The Abbasid dynasty ruled the erstwhile princely State of Bahawalpur for two centuries; and for over half of this period it existed as a protectorate of the British raj. The State came into being in the middle of the 18th century partly as a consequence of the waning dominion of the Mughal Empire. The power vacuum caused by the atrophy of the Mughal rule resulted in the emergence of more than 500 semi-autonomous states and fiefdoms across the subcontinent, out of which 70 princely states were prominent and significant enough for their rulers to warrant the title of “Highness”. The State of Bahawalpur (spanning an area of 45,911 km2 near the confluence of the rivers Sutlej and Chenab) was one of them.
Named after the first Nawab, Mohamad Bahawal Khan II, the State of Bahawalpur was ruled by 8 generations before being merged into Pakistan in October of 1955. Not unlike the Mughals before them, who were descended from the conquering Mongol tribes of Central Asia, the Abbasis claimed Arab and Turkish ancestry – tracing their line to the Abbasid Caliphate which ruled over Baghdad and its tributaries between the years 750-1258 CE. The ruling family actively promoted its professed Middle eastern and Arab identity through various methods; prominently featuring and employing the Arabic language in coinage and official documents, courtly practices that exhibited strong middle eastern leanings, mandatory Turkish inspired dress codes (the Fez cap, for instance), and not least, the christening of their capital city with the name “Baghdad ul Jadeed” (New Baghdad). The identity of the nawabs was unmistakably Ottoman in its predispositions and yet, similar to virtually all other princely states of the time and also in the interest of self-preservation, the state and her rulers displayed strong links to the British Crown. The survival of the state depended on good ties with the British rulers, and to this effect numerous treaties were signed over the period of the colonization of Punjab, including pacts signed earlier with the East India Company and later with the British Government. Resultantly, English influences became increasingly prominent in the milieu of the princely state, and in its architecture, practices, legislature, infrastructure, and modus operandi. Here was another culture that gradually joined the ranks of many before it in making the state of Bahawalpur the early metropolis that it was.
The rulers of the notable princely states of the subcontinent as well as much of the influential elite and landed gentry of the time, including the nawabs of Bahawalpur, comprised a highly anglicized class of individuals who, despite drawing their wealth and power from subcontinental India, hardly ever self-identified as Indians. This was the “One Percent” of the subcontinent - educated in British institutions, often spending their formative years in the UK, their influence, wealth and power afforded to them from their lands and holdings enabling them to pursue an early life that was nigh unfathomable to their subjects back home. This sort of intimate exposure to western civilization and the particularities of the British Crown inculcated in them among other things, the value system and the work ethic for which the west is renowned.
The westernized education and upbringing of the nawabs of Bahawalpur, and the close proximity of each Nawab to the British Crown since an early age, played a large role in enhancing their ability to govern effectively and work towards public welfare. The nawabs of Bahawalpur, particularly the last and second to last nawabs, contributed significantly towards the development of the state of Bahawalpur, the projects undertaken and advances made by them were second only to the achievements of the nawabs of Bengal at the time (who were also educated in the west). Some notable projects and endeavors include laying down an extensive canal network in the arid desert land of the state to make it suitable for agriculture, the greatest of these irrigation projects was the Sutlej Valley Project undertaken jointly by both India and Pakistan following partition. The Sutlej Valley Project is accredited to Nawab Sir Sadiq Mohamad Khan V for his significant contributions in terms of finances and manpower. Other contributions include the building of various hospitals (such as the Bahawal Victoria Hospital), Schools (Sadiq Public School, a historic and elite school built on a sprawling campus of over 300 acres, complete with boarding houses, libraries, and all the furnishings of a high caliber educational institution for children), and colleges (including the Sadiq Egerton College). The nawabs were wont to give out loans to students inside and outside their state, they funded the building of the Bahawalpur block at the historic King Edward Medical College in Lahore, and gifted substantial pieces of their lands in Lahore to the University of the Punjab. Later, during the partition, an initially reluctant Sir Sadiq V eventually relented to joining the cause of his good friend Mohamad Ali Jinnah, and decided to accede to Pakistan, despite numerous attempts by Nehru to convince him to bring his state and all its resources to India. Bahawalpur was the first princely state to accede to Pakistan and the Nawab at the time offered invaluable assistance to the partition and resettlement efforts. The Amir of Bahawalpur Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Fund was established and Sadiq donated heavily towards the rehabilitation efforts of people fleeing Hindu persecution and seeking refuge in Pakistan. Bahawalpur was perhaps the only fully functioning state that Pakistan contained under its umbrella; the state was complete with its own military and munitions, which were put to use by the fledgling Pakistan Army.