Khan Bahadur – a compound of ''Khan'' "Leader" and ''Bahadur'' "Brave" – was an honorary title in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

conferred on Indian subjects who were adherents of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

. The equivalent title for Hindus, Buddhists and Indian Christians was Rao Bahadur/Rai Bahadur and Sardar Bahadur for Sikhs. The title of Khan Bahadur was one degree higher than the title of

Khan Sahib Khan Sahib - a compound of Khan "Leader" and Sahib "Master" - was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred mainly on Muslim, and also on Parsi, Irani, and Jewish subjects of the British Indian Empire. It was a title one deg ...

. The title was conferred on individuals for faithful service or acts of public welfare to the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Recipients were entitled to prefix the title to their name and were presented with a special Title Badge and a citation (''Sanad''). It was conferred on behalf of the Government of British India by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India. Awarding of the Khan Bahadur title was discontinued in 1947 upon the independence of India. The title "Khan Bahadur" was originally conferred in Mughal India on Muslim subjects in recognition of public services rendered and was adopted by British India for the same purpose and extended to cover other non-Hindu subjects of India. Hindu subjects of British India were conferred the title of "

Rai Bahadur Rai Bahadur (in North India) and Rao Bahadur (in South India), R.B., was a title of honour bestowed during British rule in India to individuals for outstanding service or acts of public welfare to the Empire. From 1911, the title was accompani ...

Recipients

The following is an incomplete chronological list of selected recipients: * 1881: Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh C.I.E, Former Chief Justice of

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...

, Founder of

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library is one of the national libraries of India, located in Patna, Bihar. It was opened to public on 29 October 1891 by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh with 4,000 manuscripts, of which he inherited 1,400 from his father Maulvi ...

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

Syed Syed may refer to: * Seyd, alternative for Sayyid (name) * Alternative for Sayyid, an honorific title * Ahsan Ali Syed (born 1973), Indian businessman * Ghulam Murtaza Syed (1904-1995), prominent Sindhi politician * Ibrahim Bijli Syed (born 1939) ...

Muhammad Baquar Ali Khan

C.I.E. The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander ( GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) Appoint ...

of Morni, Kotaha and Pindrawal * 1887: Nawab Sirjaul Islam * 1891: Mian Ghulam Farid Khan Bahadur, former Extra-Assistant Commissioner in Punjab and Honorary Magistrate of Batala. * Khan Bahadur Khalifullah Rowther Sahib,

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

Pudukkottai State Pudukkottai was a kingdom and later a princely state in British India, which existed from 1680 until 1948. The Thondaman dynasty, Kingdom of Pudukkottai was founded in about 1680 as a feudatory of Ramnad estate, Ramnad and grew with subsequent ...

* 1898: Khan Bahadur Humayun Beg Wazir of Hunza. * 1903: Khan Bahadur Din Muhammad, Extra Assistant Commissioner, Kasur, in the Lahore District of the Punjab. * 1905: Muhammad Habibullah was awarded the title of Khan Bahadur by the Indian government * 1912: Khan Bahadur Sayed Rustom Ali (Registrar, Court of the Political Resident, Aden). * 1912: Khan Bahadur Nadir Husain, District Superintendent of Police, Bengal. * 1914: Khan Bahadur Muhammad Hira Khan (Civil Engineer from University of Roorkee (Gold Medalist); Supervisor, Public Works Department, Lucknow, United Provinces. * 1919: Khan Bahadur Muhammad Hussain Khan Swati, 5th Chief of

Swati tribe Swatis () are people inhabiting the Hazara division in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Of Dardic origins, Swatis originally spoke Dardic languages such as Gibri and Yadri and were native inhabitants of Swat valley. They were Pash ...

* 1921 Khan Sahib Sir Mohammad Usman of Madras was conferred the title of Khan Bahadur. He was later conferred the title of Knight Commander Order of the Indian Empire. Sir Mohammad Usman became the first Indian acting Governor of Madras Presidency and a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council. * 1923: Khan Bahadur Mian Muhammad Said, Bar-at-law, British-Indian Police and Minister in Royal State of Kapurthala. * 1925: Khan Bahadur Maulvi Gada Husain (retired), Deputy Collector, United Provinces. * 1925: Khan Bahadur Maulvi Alimuzzaman Chaudhuri. M.L.C. Landholder and Chairman, District Board and Municipality, Faridpur. Saand awarded in 1930 to Syed Niaz Qutb for title of Khan Bahadur

Saand awarded in 1930 to Syed Niaz Qutb for title of Khan Bahadur

* 1929: Khan Bahadur Major General

Fateh Naseeb Khan Khan Bahadur Maj.Gen. Fateh Naseeb Khan, OBE KB (1888–1933), was the Commander-in-chief of Alwar State Forces. He was a close confidant and trusted aide of Maharaja Jai Singh Prabhakar Bahadur, who was the Maharaja of Alwar State. He ...

Senapati Senapati ( , ''sena'' meaning "army", ''Pati (title), pati'' meaning "lord") is a title in ancient India denoting the rank of general (military), General. It was a hereditary title of nobility used in the Maratha Empire. During wartime, a ''Sar ...

Alwar State Alwar (Rajasthani Pronunciation: �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (NCR) and the administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. It is located 150 km south of Delhi and 150 km ...

Rajputana Rājputana (), meaning Land of the Rajputs, was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the entire present-day States of India, Indian state of Rajasthan, parts of the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and adjo ...

* 1930: Khan Bahadur Raja Muhammad Akram Khan of Jhelum ; also awarded Khan Sahib. Member Punjab Legislative Assembly. * 1930: Khan Bahadur Syed Niaz Qutb (also spelled as Qutab), Postmaster General. * 1932: Khan Bahadur Maulvi Muhammad Fazlul Karim, Magistrate, collector, and administrator of Refugees, Bengal. * 1934: Khan Bahadur

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan (Pashto: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) also known by his epithet, The Iron Amir, was Amir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for perpetrating the Hazara genocide, but also uniting the ...

, Divisional Inspector of Schools. * 1936: Khan Bahadur Khalifa Mohammad Asadullah, the first Muslim and second Indian to run the Imperial Library of the Raj in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and the first Indian to become a fellow of the Library Association, London. * 1937:

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah was the founding leader and President of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Confer ...

(1874–1965), Indian educationalist, social reformer, lawyer, and the founder of

Women's College, Aligarh Aligarh Muslim University is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875. Muhammadan Angl ...

. * 1938: Khan Bahadur Waliur Rahman, Planter and Proprietor of several tea gardens in Duars, Assam. * 1939: Khan Bahadur Muhammad Humayun, District Collector 1937–1939, ICS — Nellore. * 1940: Khan Bahadur Maulvi Muhammad Yahya (retired), Deputy Magistrate, Deputy Collector and Chief Manager, Dacca Nawab Estate. * 1942: Khan Bahadur Yousof Hossain Chaudhury, vice-president, District School Board, Faridpur. 9 he chieftains of Punjab he Gazette of Attock 1970 * 1943: Khan Bahadur Aziz al-Hasan Ghouri ; Zoroastrian recipients * Khan Bahadur

Ardeshir Irani Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani (5 December 1886 – 14 October 1969) was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early Indian cinema. He is considered one of the gre ...

, director of the first Indian talkie picture ''

Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a ''fakir'' (Wazir Muhammad K ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan Bahadur Indian court titles Titles in Bangladesh Titles in India Titles in Pakistan K

Recipients

See also

References