Bhawani Singh

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

Singh served in the Indian army from 1951 to 1975.

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.

Promoted to the rank of captain on 22 October 1958, he served in the President's Bodyguard till 1963.

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 maharajas of post-independent India.

Singh was posted to 50th Parachute Brigade in 1963.

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.

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.

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.

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".

He married Princess Padmini Devi of Sirmur on 10 March 1966 in a ceremony held at Delhi.

She was the daughter of his father's polo-playing friend HH Maharaja Rajendra Prakash of Sirmur by his wife Maharani Indira Devi.

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.

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.

In 1970, Singh helped train the Mukti Bahini before the commencement of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

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):

The citation for his MVC reads as follows:

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.

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.

However, all were ended on December 28, 1971 by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.

The couple had one daughter, Diya Kumari (b. 30 January 1971).

Promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 17 June 1973, Singh took early retirement from the army with effect from 23 May 1975.

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).

He was successful in this venture and, for this, the President bestowed upon him the honorary rank of Brigadier on 29 November 1991.

A promotion after retirement was considered a rare honour.

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

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.

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.