Bahawalpur - The City of Palaces

Remembering Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V, Nawab of on his Death Anniversary today
He became the Nawab on the death of his father, when he was only three years old. A Council of Regency, with Sir Rahim Bakhsh as its President, ruled on his behalf until 1924.
Under his rule Bahawalpur State comprised an area larger than Denmark or Belgium, By 1947, Bahawalpur State’s institutions, largely set up by successive British advisors with support from the rulers, consisted of departments run by trained civil servants; there was a Ministerial Cabinet headed by a Prime Minister; the State Bank was the Bank of Bahawalpur with branches outside the State also, including Karachi; there was a high court and lower courts; a trained police force and an army commanded by officers trained at the Royal Indian Military Academy at Dehra Doon. Nawab had a keen interest in education, which was free till A level and the State’s Government provided scholarships of merit for higher education. In 1951, the Nawab donated 500 acres in Bahawalpur for the construction of Sadiq Public School. Nawab was known for his relationship with the Quaid-i-Azam, Founder of Pakistan and was given the name of "Mohsin-e-Pakistan".
After Partition of India Nawab proved to be very helpful and generous to the government of Pakistan. He gave seventy million rupees to the government and the salaries of all the government departments for one month were also drawn from the treasury of Bahawalpur state. He gifted his private property to the University of the Punjab, King Edward Medical College and the Mosque of Aitchison College, Lahore. At the time of partition all the princely states of the subcontinent were given a choice to join either Pakistan or India. To try to convince the Nawab to join India, Pandit Nehru went to him while he was in London and offered various incentives in this regard but he didn’t accept them. On 5 October 1947 he signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan according to which Bahawalpur State acceded to Pakistan. Thus the State of Bahawalpur was the first state that joined Pakistan. The main factor was of course the Islamic sentiments of the Muslims who were in the majority in Bahawalpur. Moreover, the Nawab and Quaid-i-Azam were close friends and they had great respect for each other, even before the creation of Pakistan. The Ameer of Bahawalpur Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Fund was instituted in 1947 for providing a central organization for the relief of refugees fleeing from the new India, and the Quaid acknowledged the valuable contribution of the Bahawalpur State for the rehabilitation of the refugees.
He was educated at Aitchison College, Lahore. The Nawab served as an officer with the Indian Army, fighting in the Third Afghan War (1919) and commanding forces in the Middle East during the Second World War and continued his military career in the British Indian Army, which he had begun as a Lieutenant in 1921; by 1932 he was a Major, by 1941 a Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding troops in the Middle East during the Second World War. Since 1933, he had also been a Member of the Chamber of Princes, and since 1940, a member of the Indian Defence Council. Promoted to Major-General in 1946, the following year, on 15 August 1947, Sir Sadeq was promoted to the title of Amir of Bahawalpur. He acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan a month later. In 1955, the Amir was promoted to General in the Pakistan Army and merged his state into West Pakistan. He died on May 24, 1966, aged 61.

Collection of Cars of Nawab of Bahawalpur

Photograph, taken in c. March, 1945, shows Their Highnesses the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Maharaja Sir Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala and Raja Lakshman Sen of Suket with their host Nawab Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V, at Sadiq Garh Palace, Dera Nawab in Bahawalpur

Credit: Princess Yasmien Abbasi.

Gen. H.H. Nawab Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V of Bahawalpur and Lieut.-Col. H.H. Mir Ali Murad Khan II Talpur of Khairpur disembarking from stairs, followed by Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan

پنجاب کے 6 نئے ضلعے بنانے کی تیاریاں ہیں.
لیکن بہاولپور ڈویژن کے وجود میں آنے سے اب تک اس میں کوئی نیا ضلع نہیں بنایا گیا، حالانکہ بہاولپور ڈویژن سے ضلع لاہور جتنے رقبے والے 26 اور ضلع حافظ آباد جتنی آبادی والے 10 ضلعے نکل سکتے ہیں❗
کوئی تو پیمانہ ہونا چاہئیے اور اس پر بلا امتیاز عمل کرنا چاہیے.

انتظامی سہولت کیلئے باقی پنجاب کے ضلعے اور ڈویژن دگنے ہوچکے ہیں. (سرگودھا، فیصل آباد، ڈیرہ غازی خاں، گوجرانوالہ، ساہیوال ڈویژن پہلے نہیں ہوتے تھے) لیکن بہاولپور کے ضلعے وہی تین کے تین ہیں.
صوبہ بنائیں یا نہ بنائیں، بہاولپور کے تینوں ضلعے ڈویژن بننے کا حق رکھتے ہیں.
نقشہ دیکھئے، اورنج بہاولپور ڈویژن ہے، باقی علاقے کے 8 ڈویژن ہیں.

Portrait of Nawab of Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi VI c. 1870-80s

Atchison College Lahore mosque built by Nawab Bahawal Khan Abbasi

Nawab of Bahawalpur "Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV riding a Calligraphic Elephant

Late 19th cen work with Salar jung Museum

Persian inscription on top mentions all the titles of the Nawab

He was the 10th Nawab of Bahawalpur who ruled the State from 1879 to 1899

Al Hilal (now Taragarh Palace Resort - Palumpur India)

In 1931, the 27 year old Nawab of Bahawalpur built a large European-style summer residence for himself up in the cool Himalayan jungles of Kangra district. He laid out lush gardens, built a glass pleasure pavilion and a mosque and christened his country palace Al Hilal (The Crescent Moon).

c. 1973: Government Sadiq Egerton (S. E.) College (Established 1864)

c. 1973: Government Sadiq Egerton (S. E.) College (Established 1864) -