Nawab Nasir Ali Khan Qizilbash (1894)

Nawab Nasir Ali Khan Qizilbash

Nawab Nasir Ali Khan is the head of the well-known family of Kazilbash, of which a full account will be found at pages 22 to 28 of the present edition of the Punjab Chiefs. The first Nawab, Ali Raza Khan, rendered valuable service to the British Government at Kabul in the first Afghan campaign of 1839. These services were performed by him at the greatest personal risk and to the loss of his wealth and hereditary estates. Finding his life in danger in Kabul he accompanied the British forces to India. From then onwards the family has resided in Lahore. When the rautiny broke out the family came greatly to the front and did valuable service, in recognition of which Ali Raza Khan, the head of his family was granted a talukdari of 147 villages in Bahraich, Oudh, worth Rs. 15,000 per annum. He also received the title of Khan Bahadur and was created a Nawab in 1864, two years before his death. Ali Raza Khan left three sons, the eldest of whom Nawazish Ali Khan was appointed Nawab on his father’s death. This gentleman proved himself a worthy successor to his father and earned for himself a name much revered by Europeans and natives alike. In 1835 the Companionship of the Indian Empire was conferred upon him and three years later he was created a Knight of the same Order. He held the difficult position of President to the Lahore Municipal Committee for several years, and in the discharge of his arduous duties in that appointment gave much satisfaction to the Government and to the public. In 1886 he received as a grant from Government the proprietary rights free of revenue in Rakh Juliana of Lahore tahsil, a most valuable estate under excellent canal irrigation and well provided with tenants and tenants settlements under the careful and judicious management of the landlord. In 1887 Nawab Nawazish Ali Khan was appointed an Additional Member of the Supreme Legislative Council of India. In 1889 he started on a tour through Europe, his ultimate destination being the pilgrimage to Mecca. He arrived in Karbala and there contracted an illness, of which he shortly died in October 1890. His younger brother, Nasir Ali Khan, succeeded to all Nawazish Ali’s estates in Oudh and in the Lahore District; he was also confirmed in the title of Nawab in 1892.

Punjab District Gazetteers. Lahore District (1894)