Maharaja Sir Rameshwar Singh (1860–1929) ruled the vast Darbhanga Raj — the greatest zamindari estate of Mithila — from 1898 until his death, succeeding his brother Lakshmeshwar Singh. Unusually for a prince of his rank, he entered the Indian Civil Service in 1878 and served as a magistrate at Darbhanga, Chhapra and Bhagalpur; he later sat on the Viceroy’s councils, becoming one of the most influential Indian voices in the colonial administration.
A devout tantric and Srividya adept regarded by his people as a rajarshi (sage-king), he convened a landmark conference of tantra scholars in 1908 attended by Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon). His philanthropy was enormous: he was a co-founder and major early donor of Banaras Hindu University alongside Madan Mohan Malaviya, and gave generously to several other Indian universities.
Rameshwar Singh personifies the modernising yet deeply traditional Maithil aristocracy of the colonial era — a ruler who fused Sanskrit and tantric learning with civil administration and large-scale institution-building, leaving an imprint on Mithila’s temples, schools and public life that endures.
