Bahawalpur (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' princely state of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, and later

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...

, that was a part of the Punjab States Agency. It existed as an autonomous state, within Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, when it was dissolved and merged into the West Pakistani Province. The state covered an area of (17,494 sq mi) and had a population of 1,341,209 in 1941. The capital of the state was the town of

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...

. The Bahawalpur state was founded in 1609 AD by

Nawab Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

Bahawal Khan Abbasi. On 22 February 1833, Abbasi III entered into a

subsidiary alliance A subsidiary alliance, in South Asian history, was a tributary alliance between a South Asian state and a European East India Company. Under this system, an Indian ruler who formed a treaty with the company in question would be provided wi ...

with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, by which Bahawalpur was admitted as a princely state of

. When British rule ended in 1947 and

was partitioned into

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, Bahawalpur joined the

. Bahawalpur remained an autonomous entity until 14 October 1955, when it was merged with the province of West Pakistan.

History

The Abbasi tribe from whom the ruling family of Bahawalpur belongs, claim descent from the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

s. The tribe then came to

in the middle of the 17th century and assumed independence during the decline of the Durrani Empire. Upon establishment of Abbasi rule in the region around

Uch Uch ( pa, ; ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ; ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexan ...

, the clan's ''Nawab'' established canals as a matter of statecraft in order to help incorporate Daudpotra kinsmen. Abbasi Graveyard, Cholistan, Bahawalpur

Bahawalpur along with other Cis-Sutlej states were a group of states, lying between the Sutlej River on the north, the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

on the east, the Yamuna River and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

District on the south, and

Sirsa District Sirsa district is the largest district of Haryana state. Sirsa is the district headquarters. It is located on National Highway 9 and from the capital Delhi. Etymology The district is named after its headquarters, Sirsa. The name, Sirsa is der ...

on the west. These states were ruled by the Scindhia dynasty as Vakil-e-Mutlaq of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, various Sikh sardars and other Rajas of the Cis-Sutlej states paid tributes to the Marathas, until the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War ...

of 1803–1805, after which the Marathas lost this territory to the British. As part of the 1809 Treaty of Amritsar, Ranjit Singh was confined to the right bank of the Sutlej. The first treaty with Bahawalpur was negotiated in 1833, the year after the treaty with Ranjit Singh for regulating traffic on the Indus. It secured the independence of the Nawab within his own territories and opened up the traffic on the Indus and Sutlej. The political relations of Bahawalpur with the paramount power, as at present existing, are regulated by a treaty made in October 1838, when arrangements were in progress for the restoration of Shah Shuja to the Kabul throne. During the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession d ...

, the Nawab assisted the British with supplies and allowing passage and in 1847-8 he co-operated actively with Sir

Herbert Edwardes Major-General Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes DCL (12 November 1819 – 23 December 1868) was a British administrator, soldier, and statesman active in the Punjab region of British India. He is best known as the "Hero of Multan" for his pivotal ...

in the expedition against

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

. For these services, he was rewarded by the grant of the districts of Sabzalkot and Bhung, together with a life-pension of a lakh. On his death, a dispute arose regarding succession. He was succeeded by his third son, whom he had nominated in place of his eldest son. The new ruler was, however, deposed by his elder brother, and obtained asylum in British territory, with a pension from the Bahawalpur revenues; he broke his promise to abandon his claims and was confined in the Lahore Fort, where he died in 1862. Noor Mahal Bahawalpur Pakistan

In 1863 and 1866 insurrections broke out against the Nawab who successfully crushed the rebellions; but in March 1866, the Nawab died suddenly, not without suspicion of having been poisoned, and was succeeded by his son, Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV, a boy of four. After several endeavors to arrange for the administration of the country without active interference on the part of the Government, it was found necessary, on account of disorganization and disaffection, to place the principality in British hands. In 1879, the Nawab was invested with full powers, with the advice and assistance of a council of six members. During the Afghan campaigns (1878–80) the Nawab placed the entire resources of his State at the disposal of the British Indian Government, and a contingent of his troops was employed in keeping open communications, and in guarding the Dera Ghazi Khan frontier. On his death in 1899 he was succeeded by Muhammad Bahawal Khan V, who attained his majority in 1900, and was invested with full powers in 1903. The Nawab of Bahawalpur was entitled to a salute of 17 guns. Bahawalpur House in

is now home to the National School of Drama.

