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The Kushwaha clan, which ruled the Dhundar region, now called Jaipur, since 996 AD, on Friday got a new prince when the erstwhile ruler Sawai Bhawani Singh adopted his grandson at a gala ceremony inside the palace in Jaipur.
The event may also go down in history as the one which brought together the erstwhile rulers of Jaipur and Mewar, who had been at odds for a few centuries.
Bhawani Singh, who has only a daughter, adopted Padmanabh Singh in deference to his family's tradition, which allows only a male to occupy the throne.
Amidst chanting of Vedic hymns by priests Bhawani Singh's daughter Diya Kumari and her husband Narendra Singh Rajawat placed their five-year-old son Padmanabh Singh on the lap of his grandfather, who declared the tiny tot his heir.
The Durbar Hall of the palace was jam-packed with courtiers and former jagirdars wearing traditional attire and colourful headgear.
Rajasthan Governor Anshuman Singh, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, former chief ministers Shiv Charan Mathur and Heera Lal Devpura and Public Relations Minister Jitendra Singh were among those present at the ceremony.
A notable absentee was Maharani Gayatri Devi, who is said to be not on good terms with Bhawani Singh.
However, a good deal of the attention was centred on the former ruler of Mewar Arvind Singh, who was present at the ceremony.
The rulers of Mewar are successors of the legendry Maharana Pratap. They never forgave the Jaipur rulers for accepting the superiority of Mughal emperor Akbar and leading his forces against Pratap.
Seen in this context, Arvind Singh's presence may have just opened a new chapter in Rajasthan's history.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that a ruler of the Jaipur family has resorted to adoption in pursuit of an heir.
Bhawani Singh's father Sawai Man Singh II was born in a jagirdar's (landowner's) family from Isarda, but was adopted by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh and became the ruler of Jaipur in 1922.
The person most overwhelmed by the event was Padmanabh's paternal grandfather Thakur Buddha Singh of Kotda village in Tonk district.
He had earlier served as a guard at the city palace. Narendra himself was on the staff of the city palace when he and princess Diya Kumari fell in love and decided to marry.
After initial hiccups, Bhawani Singh and his wide Padmini Devi had agreed to the match.
Like the love marriage of Diya Kumari and Narendra Singh, the adoption ceremony also was not without controversy.
President of the Rajput Sabha Narendra Singh Rajawat, who had earlier opposed the marriage of Diya with Narendra on the ground that both belonged to same gotra (lineage), again put a spook in the wheel.
He wrote to Bhawani Singh that although as a ruler he could give his property and throne to anyone, as per tradition, he could not proclaim his daughter's son as his heir.
He also objected to the ceremony being made public as, considering the democratic traditions of independent India, it would only encourage feudalism.
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