Page:The Aristocracy of Southern India.djvu/94

74 Samastanam was taken over by Government. When the prince arrived at the years of discretion, his father made suitable arrangements for the education of the son and Dr. Marsh who was then appointed tutor remained as such till the expiration of the minority of the prince. Sri Vikrama Deo attained under his tuition a considerable degree of learning and a general knowledge of the arts and sciences. True to the principle that travelling is half education, the doctor took his pupil to almost all the places of importance in India. In the course of these tours, he interviewed Lord Elgin, the then Viceroy and Governor-General of India, and Lord Wenlock, the then Governor of Madras. Under the most favourable auspices, after the Maharajah had received a sound education and the Government of Madras had formed a high opinion of his character, Sri Sri Sri Vikrama Deo Maharajah ascended the guddi on the 27th November 1895. It was a day of very great rejoicing to the people of Jeypore to find the son of their deceased Maharajah, with all the accomplishments necessary for a ruler of a large Samastanam, placed at the head of the administration. The investiture ceremony took place at the instance of Mr. Willock, the then Agent to the Governor at Vizagapatam, when all the local European and Native Officials were present to witness the inauguration. In 1893 the Maharajah was married to a princess of the well-known Surgoja House in Udayapur (Chota Nagapur). The fruit of this union is Sri Sri Sri Ramachandra Deo born on the 17th December, 1893. The Government of India in recognition of the merit and qualifications of the Prince conferred on him the personal distinction of Maharajah in 1896, which was originally owned by his ancestors both before and after the advent of the British. The Maharajah went to Madras in