Pataudi State was a small princely state in India, established in 1804 by the East India Company rule in India.

The state formed a part of the Delhi Territory in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. It was under the suzerainty of the Commissioner of Delhi. It had an area of 52 square miles and included one town, Pataudi, which was its capital, and 40 villages, ruled by the Pataudi family.

History The ruling family traces their origin from a saintly Afghan family, which initially settled near Samana in Patiala in 16th century, during the period of the Lodi dynasty.

A descendant, Faiz Talab Khan, an Afghan Pashtun warlord of the Barech tribe, who was closly connected with Jhajjar ruling family by marriage was in service with the Maratha Empire and also received the fief of Rohtak. However after the defeat of the Marathas in 1803, he was subsequently employed under the British general, Lord Lake. Subsequently, he aided the East Indian Company Forces in their battle against the Maratha Empire during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. He was also severely injured during the war, thereafter in 1806, in recognition of his services, he was awarded a land grant of perpetual jagir comprising 40 villages, from Lord Lake, and thus became the first Nawab of Pataudi state.The Hindu, Sunday, 3 Aug 2003 - Royal vignettes: Pataudi: The Afghan connectionPataudi by William Wilson Hunter, Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1886, p. 84-85.. Faiz Talab Khan in 1806, he took part in the Siege of Bharatpur by the British East India Company forces. His son, Akbar Ali was loyal to the British forces during Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Pataudi town the capital of Pataudi State was founded in 13th-century, the time of Jalaluddin Khilji, Sultan of Delhi (r. 1290 – 1296 CE), by a Mewati named Pata, from whom the town derives its name. By 1901, it has a population of 4171.

The 8th Nawab, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, played cricket for both England and India and captained the latter. His son the last Nawab also captained the Indian cricket team.

At the end of the British Raj and with the political integration of India in 1948, the princely state of Pataudi was absorbed into the new Dominion of India (later Republic of India). In 1971, by virtue of the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India, the Government of India abolished all official symbols of princely India, including titles, privileges, and remuneration (privy purses).1. , "Through a constitutional amendment passed in 1971, Indira Gandhi stripped the princes of the titles, privy purses and regal privileges which her father's government had granted." (p 278). 2. Quote: "The princes of India – their number and variety reflecting to a large extent the chaos that had come to the country with the breakup of the Mughal empire – had lost real power in the British time. Through generations of idle servitude they had grown to specialize only in style. A bogus, extinguishable glamour: in 1947, with Independence, they had lost their state, and Mrs. Gandhi in 1971 had, without much public outcry, abolished their privy purses and titles." (pp 37–38). 3. Quote: "Although the Indian states were alternately requested or forced into union with either India or Pakistan, the real death of princely India came when the Twenty-sixth Amendment Act (1971) abolished the princes' titles, privileges, and privy purses." (page 78). 4. Quote: "The third stage in the political evolution of the princes from rulers to citizens occurred in 1971, when the constitution ceased to recognize them as princes and their privy purses, titles, and special privileges were abolished." (page 84). 5. Quote: "Her success at the polls emboldened Mrs. Gandhi to act decisively against the princes. Through 1971, the two sides tried and failed to find a settlement. The princes were willing to forgo their privy purses, but hoped at least to save their titles. But with her overwhelming majority in Parliament, the prime minister had no need to compromise. On 2 December she introduced a bill to amend the constitution and abolish all princely privileges. It was passed in the Lok Sabha by 381 votes to six, and in the Rajya Sabha by 167 votes to seven. In her own speech, the prime minister invited 'the princes to join the elite of the modern age, the elite which earns respect by its talent, energy and contribution to human progress, all of which can only be done when we work together as equals without regarding anybody as of special status.' " (page 441). 6. Quote: "The Indian princes survived the British Raj by only a few years. The Indian republic stripped them of their powers and then their titles." (page 10). 7. Quote: "Indian States: "Various (formerly) semi-independent areas in India ruled by native princes .... Under British rule ... administered by residents assisted by political agents. Titles and remaining privileges of princes abolished by Indian government 1971." (page 520). 8. Quote: "A monarchy is only as good as the reigning monarch: thus it is with the princely states. Once they seemed immutable, invincible. In 1971 they were "derecognized," their privileges, privy purses and titles all abolished at a stroke" (page 91)

The former Pataudi Palace was a hotel for some time, but is now owned privately by Saif Ali Khan, the current patriarch of the Pataudi family.

Rulers Rulers bore the title of the Nawab.

Faiz Talab Khan (r. 1804–1829) Akbar Ali Khan (r. 1829–1862) Mohammad Taqi Ali Khan (r. 1862–1867) Mohammad Mukhtar Husain Khan (r. 1867–1878) Mohammad Mumtaz Husain Ali Khan (r. 1878–1898) Mohammad Muzaffar Ali Khan (r. 1898–1913) Mohammad Ibrahim Ali Khan (r. 1913–1917) Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan (r. 1917–1948; titular 1948–1952) Mohammad Mansoor Ali Khan (1952–1971) (Title abolished in 1971).

Demographics + Religious groups in Pataudi State (British Punjab province era)Religiousgroup1881189119011911192119311941 Hinduism 14,473 15,825 18,281 16,114 15,090 15,596 17,728 Islam 3,286 3,057 3,549 3,338 2,898 3,168 3,655 Jainism 81 120 103 82 109 105 128 Christianity 7 0 0 9 0 3 9 Sikhism 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Zoroastrianism 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Buddhism 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Judaism 0 0 0 0 0 0 Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total population 17,847 19,002 21,933 19,543 18,097 18,873 21,520

See also Political integration of India Afghan diaspora Nawab of Pataudi

Notes

References

External links