Hamidullah Khan

Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Hamidullah Khan (9 September 1894 - 4 February 1960) was the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, which merged with the state of Madhya Pradesh in 1956. 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 1931–1932 and from 1944–1947, when India became independent. During the Second World War, Nawab Hamidullah Khan was present at the Battle of Keren and the Battle of El Alamein. Nawab Hamidullah, as he was popularly known was very close to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. He also had very good terms with Louis Mountbatten, Viceroy and Governor General of India. In spite of pressure from Jinnah, he reluctantly agreed to have Bhopal as a part of Indian Union. At his death, he left no sons and so was succeeded by his second daughter, Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal.

Nawabs of Bhopal

The Nawabs of Bhopal were the Muslim rulers of the princely state of Bhopal, now part of the modern state of Madhya Pradesh, in India. The last Nawab was Hamidullah Khan, who acceded his state to India in 1947.

The female Nawabs were also known as the Begums, their official title being Nawab Begum of Bhopal. The term “Begum of Bhopal” may in theory also refer to the wives of male Nawabs of Bhopal; however, in practice such ladies are only rarely referred to by that title.

List of rulers of Bhopal

Nawabs of Bhopal