History News Desk !!! Abida Sultan (English: Abida Sultan, born: 28 August, 1913 – died: 11 May, 2002) was the princess of Bhopal state. Abida Sultan had the distinction of being India’s first female pilot. She received a flying license on 25 January, 1942.
Biography
Abida Sultan was born on 28 August 1913. Her father Hamidullah Khan was the last Nawab of Bhopal State. Abida was the eldest child of her father. She was brought up by her grandmother Sultan Jahan Begum. Living under the discipline of her grandmother, Abida Sultan had become proficient in car driving, riding horses, pet animals like chital and shooting skills at a very young age. In those days, she used to drive a car without a veil.
Abida Sultan, who played an active role in the Muslim politics of the subcontinent, also held the responsibility of the Chairman and Chief Secretary of her father Hamidullah Khan’s cabinet. Abida was also interested in sports like polo and squash. 1949 She was the All India Women’s Squash Champion in 1992.
Abida was married to Nawab Sarwar Ali Khan of Kurwai on June 18, 1926. Abida, a beloved granddaughter, first went to London in 1926 with her grandmother Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum to seek approval for her father’s succession. After the turmoil of the partition of the country, she left India and went to Pakistan in 1949. Abida Sultan made her home in Karachi and continued her activities. She represented Pakistan at the United Nations in 1954 and visited China in 1956. A believer in secular democracy, Abida joined Fatima Jinnah – sister of Mohammad Ali Jinnah – in protesting against the martial law in 1960. She was a supporter of women’s rights. Having rejected her father’s offer to return to Bhopal in January 1954, Abida stayed away from her father for 12 years, but came to Bhopal at the time of his death.
demise
Abida Sultan suffered from several diseases by October 2001. On 27 April 2002, she was admitted to Shaukat Umar Memorial Hospital for cardiac surgery, where she died on 11 May 2002. Her son Shahryar Mohammad Khan has been the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan.
Dispute over the property of Bhopal State
In 1926, the last Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, took over the kingdom. Since Hamidullah had no son, he appointed his middle daughter Sajida Sultan as the ruler. Ideally, this responsibility would have been given to his elder daughter Abida Sultan, but after getting married, she went to Pakistan and settled with her son Shahryar. Younger daughter Rabia Sultan also went to her in-laws’ house. Sajida Begum was married to Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan of the Pataudi royal family. They had three children, the eldest of whom was Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, also known as Tiger. He was a famous cricketer of his time and fell in love with film star Sharmila Tagore and when they got married, Sharmila changed her name along with her religion and became Ayesha Sultan. Sajida and Iftikhar’s two daughters, i.e. Mansoor Ali’s two sisters, Saleha Sultan and Sabiha Sultan, were married in Hyderabad. Being a son, Mansoor Ali Khan was officially accepted as the Nawab, but by then the country had become independent and the days of the princely states were coming to an end. The Indian government had started merging the princely states by applying pressure, which was necessary considering the situation at that time.
Generally, daughters rarely resorted to law for their share in ancestral property. The same was the case with Bhopal State, but the dispute started with a little ego and insecurity. When Mansoor Ali Khan’s younger sister Sabiha reached her Bhopal home i.e. Flag Staff House to stay with her husband Mir Arjumand Ali in the year 2002, the employees turned them away saying that this is Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan’s house which their mother Sajida had left for them. This was a futile attempt to turn the sisters away by claiming ownership. Before this, Sabiha had never created any dispute or conflict with her brother over the property, but Saleha had certainly been sending notices to Mansoor Ali Khan regarding the property. Obviously, Sabiha felt insulted by being turned away from Flag Staff House, also known as Ahmedabad Palace, in this manner and filed a case directly in the court. On this, Mansoor Ali showed some understanding and made an arrangement that if the sisters have to stay in the Flag Staff House, then they should bear the expenses of their food and staff themselves. That is, Mansoor Ali was not one of those brothers who are happy when their sisters, sisters-in-law and nephews and nieces come and welcome them. On the contrary, he was advising the sisters that if they stay in their mother’s house, then they should bear the expenses of food and other expenses themselves. Both Sabiha and Saleha did not like this and they requested the court to declare and consider them joint owners of the Flag Staff House.
Although this case was filed by Sabiha, Saleha also benefited from it. In October 2005, the district court gave a decision in favor of Sabiha, which also benefited Saleha. Soon, her son Faiz Bin Jung started living in the Flag Staff House with his belongings. The surprising thing was that going against his nature, Mansoor Ali Khan welcomed his nephew and reserved rooms for his sisters and their children as well. Once it seemed that the bitterness between the brother and sisters was ending, but the matter turned out to be the opposite. What happened was that Mansoor Ali Khan had secretly sold the Flag Staff House for Rs 64 crore. On getting the news of the deal, Sabiha got angry again and this time she made Saleha a party along with her brother. The matter is again hanging in the balance regarding the division of property worth about Rs 1 thousand crore. This time the ego, ambitions, prejudices, stubbornness and greed of the third generation heirs are coming in the way. None of the 7 heirs of the current property seems to be in a mood to compromise. So, the ball is now in the court and the government’s court.
