Editing Ranjitsinhji (section)

==Early life==
===Birth===
Ranjitsinhji Jadeja was born on 10 September 1872 in Sadodar, a village in the state of [[Nawanagar State|Nawanagar]] in the western Indian province of [[Kathiawar]] in a [[Hindu]] [[Jadeja]] [[Rajput]] family.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Satadru |title=Disciplined Natives: Race, Freedom and Confinement in Colonial India |date=2012 |publisher=Primus Books |isbn=978-93-80607-31-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ER-SVOdIGXYC&q=Ranjitsinhji+rajput&pg=PA71}}</ref>

He was the first son of a farmer, Jiwansinhji, and one of his wives.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=13}} His name meant "the lion who conquers in battle", although he frequently suffered ill health as a child.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=13}} Ranjitsinhji's family were related to the ruling family of the state of Nawanagar through his grandfather, and head of his family, Jhalamsinhji. The latter was a cousin of Vibhaji, the Jam Sahib of [[Nawanagar State|Nawanagar]]; Ranjitsinhji's biographers later claimed that Jhalamsinhji had shown bravery fighting for Vibhaji in a successful battle,{{sfn|Ross|1983|p=23}} but Simon Wilde suggests that this may be an invention encouraged by Ranjitsinhji.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=13}}{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=14}}{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=12}} For the remainder of his life, Ranjitsinhji was sensitive about his family and deliberately presented a positive image of his parents.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=15}}

===Heir to the throne===
In 1856, Vibhaji's son, Kalubha, was born, becoming heir to Vibhaji's throne. However, as Kalubha grew, he established a reputation for violence and terror. Among his actions were an attempt to poison his father and a multiple rape.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=12}}{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=24}} Consequently, Vibhaji disinherited his son in 1877 and, having no other suitable heir, followed custom by adopting an heir from another branch of his family, that of Jhalamsinhji. The first selected heir died within six months of being adopted,{{sfn|Wild|1934|p=12}} either through fever or poisoning on the orders of Kalubha's mother.{{sfn|Kincaid|1931|p=12}}{{sfn|Ross|1983|p=24}} The second choice, in October 1878, was Ranjitsinhji. Vibhaji took him to [[Rajkot]] to secure the approval of the ruling British and the young boy lived there for the next 18 months before joining the [[Rajkumar College, Rajkot|Rajkumar College]], supported through this time by an allowance from Vibhaji.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|pp=13–14}} Being discouraged by the ambition of Ranjitsinhji's family and the conduct of Jiwansinhji, Vibhaji never completed the adoption of Ranjitsinhji and continued trying to produce his own heir.{{sfn|Wild|1934|pp=14–15}} The prospect of Ranjitsinhji's accession seemed to vanish in August 1882 when one of the women of Vibhaji's court gave birth to a son, Jaswantsinhji.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=9}}

Ranjitisinhji's later version of events, reported by his biographer Roland Wild, was that his adoption had been carried out in secret, for fear of Vibhaji's wives. According to Wild, "The boy's father and grandfather watched the ceremony which was officially recorded by the India Office, the Government of India, and the Bombay Government."{{sfn|Ross|1983|p=9}}{{sfn|Standing|1903|p=13}} However, there is no record of any such event, which Simon Wilde says, "suggests, fairly conclusively, it never happened."{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=16}} Roland Wild and [[Charles Augustus Kincaid|Charles Kincaid]], who wrote a book in 1931 which also put forward Ranjitsinhji's perspective, also said that Jaswantsinhji was not a legitimate heir, either through not being Vibhaji's son or through his mother not being legally married to Vibhaji.{{efn|Among the claims against Jaswantsinhji's mother were that she was ineligible for marriage to Vibhaji as a Muslim, that she was pregnant before meeting Vibhaji, and that she was a prostitute.{{sfn|Ross|1983|p=23}} Part of the reason for these claims was that many Rajputs believed that, for Vibhaji, only marriage to another Rajput was acceptable. {{sfn|Wilde|1999|pp=11–12}}}} However, the claims are either demonstrably wrong or not corroborated by the records.{{efn|Ranjitsinhji, ruler of Nawanagar between 1907–1933, had a disputed succession. Born in 1872 to a Jadeja family of Sarodar, Ranjitsinhji had no legal claim to the throne. The Jam, Vibhaji, ruler of Nawanagar, made him heir apparent to the throne after he decided to disinherit his son, Kalubha, on charges of misdemeanor.{{sfn|Wild|1934|p=56}}}} The British authorities, unhappy to discover Ranjitsinhji was never adopted and impressed by his potential at the college, initially tried to persuade Vibhaji to retain Ranjitsinhji as his heir but the Jam Sahib insisted Jaswantsinhji should succeed him. In October 1884, the Government of India recognised Jaswantsinhji as Vibhaji's heir, but the [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy]], [[George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon|Lord Ripon]], believed that Ranjitsinhji should be compensated for losing his position.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|pp=16–19}}

===Education===
Even though Ranjitsinhji was no longer heir, Vibhaji increased his financial allowance but passed the responsibility for his education to the [[Bombay Presidency]]. With his fees coming from the allowance, Ranjitsinhji continued his education at the [[Rajkumar College, Rajkot|Rajkumar College]]. Although his material position remained unchanged, comments made at the time by the principal of the college, Chester Macnaghten, suggest that Ranjitsinhji was bitterly disappointed by his disinheritance. The college was organised and run like an English [[Independent school (United Kingdom)|public school]], and Ranjitsinhji began to excel.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|pp=19–21}}

Ranjitsinhji was introduced to cricket aged 10 or 11, and first represented the school in 1883. He was appointed captain in 1884 and maintained this position until 1888.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=24}} While he may have scored [[Century (cricket)|centuries]] for the school, the cricket was low standard, and very different from that played in England.{{efn|Many matches were played with fifteen players on a team, the bowling was [[Underarm bowling|underarm]] and the ''[[Laws of Cricket]]'' were not strictly enforced.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=26}}}} Ranjitsinhji did not take it particularly seriously and preferred [[tennis]] at the time.{{sfn|Wilde|1999|pp=24–26}} No one was certain what would become of him once he left the college, but his academic prowess presented the solution of moving to England to study at [[Cambridge University]].{{sfn|Wilde|1999|p=25}}