Prince Jagat Singh

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Prince Jagat Singh also known in his native state as Maharaj Jagat Singh of Jaipur (1949-1997), Raja of Isarda, was the fourth and youngest son of Sawai Man Singh II, last ruling Maharaja of Jaipur. He was the only child born to Maharani Gayatri Devi, third wife of the Maharaja. Jagat Singh was thus half-brother to the present Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Bhawani Singh of Jaipur.

Jagat Singh was born on 15 October 1949. He was initially educated in Jaipur and briefly at the Mayo College in Ajmer, then studied at Harrow in the United Kingdom for four years beginning 1963. Gifted with good looks and a dry sense of humour he enjoyed considerable popularity both in Europe and in Jaipur state, where he was known for discreetly interceding on behalf of the ill-treated. He travelled widely and became a gifted photographer whose work was published in various European magazines. Steeped in the history of Rajasthan he catalogued and photographed many of the treasures of the royal palaces. He was later adopted by the childless Raja of Isarda and succeeded in due course to the estates and dignities of his adoptive father.

Jagat Singh's father, Man Singh II, the then ruling Maharaja of Jaipur, had been born the second son of Thakur Sawai Singh of Isarda, a nobleman belonging to the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs. He had been adopted at age 11 into the royal house of Jaipur to become the Maharaja. His elder brother Bahadur Singh, who succeeded their actual father as Raja of Isarda, remained childless. Bahadur Singh decided to adopt a son of his younger brother, and thus it came to pass that Jagat Singh became the Raja of Isarda. This adoption also made him titular head of the Rajawat sub-clan, as held by Kachwaha custom.

On May 10, 1978, Jagat Singh married Mom Rajawongse Priyanandana Rangsit, the younger daughter of HSH Prince Piyarangsit Rangsit and HRH Princess Vibhavadi Rangsit (nee Rajani) of Thailand. They were blessed with two children:

1. A daughter, Lalitaya Kumari, born in 1979;
2. Devraj Singh, born in 1981.

The couple were divorced in 1987. Jagat Singh died in London on February 5, 1997. His chhatri now stands at Gaitore in Jaipur. He was succeeded as titular Raja of Isarda by his only son, Devraj Singh.

[edit] References

Gayatri Devi (1995), A Princess Remembers, Rupa&Co, India

Lucy Moore, (2004) Maharanis, Viking, Penguin group, New York

R.P. Singh and Kanwar Rajpal Singh (2005), Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur, Life and legend, Roli books, India