Bhopal State (pronounced [bʱoːpaːl](listenⓘ)) was an independent state of 18th centuryIndia. It was founded in 1723. It was a princely state of the British Raj from 1818 to 1947. It was an independent country from 1947 to 1949. At first, the capital was Islamnagar. Later the capital moved to the city of Bhopal.
History
National Mosque of Bhopal state
United Pakistan—Bhopal State relations
PAKISTAN
(Occupied Kashmir)
Bhopal State
Bhopal royal family: From left to right – Nawab Hamidullah Khan, his wife Maimoona Sultan, their daughters – Rabia Sultan, Abida Sultan, Sajida Sultan in London, 1932
Another unconsummated state that wished to declare Independence was Bhopal, which had a Muslim Nawab, Hamidullah Khan, ruling over a majority Hindu population. A close friend of the Muslim League, the Nawab was staunchly opposed to Congress rule. He had made clear his decision to attain Independence to Mountbatten. However, the latter wrote back to him stating that “no ruler could run away from the dominion closest to him”. By July 1947, the prince became aware of the large number of princes who had acceded to India and decided to follow suit. He was the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal. An active member of the independence movement, Hamidullah Khan was a delegate at the Round Table Conference from 1930-1932, an active member of the All-India Muslim League, and a close political ally of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. However, like the rulers of Kashmir, Hyderabad, Sikkim, and others, he desired to maintain his state's autonomy. Bhopal, along with Hyderabad and Travancore, became one of the Indian Princely states which officially refused to join either the Dominion of India or the Dominion of Pakistan. Central India also had a cluster of 8 Muslim princely states, of these clusters Mohammadgarh state would remain a British protectorate until 1947, when its last ruler wanted alignment with Bhopal proper, and was compelled into duress and made to sign the Accession into the Indian Union, before disposal according to Mountbatten Plan and also in 1822 Basoda state became a British protectorate until 1947, when its last ruler, Nawab Masood Ali Khan, was also made to sign the so-called accession into the Hindu Indian Union. Bhopal was the most important of all these states and was much closer aligned to the All-India Muslim League respectively, it is the birthplace of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. After Hyderabad and Bahawalpur it was the third biggest princely state ruled by a Muslim family respectively. According to the latest census at the time of the 1947 Independence, with the Indo-Aryan Vindhya Hindustani/Urdu Muslim population of 109,870 Indian Muslims, while the Hindustani Hindu population were of 659,670 Bharatiya Hindus out of the total population of 785,322 inhabitants respectively.
As a Muslim ruler in Central India, Hamidullah Khan opposed the formal Partition of British India, in part because he feared it would marginalise Muslims outside West or East Pakistan, and instead sought regional Muslim autonomy within India. The eldest daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan and presumptive heiress, Abida Sultan, gave up her right to the throne and opted for Pakistan in 1950. Therefore, the Government of India excluded her from the succession and her younger sister Begum Sajida succeeded in her stead. According to the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, converted all the remaining Indian Provinces into States, thus Bhopal state was unwillingly absorbed into the provincial region, now a new state of Madhya Pradesh, and Bhopal was declared as the capital of the newly formed state. The Bhopal state included the present-day districts of Bhopal, Raisen, and Sehore. In 1971, all princely titles and privy purses were abolished by the Indian government.
1876 stamp issued during the reign of Nawab Begum Shahjahan1908 one anna stamp of Bhopal State
Rule of the Begums
Bhopal was the second largest Muslim state in pre-independence India, after Hyderabad. Between 1819 and 1926, it was ruled by four women – Begums – unique in the royalty of those days. Qudsia Begum was the first woman ruler, who was succeeded by her only daughter Sikandar Begum, who in turn was succeeded by her only daughter, Shahjehan Begum. Jahan Begum was the last woman ruler, who after 25 years of rule, abdicated in favour of her son, Nawab Sir Hamidullah Khan. The rule of Begums gave the city its waterworks, railways, a postal system and a municipality constituted in 1907. The peaceful rule of Begums led to the rise of a unique mixed culture in Bhopal. The Hindus were given important administrative positions in the state. This led to communal peace and a cosmopolitan culture took its roots.
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