Abida sultan

She was the eldest of three children; she had two younger sisters Sajida Sultan , and Rabia Sultan. Her grandmother, who was nearly 70 when Abida was born, brought her up very strictly. She had to rise at 4am to read the Quran , and had to do menial duties such as sweeping the floor, but she was also allowed to do all the same activities as the boys did, including sports, music, and horse riding.

From the age of nine, Abida drove a Rolls-Royce. She was also known as Abida Sultaan. In , [ 3 ] at the age of 15, she was recognised as the heiress apparent to the Bhopal throne. She then managed her father's cabinet from until , when Bhopal was merged with the state of Madhya Pradesh. She had been completely unprepared for her wedding day, and her marriage broke up after around ten years.

She later wrote that she had found the consummation of her marriage would "horrified, numbed and feeling unchaste". She moved back to Bhopal, and an ugly custody dispute over the couple's son, Shaharyar Khan , ensued.

Princess Suraya Jah, Nawab Gowhar-i-Taj

In she drove for hours to the home of her ex, gave him a gun and said that if he did not shoot her, she would shoot him. After the partition of India in , she experienced discrimination, and witnessed violence between Hindus and Muslims. In Pakistan she joined the foreign service ; the government of India responded by excluding her from the line of succession.

Her younger sister Sajida succeeded her instead upon her father's death in , despite Abida Sultan contesting the succession in court. She spent the greater part of her life in Malir District in Karachi.