Rao Raja Hanut Singh (20 March 1900 – 12 October 1982) was a British Indian Army soldier and polo player.

Biography

Hanut Singh was born at

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 ...

on 20 March 1900, the third son of Sir Pratap Singh of Idar. 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 ...

in Ajmer and at

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson. Over ...

in Sussex, as well as at L'Ecole de Cavalerie in France. He served as a

Page of Honour A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The on ...

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

at the 1911 Delhi Durbar He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Jodhpur State Forces in 1914 and commissioned a temporary honorary Second Lieutenant in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in July 1916. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Hanut Singh served with his father, who was one of the seven commanding officers of the

15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade The 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade was a brigade-sized formation that served alongside British Empire forces in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, during World War I. Originally called the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade it was formed ...

that was formed from the

Imperial Service Troops The Imperial Service Troops were forces raised by the princely states of the British Indian Empire. These troops were available for service alongside the Indian Army when such service was requested by the British government. At the beginning of ...

provided by various

Indian Princely States A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to a ...

to aid the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

during wartime. Hanut Singh served in France, Palestine and Syria and was a part of the Jodhpur Lancers. He was present at the taking of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

and at the fall of Aleppo in 1918. He served in the Egyptian Rebellion of 1919 and was appointed to an honorary Captaincy in the

in 1921.

Post-war

Until his father, Sir Pratap Singh's death in 1922, Hanut Singh served as his private secretary. From 1923 to 1925, he served as Comptroller of the Royal Household of Jodhpur, then as Officer of the Royal Stables until 1933, when he was promoted to Comptroller of the Royal Stables. In 1934, he was promoted to the rank of Major in th
Jodhpur State Forces
. He was awarded the title of

Rao Bahadur __NOTOC__ Rao may refer to: Geography * Rao, West Sumatra, one of the districts of West Sumatra, Indonesia * Råö, a locality in Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden Transport * Dr. Leite Lopes–Ribeirão Preto State Airport , ...

in 1937. In 1941, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and became the Military Secretary for Jodhpur, serving until 1948. Hanut Singh was promoted to Colonel in 1946 and to Brigadier in 1947. An outstanding polo player, he played and won many games for Jodhpur. Later he fielded his own team, ''Ratanada'', with two of his sons, Rao Raja Bijai Singh and Rao Raja Hari Singh. Team ''Ratanada'', won almost every tournament in India for many years. Indian Polo Championship 1957

Personal life

Rao Raja Hanut Singh married twice. His first wife, ''Rani Sirey Kanwar'', was the daughter o
HH Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II
of

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

. They had three children; * Rajkumari Kalyan Kumari, who died young * Rao Raja Bijai Singh who married Rao Rani Kamal Kumari (Baby) and have two children; ** Rao Raja Lakshman Singh (Bunny) (b. 1951) married Lata Kaicker and has two sons; *** Kunwar Arjun Singh (b.1981) who married Neha Mansukhani (b. 1983) and has two children; **** Kumari Nayantara Singh (b. 2016) **** Kumari Roohi Singh (b. 2019) *** Kunwar Ranjit Singh (b. 1985) who married Tripti Kankaria (b. 1983) and has one child; **** Kumari Indira Singh (b. 2019) ** Harsh Kumari (b.1953) married Raja Chandra Vijay Singh (b.1950) o
Sahaspur
and has three children; *** Rani Uttara Singh Rathore (b.1976) who married Maharaj Suryaveer Singh Rathore of

(b.1972). They have two sons; **** Kunwar Samarvir Singh Rathore (b.2001) **** Kunwar Hanut Singh Rathore (b.2007). *** Rajkumari Mallika Kumari Singh (b.1980) who married Kunwar Dhananjai Singh Jamwal (b.1979) They have one daughter, Anaheera Kumari. *** Rajkumar Surya Vijay Singh (b.1985) * Rao Raja Hari Singh (Harry) married Rao Rani Nawal Kanwar (Jill) and a daughter ** Rajkumari Serena Kumari (b. 1972) *** Rajita Singh Kumari (b.1997) who married Jaspal Singh (b.1990) His second wife, ''Rani Priya Devi'', was the daughter o
HH Maharaja Amar Prakash Bahadur
of Sirmur. They had one son; * Rao Raja Daljeet Singh (Tony), who married Rao Rani Shakti Kumari 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 ...

. They have three children; ** Kunwar Dalpat Singh ** Kunwar Digvijay Singh married Kunwarani Mahima Rana of Sirmur. They have one son, Kunwar Jasmer Singh. ** Rajkumari Mamta Kumari married Kunwar Naveen Tomar of Dhoori son of Thakur Sahib Brigadier (Vir Chakra) JK Tomar( Meerut)

Later life

From 1949 to 1951, Hanut Singh served as the Minister for Health, Medical and Jails Departments for Rajasthan. In 1958, he was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

for his achievements and contributions to the game of polo, also receiving the Arjuna Award in 1964. He died at Jodhpur on 12 October 1982, aged 82. He left three sons.

Honours

*Delhi Durbar silver medal – 1911 *

1914 Star The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British World War I campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914. Institution The 1914 Star was authorised under Special Army Order no. 350 in No ...

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

– 1918 * Victory Medal – 1918 *

India General Service Medal (1909) __NOTOC__ The Indian General Service Medal (1909 IGSM) was a campaign medal approved on 1 January 1909,British Battles and Medals, p. 220. for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies. From 1919, it was also awarded to officers a ...

– 1919 *Jodhpur Great War Service Medal – 1919 * King George V Silver Jubilee Medal – 1935 *Title of

– 1937 *

King George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to t ...

– 1937 *Jodhpur Victory Medal – 1945 *Indian Independence Medal – 1947 *

– 1958 * Arjuna Award – 1964

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Hanut Indian polo players British Indian Army officers Rajasthani people People educated at Eastbourne College Pages of Honour Recipients of the Arjuna Award Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs People from Jodhpur Polo players from Rajasthan Roehampton Trophy 1900 births 1982 deaths Indian Army personnel of World War I