Padmanabh Singh

Padmanabh Singh (born 2 July 1998) is an Indian polo player and member of the former ruling family of Jaipur State, in present-day Rajasthan, India.

Padmanabh Singh
Born	2 July 1998
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Mayo College Millfield School
Title	Titular King of Jaipur
Predecessor	Bhawani Singh
Parent(s)	Diya Kumari Narendra Singh
Family	Kachwaha

Personal life

Singh was born on 2[1] July 1998.[2] He has a sister, Gauravi Kumari,[1] and a brother, Lakshya Raj Singh.[3][4] His parents are Diya Kumari, the only daughter of Bhawani Singh, and Narendra Singh, the son of a member of staff who worked for Bhawani Singh. Their marriage, which was characterised as a member of the former royal family of Jaipur State in Rajasthan, India, marrying the lowly son of an employee, was seen as a social mismatch and caused much angst at the time. When the couple drifted apart, Bhawani Singh, who had himself opposed the marriage but then officiated a low-key ceremony, adopted Padmanabh Singh as his heir in 2002.[5]

Upon the death of Bhawani Singh in 2011, Padmanabh was informally "crowned" as the Maharaja of Jaipur, although such royal titles were legally abolished in India decades earlier.[5][6][7] Officially under the guardianship of his maternal grandmother at the time of his assumption of the role, he gained the sole responsibility of his family estate upon reaching the age of 18.[2]

Singh was educated at Mayo College in Ajmer[7] and at Millfield School in Somerset, UK.[2]

Polo

Like his grandfather, Bhawani Singh, and great-grandfather, Man Singh II, Padmanabh is an accomplished polo player. He began playing competitive polo in 2015 in England and has been a member of Guards Polo Club.[8] In 2017, he led the Indian national team at Hurlingham Park in what was the first visit to the venue by an Indian team in over 70 years. His grandfather had led the last successful Indian polo tour of the UK.[9][10]

References

1. "Meet the 20-year-old 'king' of Jaipur, India, a polo star who spends his multimillion-dollar fortune traveling the world and studying in NYC and Rome". Business Insider. 31 December 2018.
2. Parihar, Rohit (2 July 2016). "City Palace in Jaipur celebrates Maharaja Padmanabh Singh's 18th birthday". India Today.
3. Lazatin, Hannah (8 July 2020). "Jaipur's dashing 21-year-old billionaire maharaja who calls a palace home". South China Morning Post.
4. "Padmanabh Singh: Carrying on royal love for polo". The South Asian Times. 15 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
5. Bhandari, Prakash (16 September 2013). "The princess who could provide a royal touch to the BJP". Rediff. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
6. 1. Ramusack, Barbara N. (2004). The Indian princes and their states. Cambridge University Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-521-26727-4. Retrieved 6 November 2011., "Through a constitutional amendment passed in 1971, Indira Gandhi stripped the princes of the titles, privy purses and regal privileges which her father's government had granted." (p 278). 2. Naipaul, V. S. (8 April 2003), India: A Wounded Civilization, Random House Digital, Inc., pp. 37–, ISBN 978-1-4000-3075-0, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "The princes of India – their number and variety reflecting to a large extent the chaos that had come to the country with the break up of the Mughal empire – had lost real power in the British time. Through generations of idle servitude, they had grown to specialize only in style. A bogus, extinguishable glamour: in 1947, with Independence, they had lost their state, and Mrs. Gandhi in 1971 had, without much public outcry, abolished their privy purses and titles." (pp 37–38). 3. Schmidt, Karl J. (1995), An atlas and survey of South Asian history, M.E. Sharpe, p. 78, ISBN 978-1-56324-334-9, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "Although the Indian states were alternately requested or forced into union with either India or Pakistan, the real death of princely India came when the Twenty-sixth Amendment Act (1971) abolished the princes' titles, privileges, and privy purses." (page 78). 4. Breckenridge, Carol Appadurai (1995), Consuming modernity: public culture in a South Asian world, U of Minnesota Press, pp. 84–, ISBN 978-0-8166-2306-8, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "The third stage in the political evolution of the princes from rulers to citizens occurred in 1971, when the constitution ceased to recognize them as princes and their privy purses, titles, and special privileges were abolished." (page 84). 5. Guha, Ramachandra (5 August 2008), India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, HarperCollins, pp. 441–, ISBN 978-0-06-095858-9, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "Her success at the polls emboldened Mrs. Gandhi to act decisively against the princes. Through 1971, the two sides tried and failed to find a settlement. The princes were willing to forgo their privy purses, but hoped at least to save their titles. But with her overwhelming majority in Parliament, the prime minister had no need to compromise. On 2 December she introduced a bill to amend the constitution and abolish all princely privileges. It was passed in the Lok Sabha by 381 votes to six, and in the Rajya Sabha by 167 votes to seven. In her own speech, the prime minister invited 'the princes to join the elite of the modern age, the elite which earns respect by its talent, energy, and contribution to human progress, all of which can only be done when we work together as equals without regarding anybody as of special status.' " (page 441). 6. Cheesman, David (1997). Landlord power and rural indebtedness in colonial Sind, 1865-1901. London: Routledge. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-0-7007-0470-5. Retrieved 6 November 2011. Quote: "The Indian princes survived the British Raj by only a few years. The Indian republic stripped them of their powers and then their titles." (page 10). 7. Merriam-Webster, Inc (1997), Merriam-Webster's geographical dictionary, Merriam-Webster, pp. 520–, ISBN 978-0-87779-546-9, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "Indian States: "Various (formerly) semi-independent areas in India ruled by native princes .... Under British rule ... administered by residents assisted by political agents. Titles and remaining privileges of princes abolished by Indian government 1971." (page 520). 8. Ward, Philip (September 1989), Northern India, Rajasthan, Agra, Delhi: a travel guide, Pelican Publishing, pp. 91–, ISBN 978-0-88289-753-0, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "A monarchy is only as good as the reigning monarch: thus it is with the princely states. Once they seemed immutable, invincible. In 1971 they were "derecognized," their privileges, privy purses and titles all abolished at a stroke" (page 91)
7. "Indian schoolboy, 12, crowned Maharaja". NEWS.com.au. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
8. "The Polo Prince". Outlook Business. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
9. Telegraph Sport (6 April 2017). "England polo to play India at Hurlingham". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
10. "England International". Sportsgate International. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.