Jaipur: Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh, the last Maharaja of Jaipur who continued to be revered as a social and cultural icon after India abolished royal titles, has died after a long illness.
Singh served as the Maharaja or hereditary ruler of Jaipur after his father Sawai Man Singh's death in June 1970. Jaipur was one of hundreds of tiny royal kingdoms that dotted India up until the country's independence from Britain in 1947.
The rulers continued to hold onto their titles after independence. However, Singh served as Maharaja for only a few months until India formally abolished royal titles in 1971.
Singh's daughter Diya Kumari said that he died early Sunday morning in a hospital on the outskirts of New Delhi, where he had spent the last two weeks.
Brigadier Singh was 79.
