Pratap Singh of Idar: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Lieutenant general in British Indian Army}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}

 

 

| honorific_prefix  = The Maharaja of the [[Idar State|State of Idar]]

| name              =Sir Pratap Singh

| birth_date    = 21 October 1845

| death_date    = 4 September 1922 (aged 76)

| death_place  =[[Jodhpur]]

| allegiance    = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[British Empire]]

| serviceyears  =  

| rank          =[[Lieutenant General]]

| battles      =[[Second Afghan War]]<br/>[[Tirah Campaign]]<br/>[[Boxer Rebellion]]<br/>[[First World War]]

[[Lieutenant-General]] Sir '''Pratap Singh''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|sep=,|GCB|GCSI|GCVO}} (21 October 1845 &ndash; 4 September 1922) was a decorated [[British Indian Army]] officer, Maharaja of the [[princely state]] of [[Idar (princely state)|Idar]] (Gujarat), administrator and Regent of [[Jodhpur State|Jodhpur]] and heir to Ahmednagar later renamed as [[Himmatnagar]] from 1902 to 1911.

Singh was born on 22 October 1845 in Rajput family. He was the third son of [[Takht Singh of Jodhpur]] (1819–13 February 1873) the Maharaja of Jodhpur, and his first wife, Gulab Kunwarji Maji. He was educated privately, and little is known of his early life. He received administrative training under [[Ram Singh II|Maharaja Ram Singh]] of [[Jaipur State|Jaipur]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news|date=6 September 1922|title=Famous Indian General Dead|page=10|work=[[The Straits Times]]|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19220906-1.2.71|accessdate=9 May 2017}}</ref>

After his father's death in 1873, his eldest brother [[Jaswant Singh II|Maharaja Jaswant Singh]] succeeded to the throne of [[Jodhpur State|Jodhpur]]. Maharaja Jaswant singh invited by Pratap Singh to lead Jodhpur state administration.<ref name=":0" />  From 1878 to 1895, Singh served as Chief Minister for Jodhpur.  After his brother's death in 1895, he served as regent for his fifteen-year-old nephew and heir to the Jodhpur throne [[Sardar Singh of Jodhpur]] until 1898, then again for his grandnephew [[Sumer Singh of Jodhpur]] from 1911 to 1918 and finally for his second grandnephew [[Umaid Singh]] from 1918 until his own death in 1922. In total, Pratap Singh had served four rulers of Jodhpur for over four decades. Following the death of the ruler of [[Idar State|Idar]] in 1901, Pratap Singh was Maharajah of that state from 1902 until he resigned in favor of his adopted son in 1911 to return to Jodhpur to be regent. He travelled to Europe often and was close to [[Queen Victoria]] and her family, serving as [[aide-de-camp]] to [[Edward VII]] from 1887 to 1910. He was especially close towards his son, the future [[George V of the United Kingdom]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Commissioned in the Jodhpur Risala in 1878, Singh served during the [[Second Afghan War]] and was [[mentioned in dispatches]]. He was promoted to [[Lieutenant-Colonel]] in 1887, served under General Ellis in 1897 and served in the [[Tirah Campaign]] in 1898 under General [[William Lockhart (Indian Army officer)|William Lockhart]], during which he was wounded. Promoted to an Honorary [[Colonel]] the same year, he commanded the Jodhpur contingent during the [[Boxer Rebellion]] and was promoted to an [[Order of the Bath|Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] (KCB).<ref name=LG27337>{{London Gazette |issue=27337 |date=24 July 1901 |page=4915 |supp=y}}</ref> In late 1901 he accepted the post of honorary commandant of the [[Imperial Cadet Corps]] under [[Lord Curzon]],<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Latest intelligence - India |day_of_week=Tuesday |date=3 December 1901 |page_number=5 |issue=36628| }}</ref> and was promoted to the honorary rank of [[Major-General (British Army)|Major-General]] on 9 August 1902.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27462 |date=8 August 1902 |page=5101 }}</ref> Even as an elderly man of 70, Sir Pratap commanded his regiments during the [[First World War]] in [[France]] and [[Flanders]] from 1914-1915 and in the [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine Mandate]] at [[Haifa]] and [[Aleppo]]. He led the Jodhpur Lancers, a cavalry unit, in France. <ref>{{Cite book|title=For King and Another Country|last=Basu|first=Shrabani|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2015|location=New Delhi, CT|page=32|isbn=978-93-86250-92-6}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Lieutenant-General]] in 1916.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

In 1911, Pratap abdicated the ''gadi'' (throne) of Idar in favour of his adopted son and nephew, [[Daulat Singh]]. Following his wartime service and a final stint as Regent of Jodhpur, Singh died at Jodhpur on 4 September 1922.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

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[[File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.png|100px]]

[[File:Ord.Stella.India.jpg|100px]]

[[Image:Star of Romania Ribbon.PNG|100px]]

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Singh's honours included:{{cn|date=June 2020}}

**'''KCB(m)''': Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) – 29 November 1900 – in recognition of services during the recent operations in China ([[Boxer rebellion]]).<ref name=LG27337/> He was invested personally by King [[Edward VII]] during an audience in June 1902, when he visited London to attend the King's coronation.<ref name=TT14061902>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Court Circular |day_of_week=Saturday |date=14 June 1902 |page_number=12 |issue=36794| }}</ref>

*1873-1877: [[Maharaj]] Shri Pratap Singh Sahib

*1877-1878: Maharaj Shri Pratap Singh Sahib

*1902-1911: [[Major-General]] [[His Highness]] Maharajadhiraja [[Maharaja]] Shri Sir Pratap Singh Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of [[Idar]], GCSI, KCB

*{{Commons category inline|Pratap Singh of Idar}}

[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]