| Hanwant Singh I | |
|---|---|
| Maharaja of Marwar | |
 Hanwant Singh, 1947–49 | |
| Maharaja (King) of Marwar | |
| Reign | 9 January 1947–1949 |
| Predecessor | Umaid Singh I |
| Successor | Gaj Singh, Crown Prince of Marwar |
| Born | 16 June 1923 Jodhpur, Kingdom of Marwar, Rajputana, Empire of India |
| Died | 26 January 1952 (aged 28) Sumerpur Godwar,Rajasthan India |
| Spouse | Princess Krishna Kumari of Dhrangadhra (m. 1943 - 1952; his death) Zubeida Begum (m. 1950 - 1952; their deaths) |
| Issue | Chandreshwari Kumari, Crown Princess of Lambagraon Princess Shailesh Kumari Gaj Singh, Crown Prince of Marwar Prince Hukum Singh |
| House | Rathore |
| Father | Umaid Singh I of Marwar |
| Mother | Princess Badan Kanwar Osiyan |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Hanwant Singh I of Marwar (16 June 1923 – 26 January 1952) was the last ruler of the third largest Indian Kingdom of Marwar. He succeeded his father as the Maharaja of Jodhpur of the Rathore dynasty of Marwar on 9 June 1947 and held the title till his death at age 28 in a plane crash on 26 January 1952.[1]
Family life[edit | edit source]
In 1943 he married Princess Krishna Kumari of Dhrangadhra, they had three children, the youngest child, a son Gaj Singh Rathore; who succeeded him, daughter Sailesh Kumari married in Banswara; and daughter, Chandresh Kumari Katoch of Kangra.[2] In 1948, he met 19-year-old Scottish nurse Sandra McBryde, with whom he had a tempestuous and brief affair. Later he married the Muslim actress Zubeida who converted to Hinduism as Vidya Rani, by whom he had a son named Hukum Singh Rathore (Tutu Bana). Soon after their marriage he received rebuke from the royal family and as a result he started to live in Mehrangarh. From her first marriage, Zubeida had a son, Khalid Mohammed, a film critic and director.[3]
After their death, their son Tutu was brought up by Rajmata Krishna Kumari, and later went to study at Mayo College in Ajmer. He married Rao Rani Rajeshwari Kumari Rathore, daughter of Rao Raja Daljit Singh of Alwar. The couple had one son, Parikshit Singh Rathore (b. 1974) and one daughter, Jainandini Kanwar (b. 1975). However, on 17 April 1981, he was beheaded and found on the streets of Jodhpur.[4]
Final years[edit | edit source]
Many modern media reports falsely attribute Hanwant as the founder of the Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad,[5][6][7] a traditionalist hindu political party which was actually founded by Swami Karpatri in 1948.[8][9] Infact, He used to fight all elections as an independent candidate and not through any party.[10]
He swept the Jodhpur constituency by securing 78.62% votes in the Indian general elections of 1951.[10] In the state Assembly elections of Rajasthan scheduled for February 1952, Hanwant Singh defeated the former Chief Minister Jai Narayan Vyas by securing 65.24% votes, a gigantic gap but died on the counting day of votes.[11][12][13] He took off in a small aircraft with his wife, Zubeida on 26 January 1952. The plane crashed near Sumerpur, killing him at the age of 28. along with his wife.[4][14]
In 2011, wreckage of the aircraft, Beechcraft Bonanza, a light six-seater aircraft, was discovered inside Jodhpur Central Jail.[14] 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.[15]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "HH The Maharaja Hanwant Singh". Maharaja Jodhpur website. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ↑ "Royal Kangra / Present Family and their Businesses". Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ↑ "Zubeidaa's secret". The Times of India. 11 July 2003. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Anvar Alikhan (17 January 2001). "The Real Zubeidaa". rediff.com, Movies. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ↑ Bhandari, Prakash (16 November 2023). "Rajasthan elections: Royals in the fray bear ancestral legacy". National Herald. Archived from the original on 9 November 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
- ↑ "Maharaja of Jodhpur used aircraft for LS campaigns in 1952 - The Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 September 2026. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
- ↑ "Election 2014: No thrill in princess versus pauper in Jodhpur - Politics News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
- ↑ कुमावत, स्मित पालीवाल/रमेश (28 October 2023). "सीएम को 2 जगहों से हरवाने वाले हनवंत सिंह: फिर भी नहीं बनी राजशाही सरकार, जीतने से पहले पूर्व महाराज की मौत - Rajasthan News". Dainik Bhaskar (in हिन्दी). Retrieved 9 September 2026.
- ↑ Baxter, Craig (1969). The Jana Sangh; a biography of an Indian political party. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8122-7583-4.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Detailed Results". Statistical report on general elections, 1951 to the first Lok Sabha. Vol. 1. p. 134.
- ↑ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 : To the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan". Election Commission of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 June 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ↑ Singh, Rashpal (15 April 2014). "Rajasthan royals' affair with politics began 63 years ago". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
- ↑ "महाराजा हनवंत सिंह: वो राजा जिन्होंने मारवाड़ में कांग्रेस को रौंद डाला - Jaipur News". Dainik Bhaskar (in हिन्दी). 12 April 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Jodhpur's Maharaja and his wife's aircraft wreckage discovered inside jail". India Today. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ↑ "Rajasthan museum seeks maharaja's plane crash wreckage". BBC News. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
 | This biography of a member of an Indian royal house is a stub. You can help Bharatpedia by expanding it. |