Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan Chhatari

Lieutenant Colonel Saeed ul-Mulk Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari GBE KCSI KCIE[2][3] also generally referred to as Nawab of Chhatari (12 December 1888[4][5] - d. 1982) was Governor of the United Provinces,[6][7] Chief Minister[8] of United Provinces, President of the Executive Council of the Nizam of Hyderabad (i.e. Prime Minister of Hyderabad)[9] and Chief Scout of India.

Lieutenant Colonel Saeed ul-Mulk Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan GBE KCSI KCIE
Khan in 1930
Cabinet Minister of the United Provinces
In office 17 May 1923 – 11 January 1926
Preceded by	NA
Succeeded by	NA
Acting Governor of the United Provinces
In office 7 April 1933 – 26 November 1933
Preceded by	Sir Alexander Phillips Muddiman
Succeeded by	Sir William Malcolm Hailey
Chief Minister of United Provinces
In office 3 April 1937 – 16 July 1937
Preceded by	New creation
Succeeded by	Govind Ballabh Pant
Member of National Defence Council
In office July 1941 – September 1941
Preceded by	New creation
Succeeded by	Vacated
President of the Executive Council of the Nizam of Hyderabad (i.e. Prime Minister of Hyderabad) (two terms)
In office September 1941 – August 1946
Preceded by	Sir Akbar Hydari
Succeeded by	Mirza Ismail
In office May 1947 – 1 November 1947
Preceded by	Mirza Ismail
Succeeded by	Sir Mehdi Yar Jung
Chief Scout of India
In office 1955–1982
Preceded by	New creation
Succeeded by	Justice M. Hidayatullah
Personal details
Born	12 December 1888 Chhatari, North-Western Provinces
Died	1982
Political party	National Agriculturist Parties[1]

Round table conference

Nawab Chhatari attended the first Round Table Conference, held in St. James's Palace in London on 12 November 1930.[10] The Muslim Delegation was led by the Aga Khan and others, including Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sir Mohammad Shafi, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Dr Shafat Ali, Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, the Nawab of Chhatari, and Fazlul Huq.[11]

Council to Government

From 17 May 1923 to 11 January 1926 the Nawab was a Minister in the Cabinet of the United Provinces,[12] then in 1931 he returned as Minister of Agriculture there.[13] Like other great Muslim zamindars, including the Raja of Salempur, was a trusted ally of the British administration of the United Provinces[14] and was appointed as acting Governor for some seven months, from April to November 1933. The Government of India Act 1935, formulated after a series of round table conferences, came into effect on 1 April 1937, and the Nawab of Chhatari, as leader of the National Agriculturist Parties, was invited to form a Cabinet, and was briefly chief minister during 1937.[15] He soon stepped down to become Minister of Home Affairs in the United Provinces Government, with a salary of Rs.2,500.[16]

The Nawab of Chhatari was a member of India's National Defence Council from July to August 1941. He resigned from this to accept the post of President of the Hyderabad Executive Council, effectively Prime Minister of the important princely state of Hyderabad.[17][18]

Disquiet with Jinnah

The Nawab of Chhatari attended the third open session of the All-India Muslim League, held in the Pandal at Lalbagh, Lucknow, on Sunday, 17 October 1936, with Jinnah presiding. The meeting was also attended by Maulana Shaukat Ali, Moulana Hasrat Mohani, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Dr Syed Husain, Raja Gazanfar Ali Khan, Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan, Fazlul Huq, Nawab Jamshed Ali Khan, and others.[19][20]

Prime Minister of Hyderabad

Nawab of Chhatari was appointed President of the Executive Council of the Nizam of Hyderabad (i.e. Prime Minister of Hyderabad) in August 1941.[21] He served on this post from September 1941 to 1 November 1947.[22]

On 6 September 1941 Bahadur Yar Jung, Nizam of Hyderabad, praised Nawab of Chhatari as able administrator. In 1944 Nawab of Chhatari was granted of the title of Saeed-ul-Mulk by H.E.H. The Nizam of Hyderabad.[23] On 25 November 1945, Nawab of Chhatari laid the foundation stone of the Institution of Engineers(India), A.P. State Center (Visvesvarayya Bhavan).[24]

