JodhpurOne hour agoAuthor: Saurabh Khandelwal
January 26, 1952. The counting of votes for the assembly elections was going on in Rajasthan. Former Maharaja of Marwar Hanwant Singh himself was in the fray against the then Chief Minister Jayanarayan Vyas. It was reported that Hanwant Singh had made a considerable advance against Vyas. Hanwant Singh went out to inquire about the condition of other seats and sat on the pilot’s seat in the plane. He used to fly his own plane.
Suddenly, his girlfriend Zubeida also reached Hanwant Singh and sat on the seat next to him. The plane had reached about 70 km from Jodhpur when it collided with a live wire and crashed. Hanwant Singh and his girlfriend Zubeida died in this horrific accident. It is said that there was a fight between the two before the plane took off.
It has been 71 years since this incident, but the romantic tales of Hanwant Singh and Zubeida love story are still alive in Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort. Read on his 71st death anniversary – the love story of a Rajput king and a Muslim film actress…
Hanwant Singh used to live in this Mehrangarh fort of Jodhpur with his girlfriend Zubaida.
Rajasthan writer Ayodhya Prasad writes in his book ‘The Royal Blue’ that 22 April was the day of 1950. Baroda (now Vadodara) crown prince Fateh Singh Rao Gaekwad’s procession reached Jodhpur by train for the marriage of Rajendra Kumari, daughter of the Jodhpur royal family. Artists from Jodhpur were called to welcome the procession, as well as a group of dancers from Baroda also came.
The stage was decorated. Just then a girl was coming on the stage with a slight smile in the hall. The girl sang and Hanwant Singh got lost in her voice. It was the voice of Zubaida Bano.
Zubaida Banu was the daughter of Sir Kasimbhai Mitha, a wealthy Mumbai-based businessman, and his wife Faizibai. The very beautiful Zubaida grew up near her aunt in Lucknow, so the conversation got mixed with sophistication. She came to Mumbai and got a chance to work in films. Later they got married, which was unsuccessful. From the first marriage, Zubaida had a son, whose name is Khalid Mohammed. Khalid Mohammed is a well-known film critic and he wrote the film named Zubaida, which came in 2001.
According to historian Dr. Mohanlal Gupta, when Hanwant Singh made efforts, Zubaida remained in Jodhpur. Zubaida stayed at a bungalow close to the royal family for a week. Hanwant Singh used to visit Zubeida daily.
According to Ayodhya Prasad’s book, Zubaida left for Baroda the next day with the procession, but due to ill health, she stopped a station ahead and had to return to Jodhpur. Here Zubaida stayed at the bungalow of Hanwant Singh’s confidante Bharatendra Singh. When Bharatendra Singh told this to the then King of Jodhpur, he said that after all you have done my work.
Bharatendra organizes a music evening at his bungalow and invites Hanwant Singh. After this, every evening for three days started passing with Zubeida’s music at Bharatendra’s bungalow. Ayodhya Prasad has mentioned in the book about the conversation between the two on the fourth evening.
After the sangeet, the Maharaja was about to leave for the palace, then Zubeida gathered courage and said to Hanwant Singh – You will definitely come tomorrow, you have to tell something special.
Hanwant Singh replied – Special! What was narrated to me today and before today, I also found it special.
Zubaida said – This is your kindness. Perhaps this specialty did not allow us to return with the procession. We fell ill for the first time under compulsion.
Bharatendra told me. Pretending to be ill after leaving with the procession. You are crazy. Hanwant Singh said.
Zubaida said – What you just said, that one word was the most beautiful song of my life.
Hanwant Singh asked out of curiosity that what did I say like this?
Zubaida replied – You called me crazy.
Said to Hanwant Singh on this – If you liked it so much, now I will call you crazy.
The talk is over. I came to know gradually how your address reached you. After this Zubaida stayed in Jodhpur for a few more days. Hanwant Singh tried unsuccessfully to stop Zubaida when she started living in Mumbai.
As the days passed, Hanwant Singh’s desire to meet Zubeida grew stronger. According to the book The Royal Blue, he first sent his close friend Khushwant Singh to Mumbai. After finding out about Zubaida’s family, Hanwant Singh himself went to Mumbai to Zubaida.
They stayed at the Astoria Hotel near Church Gate, Mumbai. In this hotel, the love between the two started rising, but it was not so easy to get this love completely, because Hanwant Singh was the head of the Rajput Royal Family, while Zubaida was from a Muslim family.
