Sajida Sultan


Sajida Sultan Ali Khan Pataudi was the begum of Iftikhar Ali Khan, 8th Nawab of Pataudi and, in her own right, the 12th Nawab Begum of Bhopal.

Biography

Sajida Sultan was born on 4 August 1915 in the Qasr-e-Sultani Palace, Bhopal, to Nawab Hamidullah Khan, last ruling Nawab of Bhopal and his wife, Begum Maimoona Sultan. She was the second of three children; she had an older sister, Abida Sultan, and a younger sister, Rabia Sultan.
On 23 April 1939, Sajida married Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan, 8th Nawab of Pataudi. Together they had three daughters – Saleha, Sabiha, and Qudsia - and a son, Mansoor. on 5 January 1952, Iftikhar Ali Khan died and Mansoor succeeded his father as the 9th titular Nawab of Pataudi.
In 1960, upon the death of her father, she became titular ruler of Bhopal. Her older sister, Abida, was the heiress apparent to the title but had emigrated to Pakistan in 1950 and declined to return to Bhopal permanently; her son declined also. Sajida was formally recognised as the Nawab Begum of Bhopal in 1962, with recognition being effective from 1960.
She died on 5 September 1995 at the age of 80. Mansoor Ali Khan subsequently became the mutawalli of the Auqaf-e-Shahi of Bhopal.

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