Sajida Sultan

Sajida Sultan (August 4, 1915 – September 5, 1995) was a Begum of Bhopal in her own right, and consort to a Nawab of Pataudi.

Sajida was the second daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, last ruling Nawab of Bhopal. She was the grand daughter of Begum Sultan Jahan, the fourth ruling queen of Bhopal. Her elder sister princess Abida Sultan was the successor to her father Nawab Hameedullah Khan; however, as Abida Sultan immigrated to Pakistan in the aftermath of the partition of India, Sajida held the title as heiress presumptive of Bhopal State, and was eventually recognised by the government of India as Begum of Bhopal in 1961 after the death of her father in 1960.

On April 23, 1939, Sajida married Nawab Iftekhar Ali Khan, ruling nawab of Pataudi, a non-salute state located in present-day Haryana. Nawab Sher Ali Khan, the younger brother of Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan, was an eminent general in the Pakistan Army. Sajida Sultan's elder son Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan was a renowned cricketer who captained the Indian cricket team from 1962 to 1970, and retired in 1975 and Died on 22nd Sept. 2011.^[1] Her nephew Shahryar Khan son of Nawab Sarwar Ali Khan (former ruler of Kurwai State) and princess Abida Sultan was the former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan and ambassador to Rwanda from U.N.O. and also the ex-Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Borard. Sajida Sultan was the mother-in-law of actress Sharmila Tagore (who converted to Islam upon marriage to Mansoor Ali Khan and took the name of Ayesha Sultana); and grandmother of Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan, and Saba Ali Khan.

See also

• Rule of Begums in Bhopal

References

• Genealogy of the ruling chiefs of Pataudi