Today, as Poland rolls out the red carpet to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hundreds of ‘Polish Indians’ are reminiscing the historical aspect of India-Poland relations that has been the bedrock of people-to-people ties between the two countries since the Second World War.
Announcing PM Modi’s August 21-22 visit earlier this week, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Tanmaya Lal had said, “A unique bond between our countries dates back to the 1940s during the Second World War, when over 6,000 Polish women and children found refuge in two princely states of India, Jamnagar and Kolhapur. As you may be aware, the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar gave shelter to over 1,000 Polish children and others were given refuge in Kolhapur.” This visit is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Poland in the last 45 years.
While Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja of Nawanagar, known as the ‘Good Maharaja’ in Poland, gave refuge to over 1,000 Polish children at the famous Balachadi camp, the royal family of Kolhapur provided safe shelter to over 5,000 Polish women and children at the equally famous Valivade camp.
A monument in memory of Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja was unveiled in October 2014 at the Good Maharaja Square in Warsaw’s Ochota district.
Another plaque commemorating the Valivade-Kolhapur camp near the Monte Cassino war memorial was inaugurated in Warsaw in November 2017.
Eight Polish primary and secondary schools are also named after Jam Sahib.
During his historic visit, Prime Minister Modi will visit these monuments commemorating special events of Jamnagar and Kolhapur.
Over the past several decades, a large number of Polish refugees and their descendants have expressed their gratitude to India’s two royal families by erecting memorials in Warsaw and holding annual events to keep the memories alive.
The Association of the Polish People in India, which unites all Polish people who lived between 1942 and 1948 in the two camps established by the Maharajas of Jamnagar and Kolhapur, meets once in two years to remember and reiterate its gratitude and affection towards both Royal Families and the people of India.
During its last meeting, to be held in Gdańsk in September 2023 after the Covid pandemic, the association’s president Jan Chędźinski recounted “some fond childhood memories” that most of them had about the camps.
Indian Ambassador to Poland Nagma Malik, who attended the meeting as a special invitee, acknowledged that the story of Polish refugees is not as well known in India as it should be. She also praised Indian Polish people for keeping this memory alive in Poland.
Commemorating the historical connection, another event titled ‘Remembering the Good Maharajas’ was organized in July 2022 at the Old Orangery of the iconic Royal Lazienki Park, where 22 photographs from the camps at Valivade and Navanagar depicting the life of Polish children in India during that period were displayed for the guests.
Sambhaji Chhatrapati, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, and Piyush Kumar Matalia, a representative of the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, specially flew in from India to attend the event, while former MP and President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Ambassador Malik represented the Indian government at the event, which was attended by a large number of Polish citizens who had lived in the camps during their childhood.
According to the Indian Embassy in Poland, Poland also has a strong tradition of Indological studies, and Polish scholars translated Sanskrit into Polish as early as the 19th century.
“Sanskrit was being studied at the 600-year-old Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland’s oldest university) in 1860–61, and a Chair of Sanskrit was established there in 1893.
“The Department of Indology of the Oriental Institute of the University of Warsaw (established in 1932) is the largest centre of Indian studies in Central Europe,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Indian languages, literature, culture and Indology are also studied at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the University of Wrocław.
ICCR sponsored the First Central and Eastern European Regional Conference on Indology at the University of Warsaw in September 2005 attended by 19 scholars from 11 countries.
A MoU to establish the ICCR Chair of Indian Studies at the Jagiellonian University was signed in February 2017 and two Indian professors have been appointed as ICCR Chair Professors since the signing of the MoU.
Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to Poland, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West) Tanmaya Lal on Monday said, “India and Poland have long-standing cultural ties and the study of Indology in Polish universities dates back to the 19th century. There is a deep respect and admiration in Poland for Indian culture and spiritual ethos, including Yoga and Ayurveda.”
Prime Minister Modi will hold talks with the country’s President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Thursday.
He is also scheduled to interact with members of the Indian community, select Polish business leaders and prominent Indologists.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
