Born in exile in the summer of 1838, the story of Nawab Shahjahan Begum—the poet princess of Bhopal—is one wrought with deceit and heartbreak.
Shahjahan was not born in Bhopal. She was born at Islamnagar, a few miles away from the fortress town, after her estranged parents parted ways.
Her mother, Sikander Begum, and her father, Nawab Jahangir Mohammad Khan, had often clashed over control of the state until one day, Mir Mange Khan, a confidante of Jahangir, taking exception to Sikander's public spat with the Nawab, drew his sword and gashed Sikander on the arm. She was pregnant at the time.
Sikander was hurt at the impudence. She packed up and left Bhopal—a city founded and ruled by her forebears—with a few of her loyalists to live with her mother, the deeply religious Qudsia Begum, at Islamnagar where she gave birth to Shahjahan a few months later.
In exile, Sikander spent her time attempting to convince the British establishment of her husband's 'misrule'. The British did not take her missives seriously. And Jahangir continued to rule Bhopal until his death in 1844. Shahjahan was six years old at the time.
The demise of Jahangir saw the British rule in favour of young Shahjahan's accession to the Bhopal masnad (throne). Sikander was not happy, but she returned to Bhopal and adopted the role of Regent, taking care of the Nawabate on behalf of her daughter.
Sikander—whom historians have often likened to Begum Samru of Sardhana—ran the state with an iron fist. She surrounded herself with a coterie of loyalists who had migrated to Islamnagar with her during her exile. The young Shahjahan spent most of her time reading and writing.
At 17, Shahjahan was married to Baqi Mohammad Khan (Umrao Dulha), a nobleman from a clan that was celebrated for its valour during the 1812 siege of the capital by the Marathas. The much older groom took Shahjahan as his third wife.
Sikander continued to manage affairs of the state. Her en masse massacre of rebellious soldiers during the Sipahi Bahadur mutiny of the 1850s is the worst crime Bhopal undertook to please its British masters. Sikander had finally proved her loyalty to the Crown. The British rewarded her by proclaiming her the Nawab of Bhopal in 1860, a little over two years after they had overcome the Rebellion of 1857.
While so much was happening in the state, Shahjahan had maintained a distance from royal duties, dedicating herself to the upbringing of her two daughters—Sultan Jahan and Sulaiman Jahan. Sulaiman, the younger of the two, died of smallpox in 1865. Shahjahan was widowed two years later. She was just 29 at the time. Sikander too died a year later, leaving the princess in control of the state she hated to love.
The British had consolidated their hold on the country after crushing the rebellion of 1857, and Bhopal was no exception. A calm had finally pervaded the city, allowing the ruler to focus on the development of her capital, but the peace was soon shattered after stories of her love affair permeated palace walls and became the talk of the town.
The Mirazi Khel rulers of Bhopal had adopted local customs. Their traditions did not resonate with Islamic cultures in other parts of the world. In their unique Islamic ethos, the marriage of a widow was unimaginable. None of the ladies in the ruling clan had ever remarried. Sikander had gone to the extent of criticising the custom when she first came across it in Turkey.
The town was abuzz with rumours. The gentleman in question was a young scholar who was married to the Prime Minister's daughter. Siddiq Hasan had arrived here from Kannauj. Many now acknowledge him as one of the central figures of the Islamic fundamental movement known as the Ahl-e-Hadith.
The scholarly Siddiq was in the service of the palace when he met Shahjahan. Impressed with his eloquence, the young ruler invited him as her personal tutor. Shahjahan had already given up her Purdah.
The rumours didn't take long to reach Sultan Jahan, who had grown up under the tutelage of her grandmother Sikander. The heir apparent never forgave her mother for giving her father's place to another man. She rebelled with all her might.
Shahjahan married Siddiq in 1871 at the age of 33. The move isolated her from the nobility of Bhopal, who refused to accept Siddiq due to his Shiite ancestry. The young scholar too had plans of his own. He invited several scholarly clans to Bhopal from his native United Provinces, the move unsettled native noblemen who viewed Siddiq's moves as attempts to usurp power.
Shahjahan dedicated herself to the building of her capital and promoting the arts, crafts, culture, literature, and architecture. The new royal enclave of Shahjahanabad came up under her rule, as did the Woking Mosque, the first purpose-built mosque in the United Kingdom. She commissioned the Taj-ul-Masajid, Taj Mahal Palace, and the Benazir Summer Palace.
Sultan Jahan had a running feud with her stepfather, who practiced and preached a form of Islam which was alien to the syncretic culture of Bhopal. When her sons had memorized the holy book, Sultan Jahan had ordered festivities to celebrate the occasion. Siddiq objected to the beating of drums terming it un-Islamic, laments Sultan Jahan in her memoirs.
Siddiq's leanings towards fundamental Islam were soon brought to the notice of the British. He was stripped of his titles and honours. Shahjahan had diplomatic altercations with British officials over their reinstatement, but the British refused to accommodate her demands. The titles and honorary posts were only restored after Siddiq's demise in 1890.
Alienated from the noble clans, and her daughter, Shahjahan died a lonely death in 1901, leaving the state to Nawab Sultan Jahan and later her youngest son, Nawab Hamidullah Khan, who seemed to have inherited his mother's hatred for his grandmother.
The Taj Mahal was allowed to fall into disrepair. The once magnificent palace was used to house refugees who arrived in the city from Pakistan in 1947. The palace, regarded as the love nest of Shahjahan and Siddiq, was soon turned into cubbyhole dwellings. The Taj-ul-Masajid, planned as one of the largest mosques in the world, remained incomplete for generations. Shahjahan was laid to rest at Nishat Afza, next to Umrao Dulha, far away from the Bada Bagh graveyard, where the only white marble mausoleum in the city stands in memory of Siddiq Hasan.
A gifted poet, and author of several books, Shahjahan received various titles, awards, medals, and honours. The second of her two reigns saw Bhopal witness wealth and grandeur, and even romance, but the lady ruler will forever be remembered for the very intrigue that tried to destroy her footprint on the city.