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, an ...

Karni Singh ji (21 April 1924 – 6 September 1988), also known as Dr Karni Singh, was from 1950 the last Maharaja of

Bikaner State Bikaner State was a princely state in the Rajputana from 1465 to 1947. The founder of the state, Rao Bika, was the eldest son of Rao Jodha, ruler of Jodhpur. Rao Bika chose to build his own kingdom instead of inheriting his father's ...

to hold the title of Maharaja of Bikaner, officially, until 1971, when the

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 ...

and all the royal titles were abolished by the Republic of India. He was also a politician, serving as a member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

for twenty-five years, from 1952 to 1977, and an international clay pigeon and

skeet Skeet may refer to: * Skeet shooting, a discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting ** ISSF Olympic skeet, a variant used at the Olympic Games People * Skeet Childress (born 1979), American guitar player in the band Look What I Did * Skeet Q ...

champion.

Early life and education

Born as

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Karni Singh on 21 April 1924 in the

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

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

, Singh's first schooling was there, after which he attended St Stephen's College,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, and St Xavier's College,

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, where he graduated BA with Honours in History and Politics.

Career

He saw active service in 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 opposin ...

, serving in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

with his grandfather,

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Ganga Singh, the 23rd

. Prince Karni succeeded his father,

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Sadul Singh, in 1950. In 1952, the young Maharaja Karni Singh was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

(Lower House) of India from Bikaner constituency as an independent candidate, serving on several consultative committees of different ministries and holding his seat until 1977. In 1964 he received the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

from

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

, for his thesis ''The relationship of the Bikaner royal family with central authority (1465–1949)''. He was an ardent supporter of the

Rajasthani language Rajasthani (Devanagari: ) refers to a group of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken primarily in the state of Rajasthan and adjacent areas of Haryana, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh in India. There are also speakers in the Pakistani provinces ...

and argued for its inclusion in the 14th schedule of the

Indian Constitution 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 r ...

. As well as many sports, his interests included

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

. Maharaja Karni Singh attended his last

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in 1980, and he died on 4 September 1988.

Family

He was the elder son of Maharaja Sadul Singh, and his name was chosen after their (kul devi) deity's name Karni mata. Singh was married to princess Sushila Kumari of

Dungarpur Dungarpur is a city in the southernmost part of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dungarpur District. It is the fastest developing town in the southern part of Rajasthan, alongside Aspur ''tehsil''. History Dungarpu ...

on 25 February 1944 and they had one son and two daughters: Narendra Singh, Rajyashree Kumari, and Madhulika Kumari. His daughter

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

Rajyashree Kumari was also a first class shooting sportswoman who received the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

in 1968. He was succeeded by his son Narendra Singh, who has 3 daughters: Daksha Kumari, Siddhi Kumari, and Mahima Kumari. Princess Siddhi Kumari is active in today's politics, currently MLA from

East (

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 si ...

Sporting career

Singh won the National Championship in Clay Pigeon Trap and Skeet seventeen times and represented India at all levels of international competition. He was the first Indian to compete at five Olympic Games, which he did from 1960 to 1980, missing the Games of 1976, representing India at clay pigeon shooting at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 1960,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, 1964 (Captain),

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, 1968,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, 1972, and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, 1980. His best positions in competition were eighth in 1960 and tenth in 1968. He represented his country in the World Shooting Championships at

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in 1961, and the next year won a silver medal at the 38th World Shooting Championships in Cairo, after tie for 1st place, captaining the Indian team. He also competed in the World Shooting Championships at

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

in 1966, again captaining the team, and at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

in 1967 and San Sebastian in 1969. He competed in the Asian Shooting Championships at

in 1967 and at

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

in 1971, where he won a gold medal. He won a silver medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, 1974, and another in the Asian Games at

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

in 1975.Profile of Dr Karni Singh
at iloveindia.com In 1981 he won the Welsh Grand Prix for clay pigeon shooting, the North Wales Cup and the North West of England Cup. In 1961 he was given the

Arjuna award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

, becoming the first person from the world of shooting to be rewarded with that national honour. He documented his shooting experiences in a book of memoirs called ''From Rome to Moscow''. Singh was also a keen player of

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, and held a private pilot's licence.

