The Nawabs of Junagadh

In this article, we would talk about the Nawabs of Junagadh, their contribution to Junagadh and how Sardar Patel merged Junagadh in India.

The Muslim Rulers of Junagadh

In a previous article, I wrote about the victory of Mahmud Begada over Raja Mandlik III of Junagadh in AD 1473. This victory brought Junagadh under the rule of Ahmadshahi Sultanate.

It was then the turn of Muslim rulers to contribute to Junagadh’s cultural heritage.

In late sixteenth century Junagadh became part of the powerful Mughal Empire. By mid-eighteenth century the Mughal Empire weakened and Sher Khan Babi, who owed allegiance to the Sultan of Ahmedabad, expelled Mughal governor. Sher Khan Babi was a Pashtun from Afghanistan.

He declared independence of Junagadh and founded the Babi dynasty. The Babi dynasty then ruled Junagadh till India’s independence.

Babi dynasty – Did the name catch your attention? Yes, the gorgeous and sensuous Parveen Babi, who was the first Indian actress to adorn the Time magazines front cover, was born in Junagadh and belonged to this dynasty.

Mahabat Maqbara, Junagadh

On 28th December, in the late afternoon, we headed towards Mahabat Maqbara, situated on the MG road opposite high courts, from Kalwa Chowk.

Mahabat Maqbara is build over the grave of Mahabat Khan II. He was the sixth dynast in the line of the Babi dynasty. The multitude of bulbous domes crowns this boldly decorated mausoleum. It is a fitting tribute to this great ruler under whom massive beautification of Junagadh took place. Nawab Mahabat Khan-II (1851-1882) started work on this mausoleum in 1878. However, the work finally finished in 1892 during the reign of Nawab Bahadur Khan III (1882–92).

Mahabat Maqbara has influences of Indo-Islamic styles (Gujarat Sultanate and Mughal) and European design (Gothic) styles, typical of the royal monuments of the 19th century. There are elaborate carvings in the monument’s outer façade. Its fine arches catches our attention. The notable European features of this stunning mausoleum are the floor to lintel French windows and Gothic columns along doors and windows.

The reason for the European influence may lie in the fact that Junagadh became an official British Protectorate in 1807. It was though handed over to the East India company’s control in 1818.

Mahabat Maqbara is the most opulent structure in the complex, still the building that catches immediate attention is the adjacent tomb of Vazir Bahauddin Bhar, flanked on each corner by slim-tall minarets hugged by twirling spiral staircases.

There is also a 100 years old college in Junagadh named after Bahauddin Vazir. 

We walked on one of the stairs to look around. Rachit, as ever, was leading me. As we were about to get on to the top, suddenly Rachit came running down towards me and looked scared.

It was only after a while he could explain that he was hit by an eagle. Perhaps she had laid her eggs or had her young ones over there. It was a reminder that one must be careful while moving about in the abandoned monuments.

We reached Mahabat Maqbara complex in the late afternoon. It was locked and there was no tourist around it.

The broken jaalis and panes allowed us to peep inside at the layers of dust. It was evident that it needs maintenance but these days nobody cares for it. We felt sorry as this monument has the potential to become the symbol of Junagadh. This mausoleum surprises you with its exquisiteness in the least expected location.

Durbar Hall Museum, Junagadh

Next, we visited Durbar Hall Museum, the former palace of the Babi Nawabs, in Janta-Chowk.

The top collections in this Museum includes palanquins, attires of the Nawabs & their family members, velvet covered cushioned seats, howdah, carpets, weapons, armors, gowns, silver thrones, chandeliers, artifacts, paintings, and other belongings that reflect their lifestyle and culture. .

In a hall a durbar scene is created with silver chairs flaunting the splendor of the past. In this era of corporate world those stiff backed silver chairs looked uncomfortable. I felt sitting there for long would have been more of a torture than a luxury.

The hall has valuable, ornamental silver clocks and huge chandeliers were hanging from its ceiling.

In the surrounding rooms there were silver elephant seats – haude and a portrait gallery.

Eccentric last Nawab of Junagadh

I was keen to have a look at the pictures and portraits of the eccentric last nawab of Junagadh, Mahabat Khan -III, who had the hobby of rearing pedigree.

He was crazy about dogs. He had over 800 of them and each of them had a separate human attendant. These dogs were shampooed every morning, given regular exercises and were fed on expensive dog-food.

