Rampur State was a princely state

Princely state

A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

 of India.

History

The Rohilla War

Rohilla War

The First Rohilla War of 1773-1774 was a punitive campaign by Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh, against the Rohillas, Afghan highlanders settled in Rohilkhand, northern India...

 of 1774-5 began when the Rohillas reneged on a debt they owed the Nawab of Oudh for military assistance against the Marathas in 1772. The Rohillas were defeated and driven from their former capital of Bareilly

Bareilly

Bareilly is a prominent city in Bareilly district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Standing on the Ramganga river, it is the capital of the Bareilly division and the geographical region Rohilkhand...

 by the Nawab of Oudh with the assistance of the East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

's troops. The Rohilla State of Rampur was established by Nawab Faizullah Khan on 7 October 1774 in the presence of British Commander Colonel Champion, and remained a pliant state under British protection thereafter.
The first stone of the new Fort at Rampur was laid in 1775 by Nawab Faizullah Khan. Originally it was a group of four villages named Kather, the name of Raja Ram Singh. The first Nawab proposed to rename the city 'Faizabad'. But many other places were known by the name Faizabad so its name was changed to Mustafabad alias RAMPUR. Nawwab Faizullah Khan ruled for 20 years. He was a great patron of scholarship, and began the collection of Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu manuscripts which now make up the bulk of the Rampur Raza Library. After his death his son Muhammad Ali Khan took over, but he was killed by the Rohilla leaders after 24 days, and Ghulam Muhammad Khan, the brother of the deceased, was proclaimed Nawab. The East India Company took exception to this, and after a reign of just 3 months and 22 days Ghulam Muhammad Khan was defeated by its forces, and the Governor-General made Ahmad Ali Khan, son of the late Muhammad Ali Khan, the new Nawab. He ruled for 44 years. He did not have any sons, so Muhammad Sa'id Khan, son of Ghulam Muhammad Khan, took over as the new Nawab. He raised a regular Army, established Courts and carried out many works to improve the economic conditions of farmers. His son Muhammad Yusuf Ali Khan took over after his death. His son Kalb Ali Khan became the new Nawab after his death in 1865.

Nawab

Nawab

A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....

 Kalb Ali Khan

Kalb Ali Khan of Rampur

Hajji Nawab Kalb Ali Khan Bahadur was a Nawab of the princely state of Rampur from 1865 to 1887. Succeeding his father, Sir Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur, he continued his father's good works, expanding the Rampur library, constructing the Jama Masjid for Rs.3 lakhs and encouraging the spread of...

 was literate in Arabic and Persian. Under his rule the state did much work to uplift standards of education. He was also a Member of Council during the Viceroyalty of Lord John Lawrence

John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence

John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, GCB, GCSI, PC , known as Sir John Lawrence, Bt., between 1858 and 1869, was an Englishman who became a prominent British Imperial statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869.-Early life:Lawrence came from Richmond, North Yorkshire...

. He built the Jama Masjid in Rampur at a cost of Rs. 3 Lakh

Lakh

A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...

s. He was also knighted in Agra by the Prince of Wales. He ruled for 22 years and 7 months. After his death his son Mushtaq Ali Khan took over. He appointed W. C. Wright as the Chief Engineer of the estate. He built many new buildings and canals. Nawab Hamid Ali became the new ruler in 1889 at the age of 14. Many new schools were opened during his reign, and lots of donations were provided to nearby colleges. He donated Rs. 50,000 to Lucknow Medical College. In 1905 he built the magnificent Darbar

Darbar

Darbar may refer to:* A term for a court in Urdu from the Persian - Durbar * A surname used in the Indian Subcontinent, it originated during Mughal rule...

 Hall within the Fort which now houses the great collection of Oriental manuscripts held by the Rampur Raza Library. His son Raza Ali Khan became the last ruling Nawab in 1930. On 1 July 1949 the State of Rampur was merged into the Republic of India. Rampur today presents a slightly decayed appearance: the palaces of the Nawabs are crumbling, as are the gates and walls of the fort. However, the Library remains a flourishing institution of immense value to scholars from all over the world.