Independence of Pakistan

The predominantly Muslim population supported

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

and

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

. After the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1947, the minority

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s and Sikhs migrated to

while the Muslim refugees from

settled in the Bahawalpur state. After the independence of Pakistan, the Nawab of Bahawalpur

Sadeq Mohammad Khan V General Nawab Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan V Abbasi ( ur, ) (born 29 September 1904, in Derawar – died 24 May 1966, in London) was the Nawab, and later Amir, of Bahawalpur State from 1907 to 1966. He became the Nawab on the death of his f ...

proved to be very helpful and generous to the government of Pakistan. He gave seventy million rupees to the government and the salaries of all the government departments for a couple of months were also drawn from the treasury of

Bahawalpur state Bahawalpur ( Urdu, skr, ) was a princely state of British India, and later Dominion of Pakistan, that was a part of the Punjab States Agency. It existed as an autonomous state, within Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, when it was dissolved and me ...

. He donated his private property to the University of the Punjab, King Edward Medical College and the Mosque of Aitchison College, Lahore. At the time of independence, all the princely states of the

were given a choice to join either Pakistan or India or to remain independent, outside both. On 5 October 1947 the Nawab signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan according to which Bahawalpur State acceded to Pakistan, and the accession was accepted on 9 October. Thus the State of Bahawalpur was the first state to accede to Pakistan. Moreover, the Nawab and Muhammad Ali Jinnah were close friends and they had great respect for each other even before the creation of Pakistan. The Ameer of Bahawalpur Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Fund was instituted in 1947 for providing a central organization for the relief of the refugees. The Quaid-e-Azam acknowledged the valuable contribution of the Bahawalpur State for the rehabilitation of the refugees. In 1953, the Nawab represented

at the installation of Faisal II of Iraq and at the coronation of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. In 1955 an accord was signed between Nawab Sadiq Muhammad and General Ghulam Muhammad Malik according to which Bahawalpur State became the part of the province of West Pakistan and

ormer Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or mutto ...

Nawab began to receive a yearly stipend of 32 lakh rupees, maintained the title of Nawab and protocol inside and outside Pakistan. In May 1966 Nawab Sadiq, the last ruling Nawab of Bahawalpur died in London which ended his 59 year long reign; his dead body was brought to Bahawalpur and was buried in his ancestral graveyard of Derawer Fort. His eldest son Haji Muhammad Abbas Khan Abbasi Bahadur succeeded to his title of Nawab of Bahawalpur, but with no administrative or political power. Abbas's son Salah ud-Din Muhammad Khan currently holds the title of the Nawab.

Legacy

Even though with no power, the Nawabs of Bahawalpur and the noble family is still highly respected in the region. Nawab Salahud-Din Ahmed Abbasi, the grandson of the last ruling Nawab, is one of the most important political figures in the region. Although the Nawabs were

autocratic Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except per ...

rulers, who did not allow or give political freedom, they did a lot for the development of the State, which benefited the people. The first Nawab laid the foundation of the State in 1727, with only a small locality, very soon the latter Movement for Bahawalpur Province. Nawabs started expanding the domain of the State. Not only did they gain a lot of land, they also made it one of the richest states of the sub-continent. A lot of development work was done in the State in all fields. Schools, colleges and later a university were opened. A number of scholarships were given to students even outside the State. Railway track was laid by the Nawabs in the State. Hospitals and dispensaries were established. Canals were dug and the Sultej Valley Project was completed to provide water to the lands of Bahawalpur region. The State had its own administrative and judicial system. The Nawabs gifted portions of their land in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

to Punjab University, while the mosque at Aitchison College was also gifted by the Nawab. The Bahawalpur Block of the King Edward Medical College was also donated by the Nawab.

Royal House of Bahawalpur

The Royal House of Bahawalpur is said to be of Arabic origin and claims descent from

Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib ( ar, ٱلْعَبَّاسُبْنُ عَبْدِ ٱلْمُطَّلِبِ, al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; CE) was a paternal uncle and Sahabi (companion) of Muhammad, just three years older than his ...