Memberships

Singh was a member of the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

of India, the National Sports Club of India, the

Cricket Club of India Cricket Club of India (CCI) is a cricket club in India. It is located on Dinsha Wacha Road, in Churchgate of Mumbai, India. It was conceived as India's counterpart to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It is considered one of the most prestigiou ...

, the Western India Automobile Association, the

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publi ...

, the

Bombay Flying Club The Bombay Flying Club is the oldest flying club in India, established in 1928, located at Juhu aerodrome, Mumbai. At present, the Bombay Flying Club's College of Aviation offers programs such as pilot training, Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, ...

, the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, the

Delhi Golf Club The Delhi Golf Club (DGC) is a prominent golf club situated in Delhi, India. It has ultra restrictive membership, with well over a waiting period of over 50 years for prospective members. It is close to Delhi's top tourist sites of India Gate, Hu ...

, the

Clay Pigeon Shooting Association The Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) is the national governing body for clay pigeon shooting in England. Founded in 1928, it is recognised by Sport England, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of the Environ ...

(of which he was an honorary life vice-president), the

Willingdon Sports Club The Royal Willingdon Sports Club is a private sports club in South Mumbai. The club was founded in 1918 by Lord Willingdon, at that time Governor of Bombay. Amenities include an 18-hole golf course, six tennis courts, squash and badminton cou ...

, and the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club.

Legacy

Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range is a shooting range in New Delhi, India. Spread over 18 acres, it is situated on South Delhi ridges in the backdrop of Adilabad Fort, near the historic Tughlaqabad Fort to its North and Surajkund Lake to its South W ...

situated near the historic

Tughlaqabad Fort Tughluqabad Fort is a ruined fort in Delhi, built by Ghiyasuddin Tughluq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty, of the Delhi Sultanate of India in 1321, as he established the third historic city of Delhi, which was later abandoned in 1327. It l ...

in Delhi was named after him. It was first constructed for the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of ...

in New Delhi, and later rebuilt for the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

.Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range

website.

Titles

*1924–1950:

Yuvaraja Yuv(a)raj(a) (Sanskrit: युवराज) is an Indian title for the crown prince, and the heir apparent to the throne of an Indian (notably Hindu) kingdom or (notably in the Mughal Empire or British Raj) princely state. It is usually applied t ...

Sri Sadul Singh Bahadur *1950–1971: Sri Raj Rajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Narendra Maharaja Shiromani Doctor Sri Karni Singh Bahadur (titular)

Honours

*Grand Commander of the Order of Vikram Star (Bikaner) *Order of Sadul Star (Bikaner) *Order of Star of Honour (Bikaner) *

Africa Star The Africa Star is a military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom on 8 July 1943 for award to British and Commonwealth forces who served in North Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943 during the Second World War. Three clasp ...

(

campaign medal) *

India Service Medal The India Service Medal 1939–1945 was a campaign medal of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth. It was awarded to British Indian Army, Indian Forces for three years of non-operational service in India during the India in World War II, Seco ...

, for shooting sports, 1962

References

External links

* *
Dr. Karni Singh's multi-faceted achievements - Quiz question
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Karni 1924 births 1988 deaths Indian male sport shooters Skeet shooters Maharajas of Bikaner Recipients of the Arjuna Award Sport shooters from Rajasthan Rajasthani people Trap and double trap shooters People from Bikaner Indian sportsperson-politicians India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1971–1977 Indian Army personnel Olympic shooters of India Shooters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1968 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1980 Summer Olympics Indian Army personnel of World War II Asian Games medalists in shooting Lok Sabha members from Rajasthan Shooters at the 1974 Asian Games Shooters at the 1982 Asian Games Rajasthani politicians Indian royalty Independent politicians in India Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India