He was the last Maharaja of the of
Bikaner State, officially from 1950 till
1971, when the privy purse and all the
royal titles were abolished by the
Republic of India.
He was also a politician, serving as a
member of the Lok Sabha for twenty-five
years, from 1952 to 1977, and an
international clay pigeon and skeet
champion.
Prince Karni succeeded his father, H.H.
Lieutenant-General Maharaja Sir Sadul
Singh, in 1950.
In 1964 he received the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy from Bombay University,
for his thesis The relationship of the
Bikaner royal family with central
authority (1465-1949).
As well as many sports, his interests
included photography and painting.
His daughter Princess Rajyashree Kumari
was also a first class shooting
sportswoman who received the Arjuna
Award in 1968.
Karni Singh won the National
Championship in Clay Pigeon Trap and
Skeet seventeen times and represented
India at all levels of international
competition.
He was the first Indian to compete at
five Olympic Games, which he did from
1960 to 1980, missing the Games of 1976.
He competed in the Asian Shooting
Championships at Tokyo in 1967 and at
Seoul in 1971, where he won a Gold
Medal.
He won a Silver Medal at the Asian Games
in Tehran, 1974, and another in the
Asian Games at Kuala Lumpur in 1975.
In 1961 he was given the Arjuna award,
becoming the first person from the world
of shooting to be rewarded with that
national honour. He documented his
shooting experiences in a book of
memoirs called From Rome to Moscow.
Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range situated
near the historic Tughlaqabad Fort in
Delhi was named after him. It was first
constructed for the 1982 Asian Games in
New Delhi, and later rebuild altogether
for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
He held the following Titles:
1924-1950: Yuvaraja Sri Sadul Singh
Bahadur
1950-1971: Sri Raj Rajeshwar
Maharajadhiraj Narendra Maharaja
Shiromani Doctor Sri Karni Singh Bahadur
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