Pataudi

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Pataudi is a town lying in the present-day Indian state of Haryana, Pataudi was the seat of the non-salute Princely state of the same name. The princely state of Pataudi was founded in 1806 by the Afghan adventurer Fa'iz Talab Khan, and covered an area 137 square km. It acceded to the Union of India on April 7, 1948.

Small while the state may have been, its ruling family enjoyed celebrity as cricketers, film stars and socialites. Indeed, two successive nawabs of Pataudi served as captains of the Indian cricket team. Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan's younger brother Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, an officer in the British Indian Army migrated to Pakistan where he served as an Ambassador and Cabinet Minister after retiring from the Pakistan army as a Major General. Prominent members of the family include:

Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi (cricketer)
Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (cricketer)
Sharmila Tagore (actress)
Saif Ali Khan (actor)
Soha Ali Khan (actress)
Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi (military officer)

[edit] Trivia

The last ruling Nawab of Pataudi, Iftikhar Ali Khan, married Begum Sajida Sultan, heiress of Bhopal. The princely state of Bhopal was one of few where the succession of females was acceptable; indeed, that state had been ruled by three generations of Begums of Bhopal for a century beginning 1829. Upon the demise of Sajida sultan in 1995, her only son Mansoor Ali Khan, the titular nawab of Pataudi, is regarded by many as being the head of the royal family of Bhopal as well as Pataudi. However, such "personal unions" of princely states, while commonplace in Europe, are entirely unknown in India. The Nawabs of Tanawal (Amb), in North West frontier Province of Pakistan,frequently married into the royal family of Chitral. The current Nawabzada, and former member of National Assembly, is the Brother-in-Law of the last ruler of Chitral. Therefore such trans-state unions occurred elswhere in the sub-continent too.

To the larger public, the question of succession to an erstwhile princely state is of but academic interest, since not only the states themselves but also the titles and privileges associated with their rulership stands abolished in India.