Darbar Gopaldas Desai

Gopaldas Ambaidas Desai (1887–1951) also called Darbar Gopaldas Desai was a former prince and later ruler of the State of Dhasa in Saurashtra and a noted Gandhian political and social activist. He is remembered as the first prince in India who gave up his principality to become a freedom fighter against the British Raj.

Gopaldas was born at Vaso in the present day Kheda district of Gujarat. He was an inamdar or feudatory to the Baroda State, the ruler of the Dhasa State and a jagirdar of the Rai and Sankhli villages. He was a Vaishnavite and a Patel by caste and a Desai and Amin by title. He became the ruler of Dhasa succeeding his maternal grandfather Ambaidas who adopted him as heir to the throne. Gopaldas had been a supporter of Mohandas Gandhi and the Indian National Congress and often gave them financial support. He was a progressive ruler and provided free education to his subjects. Impressed by the ideas of Madam Montessori,he started first Montessori school in Vaso in 1915 with he help of his mentor, Motibhai Amin. It was the first Montessory School in the State of Gujarat, and perhaps in entire India.

By 1921, Gopaldas had become active in the Indian National Congress. That year he became president of the Kheda District Congress Committee. The following year, his state was confiscated and was deposed as ruler by the British after he disobeyed the British Resident General's warnings against his involvement in the national movement and extending financial support to Gandhi. Gopaldas and his wife Bhakti Lakshmi, better known as Bhaktiba became active freedom fighters from 1922. After his removal, the British proposed Gopaldas' eldest son Suryakant as the new ruler. He however rejected the offer arguing that he held the same political views as his father. The British later approached Gopaldas' other three sons as they approached the age of majority. They all rejected the offer, following the footsteps of their father.

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