In 1946 the Nizam of Hyderabad suggested to the Viceroy of India that the Nawab of Chhatari should be appointed as Governor of the Central Provinces and Berar.[25]

Chhatari delegation

On 11 July 1947, after the Nizam had seen the pending Indian Independence Bill, which did not offer the possibility of Dominion status to any of the princely states, an option he had pressed for, he decided to send a delegation to Delhi headed by the Nawab of Chhatari to meet the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten of Burma.[26][27] On 17 August 1947 the Nawab wrote to Mountbatten expressing the wish to enter into negotiations on the future of Hyderabad[28]

In August 1947 Sir Walter Monckton, a Constitutional advisor to the Nizam and the Nawab of Chhatari, tendered his resignation to the Nizam, prompted by an attack by Razakars and Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, but the resignation was not accepted.[29]

On 27 October 1947 Razakars and Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen staged a demonstration at the houses of the members of delegation, Monckton, the Nawab, and Sir Sultan Ahmed, making it impossible for them to leave for Delhi as intended.[30] The discussions that followed bore no fruit, and on 1 November the Nawab of Chhatari, finding his position intolerable, resigned as President of the Executive Council.[31] Monckton also insisted on resigning.

On 21 December 1947 Gandhi held talks with the Nawab of Chhatari, H. S. Suhrawardy, Brijlal Nehru, Rameshwari Nehru, Sheikh Abdullah, Begum Abdullah, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the Prince of Kutch, the Maharaja of Bhavnagar, Anantrai Pattani and others[32]

In a radio speech on 23 September 1948, the Nizam said "In November last, a small group which had organized a quasi-military organization surrounded the homes of my Prime Minister, the Nawab of Chhatari, in whose wisdom I had complete confidence, and of Sir Walter Monkton, my constitutional Adviser, by duress compelled the Nawab and other trusted ministers to resign, and forced the Laik Ali Ministry on me. This group headed by Kasim Razvi had no stake in the country or any record of service behind it. By methods reminiscent of Hitlerite Germany it took possession of the State, spread terror ... and rendered me completely helpless."[33]

Public life

On 23 October 1931 the Nawab hosted a dinner which was attended by Iqbal.[34] In 1935 he represented India in a mangoes exhibition in London, where he represented the Rataul mango, which won first prize and was declared the best mango in the world. On 15 January 1939 a message from him was published in a pamphlet issued by the Education Expansion Department on the occasion of the "Literacy Day".[35] In 1945, Mahatma Gandhi sent the Nawab two letters; one from Panchgani and the other from Sevagram.[36] The Nawab was also patron of Jamia Urdu, Aligarh.[37] He also served as Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from December 1965 to 6 January 1982 and as Chief Scout of the All India Boy Scouts Association from 1955 to 1982.[38]

Early life and family

He was born to Nawab Mohammad Abdul Ali Khan,[39] the Nawab of Chhatari on 12 December 1888[4] in Chhatari, United Province of British India. He did his education from Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College of Aligarh.[4] He was married to daughter of his own uncle Nawab Abdus Samad Khan Bahadur, the Nawab of Talibnagar.[4] He had two sons, Rahat Saeed Khan and Farhat Sayeed Khan. The younger son, Farhat Sayeed Khan, was noted for his interest in Hindustani classical music and he studied music at the Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata.[40] The family moved to Pakistan shortly after the Partition of India, and the elder son (Rahat Saeed Chattari) became a Senator of the Pakistan National Senate.

