He was 79. Singh died late Saturday in a hospital on the outskirts of New Delhi where he had spent the last two weeks, daughter Diya Kumari said. He had suffered from high blood pressure and a lung infection and had spent time in hospital previously. Singh served as the Maharaja or hereditary ruler of Jaipur after his father Sawai Man Singh’s death in June 1970. Jaipur was one of hundreds of tiny royal kingdoms that dotted India until the country’s independence from Britain in 1947. The rulers continued to hold onto their titles after independence. However, Singh served as Maharaja for only a few months until India formally abolished the royal titles in 1971. Despite this, he continued to be revered as an icon in western India’s Rajasthan state and was often referred to by his royal title in the media as well as by locals.