India’s Muslim princess who was a rebel, a tomboy, hunted tigers, drove a Rolls-Royce, flew planes; migrated to…
New Delhi: She was born in 1913 to Hamidullah Khan, the Nawab of Bhopal and Begum Maimoona Sultan, an elite family which ruled the princely state of Bhopal. She was named Abida Sultaan, a name apt for her social stature, princess!
As she turned nine years old, Abida Sultaan displayed character traits unlike that of a typical girl of her era. In short, she was a tomboy as she would keep her hair short, went to hunt tigers, played polo like a pro, flew planes, and drove a Rolls-Royce.
A rebel, Abida defied the societal norms set for women in general and Muslim women in particular. She said no to the veil as she became heir to the throne at the age of 15 and managed her father’s cabinet for more than 10 years.
Abida was groomed from a young age under the supervision of her grandmother, Sultan Jehan, a strict disciplinarian. She wrote in her autobiography how she had to wake up at four in the morning to read the Quran and then proceed with a day filled with activities like learning sports, music, horse riding, sweeping the floor, and cleaning bathrooms.
“We girls were not allowed to feel any inferiority on account of our sex. Everything was equal. We had all the freedom that a boy had; we could ride, climb trees, play any game we chose to. There were no restrictions,” she said in an interview about her childhood.
At the age of 12, she was married off to Sarwar Ali Khan, her childhood friend and ruler of Kurwai. The marriage lasted for less than 10 years and she gave birth to a son, named Shahryar Mohammad Khan.
After that, Abida left her marital home and moved back to Bhopal. She raised her son as a single mother while discharging her duties as heir to the throne, from 1935 to 1949, when Bhopal was merged with Madhya Pradesh.
Abida experienced first-hand the deteriorating relationship between Hindus and Muslims and the violence that broke out in the aftermath of India’s partition in 1947.
She witnessed the violence that broke out between Hindus and Muslims.
She moved to Pakistan in 1950 with only her son where she championed democracy and women’s rights through her political career.
She died in Karachi in 2002.