A nawab’s grandson retraces roots

Khan said though his forefathers of the Babi dynasty had been rulers, he would like to come back as a messenger of peace. ‘‘I wish there’s brotherhood between Muslims and Hindus like the pre-partition days,’’ he said in a telephonic conversation from Karachi. Mahabat Khan III was popular among Muslims and Hindus alike and was known as a generous ruler.

Before Partition, there were 222 princely states in Saurashtra. On August 15, 1947, all the states merged with India, but Mahabat Khan III declared allegiance to Pakistan. Following a revolt by Arzee Hukumat, he fled to Pakistan on October 24, 1947. On November 9, 1947, the Indian Army took over Junagadh state. Since then, nobody from the family has visited India.

Dr S.V. Jani, a professor from Junagadh who researched the Arzee Hukumat, said soon after reaching Karachi, Nawab Mahabat Khan III had met the Indian High Commission and expressed his wish to return to Junagadh and merge his state with India. But for some reason, political leaderships of both countries were against this move. No one took up the case after November 7, 1959, when the Nawab breathed his last at Junagadh House, his official residence in Karachi.