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Bahawalpur

Princely state capital, 1833–1947

بہاول پوربہاولپورਬਹਾਵਲਪੁਰ

Today Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. Same place, same name.

Key facts

Historical name
Bahawalpur
Type
Princely state capital
Coordinates
29.3956° N, 71.6722° E(seed dataset)
Governance
Administered through an Agency
Record confidence
High confidence
Identifiers
Q318156

Administered through a British Agency covering a group of states. Not part of British India in the statutory sense.

Location

Pin placed at the coordinates recorded for this place. Colonial-era boundaries are not drawn.

Description

Capital of Bahawalpur State on the south bank of the Sutlej, described in the Imperial Gazetteer as capital of the state and head-quarters of the Bahawalpur nizamat and tahsil.

Historical notes

The Daudputra Abbasi Nawabs concluded a treaty with the British in 1833 that opened the Indus to navigation; the state acceded to Pakistan in 1947.

Administrative history

Administrative parenthood changed over time. Each row states the years it is recorded for, and the source it comes from.

Administrative units this place is recorded under, by year
YearsRelationUnitConfidence
from 1901Part ofPunjab States AgencyAgency · Administered through an AgencySnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred.High confidencesource
from 1901Part ofBahawalpurPrincely state · Princely stateSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred.High confidencesource
from 1901Capital ofBahawalpurPrincely state · Princely stateSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred.High confidencesource

Recorded names

Every documented spelling and transliteration held for this place. The historical name is canonical; modern names redirect to it.

Name variants recorded for this place
NameScriptTypeYears
BahawalpurLatinHistorical English
Bahawal PurLatinAlternative spelling
Bahawalpur TownLatinAlternative spelling
بہاول پورArabicIndigenous
بہاولپورArabicIndigenous
ਬਹਾਵਲਪੁਰGurmukhiIndigenous

Records and references

Imperial Gazetteer of India
Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31), Vol. VI (6), p. 204
Census of India
Census of India, 1901, Vol. XVII (17): Punjab, its Feudatories and the North-West Frontier Province

Sources

  1. Gazetteer· administrativeLicence unverified

    Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908–31), DSAL entry: Bahawalpur Town, University of Chicago / Digital South Asia Library

    Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago — the 1908–31 text is public domain, but DSAL's digital presentation states no licence; link-out only

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

  2. Encyclopedia· generalCC BY-SA

    Wikipedia: Bahawalpur, Wikimedia Foundation

    Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

  3. Database· identityCC0

    Wikidata (Q318156), Wikimedia Foundation

    Wikidata, CC0 1.0

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

  4. Archive· descriptionPublic domain

    Internet Archive scan: in.gov.ignca.31019, Internet Archive

    Scanned volume of a pre-1929 publication (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908–31 / Census of India 1901); public domain. Digitisation courtesy of the Internet Archive.

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

Sources tagged “Licence unverified” are linked to rather than reproduced. Scans and images are only displayed inline where the licence is confirmed permissive.