{{short description|Khan of Kalat (1931 - 1933)}} {{infobox royalty | title = Beglar Begi<br>Nawab Bahadur | succession = Khan of Kalat | reign = December 1931{{sndash}}10 September 1933 | predecessor = Mahmud Khan II | successor = Ahmad Yar Khan | birth_date = 1870 | death_date = 10 September 1933 | issue = {{ubl|Akram Jan|Ahmad Yar Khan|Abdul Rahim|Abdul Karim}} | father = Khudadad Khan | investiture = 26 April 1932 }} Mir Sir '''Azam Jan Khan''' {{small|GCIE}} (Balochi, Urdu: {{Nastaliq|اعظم جان خان}}) was the Khan of Kalat from 1931 until his death in 1933.

== Early life and family == He was born about 1870 to Khudadad Khan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Soszynski |first=Henry |title=KALAT |url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/k/kalat.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331200253/http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/k/kalat.html |archive-date=2017-03-31 |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=members.iinet.net.au}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Not Available |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.34582 |title=Memoranda On The Indian States 1930 |date=1933 |pages=6–7}}</ref> His mother was a Gichki.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Superintendent Government Printing India |first=Calcutta |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.206448 |title=List Of Leading Personages In Baluchistan |date=1921 |pages=2}}</ref> He served as commandant of the artillery regiment in the army of Kalat during his father’s reign.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Mir Ahmed Yar Khan |url=http://archive.org/details/InsideBalochistan |title=Inside Balochistan: autobiography of Mir Ahmed Yar Khan |date=1975-03-09 |pages=96,109–110}}</ref> In 1893, when the Government of India deposed his father, they offered him the vacant throne of Kalat.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Rāshdī |first=ʻAlī Muḥammadu |url=http://archive.org/details/sindhwaysdaysshi0000rash |title=Sindh, ways and days : shikar and other memories |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-579768-8 |pages=138}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KopAAAAYAAJ |title=The Liberal and the New Dispensation |date=1893 |publisher=R.S. Bhattacharji |pages=4 |language=en}}</ref> He declined the offer, stating, “A father in prison and in exile, and his son on the vacant throne? My father did not bring me into this world for that purpose. I would rather share his fate and remain in exile like him than become the ruler of Kalat.”<ref name=":2" /> He subsequently went to Quetta in self-imposed exile.<ref name=":2" />

He remained for a time in confinement at Loralai, from which, upon his release, he served for approximately six months as an assistant to the political agent at Zhob.<ref name=":8" /> He paid a visit to Quetta in December 1899 and, in February 1900, accompanied the political agent at Zhob on a brief visit to Lahore.<ref name=":8" /> He was sent in 1922 to govern Makran as its Nazim on behalf of his brother Mahmud Khan.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.csl.6499 |title=Collection of treaties : engagements and sanads relating to India and neighbouring countries |date=1933 |publisher=Manager of Publications, Delhi |pages=332–333}}</ref> He was granted an agricultural loan by the Government of India to enable him to purchase land and settle down.<ref name=":8" /> In addition, he received Rs. 1,800 per mensem from Mahmud Khan, Rs. 1,650 for himself, and Rs. 150 for the education of his sons.<ref name=":8" /> He had four sons: Akram Jan, Ahmad Yar Khan, Abdul Rahim, and Abdul Karim.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

In 1920, his brother, Mahmud Khan, the then ruler of Kalat, became severely ill and was unable to govern.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4hcnAQAAIAAJ |title=The Feudatory and zemindari India |date=1933 |pages=30 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Baloch |first=Hameed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHMMAQAAMAAJ |title=The Balochistan Chronicles: The Archives of the Times, London and the New York Times on Balochistan, from 1842-2007 |date=2008 |publisher=Sayad Hashmi Reference Library |pages=319–320 |language=en}}</ref> The Kalat State National Party negotiated with him, despite objections from the then prime minister of Kalat, Shams Shah, and brought him in to administer state affairs with the approval of the Government of India.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> He administered the affairs for nearly 17 months.<ref name=":3" />

== Reign == When his brother Mahmud Khan died without leaving issue by a wife of position on 3 November 1931, the throne of Kalat became vacant.<ref name=":1" /> Azam Jan Khan succeeded him in December 1931, following the unanimous approval of his succession by the sardars of all Baluchistan, including those of the Barhui confederacy, of which he was the head, in accordance with ancient custom.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> One of the first actions he took was to replace Shams Shah with Gul Muhammad Khan as his new prime minister.<ref name=":5" /> On the occasion, he also abolished forced labour within his dominions.<ref name=":3" /> He also removed all existing restrictions on the movement of agricultural and other goods, and announced his intention to uphold the recently revised constitution of the enlarged council.<ref name=":3" /> He also announced that he would increase the number of schools and hospitals within his dominions and would work for the welfare of the people of Kachhi, who had become homeless due to years of neglect of irrigation sources.<ref name=":3" /> He fulfilled the promises he had made.<ref name=":3" />

It was not until 26 April 1932 that Azam Jan Khan was formally installed.<ref name=":6" /> To officiate the installation, Lord Willingdon, the then Viceroy and Governor-General of India, and his wife, arrived in Quetta by air.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Not Available |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.42376 |title=Speeches By The Earl Of Willingdon Vol. 1 |date=1935 |pages=128–131}}</ref> It was the first occasion on which a Viceroy had arrived in Quetta by air, and also the first time a Viceroy had installed a Khan of Kalat.<ref name=":7" /> To commemorate the occasion, a durbar was held at the racecourse in Quetta.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/illustrated-london-news-1930-1939 |title=Illustrated London News 1930-1939 |pages=935}}</ref> Azam Jan Khan, the Viceroy and Lady Willingdon were seated on golden thrones.<ref name=":9" /> The new Khan wore a white robe embroidered with gold, along with the traditional head-dress of his ancestors, studded with emeralds and other precious stones.<ref name=":9" /> A total of 200 nobles of Kalat attended the durbar.<ref name=":9" />

== Death == He died on 10 September 1933 and was succeeded by his son, Ahmad Yar Khan, as the Khan of Kalat.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Manager Of Publications Delhi |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275347 |title=Memoranda On The Indian States 1935 |pages=4–5}}</ref>

== Honours == He was appointed Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire on 3 June 1932 by George V.<ref name=":6" /> He was entitled to a salute of 21 guns as a personal distinction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Epstein |first=M. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Statesman_s_Year_Book/SYzJDQAAQBAJ?hl=en |title=The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1933 |date=2016-12-24 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-27062-6 |pages=169 |language=en}}</ref>

== References == <references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Azam Jan}} Category:1870 births Category:1933 deaths Category:Pakistani royalty Category:Khans of Kalat Category:People from British India Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire