The legendary Pataudis have roots in Afghanistan

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Aasha Khosa | Date 06-01-2022
The Nawabs of Pataudi
The Nawabs of Pataudi

 

Kamlesh/Gurugram

 

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has a penchant for making bold statements and getting into media controversies. Last time he got into a major controversy over the naming of his son from his second wife Kareena Kapoor Khan as Taimur. The child, now four and with a younger brother Jehangir in toe, is a celebrity in his own right. It’s no secret that Saif Ali Khan belongs to the Nawab family that hails from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

 

However, Saif Ali Khan and before him his father Mansoor Ali Khan was known as Nawab of Pataudi. Nawab Pataudi or Tiger, as he was known in his circles, was India’s famous cricketer.

Khandaan

Nawab Iftikhar Ali Pataudi with his grandchildren including Tiger Pataudi

 

 

Pataudi is a town about 25 km from the cyber city of Gurugram in Haryana. Nawab Pataudi belongs to this town. Although the Nawabi is no longer there, even today locals refer to the family as Nawabs and treat all members with reverence.
 

Locals in Pataudi say that the history of the Nawab Pataudi clan is 1,000 years old.

 

The story starts from a place in Kandahar close to the border of Afghanistan-Pakistan, Barinch. It was from there that Salamat Ali Khan came to India in 1480. After coming here, he settled in the area which is now called Mewat in Haryana state.Mohammad Akbar Ali Khan was the son of Nawab Fayaz Talab Ali Khan.


He was the Nawab from 1829 to 1862. They had five sons, Mohammad Taqi Ali Khan, Inayat Ali Khan, Sadiq Khan, Zafar Ali Khan, and Mirza Asghar Ali Khan.

Salamat Ali Khan paid a lot of attention to the spread of Islam. Gradually, his princely state grew and his kingdom lasted for many centuries and generations. His descendants are all the Nawabs of Pataudi.
 

The Male lineage of the Pataudis

 

Another source states that in 1806, Fayaz Talab Khan became the first Nawab of Pataudi and remained in this position till 1829. He was married in 1806 to the sister of Najafat Ali Khan Jhajjar. He died in 1829. 
 

 

Mohammad Akbar Ali Khan was the son of Nawab Fayaz Talab Ali Khan. He was the Nawab from 1829 to 1862. They had five sons, Mohammad Taqi Ali Khan, Inayat Ali Khan, Sadiq Khan, Zafar Ali Khan, and Mirza Asghar Ali Khan.The eldest son Taki Ali Khan was the Nawab from 1862 to 1867. His son was Mukhtar Ali Khan, who became the Nawab after him and remained in the saddle till 1878. He was married to the granddaughter of Nawab Najafat Ali Khan Jhajjar. They had two sons, Mohammad Mumtaz Hussain Ali Khan Bahadur and Mohammad Muzaffar Ali Khan.
 
Mumtaz Hussain was the Nawab from 1878 to 1898. Later the younger brother Mohammad Muzaffar Ali Khan was the Nawab from 1898 to 1913. His son was Ibrahim Ali Khan. Ibrahim Ali Khan was the Nawab from 1913 to 1917. She was married to Shahir Bano Nawab Mirza of Lahore. They had two sons, Iftikhar Ali Khan and Mohammad Sher Ali Khan.


Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi with Sharmila Tagore and daughters Soha and Sabba

 

Sher Ali Khan was born in Pataudi. He was educated at Aitchison College Lahore and Military School, Dehradun. Sher Ali Khan took over the Punjab Regiment of the First Battalion for the first time. He served with the Washington DC Command during World War II.
 
He was awarded the title of General for his good work in the war. In 1958, he was made the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Malaysia. Later Sher Ali Khan also became the Telecom Minister of Pakistan. He held this position from 1967 to 1969.
 
Sher Ali Khan was married to Begum Shilvat who was the daughter of Mian Ghulam Nuruddin Lahore.
 
Nawab Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan of this family took over the princely state of Nawab Pataudi in 1917. He was born on March 17, 1910, in Pataudi House, Delhi. In 1938, Iftikhar Ali Khan was married to Begum Sajida Sultan, daughter of Colonel Nawab Hamidulla Khan of Bhopal. He was the Nawab from 1917 to 1952. He was the eighth Nawab of the Pataudi clan.

Nawab Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan did his studies at Chief College Lahore, Balliol College. He was a fine player of polo and a right-handed batsman in cricket. He played the first test match against England in 1932; he had to retire from cricket due to illness. The princely state was snatched away only in the seventies with the abolition of privy purses.

 



Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi

 

Apart from polo and cricket, he also played billiards. His wife Begum Sajida Sultan gave birth to three girls and a boy. Iftikhar Ali Khan passed away in 1952.
 

After the passing of Iftikhar Ali, son Mansoor Ali Khan was called the Nawab of Pataudi from 1952 to 2011. He was born on January 5, 1941, in Bhopal. Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan also got the legacy of his father's cricket. Due to his talent, he also became the captain of the Indian team. Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan took over the captaincy of the Indian team from 1962 to 1970. Mansoor Ali Khan left the world on 22 September 2011. world on 22 September 2011.

 

Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan was married on 27 December 1968 in Kolkata to the then Bollywood heartthrob Sharmila Tagore, granddaughter of Rabindranath Tagore. Their wedding according to Islamic tradition involved giving Sharmila Tagore a new name Ayesha.
 

 

Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore are parents of actors Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. Their third child Shabba Ali Khan is a jewelry designer and also takes care of the family’s inheritance in Bhopal.

 


Sajida Sultan

 

The Pataudi Ibrahim Palace, decorated with majestic elegance, still attracts tourists including foreigners. Once a small princely state of 50 villages, today it’s equipped with all modern facilities. Rich with history and amenities, Ibrahim Palace is about 65 kilometers away from Delhi and 9 kilometers away from the Delhi-Jaipur highway. Due to this, Ibrahim Palace remains the first choice of the people of NCR for corporate meetings including tourists, film personalities.
 
The main palace has been named Ibrahim Palace after Ibrahim Khan, the Nawab of the princely state and grandfather of famous cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan. Spread over a hundred acres, the 200-year old palace complex boasts greenery and a serene atmosphere. The main palace is built on 5-6 acres. After entering from the main gate of the property, about half a kilometer, a road runs through the middle of the fields, which takes it to the two big gates of the main palace.

 


The newly-wed Sharmila Tagore and Nawab Tiger Pataudi (Lrft) Pataudi with his son and Waheeda Rehman

 

A Badminton court, billiard room, table tennis, swimming pool, modern massage parlor, and bar are also arranged for the tourists who come here. Special arrangements have also been made for holding corporate meetings.

Being a delightful place adjacent to Delhi, Ibrahim Palace remains a favorite destination for Bollywood as well. Film and TV serials are being shot here every day. Many big films, serials, and music albums have been shot here. The TV serial 'Usool' was first shot here. Jackie Curse's Bandhan, Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji's Veerzara, Aamir Khan's The Rising Mangal Pandey, Deepa Mehta's Arth, Ajay Devgn's Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke, Nehru and Gandhi's Documentary The Last Viceroy This is where many big films like the English film It Pray Love, made on Oscar winner Julia Roberts, have been shot here.
 
However, Saif Ali Khan now considers it as a tableau of the past. In a brief conversation he says, “Ab sab kuch naam ka nawab hai. I am just like you."