Kunwar Singh

Kunwar Singh (1777–26 April 1858) belonged to a royal Ujjaini house of Jagdispur, currently a part of Bhojpur district, Bihar state, India. At the age of 80 years, during India's First War of Independence in 1857, he actively led a select band of armed soldiers against the troops under the command of the British East India Company. He was the chief organizer of the fight against the British in Bihar.

Early life

Kunwar Singh was born in November 1777 to Raja Shahabzada Singh and Rani Panchratan Devi, in Jagdispur of the Shahabad (now Bhojpur) District, in the state of Bihar. He belonged to the Ujjainiya Rajput clan. He married the daughter of Raja Fateh Naraiyan Singh (a Mewari Sisodiya Rajput), a wealthy zamindar of Gaya district, Bihar and a descendant of Maharana Pratap of Mewar.

Role in the 1857 revolt

Kunwar Singh led the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Bihar. He was nearly eighty and in failing health when he was called upon to take up arms. He gave a good fight and harried British forces for nearly a year and remained invincible until the end. He was an expert in the art of guerilla warfare. He was the first Indian warrior after Shivaji to prove the efficacy of the warfare. His tactics left British puzzled!.

Raja Maharaj Singh

Raja Sir Maharaj Singh, CIE, CStJ (17 May 1878, Kapurthala, Punjab – 6 June 1959, Lucknow) was the first Indian Governor of Bombay.

Maharaj Singh was the son of Raja Harnam Singh of the Kapurthala royal family. He was educated at Harrow School and Balliol College in Oxford, where he completed his MA, and was called to Bar by the Middle Temple in 1902. Starting off as the Deputy Collector of United Provinces, he held several positions in the government of India. He was elected the chancellor of Lucknow University in 1941 and served for a short span as the Prime Minister of Kashmir. He was the Governor of Bombay from 1948 to 1952. He was appointed a CIE in 1915 and knighted in 1933.

At the age of 72 he captained the Bombay Governor's XI against a touring Commonwealth XI in a match starting on 25 November 1950. This makes him the oldest cricketer to make his first class debut and the oldest player to play the first class game. Coming in to bat at No.9, he edged Jim Laker for 3 and one run later, was caught at first slip off the same bowler. He took no part in the game after the first day and Yadavindra Singh of Patiala captained the side in his absence. Laker was 44 years younger than the man he dismissed. The Test cricketer Rusi Modi served as his ADC while he was the Bombay governor.