Sikander Begum (10 September 1817 – 30 October 1868) was 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 Confederacy from 1737 to 1818, then under British rule from 1818 to 19 ...

from 1860 until her death in 1868. Although she was initially appointed regent of her nine-year old daughter Shah Jahan Begum in 1844, she was recognized as nawab in 1860. During the 1857

Sepoy Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

, Sikandar's pro-British stance made her a

Knight Grand Commander Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

. In 1863, she was the first Indian ruler to perform

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

. Sikandar enacted many reforms in the state, including the creation of a mint, a

secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

, a

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and a modern judiciary.

Early life

Sikandar was born at Gauhar Mahal in

Bhopal State Bhopal State (pronounced ) was founded by the Maharaja of Parmar Rajputs. In the beginning of the 18th-century, Bhopal State was converted into an Islamic principality, in the invasion of the Afghan Mughal noble Dost Muhammad Khan. It was ...

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 ...

, on 10 September 1817. Her parents, Nasir Muhammad Khan and Qudsia Begum, Begum of Bhopal, were former nawabs of the state.

Reign

On 3 January 1847, Sikandar Begum's nine-year old daughter Shah Jahan Begum ascended the throne of Bhopal. Joseph Davey Cunningham,

political agent Political Agent or political agent may refer to: *Political Resident, a representative with consular duties and political contacts with local chiefs * Political officer (British Empire), an officer of the British imperial civil administration, also ...

of the

Governor-General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

, announced on 27 July of that year that Sikandar was appointed

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. The governor-general bestowed the state's executive powers on her. During the 1857

, Sikandar sided with the British. To prevent rebellion in Bhopal, she banned the publication and circulation of anti-British pamphlets, strengthened her intelligence network, and bribed anti-British soldiers to switch sides. In August, however, a group of

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...

s attacked British

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

s in

Sehore Sehore is a city and a municipality in Sehore district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the district headquarters of Sehore District and is located on the Bhopal- Sehore-Indore highway, 38 km from Bhopal. History Sehore stands ...

and

Berasia Berasia is a town and a nagar palika (municipality) in Bhopal district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. History In the early 18th century, Berasia was a small ''mustajiri'' (rented estate) under the authority of the Delhi-based Mug ...

; anger with her increased in the state due to her pro-British stance. The same group of sepoys, encouraged by Sikandar's mother, surrounded her palace in December. Sikandar sent her son-in-law, Umrao Daulah, to negotiate with them. The soldiers ended their siege when she announced that their salaries would be increased. In 1861, Sikandar received the

award for her pro-British stance during the mutiny. The British recognized Sikandar as Nawab of Bhopal on 30 September 1860, and her

military salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Scouting ...

was increased to 19 guns the following year.

Hajj

In 1863, Sikandar was the first Indian monarch to perform

. She was accompanied by about 1,000 people, mostly women. Sikandar wrote a memoir of her trip in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, and an English translation was published in 1870. In the memoir, she wrote that the cities of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

were "unclean" and the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

and the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

were "uncivilised" and "possessed no religious knowledge." Also included in the memoir is an anecdote about her confrontation with Turkish customs officials who wanted to levy

duties A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; , past participle of ; , whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, e ...

on everything she brought.

Reforms

Sikandar divided the state into three districts and 21 sub-districts. A revenue officer was appointed for each district and an administrator for each sub-district. She repaid the state's debt. Sikandar also established a customs office, a

, an intelligence network, a mint, a postal service which connected the state with the rest of India, and a modern judiciary with a

court of appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

. She founded the Victoria School for girls and at least one Urdu and Hindi middle school in each district of the state. Sikandar introduced a Majlis-e-Shoora (

) in 1847. Consisting of nobles and intellectuals, its purpose was to pass and recommend laws and to suggest reforms. In 1862, she replaced

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

with Urdu as the court language.

Architecture

Sikandar constructed a Moti Masjid (

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

) made of red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, and built the Moti Mahal and Shaukat Mahal palaces. The latter was a blend of

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

Indo-Islamic architecture Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced by and for Islamic patrons and purposes. Despite an initial Arab presence in Sindh, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture began in earnest with the establi ...

, with Gothic features.

Personal life

On 18 April 1835, Sikandar married Nawab Jahangir Mohammad Khan. They had one daughter, Shah Jahan Begum. Like her mother, Qudsia Begum, Sikandar was a devout Muslim; however, she did not wear the

niqab A niqāb, niqab, or niqaab (; ), also known as a ruband () or rubandah (), is a long garment worn by some Muslim women in order to cover their entire body and face, excluding their eyes. It is an interpretation in Islam of the concept of ...

(face veil) or practise

purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of sex segregation prevalent among some Muslim, Zoroastrian and Hindu communities. The purdah garment is the same as a burqa, or yashmak, i.e a veil ...

(female seclusion). She hunted tigers, played

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

and was a

swordsman Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

, and

lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by India, Egypt, China, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

. Sikandar commanded the army, and personally inspected courts, offices, the mint, and the treasury. Sikandar Begum died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

on 30 October 1868. She was buried at Farhat Afza Bagh, and was succeeded by her daughter as Nawab of Bhopal.

References

External links

A pilgrimage to Mecca (London : W. H. Allen, 1870)
(publication) at SOAS Digital Collections
تاریخ-ا سفر-ا مکّہ (Tarikh-i safar-i Makka)
(manuscript. 1863 nscribed 1864 at SOAS Digital Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Sikandar 1817 births 1868 deaths Indian monarchs Muslim monarchs Begums of Bhopal 19th-century women monarchs Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India