Bahawalpur (princely state)

(Redirected from Bahawalpur State)

State of Bahawalpur
This article is part of the series: Historical regions of Pakistan
Capital	Bahawalpur
Area	45,911 km²
Main language(s)	(Saraiki)
Established	1690
Abolished	14 October 1955
Historic regions of Pakistan
Original Provinces Baluchistan East Bengal Federal Capital Territory North West Frontier Province Sind West Punjab One-Unit Provinces East Pakistan West Pakistan	Former States Amb Bahawalpur Chitral Dir Hunza Kalat Khairpur Kharan Las Bela Makran Nagar Phulra Swat
Other subdivisions Baluchistan States Union Gilgit Agency Trans-Karakoram Tract Divisions of Pakistan

The State of Bahawalpur was a princely state of the Punjab in what is now Pakistan, stretching along the southern bank of the Sutlej and Indus Rivers, with its capital city at Bahawalpur. The state was counted amongst the Rajputana states (now Rajasthan) to the southeast. After two centuries of varying degrees of independence, the state became part of Pakistan in 1947. In 1941, the state had a population of 1,341,209 living in an area of 45,911 km² (17,494 sq mi). It was divided into three districts: Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalnagar.

The state was founded in 1690 by Bahadur Khan II. Nawab Mohammad Bahawal Khan III signed the state's first treaty with the British on 22 February 1833, guaranteeing the independence of the Nawab. The state acceded to Pakistan on 7 October 1947 and was merged into the province of West Pakistan on 14 October 1955.

Postage stamps of Bahawalpur

Bahawalpur used the postage stamps of British India until 1945. On 1 January 1945, it issued its own stamps, for official use only, a set of pictorials inscribed entirely in Arabic script.

On 1 December 1947 the state issued its first regular stamp, a commemorative stamp for the 200th anniversary of the ruling family, depicting Mohammad Bahawal Khan I, and inscribed "BAHAWALPUR". A series of 14 values appeared 1 April 1948, depicting various Nawabs and buildings. A handful of additional commemoratives ended with an October 1949 issue commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union. After this the state adopted Pakistani stamps for all uses.

Rulers of Bahawalpur

The rulers were sindhi abbasids of shikarpur and sukkur who captured thses areas.Because of this fact,people of upper sindh which afterwords became state bahawalpur did not dislike the rulers.They took the title of Amir until 1740, when the title changed to Nawab Amir. Although the title was abolished in 1955, the current head of the House of Bahawalpur (Sallah ud-din Muhammad Khan) uses the title informally. From 1942, the Nawabs were assisted by Prime Ministers.

See also

• Princely States
• Bahawalpur
• Historical regions of Pakistan

References

• Nazeer 'Ali Shah, The History of the Bahawalpur State (Lahore: Maktaba Jadeed, 1959)

Categories

Find

Find