Hari Singh

Hari Singh हरि सिंह ਹਰਿ ਸਿੰਘ ہری سنگھ
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
Hari Singh in 1944
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
Reign	23 September 1925 — 26 April 1961
Predecessor	Pratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir
Successor	Monarchy Abolished (Karan Singh As Head of State)
Born	23 September 1895 Jammu, Kashmir and Jammu, British Raj
Died	26 April 1961 (aged 65) Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Spouse	Maharani Tara Devi (4th Wife)
Issue	Karan Singh
House	Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir
Father	Amar Singh
Religion	Hinduism

Hari Singh (September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India.

He was married four times. With his fourth wife, Maharani Tara Devi (1910–1967), he had one son, Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh.

Hari Singh was born on 23 September 1895 at the palace of Amar Mahal, Jammu, the only surviving son of General Raja Sir Amar Singh Jamwal (14 January 1864 – 26 March 1909), the brother of Maharaja Pratap Singh, the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.

In 1903, Hari Singh served as a page of honour to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi Durbar. At the age of thirteen, Hari Singh was dispatched to the Mayo College in Ajmer. A year later, in 1909, his father died, and the British took a keen interest in his education and appointed Major H. K. Brar as his guardian. After Mayo College, the ruler-in-waiting went to the British-run Imperial Cadet Corps at Dehra Dun for military training. Pratap Singh appointed him as commander-in-chief of the state forces of Jammu and Kashmir in 1915.

Following the death of his uncle Pratap Singh in 1925, Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir. He made primary education compulsory in the state, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage, and opened places of worship to the low castes. His ascent was despite misgivings concerning "youthful escapades", including him having paid £300,000 when he was blackmailed by a prostitute in Paris in 1921. That issue had resulted in a court case in London in 1924 during which the India Office tried to keep his name out of proceedings by arranging for him to be referred to as "Mr. A."