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Indian politician and last titular Maharaja of Jodhpur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gaj Singh II (born 13 January 1948), referred to as Bapji,[1] is an Indian politician who served as a member of the Indian parliament and as Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. He became the Maharaja of Jodhpur in 1952.
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Gaj Singh II | |
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Maharaja of Jodhpur | |
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Head of the House of Rathore | |
Tenure | 26 January 1952 – present |
Predecessor | Hanwant Singh I |
Heir apparent | Shivraj Singh |
Maharaja of Jodhpur | |
Tenure | 26 January 1952 – today |
Predecessor | Hanwant Singh |
Successor | Position abolished |
Regent | Krishna Kumari |
Personal details | |
Born | Jodhpur, Jodhpur State, India | 13 January 1948
Spouse | Hemalata Rajye (m. 1973) |
Issue | Shivranjani Rajye Shivraj Singh |
House | Rathore-Jodhpur |
Father | Hanwant Singh |
Mother | Krishna Kumari |
Religion | Hinduism |
Education | Cothill House Eton College |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Gaj Singh was born on 13 January 1948 to Hanwant Singh and his first wife, Krishna Kumari, in the Zenana (women's quarters) of Umaid Bhawan Palace.[2][3] When his father, Hanwant Singh, lost his life in an air accident in 1952,[4] the throne and titles were passed to him at the age of four.[2][3][5][2][3] To mark his accession, a safa of five colors—pink, white, red, saffron, and green, which are also the colors of the Jodhpur State flag—was designed and is called Gaj Shahi.[2]
During his minority, his mother, Krishna Kumari, acted as regent.[2][6][7] He received a privy purse of 10 lakh rupees[3] and continued to receive it until the 26th Amendment in 1971 abolished it.[8]
He received his early education at home.[3] At the age of eight in 1956, he was sent first to Cothill House, a prep school in Oxfordshire, and then in 1961 to Eton College, Eton,[5] and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1970 with a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.[2][3]
In 1970, following the completion of his education, he returned to Jodhpur to fulfill his duties as the Maharaja of Jodhpur, assuming control of his vast inheritance as well as the manifold social and cultural responsibilities that accompanied it.[9][10][11]
On 19 February 1973, in a simple ceremony at Dehradun, he married Hemlata Rajye, the daughter of Shiv Ratan Dev Singh, Raja of Poonch, and his wife, Nalini Rajya Lakshmi Devi, the daughter of Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev.[2][3][12]
They have two children: a daughter, Shivranjani Rajye (born 22 August 1974), and a son, Shivraj Singh (born 30 September 1975).[3][13]
In 1971, the constitution of India was amended. On 5 November 1971, the Maharaja and other princes were deprived of their privy purses, the government annuities that had been guaranteed to them both in the constitution and in the covenants of accession whereby their states were merged with the Dominion of India in the 1940s, with the enactment of the amendment. The same amendment also deprived them of other privileges, such as diplomatic immunity.[14] In the Constitution of India promulgated in 1971, the Government of India abolished all official symbols of princely India, including titles, privileges, and remuneration (privy purses).[15]
Later, Gaj Singh served as Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago.[16] He also served a term in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament.[citation needed]
On 20 July 1992, he founded a day-cum-residential girls' school named Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls' Public School, named after his mother.[citation needed]
Raj Rajeshwar Saramad-i-Rajha-i-Hindustan Maharajadhiraja Maharaja Shri Gaj Singhji Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Jodhpur, with the style of His Highness.[17]