Bhikampur and Datawali (Aligarh) State

The Bhikampur and Datawali principality is in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. For nearly four centuries, before the advent of British Raj in India, it was ruled by the descendants of a Sherwani Pathan from Jalalabad in Afghanistan. The Sherwani clan were practically independent rulers in the period between the collapse of Mughal Empire and the rise of the British Raj.

History

The clan had two main branches, the lineage of Bhikampur and that of Datawali, and practiced Cousin marriage to an almost exclusive degree. The family tree presents a bewildering array of interlocking relationships. Their marriage patterns kept the family properties intact, while taking a toll on the health of their increasingly inbred offspring. The Sherwanis were a family that displayed an intriguing combination of the progressive and the conservative: They were supporters of education, whether Islamic or western, and promoters of education for women, although the women of the family maintained strict purdah and were educated at home. Their loyalist politics were manifested in civic service and membership in reform associations, along with resistance to the growing forces of anti-British activism before and after World War I.

Notable Members

The Sherwani clan of Aligarh district produced a number of distinguished figures,

• Nawab Shujat Khan: the commander-in-chief of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.
• Nawab Baz Khan (1750-1830): In 1803, when the Marathas were defeated by Lord Lake in the Battle of Aligarh, Baz Khan threw in his lot with the British.
• Nawab Daud Khan (1785-1866): He purchased an 18th-century gate which belonged to the Agra Fort, when the British authorities in 1833 auctioned off valuable material from the fort, and put it up at the Bhikampur fort in 1835. The Sherwani family presented this Bhikampur Gate to the Aligarh Muslim University in 1961, and it was installed at the present site in 1963.
• Nawab Faiz Ahmed Khan (1826-1895): He migrated to Hejaz in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He gave a financial assistance of Rs. 50,000/- to Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), for which Nawab Faiz Ahmed Khan was granted a salute of 8-guns. He was married into the royal family of Afghanistan.

• Nawab Sir Muhammad Muzzammilullah Khan Sherwani, Khan Bahadur (1865-1935): In 1916, he was nominated to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative council and in 1926, was appointed as a member of the Viceroy’s Council of State. During the reign of Nawab Muzzammil-Ullah Khan, Bhikampur fort witnessed a revival and restoration of its former glory. Sir Muzammilullah was an important figure in the Aligarh Movement. A follower of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, he was a leading member of the Board of Trustees of Aligarh College, a champion of turning Aligarh College into a University, and politically loyal to the British connection. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 New Year Honours, and invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in the 1924 New Year Honours. He was the third Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. He was also a skillful poet in Persian.

• Nawab Sadar Yar Jung Habibur Rahman Khan Sherwani (1867-1950): He was elected an Aligarh College trustee in 1897. In 1917, he was appointed secretary of All India Muhammadan Educational Conference. He eventually became head of ecclesiastical department of the Hyderabad State where he was awarded the title of Sadar Yar Jung.

• Nawab Moosa Khan Sherwani (1872-1944): founding secretary of All-India Muslim League in 1906.
• Padma Bhushan Haroon Khan Sherwani (1891-1980): a well-known historian.
• Zahida Khatun Sherwani (1894-1922): an Indian poet and writer who wrote in the Urdu language and was also an activist for women’s rights.
• Rahil Begum Sherwani (1894-1982): founder of All India Women’s Muslim League.
• Nawab Hatim Khan Sherwani (1902-2002): a renowned Lawyer and an animal activist.
• Nawab Rehmat Ullah Khan Sherwani (1929-2012): former Pro-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. He donated land for the Annual Cultural Exhibition, popularly known as Numaish, which is held in January and February.

• H.H. Nawab Muhammad Kazim ‘Ali Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Malerkotla.
• H.H. Nawab Sarwar Jahaan Begum Sahiba, wife of Ali Jah, Nawab Muhammad Zafar ‘Ali Khan Bahadur, Firuz Jang, Nawab of Kurwai.
• Kamil Zaman Begum Sahiba, wife of Nawab Muin ud-din Haider Jilani Bijli Khan, Nawab of Wai.
• Saleem Iqbal Shervani: Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare from 1996 to 1997, and the Union Minister of State for External Affairs from 1997 to 1998.
• Lieutenant colonel Wali Ahmed Khan, Sahibzada of Tonk and Dewan of Dujana. He was married to Nawab Faiz Ahmed Khan’s grand daughter.
• H.H. Nawab Muhammad Altaf Ali Khan Bahadur (1912-1994): Nawab of Malerkotla. He was married to Nawab Faiz Ahmed Khan’s great-grand daughter.
• Jalaluddaula Nawab Muhammed Iqtidar Ali Khan Bahadur Mustaqil-i-Jan, Nawab of Dujana. He was married to Nawab Faiz Ahmed Khan’s great-grand daughter.
• Masud Husain Khan (1919-2010): the Father of Urdu-Linguistics, and the fifth Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia. He was married to Nawab Faiz Ahmed Khan’s great-grand daughter.