Princess Suraya Jah, Nawab Gowhar-i-Taj (born Abida Sultan Begum Sahiba; 28 August 1913 – 11 May 2002), also known as Abida Sultaan, was the eldest daughter of Hamidullah Khan, the last Nawab of the Bhopal state, and his wife Begum Maimoona Sultan.
Early life and birth family
Bhopal royal family. L to R: Nawab Hamidullah Khan, his wife Maimoona Sultan, their daughters – Rabia Sultan, Abida Sultan, Sajida Sultan, in London, 1932
Abida Sultan Begum Sahiba (begum being a Muslim woman of high rank[1]) was born on 28 August[citation needed] 1913,[1] the daughter of Hamidullah Khan, the Nawab of Bhopal and Begum Maimoona Sultan. She was the eldest of three children; she had two younger sisters Sajida Sultan, and Rabia Sultan.[2]
The Begum of Bhopal, Sultan Jahan, was her grandmother,[2] and her predecessor Shah Jahan Begum was her great-grandmother.[citation needed] Her grandmother brought her up, and her own mother "had nothing to do with [her]". Her grandmother, who was nearly 70 when Abida was born, brought her up very strictly. She had to rise at 4am to read the Quran, and had to do menial duties such as sweeping the floor, but she was also allowed to do all the same activities as the boys did, including sports, music, and horse riding.[2][1]
In 1926, at the age of 12, she married Nawab Mohammad Sarwar Ali Khan,[3] ruler of Kurwai State, who was a childhood friend.[1]
In 1928,[3] at the age of 15, she was recognised as the heiress apparent to the Bhopal throne. She then managed her father's cabinet from 1935 until 1949, when Bhopal was merged with the state of Madhya Pradesh. During this time, she met Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, and his son, Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India.[1]
She had been completely unprepared for her wedding day, and her marriage broke up after around ten years. She later wrote that she had found the consummation of her marriage would "horrified, numbed and feeling unchaste". She moved back to Bhopal, and an ugly custody dispute over the couple's son, Shaharyar Khan, ensued. In 1937 she drove for hours to the home of her ex, gave him a gun and said that if he did not shoot her, she would shoot him.[1]
Move to Pakistan
After the partition of India in 1947, she experienced discrimination, and witnessed violence between Hindus and Muslims.[1] She gave up her right to the throne and in 1950 emigrated to the newly-formed Pakistan, aged 37, with her young son.[3]
In Pakistan she joined the foreign service; the government of India responded by excluding her from the line of succession. Her younger sister Sajida succeeded her instead upon her father's death in 1960, despite Abida Sultan contesting the succession in court.[3]
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