Rao Gopal Singh Kharwa

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}

{{More citations needed|date=April 2013}}

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix = Rao

| name = Gopal Singh

| honorific_suffix = Kharwa

| image = File:Stamp of India - 1989 - Colnect 165297 - Rao Gopal Singh - Commemoration.jpeg

| caption =

| birth_date = 1872

| birth_place = Rajasthan, India

| death_date = 1939

| death_place = Todgarh Fort, near Beawar, Rajasthan, India

| nationality = India

| occupation = Ruler of Kharwa state

| known_for = Revolt against the British Raj

| organization = Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha

}}

Gopal Singh Rathore (1872–1939), born in what is now Rajasthan, was the ruler of the Kharwa state (near Ajmer) of Rajputana. He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in the Todgarh Fort located approximately {{convert|70|km|mi}} from Beawar for organising a revolt against the British.{{cite book|title=The Political Movements and Awakening in Rajasthan: 1857 to 1947 by K. S. Saxena S. Chand|date=1971|pages=136–139|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wUoMAAAAIAAJ&q=gopal+singh+kharwa|accessdate=25 August 2016|last1=Saxena|first1=K. S.}}

He was president of Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha for the year 1924.{{Cite web |url=http://www.akhilbharatiyakshatriyamahasabha.com/history.html |title=Akhil Bhartiya |access-date=25 August 2016 |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826162312/http://www.akhilbharatiyakshatriyamahasabha.com/history.html |url-status=dead }}

In 1989, India's postal department issued a postage stamp depicting his picture in his honor.{{Cite web|url=http://indianpostagestamps.com/gallery/1989_2.html|title = Indian Postage Stamps - Stamps released in 1989}}{{cite book|title=Who's who on Indian stamps by Mohan B. Daryanani|date=1999|page=386|isbn=9788493110109|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZPtAAAAMAAJ&q=gopal+singh+kharwa|accessdate=25 August 2016|last1=Suresh|first1=Sushma|publisher=Mohan B. Daryanani }}

Every spring on the anniversary of his death, the residents of Kharwa and nearby villages gather at a mela (celebration or fair) to commemorate their former Thakur. He was a Rathore Rajput by birth and believed in upholding the duties of a Rajput ruler towards his people at all costs.