Dynasty · 1707 – 1949
Bhopal — the Nawabs and Begums
1707 marks Dost Mohammad Khan's founding of the state after becoming a mercenary following Aurangzeb's death. 1949 marks the takeover of the princely state by the Union Government of India. Imperial Gazetteer (2026-09-22): The Gazetteer dates Bhopal's founding not to 1707 but to Dost Muhammad Khan's 1709 lease of the Berasia pargana (following his 1708 arrival in Delhi), and it does not reach the 1949 merger into India, which postdates its 1908 compilation.
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- wiki-bhopal-state-from
The state was founded in 1707 by Dost Mohammad Khan, a Pashtun soldier in the Mughal army, who became a mercenary after the Emperor Aurangzeb's death and annexed several territories to his fiefdom.
- wiki-bhopal-state-to
The Bhopal princely state was taken over by the Union Government of India on 1 June 1949.
- vol. 8, p. 128
The founder of the Bhopal family was Dost Muhammad Khan, an Afghan from Tirah, belonging to the Mirzai Khel of the Barakzais. He came to Delhi during the first years of Bahadur Shah's reign (1708) in search of employment. In 1709 he obtained a lease of the Berasia pargana and, rapidly extending his dominions, founded the towns of Islamnagar and Bhopal, making the latter place his head-quarters and building the Fatehgarh fort.