Sajida Sultan (August 4, 1915– September 5, 1995) was a Begum of Bhopal in her own right, and consort to a Nawab of Pataudi.

Sajida was the second daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, last ruling Nawab of Bhopal. Following the emigration of her elder sister Abida to Pakistan in the aftermath of the partition of India, Sajida took that lady's place as heiress presumptive of Bhopal, and was eventually recognised by the government of India as Begum of Bhopal in 1961 after the demise of her father.

On April 23, 1939, Sajida married Iftekhar Ali Khan, ruling nawab of Pataudi, a minor non-salute state located in present-day Haryana. The Nawab was a cricketer of eminence and captained the Indian cricket team. They were the parents of Mansoor Ali Khan, sometime captain of the Indian cricket team, and of three daughters. She was the mother-in-law of actress Sharmila Tagore (who became a Muslim upon marriage to Mansoor Ali Khan and took the name of Ayesha Sultana) and grandmother of the Bollywood actors, Saaif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. Her third grandchild, the other daughter of the royal couple, is a fashion designer.

[edit] See also

• Rule of Begums in Bhopal

[edit] References

• Genealogy of the ruling chiefs of Bhopal
• Genealogy of the ruling chiefs of Pataudi

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