The Subcontinent in Asia comprising of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan has always been a target for trends and propaganda. The trends of democracy, the trends of Americanized culture of coffee and dressing, the trends of the English language and it’s superiority due to the colonization at the time. Slowly we see India and Bangladesh coming out of the shadows of Britain and It’s forced virtues upon us. The Pakistani’s slow, but has a habit of mimicking trends once they begin to catch traction. One trend that has cost these nations it’s most fruitful identity, is the diminishing of their Royal Families. Where Azmet Jah is being referred to as a Photographer, Padmanabh Singh a Polo Player, Bugti a Politician, The Abbasi’s of Bahawalpur – Unemployed. If this is the case of today’s global democracies, then Harry should be referred to as a soldier, William unemployed and a Geography graduate. As the Crown in Britian remains intact, our Crowns are told to become modern and forget the old ways.
The unfairness in this irony is that all these great ruling families of the Subcontinent made the cities that are the leading source of tourists and their income, both domestically and internationally. Those who despair from Monarchies, are those who weren’t favoured during them. This is a very classic case of Middle-Class ideologies who believe they deserve more for their efforts than being born into a certain class. These sentiments were then later utilized and promoted via Western propagandists to remove the most vital reality of Indian Culture. The Maharaja’s, The Nawaabs, and the Badishah’s, are the ones who built all these countries and gave them the land today they claim sovereignty on. Unfairly, in 1971 both India and Pakistan passed laws for abolition, for the entire identity of these great Kings to be restricted to the province they belong, thus murdering the great culture of The Indo-Pak Royal Families.
The treatment must then be equal. Why do the Ambassadors of these nations bow to the Queen, but ignore their Maharaja’s? Why do we expect to attend state dinners with European Royalty and expect to shake hands with their Princesses and Princes who are below the legal drinking age. This may be a left-over complex of lesser castes and lesser families from the era of Royal Times. The irony how the White skin still somehow dictates culture.
Nawaabs are considered Naiq’s (Assistants) to the Badshah. This Idea of Kingship began with the Mughals, that later the British adopted and kept during their Raj. Most Nawaabs were rulers of their own kingdom, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Nawaab of Junagadh, the Maharaja’s of Jaipur, Kashmir and Mysore. Many titles interchanged during war but the institute lived; similar to how the British say, “The King is Dead, Long Live the King” – The man has died, but the institute lives.
Many who are against Royal families, believe it was an act of nepotism that ruined the opportunities for others. While this may be true today in Pakistan, however again this is only true to British placed lower-caste families who later conducted Dynastic politics, they weren’t original Royal Blood. However, in the times of pre-British Raj, this was a facade. The Nauratan, the Rajputs, the Marathas, the Artists, the Architects, the Painters, Sikh Raja’s, Warriors of great command, Poets, Musicians, and at times comedians who were exceptional in their craft were awarded positions of great magnitude from Deewaans and Wazirs (Ministers and Courtiers of the Crown). Women with great ambition, power, and wisdom ruled during this “Ferocious feudals”(as the British calls them). Rani Laxmibai, Nur-jehan, are two prime examples of Women that played a major role during the rule of Mughals and other Kings.
These are certain realities that people blame others for, the caste system, but is actually very much true. Cases of corruption did not exist when Royal Lineage was in Place. The Europeans were barbaric in comparison, but in the East such problems never showed, until lesser caste men were placed on higher seats. The reason for the existence of lower-castes was not on the basis of wealth, but on the basis of thinking. Shiva Ji was a poor man but became the ruler of Maratha due to his military prowess, so the idea of no opportunity was a sham. Men and Women of Talent always prospered in India – Not in Europe
Nations have forgotten that today Pakistan exists solely from the Princely States accession, same goes to India. The line of separation was drawn in accordance to the families that acceded. The credit will forever go, whether you bow or not, to the families of Royal Lineage. It was the Nawaab of Bahawalpur that paid the salaries of all Pakistani Government Servants, alongwith the support of Sir Muratib Ali. Baluchistan was Kalate and Bugti, that in their friendship and belief in Jinnah joined Pakistan. It was the King of Talpur that breath life into the Sindhi existence within Pakistan. It was the Nawaab of Junagadh that gave you Bhutto. The Nizam of Hyderabad could not have joined due to his principles, where he followed the rules of independence and accession, knowing his public to be majority Hindu, he joined India. It was the controversy of the Mahraja of Kashmir, who openly stated his idea to join Nehru and India, if you deny this then there will always be war.
The British crown, as Tharoor puts it best, is a product of the loot of India. The Badshahi Masjid (Mosque) of Lahore had rubies, diamonds and various jewels used as cement to place their bricks a feat of the Mughals and later Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore. When the British were leaving, their soldiers took their pocket knifes and carved out as many jewels as possible, and later become prominent families within Europe. Shashi Tharoor is wholly right, Britains total power in wealth, comes from robbing and diminishing the Indian Sub-continent.
A Pirate was once commissioned by the Royal Navy and Queen Victoria to rob Indian Princes. The pirate only managed to claim a small loot from the Nizam of Hyderabad. This Pirate later on became the fifth Richest man in Britannia along with their Kings and Dukes. Some believe Henry Every to be this Pirate, but the identity is still not known for certain, as this family later indulged in British Politics, thus became more of a legend than a reality. However, one truth exists, Indian wealth surpassed all.
Today Their Highnesses such as, Mahraja Padmanabh Singh, Nawaab Mir Jafar Hassan Abdullah, Nawaab Sadiq Abbasi, Nawaab Shahzain Bugti, Pir of Bengal, Maharaja Yaduveera Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, and others, are the last few families of pure origin.
Maharaja Padmanabh Singh – from Raja Mann Singh II, Raja of Amber, The Maharaja of Jaipur
Badshah Mir Jafar Hassan Abdullah – The Badshah’s of Awadh
Nawaab Sadiq Abbasi – The Nawaab of Bahawalpur – Who even to this day are the royal representatives of the Pakistani government in any Royal function abroad.
Sardars of Dera Bugti – The Tumandar of Dera Bugti
Nizam Mir Muhammad Azmet Ali Khan, Asaf Jah IX, The Ninth Nizam of Hyderabad
Yaduveera Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Maharaja of Mysore
Pir of Bengal, a Sufi Pope in Dhakka.
The Heirs to Shahbaaz Qalandar, Sehwan Sharif (Sufi-Pirs)
Many royal families have been left out on purely one reality, they were placed on the throne by the British. These families were of ill origins. Mir Sadiq and Mir Jafar, the greatest betrayal in history were supported by British coin. The New royals placed in northern regions were servants of the British Raj, who literally were known to polish boots and prepare horses for the cavalry, are now claiming to be of Royal Blood with a history of less than 100 years and ownership of assets left-over by British commanders.
The greatest of all, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of from Khyber to Delhi, capital in Lahore. The British looted these cities to become who they are today. Cheap tactics, robbery, betrayal, facades, dishonourable warfare methodologies, that is how the British became Kings, they were barbarians these Anglo-Saxons.
The Maharajas and Badshah’s of India were not menial in thought. This was their grace and yet their downfall. Men of honour, women of power, ruled by fairness and right, and true to their words. These positive and grand realities of our Rulers was destroyed by British propaganda and Americanized Middle-classes.
The Maharaja’s and Badshah’s of the East have always been grand in wealth, in behaviour and in architecture. They built all that you today use for your tourism to boost your economies. Yet you do not grant them the respect they deserve. The same respect that they deserve more, and will always deserve more than the royal families of Europe.
