Screening Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān’s Library 167
and were therefore able to secure their own territories. In the 19th century,
no male heir was born to the ruling dynasty. The state was therefore ruled
for almost a century by four generations of female rulers, the Bēgums.^16
Their rule is marked by many Islamic educational, economic and admin-
istrative reforms, which gained the full support of the British. The third
Bēgum, Shāh Jahān (r. 1868–1901), made the Ahl-i Ḥadīth doctrine a kind
of state religion. Widowed at an early age, she married Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān
in 1871. From that time on, the Ahl-i Ḥadīth and especially Ṣiddīq Ḥasan
Khān enjoyed the full financial and institutional support of the ruler.
Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān was one of the most central figures of the early
Ahl-i Ḥadīth networks and a strong supporter of the teachings of Ibn
Taymiyya in South Asia.^17 He is also said to have adopted Muḥammad
b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s strict, sometimes “puritan” interpretation of
Islam, which is an essential pillar of the Saudi Arabian state today.^18
One of the reasons Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān’s opponents called him a “Wah-
habi” was that he relied on the same sources as Muḥammad b. ʿAbd
16 The Urdu word Bēgum means a lady or queen. It was also used for the female
members of the Mughal elite. The female rulers of Bhopal intended to express a
certain continuity from Mughal rule by choosing the title Bēgum in combina-
tion with names like Shāh Jahān. Qudsiyya Bēgum (r. 1819–37) was the first
female ruler able to set aside the claims of her male family members. It was only
during her reign that the British authorities had objections to a female Muslim
ruler. She had to hand over power to her son-in-law, who according to British
accounts lacked abilities as a ruler. Thus, the British installed Qudsiyya’s daugh-
ter Sikander Bēgum on the throne (masnad). Her period of reign (1844–68) is
regarded as the “Golden Age” of Bhopal. Sikander never appeared veiled in
public and gave herself the image of an Amazon. This marked a significant dif-
ference from the reign of her daughter Shāh Jahān Bēgum (r. 1868–1901), who
was always veiled especially after her marriage to Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān. Sikan-
der’s second marriage caused a rift between herself as the ruler and her only
surviving daughter, Sulṭān Jahān Bēgum (r. 1901–26). Sulṭān Jahān gave birth to
three sons, and abdicated in favour of her youngest son Nawwāb Ḥamīdullāh
Khān in 1926. This ended a remarkable period of female rule in Muslim India.
For the rule of the Bēgums, see Preckel, Claudia: Begums of Bhopal, New Delhi
2000; Khan, Shaharyar Muhammad: Begums of Bhopal, London 2000; Chishtī,
Wahhāj al-Dīn: Bēgamāt-i Bhōpāl (The Begamat of Bhopal), Karachi 1981. For
an account of Sulṭān Jahān’s reign and Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān’s dynastic ambitions,
see Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan: Muslim Women, Reform and Princely Patronage.
Nawab Sultan Jahan Begam of Bhopal, London 2007, esp. pp. 37–41.
17 Nizami, The Impact of Ibn Taimiyya, p. 139.
18 For general information on the Wahhabis, see Steinberg, Guido: Religion
und Staat in Saudi-Arabien, Würzburg 2002; Commins, David: The Wah-
habi Mission and Saudi Arabia, London 2006; Peskes, Esther: Muḥammad b.
ʿAbdalwahhāb im Widerstreit, Stuttgart 1993.
Brought to you by | Nanyang Technological University
Authenticated