![Mohammad Zorawar Khanji](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Mohammad_Zorawar_Khanji.jpg)
The State of Balasinor was a
princely state
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...
in
Balasinor
Balasinor, also known as Vadasinor, is a city located in the Mahisagar district of Gujarat, India. The city was formerly part of Balasinor State, a princely state ruled by the Babi dynasty, from September 1758 until its accession to India in Jun ...
during the era of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
and founded by Sardar Muhammed khan Babi and Murtuza Bhatia The last ruler of Balasinor signed the accession to join the
Indian Union on 10 June 1948.
Its rulers belonged to the family of Babi or
Babai (Pashtun tribe)
The Babai ( ps, بابئی) are a Pashtun tribe formerly known as Babi (). Their traditional primary homeland is in Qalat, Zabul, located in Southern Afghanistan and Kandahar. They are a subtribe of the Ghilji Hotak clan of Pashtun people, largel ...
tribe. The state was founded by the
Junagadh State
Junagarh or Junagadh ( ur, ) was a princely state in Gujarat ruled by the Muslim Babi dynasty in British India, until its integration into the Union of India in 1948.
History
Muhammad Sher Khan Babai was the founder of the Babi Pashtun d ...
Babi dynasty.
History
Balasinor State was founded on 28 September 1758 by
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
ruler, Nawab, Sardar Muhammed khan Babi belonging to the family of last deputy Governor of Gujarat province in Mughal Empire. The rulers were titled Nawab Babi. It was a 9 gun
salute state
A salute state was a princely state under the British Raj that had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown (as paramount ruler); i.e., the protocolary privilege for its ruler to be greeted—originally by Royal Navy ships, later also ...
belonging to the
Rewa Kantha Agency
Rewa Kantha was a political agency of British India, managing the relations (indirect rule) of the British government's Bombay Presidency with a collection of princely states. It stretched for about 150 miles between the plain of Gujarat and ...
of the
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
.
The Last ruling Nawab
Nawab
Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب;
bn, নবাব/নওয়াব;
hi, नवाब;
Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ;
Persian language, Persian,
Punjabi language, Punjabi ,
Sindhi language, Sindhi,
Urd ...
was HH Nawab Muhammed Salabat Khanji II who died on 25 January 2018. The heir and son of Nawab Muhammed Salabat Khanji II Nawabzada Sultan Salauddinkhan Babi, born 1979 and educated at the
Rajkumar College, Rajkot
The Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Rajkot, Gujarat is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 26-acre (105,000 m²) campus in Rajkot.
History
The foundation stone of Rajkumar College was laid in 1868. The institution was designe ...
was crowned the titular Nawab of Balasinor on 4 March 2018 at the Raj Tilak and Gaadi Dastoor ceremony performed by both Islamic and Rajput traditions at their Garden Palace In Balasinor after the 40 days of mourning ended on 3 March 2018. It was well attended by royals from Gujarat and the people of Balasinor.
Rulers
* Sardar Muhammed khan Babi 28 September 1758 – 17..
* Jamiyat Khanji Muhammad Khanji 17.. – ...
* Salabat Khanji Jamiyat Khanji (b. ... d. 1820) – May 1820
* Abid Khanji May 1820 – 1822
* Jalal Khanji = Edal Khanji (b. ... d. 1831) 1822 – 2 December 1831
* Zorawar Khanji (b. 1828 d. 1882) 2 December 1831 – 30 November 1882
* Munawar Khanji Zorawar Khanji (b. 1846 d. 1899) 30 November 1882 – 24 March 1899
* Jamiyat Khanji Munawar Khanji (b. 1894 d. 1945) 24 March 1899 – 2 February 1945
* Muhammad Salabat Khan (b. 1944 d. 2018) 2 February 1945 – 15 August 1947
* Nawab Sultan Salauddinkhan Babi (b.1979)
In pop culture
The current titular princess of the kingdom is Aaliya Sultana Babi, who in 2009 travelled to
Ingatestone
Ingatestone is a village and former civil parish in Essex, England, with a population of 5,365 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. Just north lies the village of Fryerning, the two forming now the parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning. Ing ...
in the UK to find a husband. Her trip was recorded in BBC Three's
Undercover Princesses
''Undercover Princesses'' is a BBC Three reality TV show which took three royal claimants from foreign cultures and placed them in Ingatestone where they had to 'live and date' like normal people. The idea for the programme came from the 1988 Edd ...
.
The scion of this family, Salauddinkhan Babi participated in a similar show in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in 2010 in which he was trying to find a wife. He lived and worked in Amsterdam. The show is currently on air on SBS6 in the Netherlands. It is called "Coming to Holland".
Nawabzada Salauddin was invited by
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
to participate in a US TV show called
Secret Princes
''Secret Princes'' is an American reality television series that premiered on TLC on September 21, 2012. It chronicles the adventures of several members of international nobility as they leave their home countries to live, work and look for love i ...
which was aired on 21 September 2012. It is a show based on the Undercover Princes. Salauddin lived and worked in Atlanta undercover for this show along with three other aristocrats. The royal family currently resides at The Garden Palace which they had converted into a heritage hotel.
Aaliya Sultana Babi, the Dinosaur Princess
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See also
* Pathans of Gujarat
Gujarati Pashtuns/Pathans are a group of Afghans that have immigrated from Afghanistan as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in present-day north Pakistan, whom are settled in the region of Gujarat in western India. They now form a distinct community of ...
* Political integration of India
After the Indian independence in 1947, the dominion of India was divided into two sets of territories, one under direct British rule, and the other under the suzerainty of the British Crown, with control over their internal affairs remaining i ...
* List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
The following is a list of Sunni Muslim dynasties.
Asia
Middle East Arabian Peninsula
* Banu Wajih (926–965)
*Sharif of Mecca (967–1925)
* Al Uyuniyun (1076–1253)
*Sulaymanids (1063–1174)
*Mahdids (1159–1174)
*Kathiri (Hadhramaut) ( ...
References
External links
*
Imperial, Royal & Princely Indian States
{{Princely states of the Baroda and Gujarat States Agency
Pashtun dynasties
Kheda district
Princely states of Gujarat
Bombay Presidency
Muslim princely states of India
1758 establishments in India
1949 disestablishments in India
States and territories established in 1758
The Garden Palace website is www.palacebalasinor.com