Double culture is of great interest to me. I was born abroad; I lived my life in different countries. It’s a topic that’s important for me to understand people who lived in different cultures and their historical background. How do they react to political events? Do they change their identity?” This curiosity led the French art historian Géraldine Lenain into the world of Yeshwant Rao Holkar II, a prince from the Holkar dynasty of the Marathas, who carved a special place for himself, living a life between cultures of the East and the West. Lenain’s recent work, The Last Maharaja of Indore (Roli Books), translated into English by Sindhuja Veeraragavan, explores his journey. It begins with his formative years, which he spent trying to escape his later deposed father and preparing for a life distinguished by modernity. We learn about his wealth but also his style and taste in art as well as wardrobe, furnishings, and other possessions. The book then turns towards a dark corner of his life with the death of his sister and the subsequent death of his wife, Maharani Sanyogita Devi, two events that left him completely shattered.

The royal couple on the set of The Plainsman with Gary Cooper and Cecil B DeMille (seated) in 1936