The Nawabs of Rampur sided with the British during the India's First War of Independence in 1857 and this enabled them to continue to play a role in the social, political and cultural life of Northern India in general and the Muslims of United Provinces in particular. They gave refuge to some of the literary figures from the Court of Bahadur Shah Zafar

Bahadur Shah II

His Royal Highness Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar , also known as Bahadur Shah or Bahadur Shah II was the last of the Mughal emperors in India, as well as the last ruler of the Timurid Dynasty.He was the son of Akbar Shah II and Lalbai, who was a Hindu Rajput...

.

Post independence

Important descendants of the Nawabs include Murad Mian the first child of Murtaza Ali Khan Bahadur of Rampur. Begum Noor Bano, the widow of the former Nawab, Zulfiquar Ali Khan of Rampur. Begum Noor Bano has become a politician and won the election from Rampur parliamentary constituency in 1999. She lost the elections in 2004 and 2009. Murtaza Ali Khan and Zulfiquar Ali Khan (aka Mikki Mia), who continued to use the title of Nawab as a token even after independence and abolition of royalty but never ruled Rampur, are now dead. Murtaza Ali contested an election from Rampur opposite his mother Rafat Jamani Begum in 1972 and won. Although the two brothers were always political rivals they never faced each other in elections. Subsequently, the family was also involved in smuggling scandals involving some smuggling from Pakistan, where one of the sons of Murtaza Ali is married. Raza Inter College, Hamid Inter College and Murtaza Inter College are three higher secondary schools named after three nawabs.

Former film actress from seventies and eighteens, Jaya Prada

Jaya Prada

Jaya Prada is an Indian film actress and politician. She has starred in hundreds of Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi films.-Early life:...

 was elected Member of Parliament from Rampur in 2004 and 2009. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is a former Indian federal minister and a Bharatiya Janata Party leader. Born in Allahabad in 15 Oct 1957 he studied law and arts at Allahabad University, while Collage time he was President of Student Union Government Intermediate College Allahabad.He contested first for...

 of Bhartiya Janata Party was elected to Lok Sabha in 1998 from Rampur. Prof. Ravindra Khattree

Ravindra Khattree

Ravindra Khattree is an Indian born statistician and professor of statistics at Oakland University. His contribution to the Fountain-Khattree-Peddada Theorem in Pitman measure of closeness is one of the important results of his work. Khattree is the coauthor of two books and has coedited two...

, renowned academic statistician, spent some of his early years at Rampur and studied ar Murtaza Inter College and Raza Inter College. Film actor of past years, Raza Murad

Raza Murad

Raza Murad is an Indian actor working primarily in Hindi films. He has acted in over 200 Bollywood films.He is the son of renowned Bollywood character actor Murad. He is also the first cousin of Zeenat Aman, his uncle being Amanullah Khan, writer of Mughal-e-Azam and Pakeezah. His niece Sonam was...

, hails from Rampur.

Mohammad Azam Khan

Azam Khan (politician)

Mohammad Azam Khan is a politician in India. He has served as the cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh government twice and was the leader of the opposition party in Uttar Pradesh assembly.-Early life and background:...

 was elected Member of Legislative Assembly 6 times from Rampur. He held Cabinet Minister positions for the UP Government in the years 1989, 1993 and 2003. Mohammad Azam Khan is a member of the regional party Samajwadi Party

Samajwadi Party

Samajwadi Party is a political party in India. It is based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It describes itself as a democratic socialist party...

 and has been a strong political rival of the erstwhile Nawab

Nawab

A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....

 family of Rampur which owes its allegiance to the Congress party.

