The royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Cooch Behar was considered the most westernised and progressive of all. Maharani Sunity Devee of Cooch Behar (1864–1932) was one of the main forces behind modernising the state. Sunity was not born into royalty; she was the daughter of the philosopher and Brahmo Samaj reformist Keshub Chunder Sen and the writer Sāradāsundarī Debī. She grew up in her family’s home, known as the “Sen’s House”, built by her great-grandfather at Coolootola, a part of Calcutta (present-day Kolkata). Due to political necessity, it was customary for members of royal families to marry within royalty.
However, Sunity Devee’s marriage at the age of 14 to Nripendra Narayan (1863–1911), the crown prince of Cooch Behar in 1878, led to significant controversy. Her father had advocated for ensuring that the minimum age of marriage for Hindu girls during the colonial era should be 14 years. Thus, her marriage at such a young age was contentious.
Shortly after the marriage, the Maharaja left for higher education in London, and Sunity Devee stayed with her parents for two years until he returned. The arranged match between a girl without royal lineage and a Maharaja turned out to be a harmonious one. They shared common interests in travel, fashion, high society, and literature. They had seven children—four sons and three daughters.
While fulfilling her royal duties as queen, Sunity also worked on her personal development and the emancipation of women. Initially, she only spoke Bangla, but she eventually became fluent in English and emerged as one of the most popular figures in European society. She became part of intellectual circles and formed a friendship with Cornelia Sorabji, the lawyer, social reformer, and writer. Sunity was awarded the CIE (Companion of the Indian Empire) by the colonial government, becoming the first woman to receive this honour.
Maharaja Nripendra Narayan, inspired by his wife, established a girls' school called Sunity College. The institution was founded in 1881 with four teachers. The Maharani Girls' High School in Darjeeling, established in 1908, was founded by Sunity Devee and her sister Sucharu Devi, the Maharani of Mayurbhanj. Sunity Devee was the first President of the All Bengal Women’s Union in 1932 and worked alongside other women’s rights activists from Bengal, such as Charulata Mukherjee, Saroj Nalini Dutt, and T. R. Nelly. She authored several books, including Autobiography of an Indian Princess: Memoirs of Maharani Sunity Devi of Cooch Behar.
Sunity Devee was the mother-in-law of Maharani Indira Devi and the paternal grandmother of Maharani Gayatri Devi.