Gaj Singh (born 13 January 1948) is an Indian politician who served as a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Indian parliament The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of t ...

and High Commissioner of India. He has been the Maharaja of Jodhpur since 1952.

Early years and accession

Singh was born in

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

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 ...

Family. He is the son of Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur by his first wife, Maharani Krishna Kumari of

Dhrangadhra Dhrangadhra () is a town, taluka headquarters and a municipality in Surendranagar district in the state of Gujarat, India. During the period of the British Raj, the city was the capital of Dhrangadhra State, one of the eight first-class prince ...

. He succeeded to the titles and dignities of his father when only four years of age, in 1952, when his father died suddenly in a plane crash. He was enthroned shortly afterwards. The infant and his siblings were raised by their mother, Rajmata Krishna Kumari. At the age of eight, Gaj Singh was sent first to Cothill House, a prep school in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

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, and then to

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

, where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Singh's full title as Maharaja was

His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adje ...

Raj Rajeshwar Saramad-i-Raja-i-Hind Maharajadhiraja

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 ...

Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javan ...

Gaj Singhji II Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of

Marwar Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. The word 'maru' is Sanskrit for desert. In Rajasthani languages, "wad" means a particular area. English tra ...

Family

In 1970, Gaj Singh returned to Jodhpur to take up his duties as

Maharaja of Jodhpur Kingdom of Marwar, also known as the Jodhpur State under the British, was a kingdom in the Marwar region from 1226 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. It was established in Pali by Rao Siha, possibly a m ...

. In 1973, he married Hemalata Rajye, daughter of the

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested ...

of Poonch, a major feudatory state of Kashmir State and his wife Nalini Rajya Lakshmi Devi, a daughter of King

Tribhuvan of Nepal Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज त्रिभुवन वीर विक्रम शाह देव ) (30 June 1906 – 13 March 1955) was King of Nepal from 11 December 1911 until his ...

and Queen

Ishwari Rajya Lakshmi Devi Ishwari Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (September 1907 – 27 June 1983) was the Queen consort and the second wife of Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah, King of the Kingdom of Nepal. She was the mother of Prince Basundhara Bir Bikram Shah and Princess Nalini Ra ...

. They are the parents of two children, being: #A daughter, Shivranjani Rajye (born 22 August 1974), and #A son, Shivraj Singh (born 30 September 1975).

Derecognition

In 1971, the constitution of India was amended. On 5 November 1971, the Maharaja and other princes were deprived of their

privy purse The Privy Purse is the British Sovereign's private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £20.1 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2018. Overview The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres (200 ...

s, 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 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 ...

in the 1940s, with the enactment of the amendment. The same amendment also deprived them of other privileges, such as diplomatic immunity. In the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

promulgated in 1971, the Government of India abolished all official symbols of princely India, including titles, privileges, and remuneration ( privy purses).

Career

Later, Gaj Singh served as Indian High Commissioner to

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He also served a term in the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

, the

Upper House An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of t ...

. On 20 July 1992, he founded a day-cum-residential girls' school named Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls' Public School, named after his mother.

Honours and awards

Servare et Manere: * Memorial_Medal_of_Tree_of_Peace_ribbon

Memorial Medal of Tree of Peace The Memorial Medal of Tree of Peace ( Slovak: ''Pamätná medaila Stromu pokoja'') is the second highest award awarded since 2020 by Servare et Manere, the Slovak non-governmental organization. The award was first awarded on September 28, 202 ...

in a Special class with rubies. International peace award granted by a Slovak

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(2022).

References

External links

Maharaja of Jodhpur (Official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Gaj, Maharaja of Jodhpur 1948 births Living people High Commissioners of India to Trinidad and Tobago Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan People from Jodhpur People educated at Cothill House People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Indian royalty