Bhawani Singh

Brigadier Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh MVC (22 October 1931 – 17 April 2011) was an officer in the Indian Army and an entrepreneur.

For the Indian judge and politician, see Bhawani Singh (politician).

Bhawani Singh
Maharaja of Jaipur
Reign24 June 1970 – 28 December 1971
PredecessorMan Singh II
SuccessorPadmanabh Singh
Born(1931-10-22)22 October 1931
Jaipur, Jaipur State, British India
Died17 April 2011(2011-04-17) (aged 79)
Gurgaon, Haryana, India
SpousePadmini Devi
IssueDiya Kumari
FatherMan Singh II
MotherMarudhar Kanwar
Military career
Allegiance India
Service/branch Indian Army
Years of service1951–1975
(active service)
RankBrigadier
UnitPresidents Bodyguards, 9th Battalion Para (Special Forces), 10th Battalion Para (Special Forces)
Battles/warsIndo-Pakistani War of 1971
AwardsMaha Vir Chakra

Singh served in the Indian army from 1951 to 1975. In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra, the country's second-highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. He later served as an advisor to the Indian forces in Sri Lanka. After retirement, he served as India's High Commissioner to Brunei. He oversaw the management of Rambagh Palace which had been converted into a hotel.

Singh was the son of Man Singh II, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jaipur during the British Raj. Upon the death of his father on 24 June 1970, Bhawani Singh succeeded him in receiving an annual payment (the privy purse), certain privileges, and the use of the title "Maharaja of Jaipur" under terms accepted earlier when princely states were absorbed into independent India.[1] However, all were ended on December 28, 1971 by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.[2][3]

Bhawani Singh of Jaipur with his wife.

Bhawani Singh married Princess Padmini Devi of Sirmur in 1966. Their only child, a daughter, Diya Kumari, is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament. Bhawani Singh died at age 79 of multi-organ failure.[4]

Their Majesties the Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur

Early life

Born to Maharaja Sir Sawai Man Singh II and his first wife, Marudhar Kanwar of Jodhpur, Bhawani Singh was educated at Sheshbagh School, Srinagar, The Doon School, Dehradun, and later Harrow School in the United Kingdom.[5][6] 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. It is said that so much champagne flowed in celebration of his birth that the new heir was nicknamed "Bubbles".[7]

Military career

Singh was commissioned into Indian Army in the 3rd Cavalry as a second Lieutenant holding a short-service commission in 1951 and was selected for the President's Bodyguards in 1954. On 31 July 1957, he received a regular commission as a lieutenant (seniority from 22 October 1954, and seniority as a second lieutenant from 22 October 1952) with the service number IC-9015.[8] Promoted to the rank of captain on 22 October 1958, he served in the President's Bodyguard till 1963.[9][10]

Singh was posted to 50th Parachute Brigade in 1963.[10][11] Later, he was posted as Adjutant of the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun from January 1964 to 1967, during which time he was promoted to major on 22 October 1965.[10][11][12]

In 1967, Singh was appointed second-in-command of the 10th battalion, Parachute Regiment (Commando) (10 Para Cdo), one of the two elite Special Forces battalions. He was appointed the Commanding Officer (CO) in 1968.[10][11]

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

In 1970, Singh helped train the Mukti Bahini before the commencement of the Bangladesh Liberation War.[10][11] During the war, as an acting lieutenant-colonel, he commanded 10 Para (Commando). The battalion, led by Singh, was responsible for the capture of Chachro in Sindh, for which he was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC):[11][13]

The citation for his MVC reads as follows:[14]

Gazette Notification: 18 Pres/2000,15-8-99

Operation: - Date of Award: 15 Aug 1999

CITATION

LIEUTENANT COLONEL SAWAI BHAWANI SINGH (IC-9015)

THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT

On the night of 5 December 1971, Lieutenant Colonel Sawai Bhawani Singh, who was commanding a battalion of the Parachute Regiment (commandos), led his men deep into the enemy territory and for four days and nights, with complete disregard for his personal comfort and safety, made skilful and relentless raids on the strongly held enemy posts at Chachro and Virawah. His inspired leadership and personal courage led to the capture of large areas of the enemy territory and created panic and confusion among the enemy, forcing them to retreat leaving large number of prisoners and equipment.

In this operation, Lieutenant Colonel Sawai Bhawani Singh set an example of personal courage, exceptional qualities of leadership and devotion to duty in the highest traditions of the Indian Army.