Rulers of Rampur

Name		Reign Began	Reign Ended
1	Ali Muhammad Khan Ali Mohammed Khan Ali Muhammad Khan was a rohilla chief who founded the Pathan state of Rohilkhand in the northwestern region of the Uttar Pradesh state of India. He succeeded rohilla Sardar Daud Khan and helped develop Rohilkhand into a powerful nation, which became independent in 1721...	1719	15 September 1748
2	Faizullah Khan Faizullah Khan Faizullah Khan was the first Nawab of Rampur. The princely state of Rampur was set up in 1774, after the First Rohilla War, by the dismemberment of the Rohilla state of Rohilkhand. Faizullah Khan, the surviving heir of Ali Mohammed Khan and opponent of the forces of Awadh and the British East...	15 September 1748	24 July 1793
	Hafiz Rahmat Khan Hafiz Rahmat Khan Hafiz Rahmat Khan was Regent of Rohilkhand in North India, from 1749 to 1774. He was a Pashtun by background, ruling over Rohillas ....  - Regent	15 September 1748	23 April 1774
3	Muhammad Ali Khan Bahadur Muhammad Ali Khan Bahadur Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan Bahadur was the eldest son of Faizullah Khan and briefly Nawab of Rampur between 24 July and 11 August 1793 when he was deposed by his younger brother Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur and exiled to Dungarpur. He died there a year later as a prisoner when he was shot in his sleep...	24 July 1793	11 August 1793
4	Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur Al-Haj Nawab Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur was briefly Nawab of Rampur from 1793 to 1794. The younger son of Faizullah Khan, Ghulam Muhammad became Nawab in 1793 after deposing his elder brother, Muhammad Ali Khan Bahadur. His reign quickly took on a tyrannical aspect, and he was soon deemed a...	11 August 1793	24 October 1794
5	Ahmad Ali Khan Bahadur Ahmad Ali Khan Bahadur Nawab Ahmad Ali Khan Bahadur was Nawab of Rampur from 1794 to 1840, succeeding his brother Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur. The only son of Muhammad Ali Khan Bahadur, Ahmad Ali was made Nawab following the deposition of his cousin Ghulam Muhammad by the British East India Company and the Nawab of Awadh...	24 October 1794	5 July 1840
	Nasrullah Khan - Regent	24 October 1794	1811
6	Muhammad Said Khan Bahadur Muhammad Said Khan Bahadur Nawab Muhammad Said Khan Bahadur was Nawab of Rampur from 1840 to 1855, succeeding his cousin Ahmad Ali Khan Bahadur. The son of Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur, Muhammad Said spent his early years in the service of the East India Company, eventually rising to the rank of Deputy Collector for Dudain...	5 July 1840	1 April 1855
7	Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur Nawab Muhammad Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur, KSI, was a Nawab of the princely state of Rampur from 1855 to 1865. During the First War of Independence, he rendered many useful services to the Government of India by keeping the British supply and communication lines to Naini Tal open, rescuing fugitives...	1 April 1855	21 April 1865
8	Kalb Ali Khan Bahadur	21 April 1865	23 March 1887
9	Muhammad Mushtaq Ali Khan Bahadur	23 March 1887	25 February 1889
10	Hamid Ali Khan Bahadur	25 February 1889	20 June 1930
	Regency	25 February 1889	4 April 1894
11	Raza Ali Khan Bahadur	20 June 1930	6 March 1966
12	Murtaza Ali Khan Bahadur Murtaza Ali Khan Bahadur Nawab Sayyid Murtaza Ali Khan Bahadur was the titular Nawab of Rampur from 1966 to his death in 1982, succeeding his father, Raza Ali Khan Bahadur.-Early life:...  - Nawabat abolished in 1971	6 March 1966	8 February 1982
13	Zulfikar Ali Khan Bahadur Zulfikar Ali Khan Bahadur Major Nawab Sayyid Zulfikar Ali Khan Bahadur was an Indian politician and army officer who ruled as titular Nawab of Rampur from 1982 to 1992, succeeding his elder brother Murtaza Ali Khan Bahadur.-Early life:...  -Nawabat abolished in 1971	8 February 1982	5 April 1992
14	Muhammad Kazim Ali Khan -Nawabat abolished in 1971	5 April 1992	Till Date

italics-titulary reigns