Bhopal (State)

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Bhopal
1707-1949
Flag of Bhopal
Bhopal coat of arms
flag coat of arms
Capital Bhopal
Form of government Princely state ("19 shot salute")
surface 17,932 km²
population 838,000 (1941)
founding 1707
resolution June 1, 1949
State religion: Islam
Dynasty: Orakzai Pathan
Letter from the Bhopal Post (1884)
Letter from the Bhopal Post (1884)

Bhopal was a princely state of British India in the Malwa region in what is now the state of Madhya Pradesh .

history

The Muslim Pashtun Dost Muhammad Khan came to Malwa in 1708 at the time of the Grand Mogul Aurangzeb , where he entered the service of various princes and nobles and was soon able to acquire some lands and expand them through conquests. In 1717 he was appointed Nawab (governor) by the Mughal Mughal Farrukh Siyar (1713-1719) . In 1722 he began building the Fatehgarh city ​​fortress for the new city of Bhopal . After the defeat of the armed forces of the Grand Mogul Muhammad Shah (1720-1748) under Nizam al-Mulk in 1738 and the conquest of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739, Bhopal became a de facto independent under Yar Muhammad Khan (1728-1742), a son of Dost Muhammad Khan Principality.

In the wars between the Marathas and the British , Bhopal was mostly found on the British side and became a British protectorate in 1817 . During the great uprising of 1857 , Bhopal stayed on the British side and suppressed all attempts at uprising.

What is unusual for a Muslim state is the fact that there was a series of rulers ( begumen ) from 1819 to 1926 . The first Begum took power after the murder of her husband Nawab Nazar Muhammad Khan. During the rule of the Begums, Bhopal became a relatively tolerant state, in which Hindus were also used for higher administrative tasks. They established the tradition of female Muslim rulers and heads of government on the Indian subcontinent . The last Nawab Hamidullah Khan (1926–1947) was involved in Indian politics and was Chancellor of the Princely Chamber from 1931–1932 and 1944–1947 and vigorously represented the interests of his peers. In World War II he was firmly on the side of the Empire . He donated all of the fortune he had invested in America to purchase combat aircraft for the Royal Air Force and was made an honorary vice air marshal .

Bhopal had a state post with its own stamps from 1876–1950 , but from 1908 only carried official mail. In 1941 it had an area of ​​17,932 km² and a population of 838,000.

When the British Parliament decided on the independence of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947 , Bhopal became sovereign and the Nawab was free to decide which of the two new states to join. Due to the geographical location and the Hindu majority of the population, it was actually only possible to join India. But the Nawab hesitated, especially since the Muslim League favored him as a candidate for the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan. It therefore took until April 30, 1949 for the Nawab to sign the unification treaty with India. On June 1, 1949, Bhopal became a C-state (see History of India ), administered by a chief commissioner of the central government until it became a state in Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 1956 .

Ruler

  1. Nawab Dost Muhammad Khan Bahadur (circa 1672–1728), ruled 1724–1728
  2. Nawab Sultan Muhammad Khan Bahadur (1720–?), Ruled 1728–1742
  3. Nawab Yar Muhammad Khan Bahadur (1709-1742), regent of Bhopals 1728-1742
  4. Nawab Faiz Muhammad Khan Bahadur (1731–1777), ruled 1742–1777
  5. Nawab Hayat Muhammad Khan Bahadur (1736–1807), ruled 1777–1807
  6. Nawab Ghaus Muhammad Khan Bahadur (1767–1826), ruled 1807–1826
  7. Nawab Muiz Muhammad Khan Bahadur (circa 1795–1869), ruled 1826–1837
  8. Qudsia Begum (1801–1881), ruled 1819–1837
  9. Nawab Jahangir Muhammad Khan Bahadur (1816–1844), ruled 1837–1844
  10. Sikandar Jahan Begum, ruled 1844–1868 (until 1860 as guardian of her daughter Shah Jehan Begum, then recognized by the British as an independent ruler)
  11. Sultan Shah Jahan Begum, ruled 1844–1860 (represented by her mother) and 1868–1901 (herself)
  12. Sultan Kaikhusrau Jahan Begum, regent of Bhopal, ruled 1901–1926
  13. Al-Hajj Nawab Hafiz Muhammad Hamidullah Khan Bahadur GCSI , GCIE , CVO (1894–1960), ruled 1926–1949

See also

literature

  • Bhopal State. In: The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Volume 8: Berhampore to Bombay. New Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1908, pp. 125-142 .
  • Andreas Birken : Philatelic Atlas of British India. CD-ROM. Birken, Hamburg 2004.
  • George B. Malleson: An historical sketch of the native states of India. Longmans, Green & Co., London 1875, ( digitized version ).
  • Kamla Mittal: History of Bhopal State. Development of Constitution, Administration, and National Awakening, 1901-1949. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishing, New Delhi 1990, ISBN 81-215-0474-5 .
  • Joseph E. Schwartzberg (Ed.): A historical atlas of South Asia , 2nd edition, New York / Oxford 1992, ISBN 0-19-506869-6

Web links

Commons : Principality of Bhopal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nawab Qudsia Begum ( Memento from November 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )