Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur, MVC was the Maharaja of Jaipur and head of the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs. He died at age 79 due to multi-organ failure.[2] The title technically ended in 1971 when royal entitlements were abolished along with privy purses through a constitutional amendment. However, the erstwhile Maharaja was considered a political, cultural, and religious icon in modern Rajasthan, and he was sometimes referred to in the media as His Highness, The Maharaja of Jaipur.(22 October 1931–17 April 2011)
Early life
Born to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and his first wife, Marudhar Kanwar of Jodhpur, Sawai was educated at The Doon School, Dehradun, and later Harrow School. As the first male heir born to a reigning Maharaja of Jaipur for generations (all others, including his father, who was originally a minor noble, were adopted), his birth was a celebrated event in Jaipur, where the fountains of the royal palaces flowed with champagne in his honor giving him the nickname Bubbles.[3]Military career
As a young man, Crown Prince Bhawani Singh served in the Indian Army, and received numerous honors, including a promotion to the Presidential Bodyguard in 1954, and the post of Adjutant at Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.[citation needed] In 1968, Sawai was second-in-command of the 10th Parachute Regiment (Commando), one of the two elite Special Forces battalions, the other being the 9 para commando regiment, in India at the time, and became the Commanding Officer (CO) later in 1968.In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Sawai led his troops deep inside Pakistani territory in the Sindh region of Pakistan, attacking and destroying many Pakistani posts. For this, he was awarded India's second-highest gallantry award, the Mahavir Chakra.[citation needed] He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1974. In his retirement, he also served as Indian High Commissioner to Brunei from 1994-1997 [1][2].
Royal life
Sawai Bhawani Singh ascended the throne of Jaipur in 1970 following the death of his father, and remained the official Maharaja until the abolition of the privy purse and royal entitlements by Indira Gandhi, although he remains generally honored like most other erstwhile rulers.He married Princess Padmini Devi of Sirmur on 10 March 1966 in a ceremony held at Delhi.[4] She was the daughter of his father's polo-playing friend HH Maharaja Rajendra Prakash by his wife Maharani Indira Devi.[5] The royal couple have one daughter, Princess Diya Kumari (b. 30 January 1971).
In 1997, Princess Diya married Narendra Singh Rajawat (called Maharaj Shri Narendra Singh Ji), a commoner Rajput and very distant cousin who had been a member of the household staff of the Maharaja of Jaipur.[3][4][6] He is a son of Thakur Buddha Singh of Kotda village in Tonk district; the father had earlier served as a guard at the city palace.[5] They have three children:
- Kumar Padmanabh Singh (b. 1999) aged three in 2002,[6] called Maharaj Kumar Padmanabh Singh[7] who has been adopted by his maternal grandparents in a magnificent ceremony on 22 November 2002,[8] but a controversial move in the history of the dynasty.KumarPadmanabh Singh was corronated as maharaja of jaipur on 28th april 2011 in a magnificient ceremony.[9]
- Laksh Raj Singh, called Rajkumar Laksh Raj Singh (b. 20___)[7]
- a daughter Gorvi Devi (b. 2000) called Rajkumari Gauravi Kumari .[7]
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