BHOPAL, Feb. 10 -- Aware of the disdain in which she was held by members of the ruling clan, Princess Aftab Jahan-the Junior Begum of Bhopal-moved to England in 1961, barely months after the death of her husband, Nawab Hamidullah Khan.
The Nawab had married Aftab Jahan, six years younger than his eldest daughter, Abida Sultan, despite opposition from his daughters and first wife, Begum Maimoona Sultan.
The elder Begum, a member of a noble clan from Peshawar, was estranged from the Nawab and had moved out of Ahmedabad Palace to live at an adjacent Kothi.
Princess Abida Sultan, the heir apparent and Commander-in-Chief of the state forces, was especially critical of the alliance. Sources close to the family say the Nawab's courtship and wed...