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Gaekwar

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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or GuICOwAR, the family name of the Mahratta rulers of Baroda in western India, which has been converted by the English into a dynastic title. It is derived from the vernacular word for the cow, but it is a mistake to suppose that the family are of the cowherd caste; they belong to the upper class of Mahrattas proper, sometimes claiming a Rajput origin. The dynasty was founded by a succession of three warriors, Damaji I., Pilaji and Damaji II., who established Mahratta supremacy throughout Gujarat during the first half of the 18th century. The present style of the ruler is Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda.