Line of succession to the former throne of Bhopal

The line of succession to the former throne of Bhopal, among the pre-eminent Indian principalities, was, uniquely amongst the Indian princely houses, by male-preference primogeniture in the direct family line. This principle of succession was formally established by the last Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, upon his confirmation as ruler of Bhopal in 1926. Since his death in 1960, the identity of the present rightful claimant to the former throne remains a matter of contention, though the claim of the descendants of his second daughter Sajida Sultan has been recognised by the Indian government. As the Indian government has discontinued the official recognition of princely families since 1971, however, this question has primarily been examined since then with respect to property inheritance rights.[1][2]

Genealogy

[1]

History

The Bhopal Succession Case, 1926

From the early 19th century, the rulers of Bhopal had been female and in the direct line from the founder of the Afghan Pathan Orakzai dynasty, Dost Muhammad Khan. In 1868, at the coronation of the second Nawab Begum, Shah Jehan, her sole surviving daughter, Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan Begum, was recognised by the British government as the heir apparent in order to preserve the direct line of succession from Dost Muhammad. Following the death of her mother in 1901, Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan ascended the throne as Nawab Begum of Bhopal.[1]

In 1874, Nawab Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan had married a distant cousin, Nawab Ahmad ‘Ali Khan Bahadur (1854-1902), a member of the senior branch of the dynasty; the marriage ensured the dynasty would continue in the male line. The couple had three sons, Muhammad Nasrullah Khan (1876-1924), Muhammad Ubaidullah Khan (1878-1924) and Muhammad Hamidullah Khan (1894-1960).[1] In 1902, the two elder sons married daughters of the Jalalabadi family, a prominent Bhopali noble family. Soon made aware of the Jalalabadi family's political dominance in the state, Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan married her youngest son Hamidullah Khan to an Afghan princess, Maimoona Sultan, and groomed him as her successor. Both of her two elder sons died in 1924, Ubaidullah from cancer that March, and Nasrullah from advanced diabetes in September.[3] As both had left legitimate male heirs, by the principle of primogeniture adhered to by the British government and most Indian principalities, the logical heir presumptive to the throne would have been Nasrullah's elder son Muhammad Habibullah Khan (1903-1930).[4]

In 1925, Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan formally requested the Viceroy's Executive Council to recognise Hamidullah Khan as the heir presumptive over Habibullah Khan. She provided five reasons, among which were that as the ruler, she had the right to nominate her successor, that Hamidullah Khan was more experienced and better educated than his cousin, and that Islamic law favoured surviving sons over any grandsons. Supported by the Jalalabadi family, Habibullah filed a counter-claim on the basis of the laws of primogeniture as utilised by the majority of Indian principalities since the 1857 Indian Uprising and the assumption of direct British rule.[5]

After studying the facts of the case, the Viceroy's legal advisors rejected her request on 21 May 1925, stating that the Islamic principle of primogeniture had never been previously adhered to in Bhopal.[6] Undeterred, Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan appealed the matter to the India Office in London, then headed by the distinguished advocate Lord Birkenhead. Additional research conducted by the India Office soon validated Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan's claim. It was determined that under a 1772 decree issued by Warren Hastings, all civil legal proceedings for Muslims were to be dealt with according to Islamic law; this included succession to titles and properties. Several previous precedents, including one concerning the succession of Akbar Shah II to the Mughal throne in 1804, bore this out.[7]

The decision by the India Office did not, however, fully safeguard the succession after Hamidullah Khan, who had three daughters by his wife, but no male heirs. On 7 May 1926, the Viceroy of India informed the Nawab Begum that if Hamidullah Khan predeceased her, as had his two elder brothers, the succession would pass to the line of the senior surviving grandson in preference to the daughters of Hamidullah Khan. On 14 May, Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan abdicated in favour of Hamidullah Khan. The new Nawab of Bhopal formally informed the Viceroy and his council that his eldest daughter, Abida Sultan Begum, would succeed him unless he bore a male heir at a later date, in which case his son would succeed to the throne. Impressed, the Government of India accepted his argument, deciding the issue for the time being. In the event, Habibullah Khan died of advanced tuberculosis in 1930, leaving no heirs, and his younger brother Rafiqullah, an epileptic, was ineligible to succeed; he too died heirless in 1942.[8]

Claimants to the throne and their descendants

Nawab Hamidullah Khan ruled Bhopal until acceding to the Union of India in May 1949. The state of Bhopal became a constituent part of Madhya Pradesh in November 1956. The former Nawab died in Bhopal in February 1960, having designated his second daughter, Sajida Sultan, the Begum of Pataudi, as his successor. This decision was however immediately contested by two other branches of the family before the Indian government formally recognised the claim of Sajida Sultan in January 1961, with retroactive effect.[1]

I. Claim of Sajida Sultan Begum (1915-1995)

  • Hajji Nawab Hafiz Muhammad Hamidullah Khan, Nawab of Bhopal (1894-1960; r. 1926-1949)
    • Sajida Sultan, Nawab Begum of Bhopal (1915-1995), m. Muhammad Iftikhar ‘Ali Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Pataudi (1910-1952)
      • Nawabzadi Saleha Sultan Begum Sahiba (born 1940) m. Nawab Muhammad Bashir ud-din Khan Bahadur (born 1931)
        • Nawabzada Mohamed Aamer bin Jung (born 1959), m. Zeba Begum Sahiba (born 1961)
          • Sahibzada Mohammad ‘Abdu’llah Sahir bin Jung (born 1984)
          • Sahibzadi Esra Sahar Jung (born 1987)
        • Nawabzada Muhammad Sa’ad Bin Jung (born 1960), m. Asma Sangeeta Mankani Begum Sahiba
          • Sahibzada ‘Ali Sha’az Jung (born 1988)
          • Sahibzadi Zohar Jung (born 1990)
        • Nawabzada Muhammad Omer Bin Jung (born 1968), m. Anjum Begum Sahiba (born 1968)
          • Sahibzadi Zara Jung (born 1999)
          • Sahibzada Ayaan Jung (born 2004)
        • Nawabzada Muhammad Fateh Faiz Bin Jung (born 1974)
      • Muhammad Mansur ‘Ali Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Pataudi, Head of the Royal House of Bhopal (1941-2011), m. Nawab Ayesha Sultan Begum Sahiba (Sharmila Tagore) (born 1946)
        • Muhammad Saif Ali Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Pataudi, Head of the Royal House of Bhopal (born 1970), m. (1, 1991-divorced 2004), Amrita Virk [Begum Saif ‘Ali Khan] (born 1958), (2, 2012-present). Kareena Kapoor (born 1980)
          • (1). Nawabzada Ibrahim ‘Ali Khan (born 2001, of Amrita)
          • (2). Nawabzadi Sarah Begum Sahiba (born 1994, of Amrita)
        • (3). Nawabzadi Saba Sultan Begum Sahiba (born 1975)
        • (4). Nawabzadi Soha Sultan Begum Sahiba (born 1978), m. Kunal Sharik Khemu (born 1983)
      • Nawabzadi Sabiha Sultan Begum Sahiba (born 1942), m. Sahibzada Mir Arjumand ‘Ali Khan (born 1940)
        • Sahibzadi Zia Sultan Begum Sahiba (born 1965), m. Syed Kamal Fareed
          • Rabia Fareed (born 1989)
          • Nadia Fareed (born 1995)
        • Sahibzadi Samia Sultan Begum Sahiba (born 1966), m. Christopher Hartnett
          • Imaan Hartnett (born 1995)
          • Zara Hartnett (born 1999)
      • Nawabzadi Qudsia Sultan Begum Sahiba (1946-1989), m. Mian Ghulam Fariduddin Riaz (born 1939)
        • Iftikharuddin Riaz
        • Sara Sultan Begum (born 1970), m. Sahibzada Faiz Muhammad Khan (born 1959; see II)
          • Sahibzadi Aaliya Sultan Begum (born 1994)

[1]

III. Claim of Rashid uz-Zafar Khan (1907-1961)

Nawabzada Muhammad Rashid uz-Zafar Khan Bahadur (1907-1961), the sole surviving son of Nawab Hamidullah Khan's elder brother Ubaidullah Khan, and thus the senior-most male heir of the dynasty, contested the succession following the death of his uncle in 1960. The Indian government eventually dismissed his claim in January 1961.[1]

  • Hajji Nawab Hafiz Muhammad Ubaidullah Khan Sahib Bahadur (1878-1924)
    • Yamin ul-Mulk, Imad ud-Daula, Nawabzada Muhammad Rashid uz-Zafar Khan Bahadur (1907-1961)
      • Sahibzadi Mahbano Begum Sahiba (1946-1987) m. Sahibzada Faruq ‘Ali Khan (1934-1995)
        • Sahibzada Omar Faruq ‘Ali (born 1968)
          • Sahibzadi Meher-Bano ‘Ali Khan (born 1998)
          • Sahibzadi Zehra ‘Ali Khan (born 2002)
        • Sahibzada Raashid ‘Ali (born 1972)
          • Ryka Ali (born 2004)
          • Zoya Ali (born 2006)
          • Ayan Ali (born 2009)
      • Sahibzadi Niloufer Begum Sahiba, m. Sahibzada Kazim ‘Ali Khan (born 1935)
        • Sahibzadi Farah Begum [Farah Edwards Khan] (born 1974)
          • Sameera Edwards (born 2003)
      • Sahibzada Nadir Rashid Khan (born 1951)
        • (1). Sahibzada Zafar Rashid Khan (born 1986)
        • (2). Sahibzada Fazal Rashid Khan
        • (7). Sahibzadi Aliya Begum
      • (3). Sahibzada Yawar Rashid Khan (born 1953)
        • (4). Sahibzada Faiz Rashid Khan (born 1982)
          • (5). Sahibzada Nael Rashid Khan (born June 2015)
        • (6). Sahibzada ‘Aly Rashid Khan (born 1985)
          • (8). Sahibzadi Alizeh (born July 2015)

[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Buyers, Christopher. "Bhopal-India/SALUTE STATES-royalark.net". Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Jhala, p. 74
  3. ↑ Jhala, p. 70-71
  4. ↑ Jhala, p. 71-72
  5. ↑ Jhala, p. 71-72
  6. ↑ Jhala, p. 71-72
  7. ↑ Jhala, p. 73
  8. ↑ Jhala, p. 73-74
  • Jhala, Angma Dey (2008). Courtly Indian Women in Late Imperial India. Routledge. ISBN 978-1851969418
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