also spelled Gaikwar, or Gaekwa?, Indian ruling family and title of its head whose capital was at Baroda in Gujar¨¡t state. The state became a leading power in the 18th-century Mar¨¡th¨¡ confederacy. The founder of the dynasty was Damaji I who had risen to power by 1740. The last Gaekwar, Sayaji Rao III, died in 1939. |