| Bhawani Singh | |
|---|---|
| Maharaja of Jaipur | |
| Reign | 1970 – April 17th, 2011 |
| Predecessor | Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur |
| Successor | Kumar Padmanabh Singh |
| Spouse | Padmini Devi of Sirmur |
| Issue | |
| Diya Kumari | |
| Full name | |
| HH Saramad-i-Rajahai Hindustan Raj Rajendra Shri Maharajadhiraj Sawai BHAWANI SINGH Bahadur[1] | |
| House | Kachwaha |
| Father | Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur |
| Mother | Maharani Marudhar Kanwar |
| Born | 22 October 1931 Jaipur, India |
| Died | 17 April 2011 (aged 79) Gurgaon, Haryana |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur, MVC (22 October 1931–17 April 2011) was the Maharaja of Jaipur and head of the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs. He died at age 79 due to multi-organ failure.[2] The title technically ended in 1971 when royal entitlements were abolished along with privy purses through a constitutional amendment. However, the erstwhile Maharaja was considered a political, cultural, and religious icon in modern Rajasthan, and he was sometimes referred to in the media as His Highness, The Maharaja of Jaipur.
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Born to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and his first wife, Marudhar Kanwar of Jodhpur, Sawai was educated at The Doon School, Dehradun, and later Harrow School. As the first male heir born to a reigning Maharaja of Jaipur for generations (all others, including his father, who was originally a minor noble, were adopted), his birth was a celebrated event in Jaipur, where the fountains of the royal palaces flowed with champagne in his honor giving him the nickname Bubbles.[3]
As a young man, Crown Prince Bhawani Singh served in the Indian Army, and received numerous honors, including a promotion to the Presidential Bodyguard in 1954, and the post of Adjutant at Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. In 1968, Sawai was second-in-command of the 10th Parachute Regiment (Commando), one of the two elite Special Forces battalions, the other being the 9 para commando regiment, in India at the time, and became the Commanding Officer (CO) later in 1968.
In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Sawai led his troops deep inside Pakistani territory in the Sindh region of Pakistan, attacking and destroying many Pakistani posts. For this, he was awarded India's second-highest gallantry award, the Mahavir Chakra. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1974. In his retirement, he also served as Indian High Commissioner to Brunei from 1994-1997 [1][2].
Sawai Bhawani Singh ascended the throne of Jaipur in 1970 following the death of his father, and remained the official Maharaja until the abolition of the privy purse and royal entitlements by Indira Gandhi, although he remains generally honored like most other erstwhile rulers.
He married Princess Padmini Devi of Sirmur on 10 March 1966 in a ceremony held at Delhi.[4] She was the daughter of his father's polo-playing friend HH Maharaja Rajendra Prakash by his wife Maharani Indira Devi.[5] The royal couple have one daughter, Princess Diya Kumari (b. 30 January 1971).
In 1997, Princess Diya married Narendra Singh Rajawat (called Maharaj Shri Narendra Singh Ji), a commoner Rajput and very distant cousin who had been a member of the household staff of the Maharaja of Jaipur.[3][4][6] He is a son of Thakur Buddha Singh of Kotda village in Tonk district; the father had earlier served as a guard at the city palace.[5] They have three children:
In the same vein as his father, the first hotelier prince in India, Sawai ran many palaces as hotels, including the Rambagh Palace, Raj Mahal palace, or other former royal residences. Sawai conducted certain ceremonies and customs from the traditional seat of royal power, the sprawling City Palace. He was also involved in local politics, as was his late stepmother, Gayatri Devi.
Bhawani Singh, was admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana on March 29 and died on April 17, 2011 following multi-organ failure. Ashok Gehlot, then Chief Minister of Rajasthan announced three days of state mourning. His body was flown to Jaipur and kept at the City Palace for people to pay their last respect before being cremated.[10] He was cremated on April 18, 2011 at Gaitore Ki Chatriya, the royal crematorium in Jaipur with full state honours.[11]
Following his retirement from the army Sawai Bhawani Singh contested the Lok Sabha elections in the year 1989 for the Indian National Congress party but lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Girdhari Lal Bhargav. He then retired from active politics and devoted his time to his family and the protection and continuation of Jaipur's traditional arts and heritage.
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Bhawani Singh
House of Kachwaha
Cadet branch of the Rajputs
Born: 1931 Died: 2011 |
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| Titles in pretence | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur |
— TITULAR — Maharaja of Jaipur 24 June 1970 – 17 April 2011 Reason for succession failure: Abolished by Dominion of India |
Succeeded by Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur |