Hamidullah Khan
Nawab Hamidullah Khan, Last Ruler of Bhopal
Nawab of Bhopal
Reign20 April 1926 – 1 June 1949
Coronation9 June 1926
PredecessorKaikhusrau Jahan
SuccessorMonarchy abolished, Bhopal State created.
Titular Nawab of Bhopal
Pretendence1 June 1949 – 4 February 1960
SuccessorSajida Sultan
Born(1894-09-09)9 September 1894
Died4 February 1960(1960-02-04) (aged 65)
MotherKaikhusrau Jahan
3rd President of BCCI
In office
1935–1937
Preceded bySir Sikandar Hayat Khan
Succeeded bySir K. S. Digvijaysinhji

Hamidullah Khan GCSI GCIE CVO KStJ (9 September 1894 – 4 February 1960) was the last ruling Nawab of the princely salute state of Bhopal. He ruled from 1926 when his mother, Begum Kaikhusrau Jahan Begum, abdicated in his favor, until 1949 and held the honorific title until his death in 1960. A delegate to the Round Table Conference in London, he served as Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes from 1944 to 1947, when India became independent.

During the Second World War, Nawab Hamidullah was present at the Battle of Keren and the Battle of El Alamein. He was very close to Muhammad Ali Jinnah and on very good terms with Louis Mountbatten, Viceroy and Governor General of India. Despite pressure from Jinnah, he reluctantly agreed to have Bhopal join the Union of India.[1] He was succeeded by his second daughter, Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal.[2]

Personal life

Bhopal royal family. From left to right: Nawab Hamidullah Khan, his wife Maimoona Sultan, their daughters, Rabia Sultan, Abida Sultan, Sajida Sultan in London
Image inside Golghar Bhopal

Nawab Hamidullah Khan attended the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO College), now the Aligarh Muslim University, graduating in 1905 and Allahabad University, graduating with a BA in law in 1915.[3]

On 5 September 1925 at Peshawar, Nawab Hamidullah Khan married Maimoona Sultan Shah Banu Begum Sahiba (1900–1982), the great-great-granddaughter of Padshah Shuja Shah Durrani of Afghanistan. The couple had three daughters:

  • Suraya Jah, Nawab Gowhar-i-Taj, Abida Sultan Begum Sahiba
  • HH Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Nawab Mehr-i-Taj Sajida Sultan Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal
  • Nawabzadi Qamar-i-Taj Dulhan Rabia Sultan Begum Sahiba (1916–2001). Married twice and had one son and one daughter.

In 1947, he married Aftab Jahan Begum Sahiba (1919–2002), the daughter of a local Bhopali Muslim family. The couple had one daughter:

  • Farzana Begum Sahiba (1948)

He remained the Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from September 1930 to April 1935.[4]

Inside golghar Bhopal

Titles

A young Nawab Hamidullah Khan
  • 1894 – 1903: Nawabzada Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur
  • 1903 – 1907: Hajji Nawabzada Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur
  • 1907 – 1921: Hajji Nawabzada Hafiz Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur
  • 1921 – 1922: Hajji Nawabzada Hafiz Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, CSI
  • 1922 – 1923: Hajji Nawabzada Hafiz Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, CSI, CVO
  • 1923 – 1926: Lieutenant Hajji Nawabzada Hafiz Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, CSI, CVO
  • 1926 – 1927: Lieutenant His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, CSI, CVO
  • 1927 – 1929: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, GCIE, CSI, CVO, KStJ
  • 1929 – 1932: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, GCIE, CSI, CVO, KStJ
  • 1932 – 1939: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, GCSI, GCIE, CVO, KStJ
  • 1939 – 1943: Colonel His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, GCSI, GCIE, CVO, KStJ
  • 1943 – 1945: Air Commodore His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, GCSI, GCIE, CVO, KStJ
  • 1945 – 1946: Air Vice-Marshal His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, GCSI, GCIE, CVO, KStJ
  • 1946 – 1960: Major-General & Air Vice-Marshal His Highness Sikander Saulat, Iftikhar ul-Mulk, Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Muhammad Hamidu'llah Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, GCSI, GCIE, CVO, KStJ

Honours

(ribbon bar, as it would look today; incomplete)

References

  1. ↑ Guha, Ramchandra (12 August 2008). India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. p. 46,47. ISBN 978-0-06-095858-9.
  2. ↑ Nawab Hameedullah Khan by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Fikr-o-Nazar, Namwaran-i Aligarh, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, 1986. p., 431-39
  3. ↑ "BHOPAL". Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "AMU's Chancellors; a brief about glorious history. Muslim Issues". Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
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