Bhikampur and Datawali (Aligarh) State
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
| native_name =
| conventional_long_name = Bhikampur and Datawali
| common_name = Aligarh
| nation = Mughal Empire and Maratha Confederacy and British India
| subdivision = Principality under the nominal sovereignty
| era =
| year_start = 1703
| date_start =
| event_start =
| year_end = 1947
| date_end =
| event_end = Independence of India
| event1 =
| date_event1 =
| p1 = Mughal Empire
| s1 = India
| flag_p1 = Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg
| flag_s1 = Flag of India.svg
| image_flag =
| image_coat = Bhikampur Estate.jpg
| image_map =
| image_map_caption =
| stat_area1 =
| stat_year1 =
| stat_pop1 =
| today = Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, India 20px
| footnotes =
}}
The Bhikampur and Datawali principality is in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. For nearly four centuries, before the advent of British Raj in India, it was ruled by the descendants of a Sherwani Pathan from Jalalabad in Afghanistan.{{cite web|title=Heritage & History|url=http://www.bhikampurlodge.in/history/|website=www.bhikampurlodge.in|accessdate=23 May 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160523134310/http://www.bhikampurlodge.in/history/|archivedate=23 May 2016}} The Sherwani clan were practically independent rulers in the period between the collapse of Mughal Empire and the rise of the British Raj.
History
The clan had two main branches, the lineage of Bhikampur and that of Datawali, and practiced cousin marriage to an almost exclusive degree. The family tree presents a bewildering array of interlocking relationships. Their marriage patterns kept the family properties intact, while taking a toll on the health of their increasingly inbred offspring. The Sherwanis were a family that displayed an intriguing combination of the progressive and the conservative: They were supporters of education, whether Islamic or western, and promoters of education for women, although the women of the family maintained strict purdah and were educated at home. Their loyalist politics were manifested in civic service and membership in reform associations, along with resistance to the growing forces of anti-British activism before and after World War I.{{cite web|title=Zay Khay Sheen, Aligarh's Purdah-Nashin Poet|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urduhindilinks/srffest/txt_minault_zaykaysheen.pdf|website=Columbia University|accessdate=23 May 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160523135335/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urduhindilinks/srffest/txt_minault_zaykaysheen.pdf|archivedate=23 May 2016|pages=2|language=English}}
File:Muzammilullah Sherwani 1.jpg|Sir Muhammad Muzammilullah Khan
File:Rehmatullah Sherwani.jpg|Nawab Rehmat Ullah Khan Sherwani
Notable members
The Sherwani clan of Aligarh district produced a number of notable people:
- Zahida Khatun Sherwani (1894-1922):( Bhikampur ) : Daughter of Nawab Sir Muzammil Ullah Khan Sherwani, An Indian poet and writer who wrote under pen name Zay Khay Sheen in the Urdu language and was also an activist for women's rights.{{Cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/696701/contribution-of-zay-khay-sheen-highlighted|title=Contribution of Zay Khay Sheen highlighted|date=19 February 2012|accessdate=9 April 2016|newspaper=Dawn}}
- Masud Husain Khan (1919-2010): the Father of Urdu-Linguistics, and the fifth Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia.[http://www.dawn.com/news/1071962/dawn-features-february-03-2009 Prof Masud Husain turns 90] He was married to Nawab Faiz Ahmed Khan's great-granddaughter.