| Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V جنرل نواب سر صادق محمد خان عباسی | |
|---|---|
| Nawab Amir | |
 Official Portrait of the Nawab | |
| 12th Nawab of Bahawalpur | |
| Reign | 15 February 1907 – 14 October 1955 |
| Predecessor | Mohammad Bahawal Khan V |
| Successor | Position abolished |
| Born | 29 September 1904 Derawar Fort, Bahawalpur, Punjab, British India (present-day Punjab, Pakistan) |
| Died | 24 May 1966 (aged 61) London, United Kingdom |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Linda Sayce, Begum of Bahawalpur (last wife, mother of his 3 sons) |
| Issue | Nawab Brig. Muhammad Abbas Khan Prince Amin Al-Rashid Abbasi Prince Salahuddin Abbasi Princess Aiysha Yasmien Abbasi Princess Safia Nausheen Abbasi |
| House | Daudputra dynasty[1] |
| Father | Mohammad Bahawal Khan V |
| Mother | Begum Sahiba |
| Religion | Islam |
General Nawab Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan V Abbasi GCSI GCIE KCVO (Urdu: جنرل نواب صادق محمد خان عباسی; 29 September 1904 – 24 May 1966) was the 12th and final Nawab (ruler) of the state of Bahawalpur from February 1907 to October 1955, and then as a titular figure until his death in 1966.[2]
He became the Nawab on the death of his father when he was only two years old.[3] A Council of Regency, with Sir Rahim Bakhsh as its president, ruled on his behalf until 1924.[2]
The Nawab served as an officer with the British Indian Army, fighting in the Third Afghan War (1919) and commanding forces in the Middle East during the Second World War. By 1947, its institutions consisted of departments run by trained civil servants; there was a Ministerial Cabinet headed by a prime minister; the State Bank was the Bank of Bahawalpur, with branches outside the State, including Karachi, Lahore. There was a High Court and there were lower courts, as well as a trained police force and an army commanded by officers trained at the Royal Indian Military Academy at Dehra Doon. The Nawab had a keen interest in education, which was free till A level and the state's government provided scholarships of merit for higher education. In 1951, the Nawab donated 500 acres in Bahawalpur for the construction of Sadiq Public School. Nawab was known for his relationship with the Quaid-i-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah), Founder of Pakistan.[2]
In August 1947, on the withdrawal of British forces from the subcontinent, the Nawab decided not to accede his State at once to the new Dominion of Pakistan. However, on 3 October 1947, after some delay, he relented and became the first ruler of a princely state (Bahawalpur) to accede successfully.[4][5]
As tens of thousands of Muslim refugees flooded into the state from the new India, he set up the Ameer of Bahawalpur Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Fund to provide for their relief. In 1953, the Ameer represented Pakistan at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1955, he signed an agreement with the governor-general of Pakistan, Malik Ghulam Muhammad, under which Bahawalpur became part of the province of West Pakistan, with effect from 14 October 1955, and the Amir received a yearly privy purse of 32 lakhs of rupees, keeping his titles.[6] The same year, he was promoted to the rank of general in the Pakistan Army.[2]
- ^ "Nawab of Bahawalpur, 1870". thefridaytimes.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan V". Story of Pakistan website. 24 May 2012. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^ Born 29 September 1904, Sadeq was 30 months old when he was proclaimed Nawab on 15 February 1907.
- ^ Wilcox, Wayne Ayres (1963), Pakistan: The Consolidation of a Nation, Columbia University Press, p. 82, ISBN 978-0-231-02589-8
- ^ Javaid, Umbreen (2004). Politics of Bahawalpur: From State to Region, 1947–2000. Classic. p. 115.
- ^ The All Pakistan Legal Decisions, vol. 30, part 2 (1978), p. 1,171