Hanwant Singh

Raj Rajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur (16 June 1923 - 26 January 1952) was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Jodhpur from 1947 until 1952. He was polo player and was world polo champion. He succeeded his father as Maharaja of Jodhpur on 9 June 1947, he held the title till his death in a plane crash on 26 January 1952.[1]

Family life

He married, in 1943 to Maharani Krishna Kumari Ba Sahiba of Dhrangadhra by whom he had a son Gaj Singh, daughter, Sailesh Kumari married in Banswara and daughter, Chandresh Kumari Katoch of Kangra,[2] also the former Indian National Congress MP from Jodhpur. In 1948, he met Maharani Sundra Devi (formerly Sandra McBryde). Later he married the Muslim actress Zubeida converted to Hinduism as Vidya Rani, by whom he had a son named Hukum Singh (Tutu Bana). From her first marriage she had a son, Khalid Mohammed, a film critic and director.[3][4]

After their death, his son Tutu was brought up by Rajmata of Jodhpur, later went to study Mayo College in Ajmer. He married Rao Rani Rajeshwari Kumari, daughter Rao Raja Daljit Singh, of Alwar. The couple had one son, Parikshit Singh (b. 1974) and one daughter, Jainandini Kanwar (b. 1975). However, on April 17, 1981, he was beheaded and found on the streets of Jodhpur. [5][4]

Final years

After Indian independence and formation of Rajasthan as a state within India, he formed a new political party in 1952, was to campaigning both the Indian general election, 1952 in February 1952 and state Assembly elections, would have won a majority in his region. He was getting four hours of sleep, when he took off in a small aircraft with his wife, Zubeida on 26 January 1952. The plane crashed killing him at the age of 28. Zubeidaa also perished in the mishap.[6][7]

In 2011, wreckage of the aircraft, Beechcraft Bonanza, a light six-seater aircraft, was discovered inside Jodhpur Central Jail. [7] Subsequently, in 2012, the Mehrangarh Fort Museum founded in 1972 by Maharaja Gaj Singh, formally asked the jail to transfer the wreckage to the museum.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "HH The Maharaja Hanwant Singh". Maharaja Jodhpur website. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  2. ↑ http://www.royalkangra.com/presentfamilyandtheirbusinesses.htm
  3. ↑ "Zubeidaa’s secret". The Times of India. July 11, 2003. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  4. 1 2 "Jodhpur Genealogy". royalark. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  5. ↑ Anvar Alikhan (17 January 2001). "The Real Zubeidaa". rediff.com, Movies. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  6. ↑ Anvar Alikhan (January 17, 2001). "The Real Zubeidaa". rediff.com, Movies. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  7. 1 2 "Jodhpur's Maharaja and his wife's aircraft wreckage discovered inside jail". India Today. July 11, 2011. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  8. ↑ "Rajasthan museum seeks maharaja's plane crash wreckage". BBC News. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
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