Quaid-e-Millat bahadur yaar Jung Hyderabad Deccan

[hydmuslims]

Like many other Muslim leaders of pre-Independence era Bahadur Yar Jung’s dynamic image and multi-faceted personality have not been highlighted are hardly known to any in the present Muslim generation. Last year Dr. Hyder Khan, a medical professional from Hyderabad settled in the US gave a gift to the community in the shape of a website on the life of Nawab Mohammad Bahadur Khan (popularly known as Bahadur Yar Jung -- (1905-1944)), one of the dynamic Muslim political leaders of the pre-Independence era and the third president of the erstwhile Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung (Bahadur Khan) (d.1944) , the towering leader of the pre-1948 Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, has been the target of vehement attacks by his detractors to this day. He is routinely labeled as a communalist and divisive figure. In his heyday the Arya Samaj and other right wing organizations ran a well run campaign to defame his inspiring personality whose charismatic appeal crossed all boundaries of creed and caste. In one instance he was painted as a man-eating tiger devouring a Hindu man. Such false propaganda has led some modern day self described ‘enlightened’ & ‘intellectual’ Muslims to blame him for the contemporary communal problems in Hyderabad (Telangana) region of Andhra Pradesh. However, a careful reading of his life reveals that Bahadur Yar Jung was a bridge builder across communities who believed in harmonious relations with one and all.

Bahadur Yar Jung was the product of the proverbial Ganga-Jamuni (or in this instance the Krishna/Godavari) culture. He opened his eyes in an environment where the Hindu-Muslim relations where at their peak with Maharaja Kishan Pershad, the prime minister, epitomized the syncretic culture of the time. Bahadur Yar Jung’s contact with the Maharaja began early—his father being a friend of the prime minister. His first direct encounter was recorded at a party at the Maharaja’s residence where he introduced himself as, ‘I am your student, Bahadur Khan.’ At first the former did not recognize him and asked for details.
‘I have obtained knowledge by reading your books and energized Milad gatherings by memorizing your speeches,’ replied the young Bahadur Khan. When the Maharaja found out about his father he became even more attached to him and use to address him as ‘my son.’ As will be shown later the Maharaja was not the only Hindu to call him as such.

Bahadur Khan greatly respected the Maharaja and eagerly followed the Maharaja’s advice when there was a dispute within his family over ancestral property.

Sarojini Naidu was equally affectionate towards him and called him her son. She paid glowing tributes to him while introducing at a meeting held under the title, ‘ Mazhab Nahin Sikata Apas Mein Bair Rakhna.’ In response Nawab Bahadur Khan said, “I thank the respected chairperson for her introduction. But since I consider her to be my mother she has praised not me but herself.”

Bahadur Khan had ensured that Muslims not retaliate for the killings of his two close relatives in the infamous Dhoolpet riot of 1938. He successfully and single-handedly dispersed a crowd baying for blood. For this Sarojini Devi commented, ‘In a peaceful environment I have seen many leaders inflame the passions of the crowd...but I have neither seen nor heard of a speaker who could pacify the angers of an infuriated mob.’

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Chalo ji; another self-anointed '"ung Bahadur" gets on to cyber-space. There was little that was 'Jung' or 'Bahadur' about the dynasty of Nizams. The sole activity was to ensure that the avoid 'jung' or to get somebody else to fight 'jungs' for them.
To that end; they 'treatied, entreatied, negotiated, bribed, got bribed' with whoever they could. As early as the end of the Eighteenth Century they "clambered on to the British Lap" in India which existed then in the form of the East India Company. When all the rest: the Mughals, the Marathas and most noticeably Tipu Sultan were determined to keeb the British at bay and retain their own identity. After the Nizam got a pasted by the Peshwas at Moori Ghat in 1795, the Nizam whole-heartedly tied up with the British to preserve his own "gaddi". Then he fought with the British against Tipiu Sultan at Seringapatnam. Luckily for the Nizam, the Mughals in the North were in the phase of their terminal decline; since the Mughals already perceived the Nizams as "venal turn-coats" and would have loved to end their rule in the Deccan.

Undoubtedly; the Nizams would have made good Traders since they were well possessed of the attributes that Traders need. They would and could 'negotiate' their way through anything; but their "fighting skills" were nothing to speak about.

And some of them could even have been called "Junk Bahadurs" more accurately, since they spent far more of their time, energy and resources accumulating property, a great deal of which could be classified as Junk. Since their love for property attracted all kinds of Merchants and Traders to Hyderabad. Many of these Traders (notably the European ones) were able to palm off Junk to the nobility in Hyderabad since they treasured anything of European Origin regardless of its "real value". So they were simply "compulsive collectors" who then single-mindedly worked to preserve their property for the most part. Enlightened exceptions were rare.

On the subject of the lavish titles that the Nizams loved to bestow upon them selves and their "favored few", some more can be said. The Nizam named James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the British Resident at Hyderabad as "Hashmat Jung"- Nawab Fakhr-ud-Dowla Bahadur and then said that Kirkpatrick had the same status as his son!
Because Kirkpatrick ensured that the British signed all the Treaties with the Nizam that would ensure the Nizam's protection if he was attacked by enemies (which the Nizam had in plenty).

All in all, the Nizams were pretty much a sorry bunch of sods. More so if compared to contemporaries like Tipu Sultan.