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In the 19th century, Bhopal was the second-largest Muslim-ruled princely state in British India. But beyond this, what was so remarkable about the state of Bhopal is that, for almost 107 years, between 1819 and 1926, it was ruled by a continuous lineage of four female Nawabs known as the Begums of Bhopal. Each of these path-breaking women established a golden age of reforms and advancements during their reign despite strong opposition from male claimants and hostile neighbours, and cemented their legacies as icons of women's power in pre-modern India.
An Accidental Death And An Unlikely Beginning
It all began with a freak accident. On November 11, 1819, the royal family of Nazar Muhammad Khan, then the reigning Nawab of Bhopal, went outside the fortified city of Islamnagar — the capital of Bhopal at the time — for a day of hunting, a popular royal pastime of the period. It was during this fateful hunting trip that Nazar Muhammad’s brother-in-law — his wife Gohar Begum’s eight-year-old younger brother — Faujdar Muhammad, accidentally shot and killed the Nawab with his own pistol. Only 28 years old at the time, the Nawab died on the spot, throwing Bhopal into a crisis.
Qudsia Begum (1819-1837) — The First Female Ruler Of Bhopal
In the political crisis that followed the young Nawab’s unexpected death, it was decided by the political agents of the British East India Company and the nobles of Bhopal that his nephew Munir Muhammad Khan should succeed the late Nawab and rule Bhopal under the regency of Gohar Begum, better known as Qudsia Begum, on the condition that he should eventually marry her daughter princess Sikandar Begum — who was only fifteen months old at the time — when she came of age.
A woman of remarkable verve and wisdom, Qudsia Begum was not happy with this arrangement. At her husband’s soyem (a funerary ritual), she stood in front of the nobles of the Bhopal court and declared her daughter Sikandar as the rightful heir to the throne.
Qudsia’s speech, coupled with the fact that she took off her veil before making it, was an act of political agency and self-assertion that was unprecedented for Indian women of the period. Aided by her French advisor Balthazar de Bourbon — also known as Shahzad Masih — Qudsia Begum negotiated with the nobles and the British political agent Colonel T.H. Maddocks to remain in power and legitimise her status as the Queen Regent and de facto ruler of Bhopal, and persuaded the state Qazi (Islamic judge) and Mufti (expert in Islamic religious legal doctrine) to acknowledge Muslim women’s legal right to political power.
Qudsia Begum was one of the first women in South Asia to not only claim but successfully assert and legitimise the right of Muslim women to legally be the ruler of a state. Although she finally abdicated in favour of her son-in-law Jahangir Muhammad Khan in 1837, she remained a formidable political player in the royal court of Bhopal until her death in 1881.
Sikandar Begum (1844-1868)
Qudsia Begum's daughter Sikandar Begum assumed power as Queen Regent after her husband Nawab Jahangir Muhammad Khan's death in 1844. Raised by her mother Qudsia Begum to be a woman in the corridors of power, Sikandar Begum was trained in the martial arts and courtly politics, and defied the customary veil or 'purdah' system prevalent at the time. She played polo, went hunting, and was a skilled swordswoman, archer, and lancer.
Sikandar Begum brought in many reforms during her reign and established a customs office, a secretariat, an intelligence network, a mint, a postal service which connected the state with the rest of British India, and a modern judiciary with a court of appeal. She also founded the Victoria School for Girls, many Urdu and Hindi school across the state, and commissioned the constructions of the Moti Masjid and the Moti Mahal and Shaukat Mahal palaces.
In 1863, Sikandar Begum became the first Indian monarch to perform Hajj — the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca — and wrote a memoir of her travels in Urdu.
Shahjahan Begum (1868-1901)
After Sikandar Begum's death, her only surviving child Shahjahan Begum ascended the throne of Bhopal at the age of 30 in 1868.
Unlike her mother, Shahjahan Begum was not trained in the martial arts and swordplay. She wanted to be a poet instead, and Bhopal became a centre for the arts and culture during her reign. She improved the tax system, built several palaces, mosques, and monuments, and made significant contributions to public housing, education, health, technology, and women’s upliftment.
In 1889, Shahjahan Begum published a reformist manual for Muslim women titled 'Tahzib un-Niswan wa Tarbiyat ul-Insan' (The Reform of Women and the Cultivation of Humanity). It is considered the first women’s encyclopaedia published in India and contained treatises on women’s work and their status in Islam.
Kaikhusrau Sultan Jahan Begum (1901-1926)
Shahjahan's daughter Kaikhusrau Sultan Jahan, better known as Sultan Jahan, was the last Begum of Bhopal. She was 43 years old at the time of her ascension to the throne, and her years as the heir apparent were difficult due to the divided loyalties of the Bhopal court between her and her mother.
Still, Sultan Jahan's reign was marked by a focus on women's education. She was one of the founding members of the Aligarh Muslim University, and till date remains the only female vice-chancellor of the university. Apart from education, she also reformed taxation, the law and order system, agriculture, health, and sanitation. She also founded the Edward Museum and Hamidia Library, and became the president of the All-India Muslim Ladies’ Association in 1914.
The 107-year-reign of the Begums of Bhopal ended with Sultan Jahan in 1926 when she abdicated the throne for her son Hamidullah Khan — the last Nawab of Bhopal. It was during his rule that the princely state of Bhopal was taken over by the Government of India in 1948.
To learn more about these extraordinary women, read The Begums of Bhopal: A Dynasty of Women Rulers in Raj India.
