Madho Singh II
Sir Madho Singh II, was the Maharaja of the Princely State of Jaipur from the year 1880 until 1922. He was the adopted son of the previous ruler Sawai Ram Singh II, Maharaja of Jaipur.
Early life, family, and career
He was born on 28 August 1862 to Raghunath Singh, the Thakur of Isarda, by his wife, Jodhiji. At the time of his birth, he was given the name Kaim Singh. When his father died, his elder brother drove him into exile. He lived in poverty, and ultimately found work as a risaldar in the cavalry of the Nawab of Tonk. During this period, he met the Brahmachari Giridhari Sharan and became his disciple. He also gained an opportunity to present his case to Ram Singh II, the then ruler of Jaipur.Madho Singh had five marriages and eighteen concubines. He married, firstly, a daughter of Thakur Budh Singh Pal of Amargarh. Secondly, in 1881, he married a daughter of Prithwi Singh, the Maharaja of Kishangarh. Thirdly, in 1882, he married a daughter of Mansinhji II, the Maharana of Dhrangadhra. Fourthly, in 1891, he married the daughter of the Thakur of Khamor. Fifthly, in 1892, he married a daughter of Jivraj Singh, the Thakur of Rori. By his fifth wife, he had a daughter. His concubines bore him between 50 and 60 children, or 107 according to another source, including two sons, Gangaji and Gopalji. As he had no legitimate heir, he adopted Mor Mukut Singh, the younger grandson of his biological eldest brother, as his son and successor. The boy was later renamed Man Singh II..
Reign
When the childless Ram Singh died in 1880, Kaim Singh who was chosen on his deathbed to be adopted as his successor, was crowned under the name Madho Singh. As the ruler of the large and prosperous state of Jaipur, Sawai Madho Singh embraced modern ideas on education and sanitation. He built schools, colleges, hospitals and a museum. When famine struck in 1896–1897 and 1899–1900, he used state funds to feed the population. He also appealed to the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, to start a permanent Famine Relief Fund, which Singh began with a gift of £133,000.Sawai Madho Singh II was exceptionally loyal to the British crown, and sent his troops and horses to assist British forces during the Chitral Expedition in 1894–1895, the Tirah campaign in 1897–1898 and in the Second Boer War in 1899–1902. In World War I, he again sent his men and machine guns to assist in the Mesopotamian campaign at his own expense.