MALERKOTLA
BRIEF HISTORY
The founder of the Malerkotla state was Bayazid Khan, who rose high in rank in the Mughal army. Saving the life of the Emperor Aurangzeb from an attacking tiger, he received high honours and recognition as an independent ruler. He was granted the right to construct a defensive fort, which he named Malerkotla, from which the state took its name. According to family tradition, he summoned Shah Fazl Chishti, a Sufi saint, and Damodar Das, a Hindu sadhu, to place the foundation stone, thereby also laying the foundations for the spirit of communal harmony and religious toleration that characterise Malerkotla.
Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan, Bayazid's grandson, earned the undying gratitude and honour of the Sikhs. He had interceded with the Emperor in an attempt to stay the execution of Guru Gobind Singh's two young sons, after their capture at Sirhind. He received a daughter of the Guru's house in marriage and his progeny blessed forever.
The spirit of communal harmony that pervaded the history of this little state endured even through the most difficult period during partition in 1947. As the rest of the Punjab went up in flames, and hundreds of thousands perished at the hands of their neighbours, Malerkotla remained an oasis of peace. The reigning Nawab had declared that for every Sikh or Hindu who perished within his principality, four Muslims would also die in atonement. Not a single life was lost.
Despite his efforts on behalf of his Sikh and Hindu neighbours, Nawab Ahmad 'Ali Khan was among the last rulers to accede to either Dominion. He finally did so to India in September 1947, in the month after independence. A popular ruler, he had enjoyed a reign of 40 years, and died just one month later, in October that same year.
Nawab Iftikhar 'Ali Khan, Ahmad 'Ali's son succeeded in 1947. He merged the state into the Patiala and Eastern Punjab States Union (PEPSU) in the following year. He then stood for election to the state assembly where he represented his former subjects as their local MLA. His former seat has been held by a member of the family ever since. Despite three marriages, to ladies who also bore his sense of political service to the community, the Nawab died without heirs in 1982. He was succeeded by his younger brother, who died twelve years later, leaving his heritage to his son, Nawab Kazim 'Ali Khan.
Malerkotla remains a haven of tolerance in an otherwise hostile environment. More than 70% of its inhabitants are Muslims, and one of only two areas in the East Punjab where they enjoy a majority. Sadly, the beautiful palaces and public buildings, including the magnificent Shahi Maqbara, are slowly descending into ruin. Stripped of their privy purse, the family cannot afford to maintain all of them, while the government agencies such as the archaeological survey stand idly by, as yet another part of Indi's heritage slowly decays.
SALUTE:
11-guns.
ARMS:
Vert five bezants in saltire. Crest: A mullet ermine. Supporters: Antelopes ermine. Lambrequins: Vert and or.
STYLES & TITLES:
The ruling prince: Nawab (personal name) Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Malerkotla, with the style of His Highness.
The consort of the ruling prince: Nawab (personal name) Begum Sahiba, with the style of Her Highness.
The Heir Apparent: Nawabzada (personal name) Khan Bahadur.
The younger sons of the ruling prince: Sahibzada (personal name) Khan Bahadur.
The daughters of the ruling prince: Sahibzadi (personal name) Begum.
The grandsons of the ruling prince, sons of sons: Sahibzada (personal name) Khan.
ORDERS & DECORATIONS:
None known:
RULES OF SUCCESSION:
Male primogeniture, amongst adherents of the Islamic faith.
SOURCES:
Lewis Bentham Bowring, Bowring Collection. MSS. Eur. G.38, Oriental & India Office Collection, British Library, London.
Major W L Conran and H.D. Craik, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Punjab Government, Lahore, Punjab, 1910.
Nawab Iftikhar 'Ali Khan and Dr. R.K. Ghai, History of the Ruling Family of Sheikh Sadruddin Sadar-i-Jahan of Malerkotla (1449 A.D. to 1948 A.D.). Publication Bureau, Punjab University, Patiala, 2000.
Inayat Ali Khan. A Description of the Principal Kotla Afghans. 1882.
Punjab District Gazetteers, Volume XVA: Maler Kotla State and Maps, 1904. Punjab Government, The "Civil & Military Gazette" Press, Lahore, 1907.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
Momtaaz Jung.
Father Lawrence Ober, SJ.
Copyright© Christopher Buyers, April 2004 - September 2023