Ruler
Bhopal · 1801–1881
Known for: Regent and de facto ruler who founded Bhopal’s century of women’s rule.
Life: When her husband died in 1819, Qudsia Begum took power as regent for her infant daughter. She negotiated with nobles and the British, and persuaded the state’s religious authorities to formally recognise a Muslim woman’s legal right to rule — a rare assertion for her time.
Legacy: She built mosques, dispensaries, and public waterworks, and remained a formidable political force until her death — opening a line of women rulers that governed Bhopal for over a century.