Raj Rajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hanwant Singh Rathore of

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

(16 June 1923 – 26 January 1952) was the ruler of the Indian princely state of

. He succeeded his father 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 ...

on 9 June 1947 and held the title till his death in a plane crash on 26 January 1952.

Family life

In 1943 he married Maharani Krishna Kumari Sahiba 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 princ ...

and had three children, the youngest child, a son

Gaj Singh Gaj Singh (born 13 January 1948) is an Indian politician who served as a member of the Indian parliament and High Commissioner of India. He has been the Maharaja of Jodhpur since 1952. Early years and accession Singh was born in Royal, Rajpu ...

Rathore The Rathore is a Rajput clan found in Northern India. Subclans Jodhana, Vadhel, Jaitawat, Kumpawat, Champawat, Meratiya, Udawat, Karamsot etc. are the branches or subclans of Rathore Rajputs. Coverage This article discusses the "Kanauji ...

; who succeeded him, daughter Sailesh Kumari married in

Banswara Banswara is a city in the Banswara district in southern Rajasthan, India. The name, Banswara, came from "Bans wala" (bamboo) forests, as Bamboo grew in abundance around this place within the area. Banswara is also known as "City of a Hundred ...

; and daughter,

Chandresh Kumari Katoch Chandresh Kumari Katoch (born 1 February 1944) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress party. She is a former Minister of Culture in India's central government. She was a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (the lowe ...

of Kangra, In 1948, he met 19-year-old Scottish nurse Sandra McBryde, with whom he had a tempestuous and brief union. Later he married the Muslim actress

Zubeida Zubeida Begum Dhanrajgir (1911 – 21 September 1988) was an Indian actress. She starred in the first Indian talkie movie ''Alam Ara'' (1931). Her credits include early hits ''Devdas'' (1937), and Sagar Movietone's first talkie, ''Meri Jaan''. ...

who converted to Hinduism as Vidya Rani, by whom he had a son named Hukum Singh Rathore (Tutu Bana), but soon after their marriage he received rebuke from the royal family and as a result he started to live in

Mehrangarh Mehrangarh Fort covers an area of 1,200 acres (486 hectares) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The complex is located on a hilltop around 122 metres above the surrounding plain, and was constructed by Rajput ruler Rao Jodha, though most of the exi ...

. From her first marriage, Zubeida had a son,

Khalid Mohammed Khalid Mohamed is an Indian journalist, editor, film critic, screenwriter and film director. He formerly worked for the '' Hindustan Times'' and was the lead editor for ''Filmfare'' magazine. He is the son of Hindi film actress Zubeida B ...

, a film critic and director. After their death, his son Tutu was brought up by Rajmata Krishna Kumari of Jodhpur, and later went to study 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 ...

in Ajmer. He married Rao Rani Rajeshwari Kumari Rathore, daughter of Rao Raja Daljit Singh of

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. It is located 150 km south of Delhi and 150 km north of Jaipur. ...

. The couple had one son, Parikshit Singh Rathore (b. 1974) and one daughter, Jainandini Kanwar (b. 1975). However, on 17 April 1981, he was beheaded and found on the streets of Jodhpur.

Final years

After

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n independence and formation of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

as a state within

, he formed a new political party, Akhil Bhartiya Ramrajya Parishad in 1952. Campaigning in both the Indian general and state Assembly elections scheduled for February 1952, Hanwant Singh would have won a majority in his region. After only four hours of sleep he took off in a small aircraft with his wife, Zubeida on 26 January 1952. The plane crashed near Sumerpur, killing him at the age of 28. Zubeidaa also perished in the accident. In 2011, wreckage of the aircraft, Beechcraft Bonanza, a light six-seater aircraft, was discovered inside Jodhpur Central Jail. Subsequently, in 2012, the

Mehrangarh Fort Mehrangarh Fort covers an area of 1,200 acres (486 hectares) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The complex is located on a hilltop around 122 metres above the surrounding plain, and was constructed by Rajput ruler Rao Jodha, though most of the ex ...

Museum founded in 1972 by Maharaja

, formally asked the jail to transfer the wreckage to the museum.

References

1923 births 1952 deaths Rulers of the Kingdom of Marwar Indian polo players Rajasthani politicians Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in India People from Jodhpur Polo players from Rajasthan Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1952 20th-century Indian monarchs {{India-royal-stub

Family life

Final years

See also

References