>Peacepks at 11:42, 21 May 2021

2021-05-21T11:42:57Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name = कुर्वाई रियासत / ریاست کوروائی
|conventional_long_name = Kurwai State
|common_name = Kurwai
|nation = [[British India]]
|subdivision = [[Princely State]]
|era =
|year_start = 1713
|date_start =
|event_start =
|year_end = 1948
|date_end =
|event_end = [[Independence of India]]
|event1 =
|date_event1 =
|p1 = Maratha Empire
|s1 = India
|flag_p1 = Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg
|flag_s1 = Flag of India.svg
|image_flag = Kurwai state flag.png
|image_coat = Kurwai State CoA.png
|image_map = Tonk-map.jpg
|image_map_caption = Kurwai (Korwai) State in the [[Imperial Gazetteer of India]]
|capital = [[Kurwai]]
|motto = ''Nasr Min Allah wa Fath Qarib''<ref>"Help from God and Victory Very Near"; [[Quran]] 61:13</ref>
|stat_area1 = 368
|stat_year1 = [[1901 Census of India]]
|stat_pop1 = 13634
|today = [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]
|footnotes =
}}
'''Kurwai State''' was a [[princely state]] of [[British India]] under the [[Bhopal Agency]] and centered on [[Kurwai]] town. The town of [[Kurwai]] was founded by Mohammed Diler Khan in 1715. The state was 368 km² in area and had a population of 30,631 in 1892.{{cn|date=June 2020}}

==History==
Kurwai State was founded in 1713 by Mohammed Diler Khan, an Afghan soldier in the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] army. The state came under the [[Maratha Empire|Maratha suzerainty]] in the 1730s. Kurwai later became a [[British protectorate]] in 1818, following the British victory in the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]. Its last ruler acceded to the [[Dominion of India]] on 15 June 1948.

=== Rulers ===
The ruling house of Kurwai was founded by Muhammad Diler Khan, an [[Afghan]] [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] from the [[Orakzai]] tribe as a feudal state. Diler Khan was a contemporary and cousin of [[Dost Mohammad Khan, Nawab of Bhopal|Nawab Dost Muhammad Khan]] of [[Bhopal State|Bhopal]].<ref name="Abida_memoirs">{{cite book | title = Memoirs of a rebel princess | author = Abida Sultaan | authorlink = Abida Sultan | edition = illustrated | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-19-579958-3 }}</ref>

In 1737, [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] under the leadership of Peshwa [[Baji Rao I]], defeated the forces of the Mughals and the [[Nawab of Bhopal]] in the [[Battle of Bhopal]]. Following the victory of the Marathas, Bhopal came under the suzerainty of the [[Maratha Empire]] as a semi-autonomous state and remained so until the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] in 1818.

In the 1740s, Kurwai, then a feudal state, came under the direct rule of the [[Peshwa]]s of the [[Maratha Empire]]. <ref>[https://books.google.co.in/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA140&lpg=PA140&dq=kurwai+marathas&source=bl&ots=S1UUT5IDnm&sig=ACfU3U020Ow3WbqXcPvRvq-v2Ma-cRGuHQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwigtpPf2tzoAhWGyTgGHWCTCTIQ6AEwBHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=kurwai%20marathas&f=false Source]</ref>

In 1761, Diler Khan's son Izzat Khan formed an alliance with the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], and fought for them at the [[Third Battle of Panipat]] in 1761. The Marathas suffered a defeat in the battle, and Diler Khan was badly wounded in action. He was rescued by his maternal uncle. After recovering, Izzat Khan joined enemy camp, and received high commands, titles and territories from [[Ahmad Shah Abdali]]. He died of the battle injuries after returning to Kurwai.

Izzat Khan's son Hurmut Khan was imprisoned by the [[Marathas]] for three years. He was freed after he ceded several villages to them, and agreed to an [[indemnity]] of 3 lakhs [[Indian rupee|rupees]] to the Marathas.

Hurmut Khan' son Akbar Mohammad Khan formed an alliance with the [[British East India Company|British]] in hopes of gaining back his territory from the Marathas, but following the [[Second Anglo-Maratha War]], the British annexed the recovered lands for themselves and Kurwai became a princely state under the British suzerainty.

Hurmut Khan's successors ruled the state until 1887, when Najaf Khan died without any male heir; his elder brother Muzaffar Khan had also died without heir. After a brief struggle with the Nawab of [[Basoda]], Najaf Khan's maternal grandson Munawar Ali Khan became the ruler of the princely state. After Munawar Khan died without issue, his younger brother Yaqub 'Ali Khan became the Nawab of Kurwai. Yaqub married Munawar's wife Umar un-nisa. Their four-year-old son Sarwar Ali Khan became the Nawab after Yaqub's death in an accident at Bhopal.{{cn|date=June 2020}}

==== Sarwar Ali Khan ====

When Sarwar Ali Khan was young, the state was ruled by a [[regency council]] headed by Umar un-nisa, who came to be known as "Sarkar Amma" (Mother Governor). She established several institutions for welfare of the citizens, including a rural bank that provided interest-free loans.