, progenitor of the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad and Cairo. Sultan Ahmad II, son of Shah Muzammil of Egypt left that country and arrived in Sindh with a large following of Arabs ca. 1370. He married a daughter of Raja Rai Dhorang Sahta, receiving a third of the country in dowry. Amir Fathu'llah Khan Abbasi, is the recognized ancestor of the dynasty. He conquered the Bhangarh territory from Raja Dallu, of Alor and Bhamanabad, renaming it Qahir Bela. Amir Muhammad Chani Khan Abbasi entered the imperial service and gained appointment as a Panchhazari in 1583. At his death, the leadership of the tribe was contested between two branches of the family, the Daudputras and the Kalhoras. Amir Bahadur Khan Abbasi abandoned Tarai and settled near Bhakkar, founding the town of Shikarpur in 1690. Daud Khan, the first of his family to rule Bahawalpur, originated from Scind where he had opposed the Afghan Governor of that province and was forced to flee.

Demography

In 1941, Bahawalpur had a population of 1,341,209 of whom 737,474 (54.98%) were men and 603,735 (45.02%) were women. Bahawalpur had a literacy rate of 2.8% (5.1% for males and 0.1% for females) in 1901. The bulk of the population (two-thirds) lived on the fertile Indus River banks with the eastern desert tract being sparsely populated. Between 1916 and 1941, the population had almost doubled due to the Sutlej Valley Project when vast amounts of Bahawalpur territory were opened to irrigation. There was a migration of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs to Bahawalpur from other parts of Punjab. These colonists were labelled non-Riyasatis as opposed to locals or "Riyasatis" and were systematically discriminated against in government appointments.

Religion

The state was predominantly Muslim. According to the 1941 census, Muslims made up 81.9% (1,098,814) of the state's population while Hindus numbered 174,408 (13%) and Sikhs numbered 46,945 (1.84%). While a majority of Muslims and Hindus had their origins in Bahawalpur, a considerable proportion of settlers were migrants from other parts of the Punjab. The Sikhs, on the other hand, were predominantly colonists who had migrated after the opening of canal colonies.

Rulers

The rulers of Bahawalpur were Abbasids who came from Shikarpur and Sukkur and captured the areas that became

Bahawalpur State Bahawalpur ( Urdu, skr, ) was a princely state of British India, and later Dominion of Pakistan, that was a part of the Punjab States Agency. It existed as an autonomous state, within Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, when it was dissolved and me ...

. They took the title of

Amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

until 1740, when the title changed to

Amir. Although the title was abolished in 1955 by the Government of Pakistan, the current head of the House of Bahawalpur ( Salah ud-Din Muhammad Khan) is referred to as the ''Amir''. From 1942, the Nawabs were assisted by Prime Ministers. 20th century onwards, Sadeq Muhammad Khan V was the Nawab and later Emir of Bahawalpur State from 1907 to 1966. He became the Nawab on the death of his father, when he was only three years old. In 1955 he signed an agreement with the Governor-General of Pakistan,

Malik Ghulam Muhammad Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad ( ur, ; 20 April 1895 – 29 August 1956), was a Pakistani politician and financier who served as the third governor-general of Pakistan, appointed in this capacity in 1951 until being dismissed in 1955 due to healt ...

, under which Bahawalpur became part of the province of West Pakistan, with effect from 14 October 1955, and the Ameer received a yearly

privy purse The Privy Purse is the British Sovereign's private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £20.1 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2018. Overview The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres (200 ...

of 32 lakhs of rupees, keeping his titles. Other members of the present day form of the royal family include: HH Nawab Brig. Muhammad Abbas Khan Abbasi (Last Nawab of Bahawalpur, former Governor of Punjab); Nawab Salahuddin Ahmed Abbasi (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. He is also the grandson of

, who was the last ruling

of the Princely State Bahawalpur. Prince Muhammad Bahawal (who studied at Aitchison College in Lahore, and graduated from King's College London with a degree in International Political Economy and joined PTI), Prince Falahuddin Abbasi (who died in London in April 2016 from cancer), Begum of Bahawalpur, Princess Aiysha Yasmien Abbasi and Princess Safia Nausheen Abbasi.

References

External links

*
Nawabs of Bahawalpur

Bahawalpur Information

TMA Bahawalpur City website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahawalpur States and territories established in 1690 Princely states of Pakistan 1609 establishments in Asia 1802 establishments in Asia 1955 disestablishments in Pakistan Arab dynasties Muslim princely states of India