Saif Ali Khan anointed 10th Nawab of Pataudi

Pataudi (Haryana, northern India), Oct 31 (PTI) Indian cine actor Saif Ali Khan was today anointed the tenth Nawab of Pataudi at a ceremony at his ancestral palace in Pataudi, 60 kms southwest of Delhi. The 41-year-old Bollywood actor was made the Nawab at a 'pagdi' ceremony this morning at the Ibrahim Palace where heads of 52 villages that fell under the old Indian princely state of Pataudi tied a white turban (headgear) around his head as mother Sharmila Tagore, sisters Saba and Soha looked on. Haryana state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was also present. Saif has been given the title after his father, former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, passed away on September 22. India derecognized the old princely order in 1971 and today’s function is only ceremonial and does not confer any right or title. Saif's sister Saba Ali Khan, mutawalli (patron) of the Auqaf-e-Shahi or the body managing the religious and charitable endowments of the erstwhile princely state of Bhopal in central India, had said last week that Saif would be sworn in as the Nawab of Pataudi once the forty days of mourning are over. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, whose mother was the daughter of the last Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, was born in Bhopal and was the mutawalli (patron) of the Auqaf-e-Shahi. Saba succeeded her father as the mutawalli in Bhopal. PTI