Sarwar Ali Khan and his sisters were the first generation in the family to receive English education. He studied at the [[Daly College]] ([[Indore]]), [[Mayo College]] ([[Ajmer]]) and the [[Sandhurst Military Academy]]. After graduating from Sandhurst in 1921, he severed with the [[Worcestershire Regiment|Worcestershires]] until 1923. During this stint, he guarded [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in the British custody. In 1926, he married [[Abida Sultan]], the eldest daughter and heiress presumptive of the [[Nawab of Bhopal]]. Their only son, [[Shaharyar Khan]], was born in 1934. The marriage eventually failed, and Sarwar Ali later married other women. Abida Sultan gave up her right to the throne of [[Bhopal]] and opted for the Muslim nation [[Pakistan]] in 1950, eventually entering that country's Foreign service. Later, Shaharyar Khan became the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan and then the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Sarwar Ali Khan's second wife was Ayesha, daughter of the Nawab of Wai. They had three children: Kaiser Zaman, Zafar Ali Khan and Munawar Ali Khan.

During Sarwar Ali Khan's reign, Kurwai saw development of modern infrastructure including roads, telephone network, sanitary facilities, bridges, schools, courts, police station, civil hospital government offices, a power station and a Legislative Assembly. The power was transferred to the Government of newly independent India in 1947.

On 15 June 1948, Kurwai State officially acceded to the Indian Government. Kurwai became part of the newly created state of [[Madhya Bharat]], and was added to Vidisha District. Madhya Bharat was merged into [[Madhya Pradesh]] on 1 November 1956.

Sarwar Ali Khan continued to be involved in the political process. A friend of the [[Harijan]] leader [[Jagjeevan Ram]], he encouraged the emancipation of the lower [[Indian caste system|castes]], and also campaigned against the [[dowry]] system and [[forced marriage]]. After his death in 1986, the title Nawab of Kurwai passed on to his son Zafar Ali Khan. Sawar Ali's daughter Kaiser Zaman studied English at Somerville College, Oxford University. She later founded the [[All Saints School Bhopal]] and the All Saints College of Science & Commerce.

===List of Nawabs===
Rulers of Kurwai State bore the title of '[[Nawab]]'.{{cn|date=June 2020}}
The rulers of [[Basoda State|Basoda]] and [[Mohammadgarh State|Mohammadgarh]] states were part of the same dynasty:
*1713 – 12 Oct 1722 Mohammad Diler Khan (b. c.1670 - d. 1722)
*12 Oct 1722 - 1762 Mohammad `Izzat Khan (d. 1762)
*1722 – 1727 Mohammad Ahsanullah Khan -Regent
*1762 – 1792 Mohammed Hormat Khan (d. 1792)
*1792 - 1839 Akbar Mohammad Khan (d. 1839)
*1839 – 11 Aug 1858 Mohammad Mozaffar Khan (d. 1858)
*11 Aug 1858 – 15 Jan 1887 Mohammad Najaf Khan (b. 1822 – d. 1887)
*15 Jan 1887 – 10 Sep 1896 Monawar `Ali Khan (b. 1869 - d. 1896)
*15 Jan 1887 – 1892 Mian Mazhar `Ali Khan -Regent
*10 Sep 1896 - 1 Oct 1906 Mohammad Ya`qub `Ali Khan (b. 1876 - d. 1906)
* 1 Oct 1906 – 15 Aug 1947 Mohammad Sarwar `Ali Khan (b. 1901 - d. 1986)
* 1 Oct 1906 – 9 Apr 1923 Umar un-nisa Begum (f) -Regent (d. 1963)

==See also==
*[[List of Pashtun empires and dynasties]]
*[[Mahseer#In heraldry|Mahseer in heraldry]]
*[[Pathans of Madhya Pradesh]]
*[[Political integration of India]]
*[[Dost Mohammad Khan, Nawab of Bhopal]]
*[[Sajida Sultan]]
*[[Shahryar Khan]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

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{{MP Princely States}}

[[Category:Pashtun dynasties]]
[[Category:Muslim princely states of India]]
[[Category:Vidisha district]]
[[Category:1713 establishments in Asia]]
[[ca:Kurwai]]
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Kurwai State - Revision history

>Peacepks at 11:42, 21 May 2021