Along with this, Hanwant Singh was already married. His first wife was Maharani Krishna Kumari. Along with this, he also married Sandra McBride, an English nurse. Although this marriage did not succeed and both were divorced within a few days, but Hanwant Singh was determined to take Zubaida to Jodhpur.
Krishna Kumari with Hanwant Singh. Their son Gaj Singh is today the head of the Jodhpur royal family.
The discussions of Zubaida and Hanwant Singh’s love affair had already reached the palace. Ayodhya Prasad writes in his book – keeping in mind that Zubeida was not acceptable as a queen in the traditionalist society of Marwar, Hanwant Singh did not try to give Zubeida the status of a queen. With this, he decided to leave Rajmahal Umaid Bhawan and started living in Mehrangarh Fort with Zubeida.
Hanwant Singh left the Umaid Palace, the palace of Jodhpur, to live with Zubaida.
Zubaida became Vidyarani
Zubeida converted to Islam while living with Maharaja Hanwant Singh. Zubeida converted to Hinduism on 17 December 1950 at the Arya Samaj temple in Beawar and became Vidyarani from Zubeida. Haridev Arya and Om Muni, who are associated with Arya Samaj in Beawar, tell that Havan was also performed for religious conversion. Its record is still present in the documents of the temple.
Did Zubaida and Hanwant Singh get married?
There are different views regarding the marriage of Zubaida and Hanwant Singh. According to historian Dr. Mohanlal Gupta, Zubaida and Hanwant Singh did not get married. Om Muni, associated with the Arya Samaj, also told Bhaskar that he had only converted to religion at the Arya Samaj temple in Beawar, not married. This marriage was not even possible in Arya Samaj temple because Arya Samaj is against more than one marriage.
However, in many media reports, Zubaida has been described as the wife of Hanwant Singh. In an interview, Gaj Singh, the head of the former royal family of Jodhpur, had said that Zubaida was not the queen. She was the companion of our father and was given the status of pardayat in the royal house. In the royal household, women with the status of Pardayat used to live in purdah.
Both had a son, his murder is still a mystery
A son was also born to Hanwant Singh and Zubaida on 2 August 1951. The child was named Hukam Singh. People fondly called Hukam Singh as Tutu Bana. Gaj Singh had said in an interview that after Zubeida’s death, his mother and Hanwant Singh’s first wife Krishna Kumari had taken care of Hukam Singh.
In 1984, Hukam Singh was murdered in Jodhpur with his own sword. This murder is still a puzzle. Hukam Singh’s half-brother and Zubaida’s first son and film critic Khalid Mohammed still keeps raising questions over the unsolved murder case of his half-brother. Khalid Mohammad had tweeted on January 2 demanding re-investigation of Hukam Singh’s murder.
Sardar Patel gave information about Hanwant Singh’s second marriage
Ayodhya Prasad writes in his book that Hanwant Singh had married Sandra McBride, a Scottish nurse. Before this marriage, Hanwant Singh used to live in Mumbai with Sandra for a long time. Hanwant Singh did second marriage in Nagpur. When Sardar Patel came to know, he called Hanwant Singh’s mother and informed about it. Before marriage, Sandra’s religion was converted and she was given the name Shanta Devi. Rajmata and Hanwant Singh’s mother Bhatiyani were very angry after hearing this news.
Hanwant Singh was a great pilot, saved Sardar Patel’s life
According to historian Dr. Mohanlal Gupta, Hanwant Singh was a brilliant pilot. In 1949, when the announcement of formation of Rajasthan was being made, at that time Hanwant Singh along with Sardar Patel was also going to Jaipur by plane. Only then there was some technical fault in the plane in the air itself, at that time Hanwant Singh had made the plane’s safe landing.
Defeated the Chief Minister from two places simultaneously
Hanwant Singh had shown such a threat to the Congress in the Marwar region that even the then Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Jainarayan Vyas had lost the election in front of him. Hanwant Singh had formed the Ram Rajya Party and in the 1952 Lok Sabha and Vidhansabha elections, he fielded his candidates in front of the Congress in the entire Marwar.
He himself contested in front of the Chief Minister from Jodhpur’s Sardarpura (then Jodhpur B) assembly seat. Jayanarayan Vyas was contesting from two seats, but Hanwant Singh’s intimidation was such that he lost both the elections.
Election poster of Hanwant Singh.
Hanwant Singh had given a slogan for the people of Jodhpur in his election campaign – I am not far away. It means that I am not far from you. This slogan became very popular and people gave him and his party a big victory in Marwar, but Hanwant Singh could not see this victory.
Zubaida and he died in a plane crash even before the election results came. Due to his death, two by-elections were held in Jodhpur and that is considered to be the first by-election in the country.
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