Tej Singh Prabhakar

Who was Tej Singh Prabhakar?

Maharaja Sir Tej Singh Prabhakar, KCSI was the last ruling Maharaja of Alwar. A remotely related cousin of the previous ruler, Sir Jai Singh, he was selected by the British to rule Alwar, as Sir Jai Singh had been deposed by them for gross misconduct and cruelty. Although Sir Tej proved to be a far more effective and popular ruler than had Sir Jai, he only ruled for a decade, from 1937-1947, before the coming of Indian independence in 1947. Loyal to the British administration, he strongly disliked the rise of the Congress Party. Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Delhi authorities arrested Sir Tej on the contentious charges of having been involved in the assassination plot. Alwar was taken over by government officials, and the palace was searched for signs of "hidden treasure," while Sir Tej himself was detained in Delhi.

In 1948, Alwar merged with other Eastern Rajputana princely states to form the Matsya Union; the union merged into that of Greater Rajasthan the following year. After 1948, Sir Tej retired to his Delhi residence, Alwar House, where he lived for the next six decades, visiting his former kingdom but rarely.