Bahawal Khan V
Nawab of Bahawalpur
Mohammad Bahawal Khan V (1883–1907) was the 11th Nawab of the Kingdom of Bahawalpur, a former princely state of the British Raj, now part of Pakistan. He ruled from 1899 until his death. As Nawab of Bahawalpur, he was entitled to a 17-gun salute. Mohammad Bahawal Khan V was the second son by the second wife of Nawab Amir Sir Sadeq Mohammad Khan Abbasi IV Bahadur. In 1899, when he was only fifteen, Nawab Mohammad Bahawal Khan V ascended the throne of Bahawalpur following his father's death. He reigned under a Council of Superintendence until he came of age and was invested with full ruling powers in a ceremony attended by the Viceroy, Lord Curzon himself, at Derawar Fort on 12 November 1903. In 1902 Nawab Mohammad Bahawal Khan V was invited to London to attend the Coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Westminster Abbey. He set out from Karachi, but on the preliminary voyage to Bombay he suffered so severely from sea sickness that on landing there he cancelled the visit. On 15 February 1907 Mohammad Bahawal Khan V died of illness on a ship while sailing off the coast of Aden. He was succeeded by his only male heir, Sadeq Mohammad Khan V, who was then only 3 years old.
The Amir's 'Highland Guard'. On the eve of the 2nd Afghan War, the Afghan regular army numbered 62 infantry regiments, 16 cavalry regiments and nearly 100 batteries of artillery. The most bizarre unit was the Amir's 'Highland Guard', attired in homage to the British Army's own Scottish highland regiments with pith helmets, red and white check 'kilts' worn over red trousers, and red doublet-style tunics.
The Kingdom of Bahawalpur was established by Bahawal Khan, who belonged to the Daudpotra tribe and had migrated from Shikarpur, Sindh in 1748. By the 18th century, Nawabs of Bahawalpur had consolidated power by settling his Daudpotra kinsmen on new canal lands along Sutlej. As part of the 1809 Treaty of Amritsar, Ranjit Singh was confined to the right bank of the Sutlej. The first treaty with Bahawalpur was negotiated in 1833, the year after the treaty with Ranjit Singh for regulating traffic on the Indus. It secured the independence of the Nawab within his own territories and opened up the traffic on the Indus and Sutlej. The political relations of Bahawalpur with the British Raj were regulated by a treaty made in October 1838, when arrangements were in progress for the restoration of Shah Shuja to the Kabul throne. During the First Anglo-Afghan War, the Nawab assisted the British with
supplies and allowing passage and in 1847-8 he co-operated actively with Sir Herbert Edwardes in the expedition against Multan. For these services, he was rewarded by the grant of the districts of Sabzalkot and Bhung, together with a life-pension of a lakh. On his death, a dispute arose regarding succession. He was succeeded by his third son, whom he had nominated in place of his eldest son. The new ruler was, however, deposed by his elder brother, and obtained asylum in British territory, with a pension from the Bahawalpur revenues; he broke his promise to abandon his claims and was confined in the Lahore Fort, where he died in 1862. In 1863 and 1866 insurrections broke out against the Nawab who successfully crushed the rebellions; but in March 1866, the Nawab died suddenly, not without suspicion of having been poisoned, and was succeeded by his son, Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV, a boy of four. After several endeavors to arrange for the administration of the country without active interference on the part of the Government, it was found necessary, on account of disorganization and disaffection, to place the principality in British hands. In 1879, the Nawab was invested with full powers, with the advice and assistance of a council of six members. During the Afghan campaigns (1878–80) the Nawab placed the entire resources of his State at the disposal of the British Indian Government, and a contingent of his troops was employed in keeping open communications, and in guarding the Dera Ghazi Khan frontier. On his death in 1899 he was succeeded by Muhammad Bahawal Khan V, who attained his majority in 1900, and was invested with full powers in 1903. The Nawab of Bahawalpur was entitled to a salute of 17 guns.
Awards: Collar, sash and star of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India.
