Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

Bahadur Singh, MC (17 March 1920 – 24 December 1977) was the 28th and the last official ruler of the princely state of

Bundi Bundi is a city in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan state in northwest India and capital of the former princely state of Rajputana agency. District of Bundi is named after the former princely state. Demographics According to the 2011 Indian cens ...

belonging to Hada Chauhan clan of

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s. He was born on 17 March 1920 and was the elder son of Dhanurdhar Singh, who was adopted in 1933, by Sir Ishwari Singh of Bundi, the erstwhile ruler of Bundi.Indian States: A Biographical, Historical, and Administrative Survey edited by Arnold Wright pp:157-163 He was educated at

Mayo College Mayo College (informally Mayo) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1875 by Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was the Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872. This makes it one of the oldest pu ...

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "' ...

. He married in April 1938 to Gulab Kunverba, the daughter of Sajjan Singh, the Maharaja of

Ratlam Ratlam, known historically as Ratnapuri (lit. ''gem city''), is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam di ...

and had children.
Indian Princely Medals: A Record of the Orders, Decorations, and Medals of ... By Tony McClenaghan p. 108 1996 As a Yuvraj, Rajkumar, with the title of Maharaj Kumar Bahadur Singh, he was commissioned into the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

on 26 November 1942 and served with Probyn's Horse during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, seeing action in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

. He ascended to the throne of Bundi upon the death of his father Sir Ishwari Singh on 23 April 1945. He was sent back to Bundi from Burma immediately the news was received by his regiment.An account of the operations in Burma carried out by Probyn's Horse during February, March and April 1945 He acceded his state of Bundi to the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...

on 7 April 1949. He held the title of Maharaja of Bundi, until the entitlements and official recognition were abolished by the Government of India through the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India in 1971. He remained the

titular ruler A titular ruler, or titular head, is a person in an official position of leadership who possesses few, if any, actual powers. Sometimes a person may inhabit a position of titular leadership and yet exercise more power than would normally be expecte ...

of Bundi until his death. He died on 24 December 1977 survived by one son, Ranjit Singh of Bundi and one daughter, Mahendra Kumari.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundi, Bahadur Singh 1920 births 1977 deaths Maharajas of Bundi Hindu monarchs Indian royalty Mayo College alumni Indian recipients of the Military Cross Indian Army personnel of World War II British Indian Army officers