Saba Ali Khan

Princess Saba Ali Khan (born 1 May 1976) is an Indian jewelry designer and mutawalli (Chief Trustee) of the Auqaf-e-Shahi (Royal Trust), established by the-then ‘Princely State’ of the Kingdom of Bhopal as a royal charitable endowment. She is the daughter of actress Sharmila Tagore and former India cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan, Crown Prince of Bhopal, and the sister of actors Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan.

Family background

Khan, a member of the Pataudi family of Pashtun (Afghan) ancestry, is the daughter of cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore. Khan is the sister of actors, Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. Actress Sara Ali Khan is her niece, while actress Kareena Kapoor Khan is her sister-in-law.

Khan is the granddaughter of Sajida Begum, the Nawab Begum of Bhopal, and Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the Nawab of Pataudi. Her great-grandfather, Hamidullah Khan, succeeded the throne of Bhopal, after a long reign of royal queens. The titular Begum of Bhopal, Saleha Sultan, was her aunt, and through her she is the first cousin of cricketer, Saad Bin Jung. Major General of Pakistan Sher Ali Khan is her great-granduncle, and the diplomat Shahryar Khan is her uncle, through her grandaunt Abida Sultan.

Auqaf-e-Shahi

The Auqaf-e-Shahi is a charitable trust that was endowed by the royal family of the Kingdom of the State of Bhopal. The trust manages a portfolio worth Rs 1200 crore, consisting mainly of real estate (both, religious and otherwise) in Bhopal, apart from properties in Mecca as well as Medina in Saudi Arabia. As a convention, a family member of the ruler of the state of Bhopal, or the ruler himself, was the mutawalli, the chief trustee who managed the assets of the trust for philanthropic purposes. Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan, who was the titular Nawab of Bhopal and Pataudi was the mutawalli till his death in 2011. Saba served under her father as naib mutawalli (Deputy Trustee) before taking over the reigns after his demise, while her brother Saif Ali Khan inherited the titular titles of the Nawab of Bhopal and Pataudi, and the respective estates.

Mansoor Ali Khan reportedly did not think of his son as a possible mutawalli, conscious that a film actor's appointment as head of islamic religious bodies may not go down well with certain sections.

In her tenure as the mutawalli, Auqaf-e-Shahi has acquired certain additional properties in Mecca. In 2016, she announced that the Waqf tribunal has declared that 34 acres of land around the Shahi Qabristan in Bhopal belonged to Auqaf-e-Shahi, and the same would be monetised with the proceeds going to improve the educational and health institutions of Bhopal.

References

External links

• Auqaf-e-Shahi on Instagram
• Saba Ali Khan on Instagram

1. Soha Ali Khan
2. Sara Ali Khan
3. Pataudi family
4. Saba Qamar
5. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
6. Sajida Sultan
7. Nawab of Pataudi
8. Fath-Ali Khan Saba
9. List of Hindi film families
10. Saif Ali Khan
11. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
12. Sarah Khan
13. Saba (name)
14. List of Pakistani actresses
15. Saba Hameed
16. Barech
17. Tagore family
18. Saba Faisal
19. Dikhawa
20. Gharoor