Sir Rajinder Singh GCSI (25 May 1872 – 8 November 1900) was the Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala from 1876 to 1900.
Son of Maharaja Mahendra Singh, a member of the Phulkian Dynasty, Maharaja Rajinder Singh was educated at Cambridge.
In 1897, he was recognised for his bravery and awarded the Grand Cross of the Star of India the highest order for chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861.
Singh died following a riding accident. He was known for playing polo, cricket, field hockey and English billiards.
The maharaja defied his subjects and the British government when he married Florence Bryan, the daughter of his Irish horse master, persuading her to convert to the Sikh faith.
He was a close friend of William Beresford and of Frederick Roberts. The Irish composer Thomas O’Brien Butler (1861–1915), who spent some time in India, dedicated a song composition to him.
One of his sons was Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh.