Bahu Begum Of Bhopal

At the age of 46, the revered, saintly Faiz Mohammad Khan, developed the illness of dropsy. He died on 12 December 1777. His reign had lasted 35 years during which he took scant interest in the affairs of state, leaving Mamola Bai in charge of navigating the ship of state through turbulent waters. The capital had been moved from Islamnagar to Bhopal and Faiz is recorded as having stepped out of his palace only once during his entire reign of 35 years. He was buried near Kamlapati’s palace beside his real mother. Faiz died childless, leaving behind widow, Saleha Begum, better name as Bahu Begum, a spirited, defiant, outgoing woman who was not prepared to play second fiddle after her husband’s death.

Sensing another crisis of succession, the 62-year old Mamola Bai moved quickly. Even before the traditional 40-day mourning (chehlum) was completed, she declared her second stepson, Faiz’s younger brother, Hayat Mohammad Khan, as the fourth Nawab of Bhopal on 3 January 1778. Hayat was 43 years old when he ascended the throne, a weak, indolent, corpulent, pleasure-loving character who could not aspire to the reverence in which his brother had been held.

Hayat’s accession to the gaddi sparked another crisis for Mamola Bai. Faiz’s widow, Bahu Begum, refused to accept Hayat’s accession and began a revolt in which members of Dost Mohammad Khan’s descendants supported her. Bahu Begum, who detested Mamola Bai, perceived that by placing her weak, indolent son on the gaddi, Mamola Bai was seeking to perpetuate her Hindu-oriented reign in Bhopal. Bahu Begum began holding court at her husband’s mazar (tomb) and set up a parallel government in Islamnagar. For three years, she regularly held durbars (royal courts) as an act of defiance against the rule of Mamola Bai. Typically of Bhopal’s history, two women headed rival cabals vying for power in the state. Mamola Bai temporized and requested Bahu Begum, as a compromise, to nominate any of Yar’s brothers as the Nawab while Bahu Begum acted as regent. In fact, Hayat Mohammad Khan offered to step down to pacify the Bahu Begum