Gaj Singh
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Gaj Singh (Hindi: गज सिंह) (born 13 January 1948) is a former member of the
| Gaj Singh | |
|---|---|
| Titular Maharaja of Jodhpur | |
| Reign | 1952 – present |
| Predecessor | Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur |
| Heir-Apparent | Yuvraj Shivraj Singh |
| Spouse | Maharani Hemlata Rajye |
| Issue | |
| Baiji lal Shivranjani Rajye (b. 1974)
Yuvraj Shivraj Singh (b. 1975) |
|
| Full name | |
| His Highness Raj Rajeshwar Saramad-i-Raja-i-Hind Maharajadhiraja Maharaja Shri GAJ SINGHJI II Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Marwar | |
| House | Rathore clan |
| Father | Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur |
| Mother | Maharani Krishna Kumari |
| Born | 13 January 1948 |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Indian parliament and a former High Commissioner of India. He was the Maharaja of Jodhpur from 1952 until the royal powers, privileges and privy purses were abolished by an amendment to the Constitution of India in 1971.
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[edit] Early years and accession
Gaj Singh was born the only son of Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur by his wife, Maharani Krishna Kumari of Dhrangadhra. Singh belongs to the Suryavanshi (Origin from the Surya-Kula) family of Rajputs. He succeeded to the titles and dignities of his father when only four years of age, in 1952, when his father died suddenly in a plane crash. He was enthroned shortly afterwards.
The infant and his siblings were raised by their mother, Rajmata Krishna Kumari. At the age of eight, Gaj Singh was sent first to Cothill House, a prep school in Oxfordshire, England, and then to Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Singh's full title as Maharaja was His Highness Raj Rajeshwar Saramad-i-Raja-i-Hind Maharajadhiraja Maharaja Shri GAJ SINGHJI II Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Marwar[1]
[edit] Family
In 1970, Gaj Singh returned to Jodhpur to take up his duties as Maharaja of Jodhpur and head of the Rathore clan. In 1973, he married Hemalata Rajye, daughter of the Raja of Poonch, a major feudatory state of Kashmir state and his wife Princess Nalini Rajye Lakshmi Devi of Nepal. They are the parents of two children, being:
- A daughter, Baiji lal Shivranjani Rajye (b. 1974), and
- A son, Yuvraj Shivraj Singh (b. 1975).
[edit] Derecognition
In 1971, the constitution of India was amended. The Maharaja and other princes were deprived of their Privy purses, the government annuities that had been guaranteed to them both in the constitution and in the covenants of accession whereby their states were merged with the Dominion of India in the 1940s. The same amendment also deprived them of other privileges, such as diplomatic immunity.
[edit] Career
Later, Gaj Singh served as Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. He also served a term in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament.
In 2002, Gaj Singh celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his accession.
