Jodhpur News | Release Of The Biography Of Gaj Singh Of Jodhpur: "Bapji :The King Who Would Be Man"

The Jaipur Literature Festival has launched a biography of Gaj Singh of Jodhpur, written by Aman Nath and Yogi Vaid. The book tells the story of a man who has shaped the social and cultural consciousness of western Rajasthan as the former ruler of Marwar. Titled The King Who Would Be Man, the long-format biography is richly illustrated with photographs drawn from the personal archives of the Jodhpur royal family. It chronicles the life of a four-year-old boy who became the Maharaja of Jodhpur after his father died in a plane crash in 1952. It was an onerous responsibility, fraught with palace intrigue, dwindling resources, and severe financial strain. Gaj Singh, fondly known as Bapji, recalls it as an extremely difficult period. Inheriting the legacy of the rulers of Marwar proved to be a crown of thorns. The relationship between India’s former royals and the Government of India in the years following Independence was fraught, with princely titles and privileges withdrawn and privy purses abolished, leaving royal families with no income and vast palaces and forts to maintain. In the decades following his return from England, Bapji reconstituted and recalibrated his legacy. Bringing his upper-class British education back to his desert roots, he transformed royal palaces and forts into successful business assets, conserved heritage spaces as museums and living monuments, and helped establish fairs and festivals that have given Jodhpur a distinct global identity.