Princess Suraya Jah, Nawab Gowhar-i-Taj, Abida Sultan Begum Sahiba (28 August 1913 – 11 May 2002) was the eldest daughter of

Hamidullah Khan Hajji Nawab Hafiz Sir Hamidullah Khan (9 September 1894 – 4 February 1960) was the last ruling Nawab of the princely salute state of Bhopal. He ruled from 1926 when his mother, Begum Kaikhusrau Jahan Begum, abdicated in his favor, until 19 ...

, the last Nawab of the Bhopal state, and his wife Begum Maimoona Sultan.

Life and family

Sultan is the daughter of

, the

Nawab of Bhopal The Nawabs of Bhopal were the Muslim rulers of Bhopal, now part of Madhya Pradesh, India. The nawabs first ruled under the Mughal Empire from 1707 to 1737, under the Maratha Empire from 1737 to 1818, then under British rule from 1818 to 1947, an ...

and Begum Maimoona Sultan. She was the eldest of three children; she had two younger sisters Sajida Sultan, and Rabia Sultan. The Begum of Bhopal, Sultan Jahan, was her grandmother, and her predecessor Shah Jahan Begum was her great-grandmother. The cricketer

Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi Nawab Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan Siddiqui Pataudi, sometimes I. A. K. Pataudi (16 March 1910 – 5 January 1952), was an Indian prince and cricket player. He was the captain of the India's national cricket team during its tour of England in 1 ...

was her brother-in-law through his marriage to Sajida, and the cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi is her nephew. In 1926 she married Nawab Mohammad Sarwar Ali Khan, ruler of Kurwai State. In 1928, she was recognized as the heiress apparent to the Bhopal throne. However, she gave up her right to the throne and migrated to the newly formed Pakistan in 1950. In Pakistan, she joined the foreign service. Therefore, the Government of India excluded her from the succession and her younger sister

Sajida Sajida is an Arabic given name for women. People named Sajida include: * Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal (1915–1995), Indian royalty * Sajida Alvi (born 1941), Canadian academic * Sajida Begum, Pakistani politician * Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Ris ...

succeeded her instead upon her father's death in 1960, although Abida Sultan contested the succession in court. Abida Sultan had arrived in the newly created Pakistan at the age of 37, with a young son. She was to spend the greater part of her life in Pakistan. She died in Karachi in 2002. Her son,

Shaharyar Khan Shahryar Mohammad Khan ( ur, شہریار محمد خان; born 12 March 1934) is a former career Pakistan diplomat who became Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in 1990, and remained so until his retirement from service in 1994. He later served as ...

, was to become the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan and then the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultan, Abida History of Bhopal People from Bhopal Muhajir people 1913 births 2002 deaths People from Karachi Pakistani princesses