Brig. H.H. Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh was the Maharaja of Jaipur. He was the head of the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs. Sawai Bhawani Singh was born on 22nd October 1931 to late H.H. Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and Marudhar Kanwar of Jodhpur. He was the eldest son of his parents. Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh received his education in Sheshbagh School in Srinagar, Doon School in Dehradun and Harrow in United Kingdom.
Military Life of Sawai Bhawani Singh
H.H. Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh in the year 1951 was commissioned into the Indian Army. He was given the post of a Second Lieutenant of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. In 1954, he was selected for the President`s Bodyguard. He was later posted to HQ 50 (Indep) Para Brigade in the year 1963. He was also posted as Adjutant, Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and served there from 1964-1967. Bhawani Singh was second-in-command of the 10th Parachute Regiment (Commando) in the year 1968. It was one of the two elite Special Forces battalions at that time in India. The other was the 9 para commando regiment. Before the beginning of the Bangladesh war in 1970 he helped in training the "Mukti Vahini." During the Indo-Pak war in 1971 he led his Battalion into action. For his bravery and valour he was awarded India`s second highest military honour, the Maha Vir Chakra. His Battalion were also awarded 10 gallantry awards for their bravery in these operations. He took voluntary retirement in 1974. Sawai Bhawani Singh was also summoned by the Prime Minister when the Indian Army was in action in Sri Lanka under "Operation Pawan", for boosting up the morale of his old unit (10 Para). He remained successful in his venture and was thus conferred upon the rank of Brigadier for life by the then President of India. Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh has also been the first Resident High Commissioner to the State of Brunei from July 1993 to January 1997.
Life of Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh
Shri Bhawani Singh was married on 10th of March 1967 to the Sirmur Princess, Maharaj Kumari Padmini Devi in Delhi. His wife was the daughter of H.H. Rajendra Prakash Bahadur, a ruler of a large state with its capital town of Nahan. The town was then regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in India. It is situated on the bank of the Markanda River. The couple was later blessed with a daughter named ad Princess Diya Kumari who was born on 30 January 1971.
Sawai Bhawani Singh ascended the throne of Jaipur in 1970 after the death of his father. He served as the official Maharaja until the abolition of the princely order. As he had no son in November 2002 he adopted his daughter`s elder son Padmanabh. Bhawani Singh was also associated with politics and had contested the Lok Sabha elections in the year 1989.
On March 29th Bhawani Singh was admitted in a private hospital in Gurgaon. Due to multi organ failure he died on April 17, 2011. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan during that time, Ashok Gehlot had declared three days of state mourning. He was cremated on April 18, 2011 at Gaitore Ki Chatriya, the royal crematorium in Jaipur with full honours.
