Khan Bahadur – a compound of khan ('leader') and bahadur ('brave') – was a formal title of respect and honor, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim and other non-Hindu natives 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 ...

. It was one degree higher than the title of

Khan Sahib Khan Sahib is a compound of khan (leader) and sahib (master) - was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred mainly on Muslim, but also to Parsi, Irani, and Jewish subjects of the British Indian Empire. It was a title one degr ...

. The title was conferred on individuals for faithful service or acts of public welfare to the Empire. Recipients were entitled to prefix the title to their name and were presented with a special Title Badge and a citation (or ''sanad''). It was conferred on behalf of the Government of British India by the

Viceroy and Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, 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 and after Indian independence in 19 ...

. The title was dis-established in 1947 upon the independence of India. The title "Khan Bahadur" was originally conferred in Mughal India on Muslim subjects in recognition of public services rendered and was adopted by British India for the same purpose and extended to cover other non-Hindu subjects of India. Hindu subjects of British India were conferred the title of "

Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Eco ...

Recipients

The following is a chronological list of selected recipients (the list below is not exhaustive): * 1881: Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh C.I.E, Former Chief Justice of

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

, Founder of

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library, in Patna, Bihar, is one of the national libraries of India. It was opened to the public on the 29th of October in 1891 by HMJ Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh. Its collection started with 4,000 of Bakhsh's own manus ...

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

Syed

Muhammad Baquar Ali Khan Raja Mir Syed Muhammad Baquar Ali Khan Bahadur (1842–1902) C.I.E., The Mir of Kotaha and the Raja of Morni and Pindrawal,Asian Review 1902 -- Page 443 was a noted zamindar and philanthropist from Morni who lived in Pindrawal in United Provi ...

C.I.E. The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, ...

Morni Morni is a village and tourist attraction in the Morni Hills at the height of in the Panchkula district of the Indian state of Haryana. It is located around from Chandigarh, from Panchkula city and is known for its Himalayan views, flora ...

, Kotaha and

Pindrawal Pindrawal is a town in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, India History Pindrawal was a zamindari during British India belonging to dynasty of Lalkhani Badgujar Muslim Rajput community. Raja’s of Pindrawal * Raja Mir Syed Muha ...

* 1887 Nawab Sirjaul Islam KBK Document

* Mian Ghulam Farid Khan Bahadur, former Extra-Assistant Commissioner in Punjab and Honorary Magistrate of Batala. Title conferred on 30 May 1891. * Khan Bahadur khalifullah Rowther Sahib,

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the e ...

Pudukkottai State Pudukkottai was a kingdom and later a princely state in British India, which existed from 1680 until 1948. The Kingdom of Pudukkottai was founded in about 1680 as a feudatory of Ramnad and grew with subsequent additions from Tanjore, Sivagang ...

* 1905

Muhammad Habibullah Khan Bahadur Sir Muhammad Habibullah KCSI KCIE (22 September 1869 – 16 May 1948) was an Indian politician and administrator who served as the Dewan of Travancore from 1934 to 1936. Personal life Habibullah was born in Madras (now Chenna ...

was awarded the title of Khan Bahadur by the Indian government * 14 June 1912: Khan Bahadur Sayed Rustom Ali (Registrar, Court of the Political Resident, Aden). * 1912: Khan Bahadur, Nadir Husain, District Superintendent of Police, Bengal. * 1914: Khan Bahadur Muhammad Hira Khan, (Civil Engineer from University of Roorkee (Gold Medalist); Supervisor, Public Works Department, Lucknow, United Provinces. * 1915: Khan Bahadur

Syed Abdul Majid The Hon'ble Moulvi Khan Bahadur Syed Abdul Majid, CIE ( bn, সৈয়দ আব্দুল মজিদ; 1872–1922), also known by his daak naam Kaptan Miah ( bn, কাপ্তান মিঞা), was a Bengali politician, lawyer and ...

, CIE (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

politician, lawyer and entrepreneur) * 1923: Khan Bahadur Mian Muhammad Said, Bar-at-law, British-Indian Police and Minister in Royal State of Kapurthala. * 1925: Khan Bahadur Maulvi Alimuzzaman Chaudhuri. M.L.C. Landholder and Chairman, District Board and Municipality, Faridpur. Saand awarded in 1930 to Syed Niaz Qutb for title of Khan Bahadur

Saand awarded in 1930 to Syed Niaz Qutb for title of Khan Bahadur

* 1929: Khan Bahadur Major General

Fateh Naseeb Khan Khan Bahadur Maj.Gen. Fateh Naseeb Khan, OBE KB (1888–1933), was the Commander-in-chief of Alwar State Forces. He was a close confidant and trusted aide of Maharaja Jai Singh Prabhakar Bahadur, who was the Maharaja of Alwar State. He ...

Alwar State Alwar State was a kingdom from 1770 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. Initially its capital was Macheri and then the city of Alwar. The nobility of Alwar State belonged to the Naruka branch of the Kachwaha dyna ...

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

* 1930: Khan Bahadur, Syed Niaz Qutb (also spelled as Qutab), Postmaster General. * 1931: Khan Bahadur Maulvi Muhammad Fazlul Karim, Magistrate, collector, and administrator of Refugees, Bengal. * 1935:

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later re ...

(1874–1965), Indian educationalist, social reformer, lawyer, and the founder of

Women's College, Aligarh Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a public central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875. Muhammadan Anglo-Orient ...

. * 1936: Khan Bahadur Waliur Rahman, Planter and Proprietor of several tea gardens in Duars, Assam. * 1937: Khan Bahadur Muhammad Humayun, District Collector 1937-1939, ICS - Nellore. * 1938: Khan Bahadur Maulvi Muhammad Yahya, (retd.) Dy. Magte. and Dy. Collector and Chief Manager, Dacca Nawab Estate * 1943: Khan Bahadur Yousof Hossain Chaudhury, Vice-President, District School Board, Faridpur.Government of Bengal. The Bengal Civil List *1944: "Khan Bahadur Sardar Aurangzeb", the raees of Malal, As an Assistant Commissioner in the Indian Civil Services. (Published annually). Corrected up to 1 July 1944. No. 279. Part II - List of Persons in Bengal Holding Titles Conferred or Recognized by His Excellency The Viceroy. Page 445 *

Aziz al-Hasan Ghouri Aziz al-Hasan Ghouri (also known as Aziz al-Hasan Majzoob or Khwaja Aziz al-Hasan; 12 June 1884 – 17 August 1944) was an Indian Islamic scholar, poet and the primary biographer of Ashraf Ali Thanwi. He was an alumnus of Muhammadan Anglo-Orient ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan Bahadur Court titles Titles in Bangladesh Titles in India Titles in Pakistan

Recipients

See also

References