Maharaja Sir Hari Singh GCSI.GCIE. GCVO (September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Hari Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. Hari Singh was born on September 1895 at Amar Mahal Palace Jammu. He was the only surviving son of Raja Amar Singh, the brother of Maharaja Pratap Singh, the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the Maharaja had no issue, Hari Singh was heir presumptive to the throne of Jammu and Kashmir.
In 1903, Hari Singh served as a page of honor to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi Durbar. At the age of 13, he was sent to Mayo College in Ajmer. A year later, in 1909, his father died and the British took a keen interest in his education, appointing Major H. K. Brar as his guardian. After Mayo College, Hari Singh went to the British-run Imperial Cadet Corps at Dehradun for military training. He was appointed the commander-in-chief of the State Forces in 1915 by Maharaja Pratap Singh.
In 1923, following his uncle’s death, Singh became the new Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.
After becoming the ruler, Hari Singh conducted free elections and formed the Praja Sabha Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to rule with laws implemented under Ranbir Penal Code (R.P.C) which Praja Sabha decreed. In April 1932, as per recommendations of the Glancy Commission, the Praja Sabha was established, made up of 75 members – 12 government officials, 16 state councilors, 14 nominated, and 33 elected (21 Muslims, 10 Hindus and 2 Sikhs). By September 1934 the elected members started making laws under the Praja Sabha which made Jammu and Kashmir a forerunner state for other Princely Indian States. In September 7, 1939 Maharaja Hari Singh and his law and Revenue Minister, Justice Sir Lal Gopal Mukherjee, a former judge of the Allahabad high court (1926-1934) who had served the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1935 to 1940, produced a written constitution for Jammu and Kashmir which was the “pioneer” in the annals of Asia’s constitutional history; despite the fact that it was anything but a people-friendly “Magna Carta” for the state. He made primary education compulsory in the state, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage, and opened places of worship to low caste subjects.
In 1930, Hari Singh attended the First Round Table Conference in London. He suggested that the Indian Princely states should join an “All India Federation” and pleaded for equal status for Indians in the British Commonwealth of Nations.
After Indian Independence in 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh wanted Jammu and Kashmir to remain as an independent kingdom, but he was required to accede to the Dominion of India to get the support of Indian troops against an invasion by tribal armed men and the Pakistan Army into his state.
Hari Singh remained the titular Maharaja of the state until 1952, when the monarchy was abolished by the Indian government.
After spending his final days in Bombay, he died on 26 April 1961.
People of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in Jammu organise programmes to pay Homage and tributes to him.
