Her Highness Nawab Sikander Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, (10 September 1817 – 30 October 1868) was the Nawab of Bhopal from 1860 until her death in 1868. Although she was initially appointed regent of her nine-year old daughter Shah Jahan Begum in 1844, she was recognized as nawab in 1860. During the 1857

Sepoy Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

, Sikandar's pro-British stance made her a

Knight Grand Commander Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Gra ...

. In 1863, she was the first Indian ruler to perform Hajj. Sikandar enacted many reforms in the state, including the creation of a mint, a

secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

, a

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and a modern judiciary.

Early life

Sikandar was born at Gauhar Mahal in

Bhopal State Bhopal State (pronounced ) was an Islamic principality founded in the beginning of 18th-century India by the Afghan Mughal noble Dost Muhammad Khan. It was a tributary state during 18th century, a princely salute state with 19-gun salute ...

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 ...

, on 10 September 1817. Her parents, Nasir Muhammad Khan and

Qudsia Begum, Begum of Bhopal Her Highness Nawab Qudsia Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Dar ul-Iqbal-i-Bhopal, (1801 – 1881) was the Nawab of Bhopal from 1819 until her abdication in 1837. The Begums of Bhopal: A Dynasty of Women Rulers in Raj India, by Shahraryar M. Kha ...

, were former nawabs of the state.

Reign

On 3 January 1847, Sikandar Begum's nine-year old daughter Shah Jahan Begum ascended the throne of Bhopal.

Joseph Davey Cunningham Joseph Davey Cunningham, (b. Scotland, 9 June 1812, died 28 February 1851) was the author of the book ''History of the Sikhs'' (1849) and an authority in Punjab University. His father was the Scottish poet and author Allan Cunningham and his br ...

, political agent of the

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 1 ...

, announced on 27 July of that year that Sikandar was appointed

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. The governor-general bestowed the state's executive powers on her. During the 1857

, Sikandar sided with the British. To prevent rebellion in Bhopal, she banned the publication and circulation of anti-British pamphlets, strengthened her intelligence network, and bribed anti-British soldiers to switch sides. In August, however, a group of sepoys attacked British garrisons in Sehore and

Berasia Berasia is a town and a nagar palika (municipality) in Bhopal district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. History In the early 18th century, Berasia was a small ''mustajiri'' (rented estate) under the authority of the Delhi-based Mugh ...

; anger with her increased in the state due to her pro-British stance. The same group of sepoys, encouraged by Sikandar's mother, surrounded her palace in December. Sikandar sent her son-in-law, Umrao Daulah, to negotiate with them. The soldiers ended their siege when she announced that their salaries would be increased. In 1861, Sikandar received the

award for her pro-British stance during the mutiny. The British recognized Sikandar as Nawab of Bhopal on 30 September 1860, and her

military salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...

was increased to 19 guns the following year.

Hajj

In 1863, Sikandar was the first Indian monarch to perform Hajj. She was accompanied by about 1,000 people, mostly women. Sikandar wrote a memoir of her trip in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

and Jeddah were "unclean" and the

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

were "uncivilised" and "possessed no religious knowledge." Also included in the memoir is an anecdote about her confrontation with Turkish customs officials who wanted to levy

duties A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; fro, deu, did, past participle of ''devoir''; la, debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may ...

on everything she brought.

Reforms

Sikandar divided the state into three districts and 21 sub-districts. A revenue officer was appointed for each district and an administrator for each sub-district. She repaid the state's debt. Sikandar also established a customs office, a

, an intelligence network, a mint, a postal service which connected the state with the rest of India, and a modern judiciary with a court of appeal. She founded the Victoria School for girls and at least one Urdu and Hindi middle school in each district of the state. Sikandar introduced a Majlis-e-Shoora (

) in 1847. Consisting of nobles and intellectuals, its purpose was to pass and recommend laws and to suggest reforms. In 1862, she replaced

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

with Urdu as the court language.

Architecture

Sikandar constructed a Moti Masjid (

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

) made of red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, and built the Moti Mahal and Shaukat Mahal palaces. The latter was a blend of

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and

Indo-Islamic architecture Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced by and for Islamic patrons and purposes. Despite an initial Arab presence in Sindh, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture began in earnest with the establi ...

, with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

features.

Personal life

On 18 April 1835, Sikandar married Nawab Jahangir Mohammad Khan. They had one daughter, Shah Jahan Begum. Like her mother, Qudsia Begum, Sikandar was a devout Muslim; however, she did not wear the niqab (face veil) or practise

purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...

(female seclusion). She hunted tigers, played polo and was a

swordsman Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to an ...

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

, and lancer. Sikandar commanded the army, and personally inspected courts, offices, the mint, and the treasury. Sikandar Begum died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

on 30 October 1868. She was buried at Farhat Afza Bagh, and was succeeded by her daughter as Nawab of Bhopal.

References

External links

A pilgrimage to Mecca (London : W. H. Allen, 1870)
(publication) at SOAS Digital Collections
تاریخ-ا سفر-ا مکّہ (Tarikh-i safar-i Makka)
(manuscript. 1863 nscribed 1864 at SOAS Digital Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Sikandar 1817 births 1868 deaths Indian monarchs Muslim monarchs Begums of Bhopal 19th-century women rulers Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India