 1947 India and Pakistan contained more than 600 princely states each with its own ruler. Some called Raja or Thakur (if the ruler were Hindu) or Nawab (if he was Muslim); there was many other titles as well.
Feel free to write to us if you have any questions. But before you do so, please take a look on our page with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and even our sitemap to get a full overview of the content on our site.