Styles

• 1888-1919: Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari
• 1919-1921: Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, MBE
• 1921-1922: Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, CIE,[41] MBE
• 1922-1927: Second Lieutenant[42] Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, CIE, MBE
• 1927-1928: Lieutenant[43] Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, CIE, MBE
• 1928-1931: Lieutenant Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, KCIE,[44] MBE
• 1931-1933: Captain Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, KCIE, MBE
• 1933-1936: Captain Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, KCSI,[45] KCIE, MBE
• 1936-1944: Major[46] Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, KCSI, KCIE, MBE
• 1944-1946: Major Saeed ul-Mulk Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, KCSI, KCIE, MBE
• 1946-1982: Lieutenant Colonel Saeed ul-Mulk Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari, GBE,[47] KCSI, KCIE

Time line

Autobiography

• Yad-e-Ayyam(1949) is the autobiography of Nawab of Chhatari Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan. In this book, the writer has given glimpses of his life and experiences in a direct and artless manner.[48]

See also

• Lalkhani
• List of Governors of the United Provinces

References

1. "The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum - Books". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
2. Separatism Among Indian Muslims: The Politics of the United Provinces By Francis Robinson
3. Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
4. Who's who in India, Burma & Ceylon. Who's who Publishers India. 1936. p. 307.
5. "National Portrait Gallery - Person - Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan Chhatari". Npg.org.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
6. Kashmir Information website Archived 5 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
7. Constructing Post-Colonial India: National Character and the Doon School By Sanjay Srivastava by Sanjay Srivastava - 2005
8. "Chief Minister". Uplegisassembly.gov.in. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
9. Ibid. Archived 5 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
10. "Round Table Conferences". Story of Pakistan. June 2003. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
11. Muslim Delegation at 1930 Round Table Conference
12. United Provinces Assembly website Archived 10 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
13. Journey to Forever.org
14. Nawab of Chhatari (Google cache version)
15. Tribune India website
16. Hansard
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Muslim League meeting 17 October 1936 (Google cache version)
20. www.chowk.com Archived 7 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
21. Nawab of Chhatari appointed President of the Executive Council of the Nizam of Hyderabad
22. www.atlaswords.com
23. File 34(3)-G/1944 IOR/R/1/4/327 1944-1945 UK National Archives website
24. IEIAPSC.org Archived 19 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
25. UK National Archives
26. www.telangana.com
27. www.telangana.com
28. #11 Letter to Mountbatten (Google cache version)
29. #11 Resignation of Sir Walter Monckton to Nizam (Google cache version)
30. #12 Razakar/Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen demonstrations
31. 2&sig=ACfU3U1A4K9J88XwEETL3JjOGn6nmEagEQ&q=chhatari#PPA12,M1 #12,13 Resignation of the Nawab of Chhatari from the Presidency of the Executive Council of the Nizam of Hyderabad (Google cache version)
32. s:Chronology of Mahatma Gandhi's life/India 1947
33. Autocracy to Integration, Lucien D Benichou, Orient Longman (2000), p. 237
34. www.allamaiqbal.com
35. Dept. of Education, India website Archived 10 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
36. www.gandhiserve.org (PDF)
37. Urdunetwork at Yahoo.com
38. Boy Scouts of India website
39. Celebrities: a comprehensive biographical thesaurus of important men and women in India-by Jagdish Bhatia - 1952 Page 27.
40. The Lost World of Hindustani Music by Kumāraprasāda Mukhopādhyāẏa - 2006 -- Page 216
41. Gazette Issue 32346 published on the 4 June 1921.
42. Gazette Issue 32598 published on the 3 February 1922.
43. Gazette Issue 33276 published on the 20 May 1927.
44. Gazette Issue 33390 published on the 1 June 1928.
45. Gazette Issue 33898 published on the 30 December 1932.
46. Gazette Issue 34379 published on the 12 March 1937.
47. Gazette Issue 37598 published on the 4 June 1946.
48. Yad-e-Ayyam (Google cache version)

External links

• Karwaan-e-Aligarh : Nawab Chattari
• List of Governors of Uttar Pradesh
• Text of Memorandum submitted by 14 Muslim leaders of India to Dr Frank P. Graham, United Nations Representative 14 August 1951
• Text of Memorandum Submitted by Muslim leaders of India to Dr Frank P. Graham