Raja Maharaj Singh
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 Singh at a baseball match in Bombay in 1949. | |||||||||||||||
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Raja Sir Maharaj Singh CIE CStJ (17 May 1878, Kapurthala, Punjab – 6 June 1959, Lucknow) was the first Indian Governor of Bombay. He was also the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir during Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule and also the Dewan of Jodhpur for a short while.
Maharaj Singh was the son of Raja Harnam Singh of the Kapurthala royal family in the direct line founded by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. His mother was Rani Priscilla Kaur Sahiba (née Priscilla Golaknath).[citation needed] He was educated at Harrow School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he completed his MA, and was called to Bar by the Middle Temple in 1902. Starting off as the Deputy Collector of United Provinces, he held several positions in the government of India. He was elected the chancellor of Lucknow University in 1941 and served for a short span as the Prime Minister of Kashmir. He was the Governor of Bombay from 1948 to 1952. He was appointed a CIE in 1915 and knighted in 1933.
At the age of 72, he captained the Bombay Governor's XI against a touring Commonwealth XI in a cricket match starting on 25 November 1950. This makes him the oldest cricketer to make his first-class debut and the oldest player to play a first-class game.[1] Coming in to bat at No. 9, he edged Jim Laker for 3 and one run later, was caught at first slip off the same bowler. He took no part in the game after the first day and Yadavindra Singh of Patiala captained the side in his absence. Laker was 44 years younger than the man he dismissed. The Test cricketer Rusi Modi served as his ADC while he was the Bombay governor.
Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur, who was the Minister of Health in the Nehru government, was his younger sister. Married to Gunwati Maya Das of Ferozepore, Maharaj Singh had two sons, Raja Ranbir Singh, a diplomat (died June 1995) and Kanwar Mahindar Singh a tennis player and businessman (died August 2004), as well as one daughter, Prem Maharaj Seth (née Singh) (died September 2019).
Titles
- 1878-1915: Kanwar Maharaj Singh
- 1915-1932: Kanwar Maharaj Singh, CIE
- 1932-1933: Raja Maharaj Singh, CIE
- 1933-1937: Raja Sir Maharaj Singh, CIE
- 1937-1959: Raja Sir Maharaj Singh, CIE, CStJ
- 1948-1952: His Excellency Sri Sir Maharaj Singh, CIE, CStJ, Governor of the State of Bombay
Honours
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- Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE)-1915
- Knight Bachelor-1933
- King George V Silver Jubilee Medal-1935
- Commander of the Order of St John (CStJ)-1937
- King George VI Coronation Medal-1937
- Indian Independence Medal-1948
References
- ^ "The death of Phillip Hughes". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
External links
- Times Obituary, 8 June 1959
- Indian Princely States - Kapurthala
- Martin Williamson, Ripe old age
- Use dmy dates from July 2013
- 1878 births
- 1959 deaths
- People educated at Harrow School
- Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
- Members of the Middle Temple
- Indian cricketers
- Knights Bachelor
- Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
- Indian knights
- Indian diplomats
- Punjabi people
- Cricketers from Punjab, India
- Commanders of the Order of St John
- Governors of Bombay