Ghaus Siwani

In December 2021, I came across a report in a newspaper that said, “After almost 50 years of legal battle, the Rampur District Court has ruled in the Rampur Nawab family's property dispute. The property will now be divided among 16 legal heirs. Raza Ali Khan, the last Nawab of Rampur, died in 1966. After a long legal battle, the court has announced the division of his property worth Rs 2,664 crore.”

The Nawab family of Rampur with its glorious history is still important played in Rampur and its surrounding districts. While the family ruled the state for a long time, its members joined the institutions of independent India like Parliament and legislative Assembly. Former Members of Parliament Mickey Mian and Noor Begum belong to the family. Many members of this Royal family have played an important role not only in politics but also in promoting the culture, patronizing poets, writers, musicians, and other creative artists.

Khandaan

The Nawabi family of Rampur State

Before the independence, India was dotted with small states and one of them happened to be the state of Rampur, located in today’s state of Uttar Pradesh. It was founded by Nawab Ali Mohammad Khan, a Pushtun leader on 7 October 1774. There have been 11 Nawabs in the state including Nawab Faizullah Khan, Nawab Hafiz Rehmat Khan Barish, Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan, Nawab Ghulam Muhammad Khan, Nawab Ahmad Ali Khan, Nawab Muhammad Saeed Khan, Nawab Yusuf Ali Khan, Nawab Club Ali Khan. Nawab Muhammad Mushtaq Ali Khan, Nawab Hamid Ali Khan.

Raza Ali Khan was the last Nawab of Rampur. Rampur was one of the important States of the British in India as its rulers were plaint and supported the Raj even during the 1857 revolt. It was a 15 cannons gun salute State and its rulers owned a lot of wealth.

Before the independence, the Nawabs of Rampur used to have their own railway station with two special coaches always in readiness in the service of the Royal family. Whenever the Nawab family had to travel by train to Delhi, Lucknow, or elsewhere, they would board their coach and that was added to the passenger train. During the tenure of the ninth Nawab, Hamid Ali Khan the railway line was laid in the district. At that time, he had built a separate railway station for his use. It was close to the main railway station.

The Royal Coach full of Luxuries and modern appliance

Interestingly the two railway coaches that have immense historic and antique value today are among the assets sought to be distributed among the progeny of the Raza Ali Khan. These were originally valued at Rs. 117.42 million. However, due to almost no maintenance, the price was halved.

Interestingly, these coaches had so many modern conveniences that even the heads of the state today can’t dream of. The coaches were equipped with 33mm and 16mm cinema projectors, cameras, imported radio transistors, and tape recorders. These provided all the luxuries like Bedding, chair, carburetor pillow, seat, silverware, glass, whiskey, beer bottles, English crockery, large cigarette and cigar box, silver footstep, eagle, silver canteen set, silver hooka, silver bed, sword, and various kinds of guns, etc.

The Nawab family's properties include 1073 acres of land, mansions, palaces like Khas Bagh, Kothi Benazir, Lakhi Bagh, Kanda, and Nawab Railway Station, and immovable assets like arms, jewelry, etc. The valuables include silverware like six silver beds, 20 silver pandans, six khasdans, and 20 cigar boxes, and four hookas. Former Member of Parliament Begum Nurbano says that when she came to Khas Bagh in 1956 as a bride she slept on a silver bed. Khas Bagh was India's first air-conditioned palace.

Khas Bagh Palace was the first air-conditioned palace in India.

Khas Bagh Palace, Rampur

The state of Rampur was not only a political state but also a great patron of education, art, and culture. Nawab Yusuf Ali Khan was a friend of knowledge and also gave scholarships to scholars and students. He made Mirza Ghalib his consultant on literary matters and he became a student of Ghalib. He used to send a reasonable amount of money to Mirza as a stipend. In addition, hundreds of poets, including Mirzadagh Dehlavi, were patronized by the Nawabs of Rampur.

The Library

The Nawab of Rampur was a friend of knowledge. The symbol of his friendliness of knowledge is Raza Library which was once the largest library in India and it is still very important today. Thousands of rare books and manuscripts in Urdu, Persian and Turkish languages ​​are available here.

The Nawab of Rampur was also an epicurean. He had a whole army of cooks and chefs. These chefs would spend the whole day preparing high-quality food and experimenting with new flavors. Elders were invited to the Nawabi Dastkhwan. After the dissolution of the state, it became difficult for the Nawab to continue the Dasthar Khan.

The Nawabs of Rampur patronized traditional music at their court. Mehboob Khan was one of the greatest thinkers of the royal court of Rampur state. This tradition was followed by his sons Inayat Hussain Khan and Inayat's brother-in-law Haider Khan and Mushtaq Hussain. It was here that the Rampur-Sahswan family of Indian classical music was born. Sahswan is in the present Badaun district.

One of the Palaces of rampur Nawab family

After independence, the Nawab family took an active part in politics and Major Nawab Syed Zulfiqar Ali Khan Bahadur was the first from the family to be elected to the Lok Sabha. He was known as Mickey Mian. He was the second son of Nawab Sir Syed Raza Ali Khan Bahadur. In 1984 and 1989, he was elected to the Rampur Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket. It is also interesting to note that Mickey Mian represented Rampur in Lok Sabha for a long time but never spoke in the House.

After Mickey Mian, his wife Begum Noor Bano served as Member of Parliament in the 11th and 13th Lok Sabha. She was elected from Rampur on a Congress party ticket. Begum Noor Bano alias Mehtab Zamani Begum was born to Nawab Aminuddin Ahmed Khan who was the last ruling Nawab of Loharo (Bhiwani-Haryana). She was educated at Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls Public School, Jaipur.

She joined the All India Congress Committee in 1992 and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996. In the next election, she lost to BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. An aficionado of music and dance, Noor Banu is the patron of the Devi Foundation and the Rampur family. Bano is interested in historical and cultural Persian and Arabic books and research on environment and forest protection. She enjoys reading, painting, gardening, and music and is a member of several sports clubs across the country.

Micky Mian and Noor Mano with their children

Micky Mian and Begum Noor Bano have three children. One of them is Nawabzada Syed Muhammad Kazim Ali Khan Bahadur. He was elected MLA several times and is also a Congress candidate in the current Assembly elections. His son Nawabzada Syed Haider Ali Khan Bahadur is also contesting the Assembly elections 2022.

In the current elections in Uttar Pradesh, the reputation and honour of the Royal family is also at stake. Samajwadi Party veteran Azam Khan, who has been elected an MLA from Rampur city nine times is contesting from inside the jail against his traditional rival from the Royal family Mohammad Kazim Ali Khan. Kazim Khan popularly known by his nickname of Navid Miyan is contesting as a candidate of Congress Party and is hoping to defeat the ‘tainted’ Azam Khan.

Besides, Azam Khan's son Abdullah Azam is contesting from the Suar constituency where he is pitted against Naveed Mian's son Hamza Mian.

The Nawab of Rampur

Azam Khan has dominated the politics of Rampur for 42 years. He has also held ministerial positions in the Samajwadi government four times. He has also been Leader of the Opposition and Member of Rajya Sabha. On the other hand, the Nawab family has also a great influence on Rampur. Naveed Mian Sawar has been MLA four times from the Tanda seat. Once he was also elected to Legislative Assembly from Bilaspur and was a minister too.

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His father Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Khan alias Miki Mian has been a Member of Parliament five times and his mother Begum Noor Bano has been a Member of Parliament twice. Both the Congress and the SP have given tickets to the members of the Rampur Royal family. This time, Congress has given tickets to former MLA Naveed Mian as well as his son Haider Ali Khan alias Hamza Mian.