Post-war career

Promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 17 June 1973, Singh took early retirement from the army with effect from 23 May 1975.[15][16] While the Indian Army was in action in Sri Lanka under Operation Pawan, the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi requested him to go to Sri Lanka and boost the low morale of his old unit (10 Para Cdo).[11] He was successful in this venture and, for this, the President bestowed upon him the honorary rank of Brigadier on 29 November 1991.[17] A promotion after retirement was considered a rare honour.[11]

Diplomatic career

After his retirement from Indian Army, Singh served as High Commissioner of India to Brunei from 1994 to 1997.[18][19]

Royal life

Bhawani Singh ascended the throne of Jaipur on 24 June 1970 following the death of his father, and held the title of Maharaja until the abolition of the princely order, his Privy Purse and other royal entitlements by Indira Gandhi in 1971, although he remained generally honoured like most other erstwhile rulers.[19]

He married Princess Padmini Devi of Sirmur on 10 March 1966 in a ceremony held at Delhi.[20] She was the daughter of his father's polo-playing friend HH Maharaja Rajendra Prakash of Sirmur by his wife Maharani Indira Devi.[21] The couple had one daughter, Diya Kumari (b. 30 January 1971).

Having half-brothers but no son, in November 2002 he adopted his daughter's elder son, Padmanabh Singh, who succeeded him as head of the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur upon his death.[19]

Other

In the same vein as his father, the first hotelier prince in India, Bhawani Singh ran many palaces as hotels, including the Rambagh Palace, Raj Mahal Palace, or other former royal residences. He was the first Indian prince to turn his Rambagh Palace in to luxury hotel in 1958. He conducted certain ceremonies and customs from the traditional seat of royal power, the sprawling City Palace, Jaipur, part of which remains under the control of his family. He became one of the richest of India's maharajas of post-independent India.[19]

Political career

He was also involved in local politics, as was his late stepmother, Gayatri Devi, his father's third wife. In 1975 he was arrested and imprisoned for a short period during The Emergency by Congress government at center, due to political vendetta along-with Gayatri Devi but was released after protests from various people including Indian Army and Lord Mountbatten, who spoke to Indira Gandhi.[19]

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 Bhargava.[19]

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.

Death

Bhawani Singh was admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana on 29 March and died on 17 April 2011 following multi-organ failure.[10][11][19]

Ashok Gehlot, then Chief Minister of Rajasthan announced two 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.[22]

He was cremated on 18 April 2011 at Gaitore Ki Chhatriya, the royal crematorium in Jaipur with full state honours.[23]

References
  1. Ramusack, Barbara N. (2004). The Indian princes and their states. Cambridge University Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-521-26727-4. The crucial document was the Instrument of Accession by which rulers ceded to the legislatures of India or Pakistan control over defence, external affairs, and communications. In return for these concessions, the princes were to be guaranteed a privy purse in perpetuity and certain financial and symbolic privileges such as exemption from customs duties, the use of their titles, the right to fly their state flags on their cars, and to have police protection. ... By December 1947 Patel began to pressure the princes into signing Merger Agreements that integrated their states into adjacent British Indian provinces, soon to be called states or new units of erstwhile princely states, most notably Rajasthan, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, and Matsya Union (Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karaulli).
  2. "The Constitution (26 Amendment) Act, 1971", indiacode.nic.in, Government of India, 1971, retrieved 9 November 2011
  3. Schmidt, Karl J. (1995). An atlas and survey of South Asian history. M.E. Sharpe. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-56324-334-9. Although the Indian states were alternately requested or forced into union with either India or Pakistan, the real death of princely India came when the Twenty-sixth Amendment Act (1971) abolished the princes' titles, privileges, and privy purses.
  4. "Maharaja of Jaipur Bhawani Singh passes away". The Times of India. 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012.
  5. Maharaja of Jaipur Bhawani Singh passes away
  6. "Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh". The Daily Telegraph. London. 18 April 2011.
  7. Royal vignettes: Jaipur: In touch with reality [Usurped!] The Hindu – 20 October 2002
  8. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 26 October 1957. p. 270.
  9. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 3 January 1959. p. 3.
  10. "Bubbles, the 'king' who tasted life in the trenches". The Telegraph, Calcutta. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  11. "A decorated soldier of the 1971 Indo-Pak war". Times of Indiatoi. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  12. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 18 December 1965. p. 272.
  13. "Heroes. The Parachute Regiment, Indian Army". The Parachute Regiment, Indian Army. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  14. "Part I-Section 1". The Gazette of India. 12 February 1972. p. 183.
  15. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 10 August 1974. p. 905.
  16. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 26 July 1975. p. 981.
  17. "Hony. Brigadier Rank to Maharaj Kumar (sic) Bhawani Singh" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 15 December 1991. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 September 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)":: Welcome to the City Palace ::". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  19. "Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh". The Telegraph, London. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  20. Date and place of marriage taken from two pages "Bhawani Singh" and "Padmini Devi" Archived 23 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine on the Durga Diya website. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  21. Maharani Padmini Devi Archived 23 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, from the Durga Diya website. Retrieved 23 November 2009
  22. "Maharaja of Jaipur Bhawani Singh passes away". The Times of India. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  23. "Maharaja of Jaipur Bhawani Singh cremated". The Times of India. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
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