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Sawai Tej Singh Naruka

Last ruling Maharaja of Alwar from 1937–1948

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Maharaja of Alwar

Tej Singh, a remotely related cousin of the previous ruler, Sir Jai Singh Prabhakar, was selected by the British to rule Alwar, as Jai Singh had been deposed by them because of the Alwar movement led by Yasin Khan and Meos due to his gross misrule .Initially he had limited administrative control, but was given executive authority eventually in the last days of the British Raj by the Viceroy of India in 1944.

Tej Singh was a supporter of Hindu nationalism through the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, and hosted the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha, serving as its president in 1947. He opposed Mahatma Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement. There is speculation that he supported and funded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He appointed Dr N.B. Khare as his prime minister who failed to prevent, and some say encouraged pushing, Alwar into sectarian violence that saw Muslims forcefully converted, forced out, and in some cases murdered during the Partition of India. He was accused but found innocent of playing a role in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, with a claim (never upheld) that the revolver used in the assassination came from Sir Tej Singh. His association with the implicated Hindu Mahasabha and a prominent suspect at the time, Dr N.B. Khare (his Prime Minister), added to the suspicion. The issue remains controversial to this day.

Tej Singh ruled for a decade, from 1937-1947, with administrative control only granted in 1944, before the coming of Indian independence in 1947.

In 1948, possibly under pressure during the Gandhi assassination investigation, Tej Singh agreed that Alwar be merged with other Eastern Rajputana princely states to form the Matsya Union; the union merged into that of Greater Rajasthan the following year. After 1948, Sir Tej retired to his New Delhi residence, Alwar House, where he lived for the next six decades, visiting his former kingdom but rarely.

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RajputSocial community of South AsiaBritish Indian Army1895–1947 military forcePrakritGroup of languages of the 5th century BCE – 12th century CEMaharajaIndian princely titleBengal PresidencyProvince of British India from 1699 to 1947JahangirMughal emperor from 1605 to 1627