The nawab loved his dogs so much that he celebrated the marriage of his bitch Roshanara to the dog Bobby of the nawab of Mangalore with a rare pomp and show. State holiday was declared for the celebrations and the guests (here I am talking about human guests and not the four-legged ones!) numbering in thousands were entertained with rich meals for three days.

At another occasion, one of his champion dogs died, and he declared a day of public mourning.

I carefully looked at the pictures of the last nawab, still in his teens, with his beloved dogs. I was expecting to see a weird and an unusual person in those photographs; on the contrary he had an innocent face.

He looked naive and vulnerable. I felt a strong sympathy with the young kid. The movie “The Last Emperor” has made me sensitive towards the lonesome upbringings of the royal kids.

I have realized that how painful it is to be a royal child, with lots of comfort but no one to play with and no chance of making friends.

I feel that it might be during those forlorn times that the young nawab might have found a friend in the “man’s best friend”.

Sardar Patel and the Saga of merger of Junagadh

The area surrounding durbar hall had an aura of royalty. There are many imperial buildings around that today have been converted into banks, and other offices.

The visit to the Durbar hall transported me to the period India was about to get independence. The British Government had given three choices to the Indian rulers – merge with India or with Pakistan or remain an independent country.

These choices were almost meaningless as to remain independent made no sense, with Indian or Pakistani army all around those small states and with the populace having strong desire to be part of either of these countries.

The same was true about joining India or Pakistan, the kingdoms that were in Indian boundary had no choice but to join India and vice verse.

Soon after independence “Iron-man” Sardar Patel got an affirmation from all the erstwhile rulers for their accession to India except for the three states – Kashmir, Hyderabad and Junagadh.

Nawab of Junagadh, Mahabat Khan III, was interested in merging his small state with Pakistan. His argument was that Junagadh adjoins Pakistan by sea and so he should be allowed to merge his state with Pakistan.

Nawab’s was an impractical proposal as Junagadh was deep inside Indian territory and most of his subjects wanted to merge with India.

In the meantime, Junagadh started to increase its military powers to oppose any revolt against nawab’s decision.

Two small states of Junagadh- Mangrol and Babaria, came to know about nawab’s plan and revolted. Nawab’s army attacked and occupied both of them.

By that time Indian supporters in Junagadh got united and formed a temporary government in exile that was known as “Aarzi Hukumat” under the leadership of Samaldas Gandhi – a patriotic hero of Gujarat.

These developments in Junagadh also brought forth differences in attitude and temperament of the two most powerful leaders of independent India – Prime minister Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru and Home minister Sardar Patel.

Sardar Patel was of the strong opinion of keeping Junagadh under Indian fold even if it meant attacking the nawab. Mountbatten warned Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru that an attack by Indian army on the nawab may lead to a full-scale war between India and Pakistan.

Nehru wanted to avoid any war at that stage and felt that the war would be devastating for both the countries and would give wrong signals to the world.

On the contrary, Sardar Patel didn’t see any possibility of a war between two countries on the issue of Junagadh and felt that Junagadh rightfully belonged to India.

Still, Sardar Patel accepted Nehru’s decision of not attacking Junagadh, but ordered Indian army to block and cut off the crucial supplies to the state. It made life of people under the nawab very difficult.

The nawab realized that his subject had enough of him and could revolt anytime. He gave power of attorney to the Deewan of court – Shah Nawaz Bhutto, father of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and left Junagadh with all of his dogs, wives and all the treasures he could take with him.

By that time the condition of Junagadh had become so bad that Shahnawaz Bhutto himself requested Indian government to intervene and to take charge.

In the meantime, Aarzi Hukumat attacked and captured the Palace and the fort and hoisted Indian flag. Samaldas Gandhi was invited to accept the reigns of the state but he deferred it to the Government of India.

On Jawaharlal Nehru’s insistence, Indian Government, agreed for a plebiscite in Feb 1948 and except for a very small numbers of voters (91 voters only), everyone else voted in favor of accession to India and from then onwards Junagadh became an integral part of India.

Today there is nothing that can draw the attention of tourists toward such an interesting integral part of Junagadh’s existence.

I wish the area around Durbar Hall museum could be re-developed and dedicated to the Nation as a reminder and memorial to India’s struggle to emerge as a unified nation, a struggle that didn’t end on 15th August 1947.

References

• Freedom at midnight – Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins

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