Editing Bhopal (section)

=== British rule (1818–1947) ===
Bhopal became a [[princely state]] after signing a treaty (During the reign of Nazar Mohammed Khan 1816–1819) <ref name="bhopal.nic.in"/> with the [[British East India Company]] in 1818.{{sfn|Khan|2000|p=68}} Between 1819 and 1926, the state was ruled by four women, [[Begum of Bhopal|Begums]] – unique in the royalty of those days – under British suzerainty. [[Qudsia Begum of Bhopal|Qudsia Begum]] was the first woman ruler (between 1819 and 1837), who was succeeded by her granddaughter, [[Sultan Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal|Shah Jehan]]. Between the years 1844–1860, when Shah Jehan was a child, her mother [[Sikandar Begum|Sikandar]] (only daughter of Qudsia) ruled as regent. Curiously during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|1857 revolt]], Sikandar supported the British, for which she was rewarded by proclaiming her as king in 1858. To give her further honour, she was given a 19-gun salute and the Grand Cross of the Star of India. The latter made her equivalent to a British person, who had been granted a knighthood. Thus she became, at that time, the only female knight in the entire British Empire besides Queen Victoria. Among the relatively minor rewards, a territory was restored to her, that she had earlier lost to a neighbouring prince.<ref name="Salam_2022"/>

Sikandar ruled until 1868, when Shah Jehan succeeded her and was Begum until 1901. In 1901, Shah Jehan's daughter [[Kaikhusrau Jahan, Begum of Bhopal|Kaikhusrau Jahan]] became Begum, ruled until 1926, and was the last of the female line of succession. In 1926, she abdicated in favour of her son, [[Hamidullah Khan]], who ruled until 1947, and was the last of the sovereign [[Nawab]]s. The rule of Begums gave the city its waterworks, railways, a postal system, and a municipality constituted in 1907.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bhopalmunicipal.com/history.htm |title=BMC History |access-date=12 June 2007 |date=15 May 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070412043526/http://bhopalmunicipal.com/history.htm |archive-date=12 April 2007 }}</ref>