HH Maharana Sir Shambhu Singh (22 December 1847 – 7 October 1874), was the Sisodia Rajput ruler of the

Princely State of Udaipur The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent Hindu kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a dominant state in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dynasty, foll ...

reigning from 1861 to 1874. He was a son Kunwar Sher Singh of

Bagore Bagor is a town with Sub-Tehsil in Mandal tehsil of Bhilwara district of Rajasthan States and territories of India, State, India, India. Prehistoric Housing Site Bagor (Rajasthan) on the left bank of river Kothari River, Kothari is the large ...

and nephew of his childless uncle and predecessor Maharana Swarup Singh. The rich and diverse land of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

had faced numerous invasions and marauding before the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

set their foot as merchants and slowly took over the dominance of the Indian main land. With the great India rebellion of 1857, the governance of India was transferred to the Queen of England and a new era had begun with Maharana Shambhu Singh ascending the throne of

Mewar Mewar, also spelled as Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasth ...

. He was a descendant of Maharana

Sangram Singh II Maharana Sangram Singh II (24 March 1690 – 11 January 1734) was the Sisodia Rajput ruler of Kingdom of Mewar. He reigned from 1710 to 1734. He was succeeded by his eldest son Jagat Singh II. Maharana Sangram Singh II was a noted political ...

; was adopted by Maharana Swarup Singh as his nominated heir. Maharana Shambhu Singh ascended the throne as a minor and a British Political agent was appointed to guide the young Maharana. Unlike his predecessors, the financial conditions at the time were relatively stable and progressive and he continued to replenish the state treasury after he was provided full powers as the ruler of Mewar. After attaining complete control, he set up various new rules and offices for improving administrative resources, organised administration and income of temples and sacred places and introduced new legal code for Mewar. Under him the military was reorganised, various jail reforms were introduced and new construction of roads and railway tracks started. In spite of being formally uneducated, he gave education supreme importance and expanded various existing schools and introduced numerous new ones. Most importantly, he was the first to set up a school for girls and thus promoted opportunities of education for everyone. He enforced special measures to curb the Sati pratha and imposed heavy monetary fines on offenders. Thus with various reforms in public facilities and infrastructure, Shambhu Singh was considered a liberal and well-managed king of his times. But with his untimely death at a young age of 27 years, his dreams of the revival of his homeland to the ancient golden times were stalled. He left behind no heir and his nephew Sajjan Singh, who himself was a minor at the time of his death; succeeded him and went ahead in continuation with the reforms paved by his predecessor.

References

Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Monarchs of Mewar 1847 births 1874 deaths {{India-royal-stub